Someone please read the description of this car.

Hence the price ?

I gather if the auto box goes you might as well scrap the car from the financial perspective. Incidentally, just reading the owner's manual - on manuals the TCS works on the throttle and brakes. On autos it works on the throttle only.

Graham

Really? You have not seen knackered saabs then? Hydraulic tapets that=20 did not work, leaking head gaskets, smoking turbos, rusty coolant=20 expansion tanks. You really believe that the 9000 you see, which could=20 have half a dozen owners got its expensive oil changed every 3-5k miles? =

See how many owners had the car in its last few years and summice if=20 any of them ever changed the oil.

You are making a big - in my simple mind - mistake. You are convincing=20 yourself that a particular car is brilliant, even if people tell you it=20 is a high milleage car. YOu should go and see the car BEFORE you decide =

that you must have that particular car.

If I may suggest to you also, that it is very different car to your=20 previous C900 (I had two of those), and by comparison pretty awfull to=20 work on. Jacking it up and getting it on stands is an experience in=20 itself compared to the C900. To its credit it has normal brakes.

Take your time. Maybe get a car that you keep longer than 12 months so=20 spend a few months looking for one :-)

Charles

--=20

Please remove _removeme_ to reply. Work:

I'd find that hard to swallow but as an Aero auto owner I would say that. However when I was looking at Saabs, the 2nd hand auto price for nearly new autos was just above manuals. I'd pin that differential on aged autos (as you say, they cost arm+leg if they break, make that

It has to come down ultimately to what the market wants (or can be suckered) to pay!

Yup.

When new, you ask for what you want, and get to pay for it. When buying used, especially older used, you can pick and choose, and make the seller do the compromising.

Yes I have. And normally, either the visual appearance or sound of the=20 engine running gives a lot of clues. And the test drive confirms it. The over priced, but decent looking Aero that I was looking at is high=20 mileage. But it is also one owner from new, and from 1993->2004 has been=20 serviced and maintained by the same Saab dealership. It had a clutch and=20 new gearbox in 1994 (which is two high mileage expenses out of the way).=20 With every service stamp in place, and looking average to good for the=20 mileage inside. I'd we willing to spend a lot more attention looking at=20 it.

Yes, I know about hydaulic going or sticking. They are just normal=20 maintenance/acceptable expense. Smoky turbos, you check them out at the=20 test drive. High mileage doesn't necessarily mean a shagged blower. I=20 keep getting told that "your looking at a big bill arround 100,000 miles=20 with a turbo". The C900 had 118k miles on the T3 when I bought it. The=20 GT4 had 136k on it's original CT26. Both are still blowing strong,=20 especially the CT26 in the Celica which I drove to work in today. The=20 big difference from a lot of cars is, I got loads of documentation with=20 both these cars with stamps and reciepts showing that they had been well=20 maintained from new, until within a year of me buying them, and taking=20 over. And although not stamped, I've marked in the book when I changed=20 things and what I changed.

I would expect almost (note almost) any car with a 1 owner, and full=20 Saab dealership support reciepted and stamped to have had it's expensive=20 oil changed at the correct time too. I've done it on a car that cost=20 =A390, and on a car that cost =A31700, so why wouldn't someone who has owne= d=20 it since it cost upwards of =A325k, especially when they paid a dealer to= =20 do it.

Nope, I'm convincing myself that a particular model and marque of car is=20 brilliant. I'm the most skeptical person you can meet when it comes to=20 individual vehicles. In the past I've isulted lots of people when it=20 comes to fiding faults on the "pride and joy" that they are selling. It=20 is always worth money off. Especially if you are prepared to walk.=20

Cheers. That I didn't know, about the jacking. The reason I specified the 2.3 over the 2.0 as my preference is for=20 simple DIY mechanic things like oil filter location.=20

Oh I plan to. I always plan to keep a car for long periods, but I get=20 bored. I could spend =A3600 for a low mileage later engine (an extreme fix= =20 to an oil leak/usage problem I know, but you never know until you start=20 investigating) and a couple of hundred to get it fitted. Instead, I=20 fancy a change. Some people lose thousands on changing a new car every 3=20 to 5 years. I prefer that I can spend what I like on the car after I've=20 bought it, and if/when I lose after selling, it is in the hundreds=20 rather than in the thousands.

I plan to keep looking, but a good place to start is always useful. Whether it is the best or the worst car you drive, at least you hav an=20 idea, from others opinions, before you get there. ;0

--=20 Carl Robson Car PC Build starts again.

Just one comment.

Stamps on the book may not count for much.

I did come across one car where the owner sold it privately (via auction =

or to dealer) and all the stamps were in place etc. but the dealer said =

they had only services the car once. (In fact it was the dealer who=20 most likely stamped the book as the person was buying a new car from them= ).

If the dealer who serviced the car is local(ish) maybe a telephone call=20 or visit might tell you if they have ever actually done anything to the c= ar.

Good luck. Charles

--=20

Please remove _removeme_ to reply. Work:

Agreed. I've even seen some pretty convincing fake stamps too. Reciepts are a good backup to.

The Celica came with such a large bundle, it even included the 2 pre- sales inspection check lists, from the two dealers who sold it as "Approved used".

It's been about a bit too. Started out in Guildford, moved arround a couple of Essex and kent garages for service/repair/sales, then eventually came north when the last owner sold his new Celica VVTi, to raise a deposit to buy a house and move north for a new job. He bought the GT4 as a stop gap, then got himself a BMW Coupe as a prezzy once settled into home and job.

With a blind purchase ( sort of ) like ebay I've come to the conclusion that a small number of former owners is normally a good sign. Not to mention the pics showing a stack of service records, MOTs etc...

Graham

Yep. They aren't infallible, but they help. Sometimes you need to take a chance. And if you can get the registration=20 number, a datacheck will help with the status of the car.

At what point does the price of a car make it a disposable item>? I've bought solid legal reliable cars with no history for sub =A3100 and=20 they have been great, because they weren't popular cars, but later I've=20 considered =A3500 to be the limit, especailly if with a recent MOT and=20 apparently good appearance. Other people have said "if it is over 10=20 years old, or under =A32k, why bother, it will be a shed eventually=20 anyway".

--=20 Carl Robson Car PC Build starts again.

dealer btw. He's

That actually does look nice. Mileage reasonable. Did fancy a darker colur or black hide, but you can't have everything at=20 that price.

Silver will do, my C900 was Silver.

--=20 Carl Robson Car PC Build starts again.

Oh god, it's right on the edge of what I could scrape togther immediatley, probably over actually.

Didn't expect a half decent car to turnup on the spot, right now. Damn.

She will kill me if I buy it without making sure at least someone is interested in my GT4.