1997 SAAB 900 SE Taledega 2.0 petrol from UK and Ireland

Summary:

A second hand bargain

Faults:

The fan belt jockey wheel destroyed itself two weeks after I got the car - quite common apparently (£30.00 for a new belt, I got the jockey wheel from a breakers for £2.00) but apart from that it has been faultless.

General Comments:

Strange car this one, handling a bit vague.

Performance not electrifying

Fuel consumption very poor.

But:

Good boot size

Decent cabin (lots of toys)

Great on the motorway (fuel consumption improves a bit - but only a bit)

Very comfortable and quiet.

When I bought this car for my wife I thought I would hate it, but to be quite honest with you despite its faults I really like it. It is a strange phenomenon, as soon as you start to drive it you get a sort of calm feeling, you don't need to overtake the person in front, you let people out at junctions, it's a sort of anti-BMW very strange.

One of the best things about this car though is that it is not a Mondeo/Vectra/Cavalier yes I know it shares the floorpan with the Cav, but most of it is Saab (The only common parts I could find were the rear wash/wipe squirter, the boot catch - which I have banged my head on so many times I have lost count - the headlight adjuster switch and one other thing which I can't remember now!) it has a Saab engine (with a cam-chain, so no massive bills if the cam-belt goes) Saab suspension, Saab body, and a Saab interior, with what must be the coolest cabin air vents in any car, take a look at one and you will see what I mean.

One final thing, this is probably one of the best value second hand cars around. It has all the toys, a fairly swanky badge, but is half the cost of the equivalent BMW/Audi/VW its even cheaper than its Ford/GM rivals - amazing.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 18th June, 2004

20th Jul 2004, 13:42

Just bought the identical car (Cayenne Red) here in America. A 1997 convertible with 69,000+ miles. Going from a Jeep Grand Cherokee to this is unbelievable. Great interior feel and looks and great power. Still haven't figured out the need for rear fog-lights yet??

David.

4th Jun 2005, 17:05

RE: "Still haven't figured out the need for rear fog-lights yet??"

There is actually only one rear fog-light. It is there so that in really bad fog the drivers behind you see you and do not rear-end you :-) Gotta love SAAB!!!

28th Sep 2005, 06:42

I've had a '97 2.3 XS Talladega for over two years now and I pretty much agree with all of the above.

However, I find if you take it easy on the motorway you can get over 40mpg.

I love my SAAB and although the book price of it is only around £1500, it's worth more than double that to me. And it's only got 70k miles on it so it will easily do that again.

It's like a BMW only more individual.

1997 SAAB 900 S Taladega 2.3L from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Excellent, reliable and classy buy.

Faults:

Mutli-stack CD player (Clarion) in boot jammed and needed to be sent interstate to be fix by the manufacturer. $800 to repair the laser.

Decals needed replacing between windows. May have been due to previous owner. Approximately $150 each.

General Comments:

Excellent car, with a sporty feel and luxury items.

Never had any problems with the running of the car and it runs very well both in the city and on the highway. Would recommend using Premium Unleaded, and whilst an additional cost, the improved results are obvious. Servicing is not the cheapest, however that is expected if you buy a European car.

The heated-seats are a bonus, particularly if you have a sore-back!

This car also has one of the most remarkable level of boot space for a hatchback, with the seat being able to fold down and many other features to list! Even after 2 years I am still finding nifty things that have been designed into the car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 27th April, 2004

2nd Nov 2004, 15:08

I just recently bought a used SAAB 900s last week. It had 95K miles on it, but engine feels new. I have just one problem with it so far, yesterday the audio system shut down on me. My radio won't work, as well as the tape player. The display screen does not recognize that there is a tape in, so I figured the tape was jammed, so since the eject button won't work, I manually took the tape out, with the help of a butter knife, but nothing changed. None of the buttons on the audio pannel work except the on/off switch that makes the antenna go up and down. Except I found out that when you hold down the Band button, "Code In" is displayed on the display screen. I have no idea what that means. I don't know how to program the little computer in there, or what the programs do. I would just like some help on figuring out what is wrong with my audio system, it gets very boring and lonely in my car without any kind of music : (

Thanks,

Kelly.

View 9 more comments