My kid is looking at purchasing an '89 900 S.
The car looks good, it's in good shape and owned by a trusted friend, so there's nothing obvious wrong with it. 114k miles. What would you say about putting a 16 year old in one of these? What do I need to know about these cars?
-John O
"JohnO" schreef in bericht news: snipped-for-privacy@42g2000cwt.googlegroups.com...
John,
2 things:- Check for rust on the inside of the rear wheel arches,
- You should give it a proper swedish sounding name starting with an S.
;-)
Richard!
Make sure the sagging headliner doesn't obstruct his vision - kids have enough distractions.
LOL, it's got one of those.
Thanks guys, I appreciate the comments. Turns out the car is a '94.
-John O
in article snipped-for-privacy@42g2000cwt.googlegroups.com, JohnO at snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote on 05/01/2007 19:30:
If I recall right, the 900S (of your vintage) came in two engine specifications - the light pressure turbo in Europe (at 145 BHP) and the normally aspirated engine at 130 (ish) BHP in the US/CA.
Either way .. Yes! It's a safe car - Your child will be very safe in it. Be aware that in either specification 128/145 BHP it is a quick car for a "kid" but it will instil a a sense of good driving in a new driver, due to its size and stature.
If the kid crashes it, well ... It's not the car for them (yet), but I reckon it's a good car to start out with if you can afford the insurance.
Paul
1989 900 Turbo Sin article snipped-for-privacy@38g2000cwa.googlegroups.com, JohnO at snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote on 06/01/2007 00:43:
Oh! Hmmm .. An NG900 ... Or a very late C900? I would not advise the former :(
Paul
1989 900 Turbo S
We (he) decided to buy it. I'll have to look closer at the body stickers when the kid gets home....he's out driving it around and very impressed with the gas mileage and performance. His other car is a little '79 Mustang that gets maybe 15 mpg, and we're constantly fixing something. It's going up on blocks so we can rework the entire fornt end.
Anyway, looking at the manual, seems we have the 94 900S 2.3i 5-door. Definitely four cylinders, and no turbo. Runs great, and everything works except the cig lighter socket. Sound system is a POS, but that'll be fun to fix.
Heh, now we have two cult cars in the house...a Subaru Outback and this Saab. :-)
-John O
Is it an auto or manual tranny?
The manual trannys are the weak links in the 900's. Mine went out around your mileage. Many others have gone out around the 120K mark from what I have read.
Have your son really take it easy on the shifting assuming it is a manual. I shift mine in a slow, almost two part process by pausing in neutral before going into the next gear.
The pinion bearings were beefed up at one or more points though. Right around '89...not sure which year.
It's auto. The tranny shifts a little funky, say a little stiffer than it could, but the kid isn't (fortunately) a hard driver.
BTW, the foam surrounds on the rear speakers were gone. As in: crumbled and no longer there. :-)
-John O
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