Shopping for 1st Saab, need help...

[SeaWolf]

I am in need of an economical car mainly to be used for commuting to/from work and just to get me around town. I would prefer a wagon just for the sake of space. I have recently become infatuated with the Saab 9-5 wagon. They seem to be well built and come with a ton of options.

I have $3500 cash and would love to find something around that range. I really do not want to finance a vehicle, we already make payments on my wife's van that we bought last year and we are trying to save money.

I ran across a 1999 9-5 with 160,000 miles. The seller (wholesaler in North Carolina), said the car had a rebuilt/salvage title due to rear end damage. However the car has been repaired 100% and according to the pics, the car looks like new. Also, the interior is immaculate and the car has a new set of michelin tires. Seller said there is no evidence of any damage and the car runs great. He is only asking $2500 for the car.

I have never bought a salvage vehicle, and quite honestly am a little leery. If, in fact, the seller is truthful is his disclosure, this seems to be a good buy. What should I be on the lookout for? Will I have any trouble getting it registered?

I really want a 9-5 Wagon, I think I am in love!

Thanks for your help!

[godd1000]

Originally Posted by SeaWolf

I am in need of an economical car mainly to be used for commuting to/from work and just to get me around town. I would prefer a wagon just for the sake of space. I have recently become infatuated with the Saab 9-5 wagon. They seem to be well built and come with a ton of options.

I have $3500 cash and would love to find something around that range. I really do not want to finance a vehicle, we already make payments on my wife's van that we bought last year and we are trying to save money.

I ran across a 1999 9-5 with 160,000 miles. The seller (wholesaler in North Carolina), said the car had a rebuilt/salvage title due to rear end damage. However the car has been repaired 100% and according to the pics, the car looks like new. Also, the interior is immaculate and the car has a new set of michelin tires. Seller said there is no evidence of any damage and the car runs great. He is only asking $2500 for the car.

I have never bought a salvage vehicle, and quite honestly am a little leery. If, in fact, the seller is truthful is his disclosure, this seems to be a good buy. What should I be on the lookout for? Will I have any trouble getting it registered?

I really want a 9-5 Wagon, I think I am in love!

Thanks for your help!

I don't know about value of the older cars but I get about 22mpg. Thats not that good but I wouldn't trade the horsepower for anything. Every week i drop $40 for gas. It adds up

[SeaWolf]

22 would be a good start. I just got rid of a truck that got 11mpg if I was lucky. Was costing me almost $80/week.

This 9-5 in particular has the base 2.3t motor, so perhaps it may get higher mpg than your aero? The EPA claims 17/27 for this model. I guess we shall see.

[Kermit]

The 2.3 generally returns about 17-18mpg in traffic and early 30's on a freeway run.

[MacNoob]

If you're trying to save money, and can't do the mechanical work yourself, a older Saab is NOT the way to go! Any car with 160k miles is going to be needy in terms of maintenance... and you'll pay through the nose for parts and labour unless you can DIY.

Just finishing up a four week marathon changing out the head gasket and doing other sundry maintenance on my '01 at about that mileage. About $2500 worth of work for a shop - I'm into it for about $500 worth of parts and machine shop work.

I've already replaced the turbo ($500 parts) brakes all around ($300 parts) rear shocks ($100 parts) and new tires ($900) all this year.

On the other hand an equivalently comfortable, versatile, economical, and safe new car is in the $50k range here. I'd be happy to pay someone to do some of this work, but there just isn't anyone locally that I'm comfortable with.