New to me 9-5 Arc Restoration Project

Greetings, trying to keep the forums alive. Seems like everyone is migrating over to FB Groups.

(for those who are interested, here is my youtube channel. I try to document everything done to this car) - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDxRI82DI5xrL5yKQSxZBog

I recently sold my dream Saab - The Viggen due to moving out of state and couldn't justify taking it with me (long story). The Viggen was my 4th and favorite Saab and I was sad to see it go.

So when I moved, I was on the search for another. I posted on the local Saab FB group with 2 conditions - It had to be manual and under $1,500. I got a few responses. One of them caught my eyes (mainly because it was $850 ). The owner worked with me down to $700 and it was a deal!

This is my 2004 9-5 Arc. It was sitting for a bit because the previous owner bought a new car and has not been used. It runs and drives remarkably well. Still a mystery to me why the owner let it go for so cheap. Maybe one day I will find out (hopefully I don't haha). It has zero rust, not even a speck! This is new to me because I am from the rust belt. It was weird to see an old car without rust!


Has 165k miles on the clock


It is indeed a manual


The first thing to do was to give it a good exterior wash. Body panels are in excellent shape, I could see no dings or dents, just a few scratches in the common places.



Next on the list is a good interior detail. It needs it badly haha.

I am also documenting the progress on my YT channel.