1988 SAAB 900 i review from Finland

Charger repaired at 347k kms.

A very slight power-steering fluid leak, not cost-effective to get repaired. Needs to refill every 3 or 4 months.

A small brake fluid leak, needs refilling once in 2 months or so.

2nd-gear's synchromesh rather worn. Isn't too annoying, just needs a bit care when changing from 1st to 2nd gear.

Some rust in bottoms of the doors and around front suspension's attachment points. In latter places welding has been needed.

Being an 8-valve injection-model, the car has rather sluggish performance, at least in my opinion, and at speeds above 100 km/h it's somewhat noisy when compared with more modern cars.

I've uprated the car with -35 mm lowering springs and Koni shocks, while keeping the original 185/65 15" tyre-size. As a result, the ride is less comfortable, but handling has improved a lot, and the car is very stable even at its top speed of 175 km/h.

My particular example is a black 3-door hatchback with a rear spoiler and a dark red velour interior, and I like its looks a lot. I considered fitting 16 or 17 inch alloys into it, but ended up buying 15" Alessio Spiders, mainly because the basic design of the car is, despite the '87 face-lift, from the late 70's, so with too modern (= big) wheels it would probably look just ridiculous.

I like the general quality of the car, and considering the high mileage, it has been surprisingly reliable. However, old Saabs aren't cheap to repair if things start to go wrong - I know it from my last car, an '80-model Saab 99 GL. So for someone looking for a cheap and individual (latter doesn't apply in Scandinavia, I think) daily transport an old Saab 900 might be good choice, but then it would be wise for a potential buyer to find out the typical faults of these cars and make sure the one he / she is buying is a good example with service history.