Saab Owners, anything to confess?? Hee .. ..

[Nemesis]

Brought over from the previous thread,

 

1. Saaber (Saab 9-5)

2. Saabss (Saab 9-3SS)

3. Jman (Saab 9-5)

4. Offshore (Saab 9-3SS)

5. Allim (Saab 9-5)

6. tuscani77 (9-5 est)

7. kyosho1 (9-5 with air-con problem)

8. vw19 (Saab 9-5)

 

So dear owners,

 

Juz gotta a quote from a SE for a new SAAB 93, anyone kind enough to be unbias and rate the ride? Pros & Cons? Like and Dislike? Value for $$$?

 

 

Cheers

[Kyosho1]

I like my 2002 Saab 95, excellent ride - large, quiet, fast, ergonomic with driver-friendly features with great safety features. Sales agent was friendly and helpful throughout my ownership.

Too bad for the smelly air-con problem which forced me to sell the car at 1.5 years later at a heavy loss of $30K+. The smell was too nauseating for me everytime I drive.

The smelly aircon problem didn't surface until 20,000-30,000km later.

In the morning, upon turning on the aircon, there will be this alcohol-like, stale musky smell.

The Saab mechanics were unable to rectify the problem and they said mine was not the only car they are trying to rectify!

I sat in one of the agent's Aero 95, it also had the smell.

The pre-facelifted Saab95 had no such problem becos' it did not come with auto-climate aircon. After reading about Saab in overseas forum, I realise their aircon was one of their weakness.

They offered an attractive trade-in with another new Saab95 but cannot guarantee on the aircon - I rejected it and changed to a Merc instead.

 

As for Saab93, beautiful car. The Troll looks good.

Edited November 19, 2004 by Kyosho1

[Nemesis]

Thx for the frank feedback

 

I like the Troll but is another 10K preimum over the basic 93

 

Any idea will 93 also face the aircon problem

BTW it's strange Y Trans can't solve your 95 problem since I assume it's still under warranty

 

Cheers

[Kyosho1]

It was still under warranty. I discovered by chance that the smell will be absent when the car is parked on an upslope overnight.

The mechanic was delighted with the discovery because he was baffled by the smell and couldn't rectify it. He brought it up to the Swedish HQ and came back with a modification technique involving tilting the aircon drainage pan.

Left the car there for more than a week, but the problem persisted because it was an inherent design fault. They couldn't fix it, thus made the offer for trade-in.

Had to park the car on an upslope every night to clear the aircon water condensation from the pan till I sold the car. It was exported out by dealer.

Then I checked out the classified for similar year used Saab95s, and quite a number were on sale with similar mileages. I began to wonder if they were having the same problems...

Edited November 19, 2004 by Kyosho1

[Fxfx]

Hi Nemesis,

 

I have a 2003 9-3 SS. I confess that I have great difficulty from removing all the scratches made to my car for whatever reasons. Other than that, its a very enjoyable ride.

There is sufficient power to overtake most cars when u need to. But don't expect a true sports car with high end performance as its only got 150 hp for the base model. The Troll is definitely worth considering. I fully intend to keep my ride for 10 years or possibly more. Not because of the high depreciation but because I really enjoy driving it.

 

Talking about value for money. I guess you cannot say that even for entry level cars in Singapore. No car here strictly speaking is worth the value of money.

 

I bought the 9-3 for 3 reasons:

1) Great looks

2) Ample power, especially for overtaking

3) Highest safety rating

 

Having test driven the 9-3, you would know how fun it is to drive. If you want a long term good ride then go for it. But if you intend to change cars within a short span of time then SAAB is probably not the car you need. So far I have no regrets whatsoever.

[Nemesis]

Nice for the frank feedback

 

But didn't u consider other conti, BMW, Audi, VW & etc.

 

I briefly read the accessories 4 the car, it seems 93 is not full of gadget, e.g. no electric for front passenger except Aero, no rain sensor except Again 4 Aero.

 

Thx for the wonderful short description of your experiences

 

BTW, Y gotta so many scratches try to go 4 groom packages to "hide" them

 

 

Cheers

[Nemesis]

 

I hope that the current 93 don't have such problem

[Wenz]

I have a civic and was servicing my car 2 days ago.

