Hey everyone, I am looking at a 1988 Saab Turbo w/automatic transmission. It has a fairly new convertible top. The car is white w/burgandy interior. The interior is nice except for the dashboard.(cracks) It is at a used car lot, they will put a battery in it tommorow, the guy says it runs & drives out fine. I did notice oil under the car on the frame & body. The ac belt is missing. They are asking $1200 for it. This will be my first Saab. So, is this a deal? if so what do I need to be looking for when I go back to drive this car? Thanks, Larry
Look at the colour of the tranny fluid, should be clear red or at least clear. Check condition of the three motor mounts, if oil then the hydraulic mounts may need to be replaced. I know nothing about AC. If the car has lots of miles, then the turbo could be close to its final 30k-50k miles. Are the vac hoses in good shape and not hard and brittle? I just bought a '89 SPG for $800 US w/197k, but mine was a 5 spd, little rust. Have put 3k and no problems, even passed MOT with a N/A ECU and 2.8 bar FPR.
Does anyone here have a dash WITHOUT cracks?? $1200 is a fair price for that car I would think. Plenty out there going for more, not many for less that are driveable.
The automatic is less desirable to many. Its a 3-speed and runs high RPMs on the highway.
Many of these cars had the AC belt removed once the system stopped blowing cold, so you can safely assume the AC is not operable at all. A little oil leakage is certainly both normal and fixable.
If the thought of the auto tranny doesn't turn you off, make sure that the car shifts smoothly and at appropriate speeds under different load conditions. You'll want to stomp the thing and run it up to a good 65 mph, you'll want to run in top gear at say 50 and then stomp on it to make sure it kicks down and you'll also want to ease it up slowly to be good and sure about it. The auto trannies are durable, but once they are on the way out servicing them can be pretty hit and miss.
I do somewhere I was going to use it and then I heard people spending like a kilobuck to fix their cracked ones "right" and now I want someone to give me a kilobuck :lol:
Thanks everyone for the info. I will keep you updated as time goes on.
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