1992 SAAB 9000 Turbo from North America - Comments

Repaired faulty traction control system check valves, 79k miles. Replaced rear brake rotors/pads, 81k miles. Repaired/recharged A/C system due to leak in hoses, 83k miles. Rebuilt clutch, 84.9k miles.

Most of the recent repairs are indicative more of age and mileage than poor workmanship/design. Other than that, the car's been pretty much bulletproof, though the starter may soon need replacement. The electrical system can be a bit dodgy, though...

It's fast as hell (both the dealer who sold it to me and my current mechanic say it's the quickest 9000T they've ever driven...), looks sharp and handles like it's on rails. I used to think I needed a 9000 Aero. Now I think I'll wait a little longer...

I firmly believe that this car represents the perfect balance between performance and practicality. More so than anything else I've seen on the road, it's truly a stealth sports car. Very few sedans are going to blow my doors in, and I can stick with many a pure sports car, when I so desire.

I bought a 1992 Saab 9000 with 95.5k about a month ago. So far, I'm on the replacement rampage... The big checkpoint is the 95000 mile major maintenance check.

All of the following has died before 97k... which makes me think the used car dealer I bought it from was a weasel, and just fixed everything enough so that it wouldn't break until 2 weeks after I bought it... but besides that between 96k and 97k miles (within the last month) -- I have replaced:

(prices include parts & labor ($60/hr) )

1) left and right ball joints - $200

2) central exhaust pipe - $300

3) * driver side lock cylinder - $45

4) * fog lights & wires - $50

5) * flushed/refilled coolant - $25

6) * changed oil - $15

7) * flushed & bled brake system - $10

8) * flushed & bled hydraulic sys - $10

9) Seals leaking oil, replaced - $80

10) Clutch replaced - $900

11) Traction Control Sys replaced - $650

12) * TCS Control Valve - $35

13) * NGK Spark Plugs - $10.

Grand Total: $2330...

I paid $7300 for the car and it blue booked at about $9300. I've now spent my limit on it. Hopefully it holds for a while.

The body of the car is in good shape, with rust on the bottom of the doors (inside)... Along the tops of the doors (outside), around the back license plate and in the front of the hood. I've been looking for a little plastic guard for the front of the hood, to keep the chips/rust from coming back, once I get the rust removed (another weekend project)...

So far the car has been a money pit, but it's an amazingly smooth ride. I would recommend 92 octane fuel... I have been using Texaco and getting about 26mpg in heavy city driving (54mi/day commute).

Please please please, remember to bleed/flush your brake fluid every 20k-25k miles / 2 years... This car never had the hydraulic system flushed and therefore, when it was flushed the gunk that was holding the clutch slave cylinder seals together gave and caused the clutch to start leaking... not good... result; new clutch. If the system was maintained properly (... dealers don't flush the system, because they're lazy... if they don't flush the system every 20k+ miles, then when the maintenance book wants it flushed at 95k, the clutch gives out... hence, the problem I experienced occurs. Whenever I would have flushed the system, I would have needed to buy a new clutch... at least that's what the mechanic said... he said he's seen this before in cars he's bled...) then this problem wouldn't have occurred.

If people have questions or comments, please feel free to email them to me at ryan@nospam.sinn.org --- remove the "nospam." from the address.

Ryan.

An update to my previous comment...

My Saab 9000 has lost a valve at 122000 miles.

$1200 to replace. I will be buying a new car instead of fixing this one at this point... I've put way too much money into the car in such a short period of time.

Ryan.

Too bad ryan - my 92T has had no major work, 290,000 km.

I have had a 9000 5speed turbo for 2 years now and the most vexing thing is the common TCS problem... replacing vac hoses and valves did not solve problem of TCS's erratic failure, but helped performance... the car has always been awesomely fast and is more so now. Drove many 9000's when looking and noticed big differences in performance. Mechanics have told me this is the fastest one they have run across. That is running on 87 octane... it is scary on 92 octane, but a blast on the nice curvy hilly California countryside where we live.

David P.

Hi, all got my 92 9000T about 2 weeks ago, changed the oil and had to go to service department to get stereo code (dealer didn't have). He also had no owners manual.. so I don't have any idea of when to perform any of the routine maintenance on her. She has 96,700 miles and runs fine.

She has no rust except on inside rear passenger door at the bottom, a few shopping cart dings. the electrical on the other hand is fine except, I have a continuious TSC light and SRS light??? So can any give me a list of what maintenance you perform and at what mileage you do them.