Standing ard i picked up a pamphlet on the service counter.

 

It talked about how these smells can come about as a result of "strong scents" in the air mixing into condensed small "pools" of water that may have formed in the airconditioning. Smells like cigarette smoke, perspiration, dogs, food, mothers-in-law (kidding) and the like.

 

These pools of water then dry up on the surfaces they're resting on. And get blown out to the cabin by the air conditioning.

[Nemesis]

 

Maybe that's Y 95 gotta the stinky smell

 

But a good design should be able to eliminate & prevent the air from mixing with the condensed wafer from the ac

 

Never hear of this from other makes

 

Hopefully SAAB corrected this problem or else ... ....

[Oneofakind]

Brought over from the previous thread,

 

1. Saaber (Saab 9-5)

2. Saabss (Saab 9-3SS)

3. Jman (Saab 9-5)

4. Offshore (Saab 9-3SS)

5. Allim (Saab 9-5)

6. tuscani77 (9-5 est)

7. kyosho1 (9-5 with air-con problem)

8. vw19 (Saab 9-5)

 

So dear owners,

 

Juz gotta a quote from a SE for a new SAAB 93, anyone kind enough to be unbias and rate the ride? Pros & Cons? Like and Dislike? Value for $$$?

 

 

Cheers

 

Not in the list above. I own a 2002 9-5. Something u should note.

1) Direct Ignition Casette ($650) konks at about 50,000 - 60,000 km

2) Hydraulic Engine Mounts ($900+) konks at about 50,000 km, less if u drive hard.

3) Lower arm bushing starts to squeal afters 20,000 or so, it can be rather annoying. The remedy is to replace the stock hard rubber bushings with silicone ones at a cost of $420.

4) Fuel pump, advisable to change at about 60,000km. Most however can last to 100,000km. Cost is close to $1000.

5) Air con compressor and coil.....normally has to be replaced once past three years or when mileage hits 70,000-80,000 km. This also depends on luck. If u change cabin filters regulary, whack in some compressor oil now and then (when it starts to get a little noisy), u may see 100,000 km. Cost for the compressor and coil is over $2000.U should replace both together.

6) Shock mounts....starts to make noise after the first year, fix is to get aftermarket performance shocks like konis, not worth to replace the shock mounts. Set of 4 Konis can be had for a little over $1000.

 

The above is just to caution u of the cost of running a Saab past it's warranty period. It is actually not too bad....but these are more or less confirmed items that have to be replaced.

 

With regular servicing as per recommended by the in-house service programn, u should be able to avoid other major part replacements.

 

Overall, the 9-5 is a nice car to drive and it's power and speed makes up for it maintenance costs. I do not know of the 9-3 but I am more of a 9-5 fan as its engine was inherited from the bullet-proof gem from the 9000. It is true bred Saab The 9-3's engine on the other hand is from opel.

[Nemesis]

 

Thx

 

A lot of info Shiok

 

Btw what;s the meaning of item (1) & (2)

 

1) Direct Ignition Casette ($650) konks at about 50,000 - 60,000 km

2) Hydraulic Engine Mounts ($900+) konks at about 50,000 km, less if u drive hard.

 

I thought Singapore gotta quite a few garage servicing SAAB

 

Thx again

 

But it's sound alarming to me, BUT anyway which car has no problem in the world

[Genie47]

The 9-3's engine on the other hand is from opel.

 

Hur hur..... GM again.

[Fxfx]

I did not consider things like electric passenger seats as I would be driving it alone most of the time anyway. Rain sensor is not important to me. In fact I think its more of a hinderance. Imagine a few tiny specks of rain falling on your windscreen and the wipers going swoosh over your almost dry windscreen ! ouch. The 9-3 has 3 speeds of wiping and 5 delay timings ranging from 2 to 15 seconds within each speed giving u 15 options for wipers which is more than anyone would ever need. The most important thing to me is the engine. I need it smooth and reasonably powerful.

 

The consensus about cars here are that conti cars are superior to Japanese makes. While conti cars are definitely more sturdy, it is the Japanese models that are more reliable and less prone to problems in my opinion. Having said that, I have already decided that money notwithstanding, I would never want to own another Japanese car. The more solid feel of a conti car is intoxicating.

