1988 SAAB 900 SPG from North America - Comments

Verified by two separate mechanics that the transmission was going out at 150,000 miles.

Took my mechanic four days to fix the cruise control.

This was a beautiful Saab, with a bullet proof engine and turbo, great gas mileage, and stable in the snow and mountains of Colorado.

The best advice/caution I can give someone who is considering purchasing a Saab 900 Turbo or 9000 Turbo is to have the transmission checked for wear, as this is a good way to tell how much longer the transmission is likely to last.

Your car's tranny has lasted fairly well -- the manual gearbox is the weak spot of a SAAB Turbo. Although I normally prefer manual over auto, in the SAAB's case the auto will be the way to go.

What the other guy said about the manual tranny lasting a fairly good amount of miles is very untrue. The Auto tranny is the one with problems. They fall apart after about 120K to 140K miles. I have a 1985 Saab 900 turbo with a manual. It has over 350,000 miles on it. All original too. I just kept on replacing the tranny fluid to keep it running well!!

Yes, the old 3-speed automatics are very doggy, much better to go with manual.

Just bought an '88 SPG, and noticed that once I accelerate in 2nd gear, there is a bit of a vibration or a rumbling feeling in the car. Could this be the tranny? the turbo? It only does this in 2nd. The car has 150,000 miles. Any advice would be much appreciated. You can email me at mikojonas@hotmail.com.

Thanks.

I have a 900 turbo 8v from 88 with 86000 miles on it. I love the distinctive design and feel of it and is generally really satisfied with the car. And it's fun to drive!

I have no experience with the auto tranny, but agree with the people who say that the manual tranny on the turbo Saab's does not last as long as one would like it to. My 5'th gear is noisy and I fear that it is on it's way to a breakdown.

I've been asking around and have spoken with a guy who once had the same problem and he fixed it almost for free.

His solution was to run some ordinary 10/30 engine oil through the tranny (since transmission fluid doesn't work on these cars) and afterwards, when the 10/30 had taken away dirt from wear and tear, replace the oil with some sort of special oil that made his transmission run almost as new again.

Then he drove this car with the same tranny for another 10 years!!!

Unfortunately he didn't remember what that oil was called. Does anyone have an idea what kind of "special" Saab transmission oil he was talking about?

If so, I would really like to know that.

Please drop me a line on henrik.hedegaard@pc.dk

Thanks!

My 1989 900 automatic (no turbo) has a tendency to slip out of gear under heavy load. it has 120k on the odometer, and the guy who sold it to me said he had it since 80k and just "babied" it (meaning no hard acceleration) and it has been fine. the car seems to drive fine other than this, and shifts normally while driving conservatively.

I have a 1989 SAAB 900s. It has aprox. 143000 miles on it. The car has a five speed and the second gear is going out. The mechanic said it was the synchro in the transmission. I am happy that it has lasted this long. Good luck to everyone and to thier SAAB's.