Due to the constant growing male German Shepherd I do not think he appreciates being stuffed down the footwell of the Impreza anymore. This led to a lot of research and I finally decided to source a Saab 9-5 estate, in particular the 'Aero' version (2.3 litre turbo, 250bhp), model year 2002+ for the facelift, manual transmission and FSH.

Rare electric optional sunroof, rare upgraded optional 9x speaker Harmon Kardon audio system + 6CD changer, optional retractable dog guard, optional rubber boot mat, optional rubber floor mats, optional tow bar, rear parking sensors, full leather, electric front heats with 3 programable memory settings, dual air con climate control, auto dim mirrors, cruise control, xenon lights.

I've owned her for just over a week now and since purchase I have done a full engine oil and filter change, replaced rear Saab badge, replaced weathered shark fin ariel and new plain number plates. I spent this Saturday giving her a proper clean including removing all tar spots and claying the paint. I've then sealed all the bodywork and windows and it's now gleaming. I've cleaned all the interior and cleaned/conditioned the leather too.

As it's 13 years old, there are a few scuffs here and there but overall it is in very good condition and its never seen paint. It's on 114k miles which is low for a big old estate and the previous owner had the alloys refurbished so that they are mint. The alloys are actually from a pre-facelift model but they are much cooler than the newer ones. More importantly, my dog is happy as larry in the back .

Pictures don't do it justice.





















All this for how much I hear you ask? A measly sum of £1525. Your German equivalent (BMW E39 530 Sport, manual (if you can find a good and I did try!); Around £3500....

Hopefully it'll last a good few years and yes, I'm keeping my Subaru which is tucked up in the garage .

Enjoy!

 

Always liked Saabs much nicer than the Vectra it shares it's platform with.

 

I like it.

 

looks sweet mate,ive been looking at the later versions of these (05 onwards) with the 2.8 v6 vectra vxr running gear in and you can get them for around £3k-£3.5k

 

Nice lookin barge .....

 

Thanks. A rear roof spoiler would finish it off really nicely but it was a factory option. Not sure if it's worth spending £300 to find one then sprayed and fitted.

 

Great barge is that. Fast and fit for purpose.

 

Very nice indeed. Is the front number plate legal?

 

Hi,
Nice looking Saab.
If stopped for the number plate - just let the policeman have a word with your dog!!
Cheers
Steve

 

Front plate is not legal due to size (12x3") but I've got the same size front on my Subaru and I've never been stopped. I doubt I ever will and there's a lot more illegal spaced number plates on the roads anyway. Technically the rear plate isn't legal either because it doesn't have the small print at the bottom but I asked for it not to be put on because I like the plain simple look on number plates.

Is it wrong that I'm already considering a 285bhp remap? . A great sleeper then but it already shifts as it is!

 

Leave it standard and it will remain reliable, start messing with it and you run the risk of expensive repair bills.

But hey, your car, your money.

 

I've owned a few Saabs over the years and with one exception they were all reliable, quite fast and easy to work on. The Saab experts all reckon the engine lasts for ever while the bodywork rots around it! That never happened to me and the last one I sold (a 93) went away with 230,000 miles on the clock and all in one piece. Several years later it's still going strong.

Your 95 looks great and for ridiculous money too. Bit of a bargain for sure.

 

One of my ex's mums had an identical (apart from standard wheels and carbon dash trim) 05-plate version of that car... the performance was really quite impressive in 2nd and 3rd gear, so can only imagine how punchy it would be with a stage one map on it.

One of the best cars you could buy for the money IMO.


Cheers,
Grant

 

Expensive tax and watch out for the timing chain issues!

Doing the timing chain on my VXR now and its only done 37k!

 

Cheers guys! Trust me, I spent weeks researching all sorts of estates/large cars and without a doubt you can not beat the 9-5 aero estate for price, performance, size, luxury, extras and looks. I initially wanted an E39 530i touring but a decent one would cost £3500 and for what extra would £2000 give me over the Saab? The badge? Not to mention the cost of parts and servicing (and if you can find a decent one in manual). I also looked at Volvo V70's but again, more money and they don't look good in my opinion. I was close to looking at a Subaru Legacy Outback but decided that I didn't want a 4x4 sort of car as a primary vehicle (plus the 3 litre manuals are rare and finding a good one is also very hard).

