1995 SAAB 9000 CS 2.4LPT from North America

Summary:

A pleasure to drive, a burden to own

Faults:

Acquired with faulty radio, intermittent ACC, intermittent dash light dimmer.

Replaced radio, ignored ACC issues, bypassed dimmer.

Parking brake cable broke.

Downpipe from Exhaust Manifold broke, required replacement of entire Cat because all are of one piece. Replaced with aftermarket converter.

Hose to MAP sensor needed replaced.

Fuel Pump needed replaced.

Car was retired after the Left Front axle broke on the Highway.

General Comments:

A pleasure to drive, a burden to own. If you take pleasure in tinkering and have backup transportation, you will get great joy from it. If you need a car that is just THERE for you, day in, day out, get a Saturn.

I won't say I didn't enjoy owning it; I did, but it was getting tiresome the frequency with which something needed attention.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 24th September, 2008

1995 SAAB 9000 Aero 2.3 turbo from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Amazing performance, luxury, value for money

Faults:

Clutch worn out at 129000 miles, a common problem with 9000s and quite expensive to repair (best part of £1,000)

Turbo pipes perished, easy and cheap to replace.

General Comments:

Power and performance are comparable to the latest uber-hatches - VXR, Focus ST, R32 - but this car is more luxurious and a bit larger. Very practical, comfortable, reliable, and safe.

Grip is pretty good from the wide tyres, but there's plenty of torque steer to separate the men from the boys.

I love it, especially on the motorway where nothing comes close to the in-gear acceleration. And all for £1500.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 5th March, 2008

1995 SAAB 9000 CD 2.3 from Finland

Summary:

Strong, and good-looking to boot

Faults:

Nothing much, except that the electric windows stopped working once, but they started working again!! A loose contact, possibly. The hose from the windshield wiper fluid tank broke a couple of times. Apart from this, only the hand break cable had to be changed.

General Comments:

A very comfortable car, though a bit thirsty around town. It cruises beautifully on the highways. The cruise control is worth its weight (??) in gold, because on Finnish highways, one could really get tired of holding down the accelerator. It is a very safe car, too - I have not felt safer even in a Mercedes!

Even though the car is 10 years old, the interior looks good (Alcantara), has a touch of class to it, and no rattles or squeaks.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 29th December, 2005

1995 SAAB 9000 CS 4 cylinder gas from North America

Summary:

Would not buy another one

Faults:

Middle muffler rusted through at 68000 miles, air conditioning compressor leaked, needed to be replaced at 69,000 miles, cost over $1,500. Now auto shift gets stuck in gear or won't shift into drive at 70,000 miles. Gas level sending unit in gas tank died at 69,000 miles, unit will cost $500 plus labor to replace.

General Comments:

Car looks nice sitting in driveway, too bad it falls apart on the road.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 30th September, 2005

1995 SAAB 9000 CD 2.0 turbo from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

This car falls apart and costs a fortune to repair

Faults:

The car had various faults when first purchased which the dealer agreed to fix, these included oil leaks, spongy and noisy brakes. Further problems developed, break noise returned, car started using water. Turns out the water was actually leaking into the engine (?!), this cost approx $6000 NZD to fix on a car that was purchased for $10,00 NZD. Fortunately this was covered by a mechanical warranty purchased when buying the car. Despite this water problem being fixed the car still lost water and required more trips to the mechanics and various other attempts to stop the water leaks. at about 95,000 kilometers the gear box started to become very rough when changing gears, and engine mount wear was showing. The whole engine would shake when changing down a gear at speed (eg when over taking). Rain water started leaking into the boot.

Bits of the car also started dropping off, internal light fitting covers just dropped out, a piece of roof trim blew off the roof when traveling at approx 100km per hour, the drivers seat belt clip split in two. Drivers seat belt often jammed when trying to put the seat belt on and would stay locked for at least 1/2 an hour before being able to operate the seat belt.

General Comments:

Car was generally nice to drive, but was a bit like driving a boat, hard to keep in a straight line - you had to concentrate when driving to stop the car from drifting around the road. Wheel alignment was fine, it wasn't due to this.

A Saab mechanic advised me that Saab parts are the most expensive of all manufacturers - even more expensive than Porsche.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 14th August, 2005

29th Aug 2005, 23:25

To the person who wrote the comment above - why don't you go and write a review on a Toyota then? the whole purpose of this website is to pass on information about peoples car experiences, don't like it? - go to another website and get a life!

8th Nov 2005, 04:33

It would be fair to say that this is a one off. I have not heard of any similiar dramas with this model vehicle. Whose knows how the first owner looked after the car. I have a 9000CD and it is reaching 220000 K's. It has been pretty good to us (Wifes car) What is happening now though is things are starting to go bad. Haromic Balancer, belt dampner, DI module, Timing belt, wheel hubs, and a fuel pump. All this in the last six months. My advice? Don't buy one new and sell at 200000 K.