Can you give me some advice please. For years the wife and I have bought second hand saabs from the same guy, mostly because he has a source of cheap parts and is very reasonable with his labour charges, because of dwindling finances the saab we bought from him 8 months ago has turned out to be a bit of a lemon and has allready cost us a few hundred quid in parts but mostly proven unreliable for my wife who is a nurse and needs a decent runner. Also this particular Saab 9000 seems a lot heavier on petrol than the others we have had, so we have decided to cut our losses and get shut. We want to buy a diesel with four doors that is relible and economical to run, reasonable when it comes to buying spare parts and not a thiefs take away. Any recommends as to what make / models to be looking at, we are looking at paying between £3000 and £4000..
Advice on what to buy
Apr 06, 2006
4 Replies
I'm not going to attempt any recommendation, but just say that almost any vehicle you buy is going to be a comedown from a good Saab 9000. I loved the one I had, but it was, as you point out, a bit thirsty for my daily commute - had an estate been available I would have fitted lpg because even the cavernous boot on the 9000 was only just big enough to take my son's ice hockey goalie kit!. The Saab was IMO a better car even than the Merc that preceded it, and than the one I have now.
Later model Saabs were not nearly as good once GM took over. If the car fitted my bill in other respects I would find a good early one and fit lpg. Shame it doesn't.
Just my 2penn'orth.
There are dozens of models. And lemons for all too.
If you want something inexpensive to repair, then Ford and Vauxhall are the ways to go.
Depends on how you define inexpensive. My Omega has cost more to repair than either Saab or Merc. But then more things have needed repairing. And quite frankly most parts are no cheaper from a motor factor.
Quite. There are exceptions to every rule... except that one... :p
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