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Life expectancy

14K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  Paul D 
#1 ·
I have just been looking at a 900 S ( `95, 2 ltre ) which has 140,000 on the clock.
The owner claims that there is no significant oil usage and at start up (from cold) I could not see or smell any evidence of burnt oil. Watching the car drive away under moderate acceleration all looked OK.

As I have no experience with SAABs can anyone tell me how long these engines last.

The car has spent most of its` life in rural Wales and, given the occupation of the owner, has probably had an average mix of tootling around our (not very straight or fast) local roads and motorway travel.

I would be most grateful for any information or advice.

Dave.
 
#2 ·
I think that you can get far better for the same money. Look at one of the main auto trading site for what else is around close to you. I sold my 2.3 with 138K, new clutch, full service history and prestine interior for £3500, because at £4000 my buyer could have picked up some great bargains. Even a 9-3 could be picked up with 140K at less than £5K.
 
#4 ·
Dave - I have 6 weeks ago bought a
1994 900SE TURBO. 125k ON THE CLOCK
touch wood no major problems.
runs sweet and uses no oil.

there are loads 94/95 900's and 9000's for sale
with close to 200k on the clock so for me it looks like
as long as they've been well maintained 140k is nothing.
 
#5 ·
DAC,

Still on my excursion from the 9000 pages, as I run a 9000CSE Anniversary.

Ahh.. Saab miles! How long is a peice of string?

I once found a USA Saab site which ran a register of long lived Saabs. You couldn't get on unless your car had done a minimum of 200,000 miles. The highest recorded was 500,000!

If looked after, well serviced, and not run particularly hard all the time, 200,000 miles should be well within reach for most 2l or 2.3l Saab engines.

Same engines in 900's as 9000's, so here's some data:
My last 9000 2L ECO had 150,000 on the clock and the oil level hardly dropped between 6K mile services. My current 9000 2L ECO has 90K miles and doen't use a drop of oil over the last 10k miles.
 
#6 ·
One other point:

Because the Saab trubo engines are all high torque at low revs (i.e. max torque at 1800rpm for 2.3 turbos, and 2200rpm for my 2l ECO), they don't need to be thrashed to exploit their pulling power - which is one of the key reasons they last so well.
 
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