ark@alice.UUCP (Andrew Koenig) (01/24/85)
If you look at Saabs, look at Volvos too. Compared with Saab, Volvo is boxier, has rear-wheel drive (Saab is front-wheel), can probably carry a bit more, but should be a little less efficient because of its shape. Extremely reliable, well-designed, comfortable. Handles very well. Costs about the same as a Saab. I don't know much in detail about Saabs -- I expect which you prefer is mostly a matter of taste -- but if you like one you'll probably like the other so if you're shopping look at both.
droms@CS-Mordred (Ralph E Droms) (02/01/85)
I've worked on both Sprites and Saabs. Sprites are probably an order of magnitude easier to work on. No electronic gadgets, no A/C, no cruise control, no nuthin'. And, yes, the bottom of the Saab engine compartment is closed off with sheet metal, just to make the job a little more interesting. 25 hours seems pretty reasonable to unhook all those cute little widgets and get 'em hooked up again RIGHT. - Ralph -- Ralph Droms ihnp4!purdue!droms 445 MATH droms@purdue.arpa Dept. of Computer Science droms@purdue.csnet Purdue University West Lafayette, IN 47906
hgp@houem.UUCP (#H.PAGE) (02/03/85)
If I could add my 2 cents... Saab: Great in Snow, great for that money burning a hole in your pocket. I once bought an old Saab 99 (and boy was that a saab story; mine had the Triumph engine) with a bad transmission. Now the 99 isn't a 900 but I believe the layout of the drive train is quite similar. Thinking I would save some $$$, I decided to carry the tranny into the shop. Lo and behold I was amazed how easily the engine popped out. One needed only to unhook the water hoses, accelerator cable, clutch cable, etc. and split the CV joints on each side (20 minute job per side). The engine is unbolted and lifted out. It was a little harder to separate the engine and tranny, but with the correct tools and work space (I had neither), it would be, perhaps, a one hour job. The installation procedure took a little longer, but was very straight forward. Perhaps with A/C, PS, and cruse control the job is significantly more difficult. As for my Saab, I paid $900 for it, $550 to fix the tranny (in 1978), $150 for misc. parts. It was driven twice between Cleveland, OH and Colorado; on the third trip back to Colorado the engine started going, first one cylinder, then another. I parked it in Boulder, and called DEnver's marvelous Saab Subaru junk yard to come pick it up. Moral of the story: 1) If you can't afford to have someone fix your Saab, you cand afford your Saab. 2) If you simply want to get to point B from point A, forget about a Saab. Here in NJ, my Omni does OK. I have many restful nights, not having to worry about by car door being bumped in a parking lot. In a place such as Colorado, however... 3) Never, but never buy an British car or a car with a British engine. Have fun! Howard G. Page ..!ihnp4!houem!hgp ``Someday I'm gonna' make you Mrs. Bucky Turgeson!''
klein@ucbcad.UUCP (02/06/85)
> If I could add my 2 cents... > . . . > Moral of the story: > > 1) If you can't afford to have someone fix your Saab, you > cand afford your Saab. > > 2) If you simply want to get to point B from point A, forget about > a Saab. Here in NJ, my Omni does OK. I have many restful > nights, not having to worry about by car door being bumped > in a parking lot. In a place such as Colorado, however... > > 3) Never, but never buy an British car or a car with a British > engine. The only lesson I see from this article is that you shouldn't buy an old Saab 99 that needs engine work, and expect to get something great for next to nothing. -- -Mike Klein ...!ucbvax!ucbmerlin:klein (UUCP) klein%ucbmerlin@berkeley (ARPA)
dmm@browngr.UUCP (David Margolis) (02/11/85)
in regards to the 25 hours supposedly needed to remove/replace the transmission
from a Saab 900 Turbo ...
Having worked on Saabs for the past six years I can say that the engine/tranny
can be pulled as a unit from the engine compartment with the proper tools in
2 - 3 hours, including the time needed to disconnect bolt/wire-on connections
to the engine. The time is less for non-turbos, of course.
I happen to think that Saab engineering is top-notch, and not only is
their third generation turbo very well designed, the rest of the car is also.
In an emergency situation there is no other car I would rather be in, for
positive handling characteristics and crash safety also.
As far as believing that it takes 25 hours to replace the tranny, well,
just consider how long it would take to strip the WHOLE car if it were left
on the Bronx expressway, for instance.labuda@endot.UUCP (Dave Labuda) (02/11/85)
I am sorry if your Saab didn't work out well, but I don't think it's fair to crucify the entire company for your bad choice. I purchased a 1974 Saab 99 GLE last July with 200,000 miles on it and haven't put a dime of maintanence into it. So please don't taint the Saab name just because you found a car that was not properly cared for. Dave Labuda decvax!cwruecmp!labuda REMEMBER : cars need TLC to live long too....