[TD]

I am getting rid of my '86 900 8valve and planning to buy a 9000. I looked at a 1994 Aero w/ 100,000 miles w/ new clutch, blower motor, heater core and Ignition cassette for $6,500. It drives nice except it pulls to the right a little bit, no rust, good condition. Is a new clutch at 100k an indication of being driven too hard? And if it was driven hard do I need to worry about anything else major happeneing?
Would I be safer getting a 9000cs turbo with a little less power in hopes that it was not driven as hard? By the way my life savings is around $8k so this is not a small investment for me, I dont want to get screwed. There are some CS's around with similiar mileage for a $5000 but not with the new parts. Plus I hear the ECU upgrade for those is easy and gives the car the power of CSE.

 

[4th_Saab]

Take a quick visit to www.quasimotors.com He has some nice reading about 9000s...what to look for, etc.

I don't think 100K is way to early for a new clutch...

Using a Maptun ECU upgrade, you can really boost the performance of a LPT car (the 9000CS). Keep in mind that you'll drop a couple grand into the car in a short time once you start adding performance upgrades...

I love 9000s but they cost a fortune to maintain (In my experience). If funds are limited, I'd personally look elsewhere. I don't follow prices of 9000 Aeros but $6500 for an 11 year old car with 100K miles sounds like a lot of money to me...

 

[midway]

Sounds like all the expensive things have been taken care off. 100k on a clutch is about normal. If you run into any future problems it will be probably be with the Turbo, which will be the same with any Saab you buy.

My 9000 has 251,000 miles and runs like a champ. Good maintenance will give you a dependable car. Use high mileage oil, run injector cleaner through her every 3 months, watch your fluid levels, keep on top of the little things, and you will never regret buying a 9000.

 

[9000MAPTUN]

Is that high mileage oil really worth it?

Anywho... If it has the Aero leather seats, keep those, they are amazing. I wish I had them in my CS...

Sounds like all the expensive things have been taken care off. 100k on a clutch is about normal. If you run into any future problems it will be probably be with the Turbo, which will be the same with any Saab you buy.

My 9000 has 251,000 miles and runs like a champ. Good maintenance will give you a dependable car. Use high mileage oil, run injector cleaner through her every 3 months, watch your fluid levels, keep on top of the little things, and you will never regret buying a 9000.

 

[midway]

Yeah, it's worth it. I have been using high mileage oil for a year now and I am getting better mileage than with regular oil (2 to 3 mpg). When I used regular oil about a 1/4 of a quart would vanish between oil changes, that stopped with the first high mileage use, also the engine runs quieter and cooler.

 

[Basre]

As the owner of 2 9000's and a'84 c900 (since new)I can say that the 9000's are multiples more troublesome... and far less 'sporty' in drive feel.
Yes there have been a 'few' repairs done on that car.. but be assured that the possiblilty of Many more is V real... Trans, Brakes, Suspension, Steering, Exhaust, Electricals.. you will be astounded Or you could get one of the legendary Multi Hundred Thousand mile cars with little or no repairs..that one hears about here, but frankly I've NEVER actually seen in 20 years of Saab ownership
9000's are Luxo cars that have too much Luxo and not enough Detail Engineering to make the Luxo reliable... still amazes me that some consider these hi perf cars.. yes the Motors can be squeezed for significant Power gains Hey I've done it Too .. But it's still a Slow shifting wallowing Boat of a Car...Can you say: 'Granpa's Car'.. but you can add many $$ of suspension upgrades (and a proportionally deteriorated ride0 to get it be less bargelike.
Not to entirely dissade, but to inject a little less 'boosterism' and some objectivity here.
Want Hi mileage Oil.. see if you can still find some STP .. a variation onna Same Theme.

 

[Superaero]

The Aero is definitely not too luxo. The 9000 has always handled better than the 900 and has a more comfortable ride. The Aero takes the handling up a substantila notch and still has a better ride than the 900.


Not all 9000 are garage queens. The 900 was statistically less reliable than the 9000, actually.

The 94 Aero has the sometimes troublesome traction control and electronic throttle. Later Aeros are better bets, but a 94 in good condition is still an excellent choice. the Aero is the best SAAB ever built IMHO, and is better than the newer cars as well. It is noisier than the newer cars but apart from that it is better in almost every way than any other SAAB before or since.

BTW, My first SAAB was a 78 99GL five door, I also had an 84 900 Turbo which was a bit of a garage queen. I still own my two 9000 Turbos, an 86 and a 97 Aero.

 

[KevinC]

As the owner of 2 9000's and a'84 c900 (since new)I can say that the 9000's are multiples more troublesome... and far less 'sporty' in drive feel.
Yes there have been a 'few' repairs done on that car.. but be assured that the possiblilty of Many more is V real... Trans, Brakes, Suspension, Steering, Exhaust, Electricals.. you will be astounded Or you could get one of the legendary Multi Hundred Thousand mile cars with little or no repairs..that one hears about here, but frankly I've NEVER actually seen in 20 years of Saab ownership
9000's are Luxo cars that have too much Luxo and not enough Detail Engineering to make the Luxo reliable... still amazes me that some consider these hi perf cars.. yes the Motors can be squeezed for significant Power gains Hey I've done it Too .. But it's still a Slow shifting wallowing Boat of a Car...Can you say: 'Granpa's Car'.. but you can add many $$ of suspension upgrades (and a proportionally deteriorated ride0 to get it be less bargelike.
Not to entirely dissade, but to inject a little less 'boosterism' and some objectivity here.
Want Hi mileage Oil.. see if you can still find some STP .. a variation onna Same Theme.

There is variation in how people drive and how they maintain there cars. You only need to ask how long cluch/tires/brakes last to understand how a car is driven. A powerful Saab on a standard spec. clutch is unlikely to last 100k unless it has been driven gently and in a flat (Chicago) area. But this is true across car types.

There is a huge range of variation in the performance between different models from Saab, BMW, MB, ect. Put your foot down hard in a BMW 316i and you have minutes to relax before you top out at 114mph.

Perhaps you need a ride in a performance Saab that is well looked after.
I've been around NurenbergRing in four different Saabs, and down the Autobahn when it is empty in two. Any of these rides would have you reconsider your comments about what Saabs can not do in terms of performance. Believe me, a Saab driven in anger can take a passenger to the brown bag/trousers point.

My recent engine failure, the first in 12yrs, happened while I was rapidly leaving a 155mph limited BMW 330csi in the rear view mirror. This was not a low-performance ride.
BMW's suffer lots of failures when driven harder than to the local mall, especially recent models, electric gremlins all over the place, speak to a recent buyer of a 5 or 7 series.