SAAB 99 Reviews

This remains the worst car I have ever owned.

- Clutch master & slave cylinder twice (18000 & 62000).

- Front brake pads 6500, 13500, 20,000. Finally found a harder compound, which made it all the way to 35000. Brake master cylinder twice.

- Engine mounts broke, entire drive train would move back and forth even before & after repair.

- Entire exhaust system 3 times. Exhaust manifold fell off the engine.

- Fuel injectors leaked. Windows fell off lifts, crank handle broke. Seat heater failed.

- Primary shaft to transmission and gear both failed at 41000. Waited 2 months for parts from Sweden.

- 2nd gear synchro 42000, had to shift 1-3 most of the time.

-Tach stopped at 23000, windshield wiper motor twice, other electrical problems.

This car was fun for a few minutes a month, then reality would slap me in the face. It only made it to 62K miles before it was finished. The only thing that worked decently was the Triumph engine.

SAAB made planes. I said I would never fly in one because of all the problems I had with this horrible car. I did fly on a SAAB/Fairchild turboprop years later and survived.

The slave cylinder would go about every 25,000 miles. It was an easy fix that my dealer showed me how to do. No matter where I was, I could tell the mechanic how to change it even if he wasn't familiar with the vehicle.

Never had anything so reliable or comfortable to drive. Could (and did) drive it all day and never get tired.

Handling and safety were top notch. The cabin was roomy and the trunk space was awesome.

Water pump failed at 150,000 km.

Starter ring wore out at 200,000 km.

Brilliant car, ultra-reliable, superb handling, in its day, quite fuel-efficient although it took the corolla nearly 20 years to catch up.

Quite heavy for a "small" car, it steers very well at the time. This had non-assisted rack-and-pinion steering- very heavy in the car-park, but brilliant on the open road, or at any speed above 40kph.

The 99 series is hopelessly outdated now, but looking back on it, in its day it really was far ahead of nearly everything in many ways (SAAB used the fact that Stig Blomqvist won the world rally championship in the late 70's in a SAAB 99 in their advertising).

Electrically adjustable mirrors (via a little joy-stick) and heated seats were way ahead of anything else, as was its gear-lock- the ignition key was down by the handbrake and locked the auto transmission in "Park"- the vehicle could not be moved (stolen) without the key to unlock the transmission.

A very upright seating position and the wrap-around windscreen made it feel so unique- like a jet-fighter (or so I imagine).

By modern standards it is quite thirsty on fuel, but that is the price to pay for a heavy, strong (and safe) car. I traded it in on a Corolla for the fuel benefits (and cheaper spares) as the dealer was charging big dollars to maintain my investment.