Need Advice: Should I get a 2001 9-5 Aero?

[bleuiko]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new and I've never owned a Saab. I was wondering if I could get some advice on whether to get a Saab... and perhaps this one in particular. I saw this car at a local car place and it looked decent:

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...ingId=30228427

It is a 2001 9-5 Aero with about 106K miles on it. I ran the Carfax report and it seems the previous owner (only had one) has been maintaining it regularly at the dealer. Here is the Carfax link:

http://www.carfax.com/viewEmailRepor...i3&language=EN

I have not test driven it yet but will do that on Monday. I have been reading a bit about the 9-5 and know that I should check the date on the DI Casette as well as checking to see if it has the updated "6th version" of some valves behind the engine (sorry... I'm not very mechanical) which may help with the sludge problem. I also should check the air hoses since they usually need replacing with age. What else should I check for?

Should I get this car? And if so, what kind of price would be reasonable? Blue book value in my area is about $5200 so the price offered is definitely a bit high so I will try to get the seller to lower it somewhat.

Finally, I'm not too mechanically inclined so will probably have to take the car to the shop. I hope to drive the car for about 2-3 years, would I be spending a lot for a 2001 Saab?

Sorry for the long first post! Thank you all for the awesome information on the forum and I look forward to your advices!

[Chris 9-5]

Hi and welcome

Personally I would continue to look for a >2002 facelift 9-5 the impovements to steering in particular make it very worth while!

The aero is the flagship model, tons of power and is the least likely to have suffered from sludge - but it is still a good idea to have the sump off and cleaned on ANY 9-5 you buy

These are great cars, but go have a drive in a few, try a facelift one too

[SaabNineThree]

I have a 2001 9-5 Aero with 147,000 km's when i bought it and how it has 160,000, it runs great no issues only things to brake thats under highload was a coolant pipe but they are rubber and easy to fix but i have already changed them and they have been fine for the last 2 months. i payed 6500 for mine

[willyork]

great car. Owned the car for one year, from 140k to 155k, so far so good.

[bleuiko]

That's great to hear that the Saabs with so many miles are still running great. I'm still debating whether to get this car or not. I will try to look for a 2002 Aero but my budget is limited.

[jtjohnson5]

go for it if you can't find anything better/newer

i bought my 2000 aero in febuary, and love it.

just test drive it on the highway and push the pedal down and then you'll love this car

i picked mine up for about 4200 from private seller with 100k miles and have put 25k on it not major problems

[templetx]

I just bought my 2002 9-5 Aero, with 97k miles, and I bought it for $4600, or $5000 after taxes and registration. So I would defenietly look to lower the price a lot more.

[erics84]

2001 9-5 Aero Automatic here with 126k miles. Here's my problem list:

Thermostats went out 3 times, no idea why so frequent. The latest one has lasted 2 years now. When this happened, my girlfriend, oblivious to the beeps and bongs drove it about a hundred miles in the mountains at extreme heat in the summer. There was no coolant left, it boiled like mad! I'm amazed at the car's fortitude to survive such an ordeal.

Throttle body got weak, cleaning didn't work, replacing it solved a rough idle problem.

Transmission mount and engine mounts were broken when I bought it. Simple fix for rough idle in gear.

Serpentine belt shredded itself. Not sure how this happened, it was relatively new. Put the long belt configuration back together, been great for 3 years now.

Various bulbs went out in the cabin, easy fix. Both gear selector lights were out, was fun to figure out what gear I was in in the dark.

Auto transmission torque converter lost a seal. Resulted in a $3k rebuild cost. This was by far the worst thing that has happened, I'd like to say that it was because of the previous owner... I was never late on replacing fluids.

Last, the fuel pump clips broke leading to no fuel pressure leaving me stranded hundreds of miles away (If only I knew what it was!). The problem part that led to this should have been recalled on your car.

I'm hoping that there are no more!

[SaabNineThree]

Yeah fair enough my tranny mount went also but it was my fault lol, you have to remember its a car every car brakes no matter what you drive some more often then others saabs as far as i know are pretty tank they will run even if parts are not working just not to the best of their ability

[bleuiko]

Haha... wow. That's a long list! I talked to the seller and they seem really hesitant to go below $5,900... what can you do?

I tried looking around the Los Angeles area and apparently there arn't many 2001/2002 Saabs for sale. I guess I'll go tomorrow to test drive it and try to negotiate anyway. But hearing the prices you guys paid for your cars, I really don't think I should pay their asking price.

[erics84]

I forgot to add, despite that long list, I still love the car and it is in immaculate shape right now. In fact, after some TLC I think it feels the best that it ever has in the 4 years that I have owned it.

[126p]

That price seems high to me. The reason I say this is because I see prices like this all the time. I sold my 02 Aero for 4k this summer, it had 150k on it and ran/looked great. Keep looking. If you have the patience/time it will pay off.

As to reliability, my experience with 9-5's has been 100% positive. After owning my first one for 3 years I had spent $0 on any repairs aside from the usual brakes, oil, and simple maintenance.

Good luck.

[bleuiko]

Wow... I guess Saabs are just more expensive in LA.

[126p]

After hearing economic reports coming from California I would have thought the opposite.

Try ebay - I've seen them go for laughable prices there.

[bleuiko]

Haha... I took your advice and looked up ebay. I found only ONE Saab within 100 miles of me! It was a 95 convertible.... Man...

[Slee_Stack]

I like my Saab. But I really wouldn't recommend a used (non-certified) Saab to anybody who isn't comfortable doing their own repairs OR has a good budget to pay an indy to do them.

I've had a higher-than-average number of issues with my Saab than other used vehicles I've owned. I've fixed them all myself for a reasonable amount of money, but had labor $$$ been involved, I might not be so enamored with my Saab.

If you enjoy working on cars, you will enjoy owning a Saab.