From: almanb@hpmwtd.sr.hp.com (Bob Alman)
Newsgroups: rec.autos
Subject: Re: Saab 900i Problems?
Date: 8 Oct 92 05:10:38 GMT
Organization: HP Santa Rosa Site (SRSD MWTD)


/ hpmwema:rec.autos / wrat@unisql.UUCP (wharfie) /  8:43 am  Oct  5, 1992 /
In article <147520021@hplsla.hp.com> andyc@hplsla.hp.com (Andy Cassino) writes:
>> 	Make that "really outrageous amounts of unexpected replacements
>Hey Wharfie, I've had my '88 SAAB 900S for 5 years and 111,000 miles and 
>there has been precisely one "unexpected" replacement and it did not cause 

	Hell, I've walked in back of lots of horses, and I've only been kicked
a few times.  So we're both lucky...  I had a Saab once and it was the
worst example of automotive reliability I've ever seen, and I've owned such
classics as a 79 Mercury Zephyr, a 77 Plymouth Volare, a 84 Yugo (my wife's
first car), and 72 Pinto.  A roommate of mine had a Fiat 1300 and *IT* ran
more often than that thrice-damned Saab ever did.

	I bought my Saab brand-new and kept it for 4 years.  The front
doors fell off.  The seats caught fire.  I did a complete brake job at
20K.  The dashboard lights shorted out.  The ventilation fan failed
three times.  Pieces of interior and exterior trim fell off so often that 
I had a box full of them in the trunk when I sold it.  The paint peeled. It
filled up with water when it rained.  

	And when something does break it ain't cheap to fix:  200 bucks
for new rotors.  50 for a _thermostat_.  600 bucks for new seats to replace
the ones that got burned up when the cute electric seat heaters entered
toaster-oven mode on the New Jersey Turnpike one morning.  I never could fix
the short in the dashboard: I used to keep a little toy flashlight in the
glove box and when the lights went I'd lay the flashlight on the ledge in
front of the speedo until I went over a big enough bump to make them come on
again.

	Pffftttt.  S wedish A utomobiles A lways B reak down.  The only
reason I'd buy a Saab is if I needed money and didn't want to waste a real
car on an insurance job.

								the wharf rat
----------

> but have you had major mechanical problems as well 

	At 50Kmiles, I've 

	replaced front engine mounts (17K) - "must be your driving"
	replaced subframe mounts (22K)	- "gee, these don't usually go"
	replaced clutch (35K) - this failed but I knew about the recall
	had broken weld in front end repaired (36K)
	replaced cam sensor (36K)
	replaced those shitty Goodyear tires which were _bald_ by 25K
	replaced front rotors - I also knew about _this_ recall
	

	Actually, though, the car's been pretty good.  Only the clutch
failure was of the break-down-in-small-town-on-Sunday kind of thing, and
I just drove to the Ford dealer without the clutch .  It's too bad that
the '89s had that useless 12K warranty, or almost everything would've been
covered.

	Hell, by the time I'd put 50K on that thrice-damned Saab I used
to drive I'd already had the doors fall off, the seats catch on fire, the
fancy vacuum system stop sucking three or four times, gone through 3 
ventilation fans, done a complete new-rotors-pads-and-cylinders brake job, and
had the thing fill up with 6 inches of water during a rainstorm 'cause the 
grommet sealing the hole where the accelerator cable passed through fell out.

	Maybe next time I'll buy a Honda...
									wr

----------
    
/ hpmwema:rec.autos / wrat@unisql.UUCP (wharfie) / 11:19 am  Sep 30, 1992 /
In article <14827@auspex-gw.auspex.com> tpickett@auspex.com (Tom Pickett) writes:
>easily invoke oversteer in the car.  The limits are so high, though that
>I don't know how much understeer would appear past the limit.

	It plows like a CrisCraft with a broken rudder.  And then,
of course, when you get off the pedal it switches to severe oversteer.
I almost bought it this way on a tight S curve when I first had the car:
took the second turn way too fast, started to plow, lifted to get traction
to the front, and broke the rear loose.  Fishtail city.  

----------


In article <3826@unisql.UUCP>, wrat@unisql.UUCP (wharfie) writes:
> In article <14827@auspex-gw.auspex.com> tpickett@auspex.com (Tom Pickett) writes:
>>easily invoke oversteer in the car.  The limits are so high, though that
>>I don't know how much understeer would appear past the limit.
> 
> 	It plows like a CrisCraft with a broken rudder.  And then,
> of course, when you get off the pedal it switches to severe oversteer.
> I almost bought it this way on a tight S curve when I first had the car:
> took the second turn way too fast, started to plow, lifted to get traction
> to the front, and broke the rear loose.  Fishtail city.  


        It appears to me, Sir, you need to learn how to drive.
 
----------

    Let's see, 2 cars are complete junk and, of course, not his fault.
    
    1st a FORD TAURUS SHO:
    
    	At 50Kmiles, I've 

	replaced front engine mounts (17K) - "must be your driving"
                                              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^	
	replaced subframe mounts (22K)	- "gee, these don't usually go"
	replaced clutch (35K) - this failed but I knew about the recall
	had broken weld in front end repaired (36K)
	replaced cam sensor (36K)
	replaced those shitty Goodyear tires which were _bald_ by 25K
	replaced front rotors - I also knew about _this_ recall
	
     The car has been beat to hell!
     I quote:
          "It plows like a CrisCraft with a broken rudder.  And then,
of course, when you get off the pedal it switches to severe oversteer.
I almost bought it this way on a tight S curve when I first had the car:
                     vvvvvvvvvvvv
took the second turn way too fast, started to plow, lifted to get traction
to the front, and broke the rear loose.  Fishtail city."
    
    We have bald tires, broken motor mounts, broken subframe weld, broken
    front end weld, clutch, rotors....yep, must be you. 
    
    Next a SAAB 900S
    
    A couple of years ago I remember this story (which has grown since).
    The door (back then) opened too far because a weld broke and damaged the
    hood (or something like that). Now both front doors fell off...BALONEY!
    
    The car also took on 6 inches of water through a hole where a grommet
    fell out....the grommet is 30" above the road on the firewall..BALONEY
    (well, the water may have been PRETTY DEEP, or, were the doors still
    off?) Did you forget to close a window or the sunroof in the parking
    lot?...nah
    
    Hmmm, the seats caught fire! They didn't get wet when it rained on them
    did they?  Oh, I'm sure the thermostat in the seat would be fine even
    when it's wet.  You surely didn't try to dry the seats out with the seat
    heaters I hope!
    
    Now there's a short in the dashboard!  You didn't try to fix the seat
    heat control did you?  I hope you were careful when you worked with the
    panel wiring! I hope you didn't damage any vacuum hoses or ventilation
    fan wiring or ducting while you were working on the dash! You might have
    to replace the fans or fix the vacuum system, you know!
    
    And you had to replace the rotors; but you did a complete brake job at
    20k.....ahhhhh! no wonder!!!!
    
    The paint peeled! How could the paint peel?  But, no, you didn't, you
    didn't spill brake fluid anywhere I hope?  You were careful, weren't
    you?
    
    Whoever bought the car probably took it to someone who knew what he was
    doing, had the *MINOR* repairs done, and now has a reliable, cheap car!
    
    
    What, now a HONDA???.....get a bus pass!
    
     > insert Brooklyn Salute <
    
     w HINING AFTER HE r UINS a U t OS
               or
     AL w AYS r UINS  a U t OS
     
     
     Disclaimer: I'm a cynic