wuvvum Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 I've suddenly found myself in the embarrassing (for someone with a fleet the size of mine) position of running out of road legal cars. The Mazda and the Alfa both run out of T&T at the end of the month (I'll be putting the Alfa through but if it needs work it might have to wait until the weather warms up before it gets done), and the Saab and Volvo 460 have both just run out of tax. The 304's taxed till the end of May but the starter motor's just packed up so the old gal's going to be stood up for a while. So I went on the Bay last night to try and find something dirt cheap and reliable to run about in for the remainder of the winter - ideally something scruffy so it doesn't matter if I have a repeat of last weekend's incident. I was beginning to give up hope when I spotted this. Yes it has a chuffing great dent in the offside rear quarter, but it's got T&T till April, a towbar, only 125K on the clock, and all for £75. So I can run around in it for three months and then weigh it in for a profit. Result! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrogeezer Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Great score - looks pretty good and the dent is hardly an issue is it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel bickle Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Good buy of a good car. S'pect it would pass another MOT and then sell for a healthy profit -once Spring arrives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewp Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Agreed, an excellent buy at scrap value. The dent reminds me of that inflicted upon my wifes £90 Golf some 21 years ago, we never tried to open the door after the impact for fear it would not close, we tried it just before selling it after several more months use ........it closed perfectly, fortunately the car was LHD. The photo shows the "good" rear corner, the same accident made the other corner rather messy after a Capri Ghia (written off) hit it pushing this side into my parked car. Lovely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spottedlaurel Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 An excellent buy!A somewhat shinier 2dr 900 has appeared on my journey to work, made me think how Saab persevered with non-sporting 2- and 3dr biggish cars long after most others had abandoned the format. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuvvum Posted February 4, 2008 Author Share Posted February 4, 2008 S'pect it would pass another MOT and then sell for a healthy profit -once Spring arrives.Well if it passes another MoT I'll probably hang on to it and use it as a towcar/workhorse. I've always had a soft spot for classic 900s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuvvum Posted February 4, 2008 Author Share Posted February 4, 2008 Saab persevered with non-sporting 2- and 3dr biggish cars long after most others had abandoned the format.Yup. Right up until the death of the GM900-shape 9-3, I think (2003 or thereabouts?). Don't think they sold many in later years though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volksy Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Yup, my 9-3 is definatley 'unsporting' except for the somewhat jarring ride quality... Major irritants are the none stop 'bing bongs' whenever you do anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 These dustbin lid wheel trims are something like £50 each from a stealer, you could easily recoup a large chunk of the purchase price selling them to an enthusiast. It's a very good sign that at least two of them are still present.The first (up to '92 maybe) facelift 900s rusted very badly, although most of the rust is visible. Your one looks OK.Most of the facelift models had a rear handbrake, which seems to be much less troublesome than the front ones. The rear handbrake models have a different stud pattern from the front handbrake ones. Earlier 900 wheels won't fit but 9000 ones will.The main weak points are head gaskets (16V engines) and gearboxes, although both have an easier time in non-turbos. A lesser weak point is the earth strap on the rubber-mounted alternator. If it doesn't charge this is the first place to look.None of the above is really any reason to reject a £75 runner though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian_pt Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Excellent car, congratulations. I didn't think they had much of a problem with rust, my mum's '90 900 is still absolutely mint despite lots of abuse... It won't let you down, you could make a pretty good profit on it as well. £75 is a very silly price! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reallyloud Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 For the price you can't go wrong and these old crates drive ever so nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfetta Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 some look great but have tons of rot round the front suspension mounts, usually only turbo side (heat), a non turbo version will usually be fine...other that + rusty door bottoms it's generally not an issue...16v is generally better all round - 8 valve heads sometimes crack between the valves...handbrakes can stick on the front calipers.i've had a few (ok loads) of these, been there done that. too old for me now.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuvvum Posted February 7, 2008 Author Share Posted February 7, 2008 Well it's a non turbo so the front suspension rust shouldn't be an issue, and it's an H plater so the handbrake will be on the back. I'm not too worried about door bottom rust as it's largely cosmetic - it's structural rust that scares me. It does have a saggy headlining, but half a dozen pins will fix that. I'm assuming it's an 8 valve rather than a 16 (the ad didn't specify one way or t'other), but to be honest I've never had any Saab engine go wrong on me - not even the 9-5, which are notorious for blowing up at a moment's notice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 The 8 valve head cracking problem was fixed in 1984 so you should be OK there. I think the last of the 8V models were H plate but I'm not sure when they started phasing in the 16V non-turbo engines.I think the rusty period affected D, E and F plate 900s. We had an F plater which was looking very shabby by 1999. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milford Cubicle Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 What's the score on these?Noticed this one for £250 on the 'Bay and I'm most interested - it's a 1988 injected 8-valve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuvvum Posted March 8, 2008 Author Share Posted March 8, 2008 They're chuffing brilliant. Ultra-reliable, built like tanks and really nice to drive. Usually fairly solid too, apart from the door bottoms and the bonnet lip, and front arches on earlier cars. That one on the Bay looks pretty tidy - I'd say it's worth a punt at that money. This one looks nice too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milford Cubicle Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 What are they like to drive? I imagine the odd engine/gearbox layout creates a lot of front-heaviness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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