I've been offered a 97P SAAB 9000CDE auto for 6k by a mechanic friend of mine (very reliable).The car will be used mainly by my wife around town with occasional motorway trips.
It comes with FSH has all the gizmos:leather,aircon,alloys etc but has done 146k miles and I'm a little put off by this. I know the engines are fairly bombproof but I know the autobox could prove costly if it goes wrong.
Apparently the car was used to ferry VIP air travellers on arrival hence the high mileage.
I will be viewing the car this morning, is there anything I should look for, apart from the mechanics, and does the car represent good value for money.
Thanks in advance
Steve
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sorry - should have said it's a 2litre turbo.
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The 2-litre eco turbo is least suited to the auto box, and as someone else says, the auto box can be a weak link. Quite frankly, for the mileage, the price is way over the top. It is true that the cars last, my 9000 2-litre (non-turbo) has done 197k on the original engine & manual box, but at this mileage you should be looking at 3k-3.5k rather than 6k.
If you want a Saab 9000, there are plenty of specialist sites that will give you some idea of sensible prices & what you can get for the same sort of price - try saaben.com, saabtrader.co.uk, compassgarage.co.uk.
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Steve,
HJ's car-by-car lists most of the good and bad things about the Saab.
From a friend's experience, I can confirm that the auto box is the weak link - especially at that sort of mileage.
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I never cease to be amazed at the cheek of "friends/contacts" offering such terrible deals.
At auction I guess this car would be under £3K, you should get one showing lower mileage at a dealer for less than £6K!
If friends want a no-haggle deal I advise them to just take around the Parkers Guide trade-in figure and settle at that.
Have a look at Parkers website for the Saab and see what it says.
David W
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The car is worth 3500 tops, and be prepared for high service costs. I own a '98 2lt cs turbo auto which is perfect for the motorway, but the mpg around town is pathetic. If this is going to be your main use I would advise something smaller. I average 31-33 mpg on A/M roads, but this dropped to 17mpg when my wife was using it to only drive around town for two weeks solid.
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Thanks to all for your informed comments. You have all confirmed what I suspected myself - that the car was way over the top for the asking price.
I did try Parker's on line for a price check but this particular model did not show!
Needless to say I declined to buy the car and will, in future, use my mechanic for servicing and repairs only, because no one likes having the p*** taken out of them.
Cheers
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If he's prepared to take you to the cleaners over the sale of the car then I would have serious doubts about letting him loose to service your cars!
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