So yeah, I waited a bit for a good 9-5 aero to come up and when I saw this one advertised, a phone call to the seller with a series of questions etc, I viewed and drove it away the next day. The only that I would like to do is get the sump dropped and cleared of potential sludge to be on the safe side. I'll probably do this in November when it's due a service. The stage one 280bhp remap is also extremely tempting and the 2.3 engine and gearbox is meant to handle it easily.

 

there is a few in the lower tax band, there is talk of the timing chain issue only on vauxhall cars, some people say that vauxhall put their own timing chain on it.some say the saabs have no problems. its all forum talk anyway. i spoke with courtney sport regarding cost to supply and fit a new timing kit..........they say they have never done one/never needed to do one and the price would be £2500.................:cuc koo:

 

No under steer either, fair play

 

I work for a saab specialists and tbh ive never heard of the bodys rotting away, im yet to see one thats really rotten and i MOT saabs as much as 30 years old sometimes and occasionally sometimes more.

 

The chains do fail, as do the waterpumps, we fit at least one timing chain kit a week but to be fair they are all higher mileage engines circa 100k +. The job is supposed to involve the head being removed hence the high repair bill, however there is a way to do it with leaving the head on and feeding the chain round the sprockets and guides by splitting and attatching the new chain to the old chain.

 

Its worth getting the sump cleaned, the amount a crap that ive seen in the bottom of them is unreal, it dosent help the pick up pipe sits so low to the base of the sump, theres literally about 5mm between them, the engine will normally whirr and whine when this needs doing

Some of the things you need to watch for is the bushes on the trailing arms and front arms, the sim unit thats fitted behind the steering wheel, the key loosing its coding and the wiring that goes through the bootlid and the di pack(coil pack) Everything else seems to be good on them.

 

What would your charge be including parts? Pm if prefer

 

I think its about £400-500 all in

 

Gazza, on a 1 hour spirited drive yesterday, coming back from Warwick castle, the car started to judder under hard acceleration when the turbo kicks in at around 3500rpm. I did a search on the Saab forums and it could be a brg valve(not sure if I've remembered that correctly?), the fuel pump, or some pipes that have come off? Any ideas or any pictures of an engine bay with arrows so I know where to check?

 

Can you explain the judder a bit more, was it more a surging or like a missfire?

 

also watch out for the infamous saab "wake you in the middle of the night" alarm fault

 

Yeah there are lower tax ones, just hard to find one with sensible mileage!

The Chains on VX's go at any time, and the cost of the repair is quite often there is head reapirs to do, luckily I caught mine while it had just stretched and no damage done. I think all in its costing about £1700 from a Saab specialist.

Quite a few Saab chains have gone too they report, although they do seem to be higher mileage compared to my VXR which has gone at 37k! The VX and Saab part numbers are the same for the timing chain kit, but I have specified I want a saab kit fitted as I know they just randomly uprated some parts that are supposedly the "same" as the VX one! Hopefully that is one of them

 

It had spark plugs and coil pack changed to a sum of £320 a week before I picked it up so I don't think it's misfiring. It just hesitates when I put foot to the floor at around 3500rpm as if something is holding it back, then it'll suddenly go and hesistste again= juddering up to about 5000rpm but it only started doing this yesterday and only when I floor it. It wasn't accelerating smoothly like it should.

 

Was it a genuine saab coil pack? If not then thats your problem, the amount of near new aftermarket coil packs weve accumulated at work due to them failing after a week is unreal. The cam sensor is built into the packs and anything other than genuine ones dont work well

If you can get the car to me in birmingham then i can try a genuine di pack on there to see if it sorts the issue, before you spend big money on a genuine one.

 

I just rang the garage who fitted a new the coil pack and he said they aren't genuine Saab but good quality OE equilivants (it's not a Saab specialist garage). Now I'm in two minds going by what you've said that that could be the reason? Birmingham is an hours drive from me so I'm not keen on travelling although I appreciate the offer and help. Not sure what to do now as don't want to waste money or time

 

Also highly doubt the expensive NGK spark plugs were fitted either... Going to take the DI pack and plugs out to have a look otherwise it's £250+ for a new DIC and plugs...........

Edit: Bosch double platinum spark plugs coupled with aftermarket DIC, I think that's my problem . Gazza, any chance you can get me a genuine DIC and NGK PFR6H-10 spark plugs for a good price please? PM'd