 

Now of the conti makes, I feel some brands are overrated. One in particular, has good snob appeal but whose power is weak, yet so many people want to drive one. Then with another, there is the problem of turbo lag. Having to wait for the power to come is definitely a no no. Given a choice it will either be a Saab or an Audi for me and nothing else. I also did consider getting the Audi A4 1.8T but in the end the price was a tad too high for me.

 

I have given up on the scratches altogether because its something that cannot be avoided here no matter what one does.

[Nemesis]

I must agree abt the solid feel of Conti car, quite addictive

 

It makes u don't even want to take a look @ some of the Jap car.

But in saying that, there are still good Jap car around Legacy GT, Euro R & etc

 

I always thot SAAB is higher price than Audi or VW

 

So talking abt Turbo Lag, so 93 has or not

 

Curious, ur 93SS stock or mod Doesn't it mean 93SS mod = 93 Troll

 

Mines is not scratches but dent 1 also give up

[Fxfx]

The Legacy GT is indeed worth considering, more powerful than the 9-3 in both hp and torque. Well comparing models that compete directly with one another, SAAB is slightly cheaper than Audi. SAAB does not compete directly with VW if you ask me. SAAB 9-3s main competition are the Audi A4, BMW 320, Merc C200, Volvo S40.

 

The 9-3 has no turbo lag. It uses a Light Pressure Turbo (LPT) which is weaker than a High Pressure Turbo (HPT). The advantage of LPT is that you don't have to wait for the turbo. The turbo is continuous and you get immediate power when you hit the accelerator.

The 9-3 AERO uses a HPT. Interestingly enough, although in HPT engines you have to wait for the turbo to activate above a certain RPM, car reviewers have mentioned frequently that the 9-3 AERO even with a HPT has no noticeable turbo lag. Somehow SAAB has found a way to eliminate the lag on its HPT engines as well.

 

My 9-3 is stock. 9-3SS mod will equal 9-3 Troll. You can opt for a stage 1 Hirsch upgrade to a stock 9-3, giving you 195 hp and 310 NM of torque(same as 9-3 Troll). But do note with a turbo engine, the effective hp can be up to 50% greater than the base hp. There may be some structural differences between the 9-3 and 9-3 Troll.

[Nemesis]

 

U expert sai

 

I'm actually pondering bet LGT & 93

LGT @ 117K & 93 @ 125K

Gating factor is now to trade in my existing car and which one offer a better package

 

Thx for the detail description of the Turbo Lag. So only way to appreciate is to go for a test drive

 

Agree of the structural diff in 93SS v.s 93 Troll even if 93SS is upgrade to Hirsch 1.

I believe a Hirsch 1 will probably cause only 2K to 3K max hence the remaining of the 7K to 8K price diff between SS & Troll will be used to make the structural diff

[Kyosho1]

 

Maybe that's Y 95 gotta the stinky smell

 

But a good design should be able to eliminate & prevent the air from mixing with the condensed wafer from the ac

 

Never hear of this from other makes

 

Hopefully SAAB corrected this problem or else ... ....

 

heh heh, I hate car perfumes and air fresheners. I dun wear much perfume myself either. I dun have body odor. And I dun smoke. heh heh... So it surely has to be the aircon problem.

 

As for the maintenance, to keep the warranty, you have to change all the parts as recommended by Saab mechanic, which total up $$$$ for each servicing. One expensive part, if you have to change the rain wiper, it is more than just the simple bracket + rubber piece

 

Anyway, Subaru and Saab are one big family now, General Motors. Soon, the Subaru WRX sport hatch and a Subaru MPV will be sold under Saab brand. Also, the OMV of Legacy GT is higher than Saab93, yet Legacy is sold cheaper. Legacy has sunroof, airbags to match, McIntosh sound system with multispeakers, climatic controls, twin scroll turbo, AWD, 0-100km/hr in 6.8sec - the choice is clear

[Nemesis]

I know the part of that SAAB and Subaru is 1 big family

 

But serious abt the OMV LGT >> 93

Gotta rough figures 4 the OMVs?

 

So u for LGT?

Edited November 20, 2004 by Nemesis