[Quinton]

or actually the £7000 question! 9-5 or 9000?

I have about £7-8000 to spend on a Saab, which has to be good for several years and about 100k with minimal tantrums.

I have seen a couple of 9000s with mileage in the 40000s, which look pretyy good, but I have also found realised that I could get an early 9-5 for this much. Question is, which is the better long term bet? And would it be safer to buy a late model 9000(that has been fully developed) or an early 9-5 which may still have teething troubles. Also, I have little intention of paying into a main dealer's retirement fund, so I will use a local specialist, and is it true to say that specialists are better able to deal with the older model?

Cheers all!

PS I will post this on the 9-5 list as well....

 

[aeropilot]

Tricky one......
I'd say a mint low milage late model (97/98) 9000 CSE would be the better choice, rather than a higher milage early 9-5, especially as a lot of the early 9-5's might be lacking in spec compared to late 9000 CSE's.

But, look around, and more importantly have a drive of examples of each, you might prefer the 9-5 to drive for example, or you might prefer the versatility of the hatch layout of the 9000.

 

[bambo]

Well a conversation with my saab indy thre months ago, was prompted by a first year 9-5 brought in twice in 6 months for a big job. The first was the turbo knackered and the second, his engine! not big miles but his oil light cam on and he checked the dip stick. oil was at the roper level so he drove home. Balancing shafts(?) busted destroying the engine. Now I know you may think that this was driver error and that may be so but, the conversation led to the indy saying that early 9-5's are rubbish compared to later ones. Funny, he said that about the gearbox in the early ng900.

fwiw, I would recommend the 9000.

 

[Jeo_Fin]

Well I got 9k turbo (-86) with 632 000km, and she is still running like new.. well barely new Motor have been opened only once.. Planning to drive over 1'000'000km

so 9k is my choice..

 

[whitesaab]

I was in this position a few months ago ,though mine was a £4000 question. I had a choice of high mileage early 9-5 saloons or a good selection of 9000cs or cd's. My own need for a practical loadspace meant that the 9000cs won hands down, it has the same cavernous boot space as my old 9000 & was available in lots of different specs . I got a 1996 2.3 eco with 60,000 miles & full saab history for £2900. Now in theory that should leave me with £1100 to spend on a stage 3 tuning kit

& a tow bar (an odd mix but practical) but somehow the money seems to have vanished , funny how that happens in our house .