I have a 1992 9000 turbo with 107k and a manual trans. I paid $1900 and it came with a tcs problem. $2000 later (new ecu and throttle body) it is awesome. I also replaced vacuum hoses, and the check valve ($36), and am planning on getting a new di cassette ($100) and fixing the heater core ($400). The car runs well and has very good performance. I have the group 6 di/apc chip and fuel chip which brings horsepower up to 250 and torque to 300. It's a cool car, but I would say the problems are that it is "the most expensive Saab to work on" and the trans works well, but is not as precise as the newer Saab trans (although you can firm it up by switching in some parts off of a newer car) If you want to ask me any questions send me an email- clg31187@comcast.net.

I bought a dealer maintained 1992 9000CD Turbo with 160K on it for $5K in 2001. It has been an awesome sedan, and SPORT car BTW, and highly reliable. Now that It is 4 years older and 200K+ miles, two well know problems, aside from

normal wear and tear stuff, have surfaced. The Traction Control went and the Direction Ignition (DI) unit went.

Note the DI is the red plate over your plugs that provides individual spark for each plug, hence the term DI. Symptoms of DI failure with be misfiring, eepecially under load. So if you have replaced the plugs and this doesn't help, or the problem comes back (DI can intermittently work when it begins to fail), then it is probably one of the firing coils in the DI. The 1992 and earlier coils are replaceable (plug-ins) for about $55 bucks. They should be full of oil, and you can see oil line unless high temp has discolored the translucent plastic coil container.

If so, you can unplug them one at a time and shake them. You should here liquid inside them. Some lose their cooling oil that causes them to fail. Don't let a mechanic sell you a $500 whole DI unit on a 1992 or older Saab, which is what mine wanted to do, till I balked and found info on the web about these. He should be trying new $55 each plug-in coils FIRST for you to find the misfiring one.

Also, 1992 and older DIs don't disconnect right at the DI, like the 1993s and newer. Newer DI's can be used on older units (the only ones available) with a $50 adapter plugin cable. Newer DI's coils are not replaceable, I am told on the Web.

I love my Saab and it's been the most reliable and highest performance sedan I have ever owned. It's almost time to get another high mileage low cost used one that has good maintenance records.

Jim Russell

San Diego CA.

I have a 92 Griffin Edition. Very nice car to look at, hard on the wallet so far. List of things replaced.

1. Radiator hoses (ALL of them) for some reason they have deteriorated and started cracking a freak thing makes no sense, car has 170k and well maintained. Radiator flush $300.00.

2. DI system, a normal problem area, got a great deal on a 1999 9000 DI adapter harness, was happy $150.00.

3. One week later head gasket. Dealer wanted $1,200, ouch I did it myself for $350.00.

4. ONE WEEK LATER timing chain went, lower one that runs off of water/oil pump crank. Have not repair yet, but dealer wants $800.00 Will be doing job myself.

In all I have become a mechanic with very intimate knowledge of this car. Surprisingly easy to remove head, compared to Saturn SC2 and Dodge Daytona Shelby edition that I have replaced head gasket on. Not many vaccum hoses and pretty straight forward removal procedures (essential to have repair manual) but be careful I ordered a repair manual online and got in the mail a parts book listing all the parts on a Saab 9000 not much help and definatly not a repair manual.

I owe $1,500 on car and might be selling soon, if I can convince myself that I am no longer in love with it.

I just saw a 1992 9000 turbo convertible, in nice condition, no dents, nice paint, like new top, for sale.

I said it's trouble, I wouldn't buy it...

My friend said: what if he will take $200, I said go ahead & buy it. (this friend openly admits he doesn't know how to change his oil, but he wants to show me how wrong I am...)

I believe he will be the "new owner of a car left behind in a move..." & will finally understand the cost of maintaining poor quality... actually he already has, he owns a Jeep... I guess some people never learn.

Beep beep cheap jeep!

I have a 1992 9000 turbo. TCS is not working and I have gone through two throttle bodies. I want to ditch the TCS throttle body. Any hints...

daniel_jameslovelock@yahoo.com

I have a 92 Saab Turbo 9000. It starts up, but later dies when I release the the gas. The TCS light is on, please help. I just got the car and have only put 24kms on it. Get back to me at newf3_16@hotmail.com. Thanks, Jeff from Vancouver, Canada.