9000 CS vs. Aero...what's the difference?

Jon - sounds like you know your way round a car better than me :)

Just personal opinion. I understand that autos are more common over there, but the performance available from a stock Aero is exceptional & I just feel you need a stick shift to get the most out of it.

Whatever you decide to do - good luck and I hope you find your car :)

Well, I know my way around the stuff I've worked on--admittingly not a lot of things. Most of it came from necessity. I've been told that I am the worst victim of "bad" mechanics ever, LOL. I've gotten to where I don't trust any mechanics to do work, so I must learn it myself.

I agree about the 5-speed vs. automatic debate. Although, my main reasoning for choosing a 5-speed over an automatic is purely maintenance related--I'd rather have to replace the clutch than rebuild an auto trans.

~jp

Nasty Bob wrote:

My personal opinion is that the 9000 Aero or CSE is *better* with an automatic. Wit an automatic, you only feel the turbo lag once when you press the accelerator down, rather than at every shift. That and the

9000 is a big car and seems more "luxurious" when coupled to a slush box. The down side is that the automatic's engine is detuned to 225hp in Aero's with the AT. Of course, that is just firmware and can be easily remedied if so desired.

I'm really not a very big fan of the earlier SAAB shifters. They are sloppy and have a long throw. They really never got it right until the redesign of the 9-3 Sport Sedans. The shifters in those cars are fabulous. We have 2 2003 9-3 SS's in the family now, both of them with

6 speed manuals.

So Jon, we're all dying to know.... how are you getting on with the CS ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Man... you don't even want to know... On second thought, you're asking, so I'll tell ya!

I spoke to the salesperson I'd been dealing with via phone on Monday. I told her about all the problems the car had, and she assured me that the major things would be resolved. The car was towed to a shop on Tuesday, where it remained until yesterday morning (Saturday). I went to the dealer yesterday afternoon to check it out.

I get in, start it up (takes a few seconds longer than I'd prefer). A/C is NOT cold, and the "check engine" light is still on. I get out on the road and realize that the wheel bearing wasn't even fixed.

I immediately went back, and told the owner that there must have been a misunderstanding. I was mistakenly under the impression that having a car in the shop for nearly 5 business days would result in some actual work being performed on it. He didn't really know what to say except, "Yeah, well, that bearing's been fixed...it drives GREAT doesn't it?!?!" I told him, "No, it's horrendous. Next time maybe the mechanic should try replacing the wheel bearing that's actually bad." I explained that the terrible noise and vibration was still there, and that the other two problems weren't resolved.

Here's where it gets stupid... This guy had the balls to look me in the eye and say, "well, if I fix those things, I'm going to have to raise the price of the car substantially." I'm not sure, but I think that may be illegal. If nothing else, it's highly unethical. The car was and IS advertised with A/C and power everything, etc... if those options don't work, then they may as well not even be there, and none of those problems are disclosed in the ad.

Have a look at it:

It's advertised as having X options for Y amount of money. I expect that I should pay Y dollars and get a car that functions as advertised.

It's funny...I thought of buying the car and just to get it fixed, taking it back and using the advertised "3 month warranty". If it's advertised as having A/C, and it turns out that it doesn't work after the sale, wouldn't he be obligated to fix it for HIS cost per his own warranty?

Besides, all of this is irrelevant. I asked *specifically* that the car be EXAMINED...NOT fixed. I wanted to know what was wrong...You know, specifically what the problem was--not the symptom. The A/C doesn't work and I want to know why...the 'check engine' light is on and I want to know *why*. If it was going to be a cheap fix, I could justify buying the car as is. He'd offered to knock $1000 off the price to take it as is. But as I've told him repeatedly, I can't spend that much on a car without knowing what's wrong with it.

If it was a mid-80's Chevy truck I'd be good :-P But as I told him, I don't need *another* half-functional Saab. I already got one.

So, hopefully tomorrow I'm going to go have a look at the automatic Aero coupe--for less money.

This really is tough on me...My rear axle in my truck went out on July

3rd, and since that time I've had to share my girlfriend's Chevy Tahoe with her. Working it out has been, um...interesting to say the least.

~jp

Nasty Bob wrote:

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Sounds like a nightmare :-O

Hope you have better luck with the Aero.

Time to walk away. There are many, many other used cars out there in much better condition.

Agreed... I test-drove a very nice 2000 9-3 convertible yesterday. I really liked it a lot. I didn't think I would as I was never fond of the looks of the smaller 900's & 9-3's. But the newer convertibles look very nice.

The dealer is on top of things too. Before I even got in to drive it, he told me the check engine had popped on after one of his employees left the gas cap loose. He said he'd have to make sure that all codes were cleared before he would sell it.

On a humorous side note, this morning during my commute to work, we were at a red light next to a car that someone had just purchased from the same dealer that tried to sell me that terrible 9000 5-speed. In the state of Georgia, you have 30 days to get a license plate, and people drive with "paper" license plates with the date of purchase on there, so you can always spot a newly purchased car. He'd bought it on the 10th of this month and it had no rear bumper! Again, I think it's probably illegal to sell a car that doesn't meet emissions or crash standards. Unbelievable!!!

~jp

Fred W wrote:

Make sure you take that convertible for a long test drive before you buy it. Pay attention to a couple of things:

Cowl shake. This is where the chassis of the car flexes as you go over bumps, etc. especially while cornering. It is a problem with the convertibles due to the lack of roof structure. Can't be fixed.

Is the car a standard transmission? If so, feel how sloppy the shifting mechanism is? It's the way it is designed. Also, pay attention to how the engine responds when you let off the gas to shift. There is programming in the fly-by-wire throttle control that delays the release of the throttle plate (for emmissions reasons). These two things make it very cumbersome to drive in any sort of a spirited manner. If the car is an automatic you would probably never notice. The delay could be fixed with a reprogrammed ECU, but I could not find one. The shifters are sloppy (and long throw) even with new bushings in place

Also, make sure you really jump on the accelerator from a stop (or slow speed) a few times. See what happens if you accelerate witha little samd or bad traction. Pay attention to how the steering jerks around as the tires reach their limit of traction. This is called torque steer. It's inherent in the design of these cars and can't be eliminated.

You should also know that the power top mechanisms are known to be troublesome and very expensive to repair. Plus the convertibles tend to command top price because they come fully loaded with options.

I know all of this because I bought a 2000 9-3SE convertible a few years back (used). I fixed it up a bit over the winter (not rag-top weather in New England) and then sold the thing off as fast as I could once I got a chance to really drive the car harder. The above factors really took all the fun out of driving it.

Do yourself a favor and see if you can find a nice 9-3SS in your price range and give that car a test drive. They first released the SS in

2003, so they may be above what you are looking to spend. All of the above "issues" are resolved with that redesign (sport sedan). They really do drive a *lot* better than the earlier 900's and 9-3's.

Sometimes I forget that I'm driving a FWD car when I'm riding in mine...

Autos only had 200bhp compared to the manual's 225!

Well, I decided on the 2000 9-3 convertible. Nice car. I'm loving it. It's my first rag-top too :-)

~jp

J> Hi,

Easily corrected with a change in firmware.