Should I buy a Saab?

Reliability should be good so long as it's not tuned to shit and up to date on maintenance - fuel and water pumps should be done by 100k miles and you can expect a clutch job around that mileage too. Do not get a sensonic model. And if you get a cable clutch one, prepare to upgrade it to the hydraulic system, they get pretty shitty after a while and in my opinion aren't worth the hassle of messing with the cable and shit.

Also, I don't think Volvos from that era are more reliable. The only thing that could leave you stranded with the Saab is the DI cassette which can be found for $200 for a new, original SEM one. NGK sells them under stock number 48128, they bought up a bunch of SEM stock and are selling them much cheaper than Orio is.

About the part situation, I live in Switzerland and found myself ordering stuff from the US because often, it came out cheaper and there's more stuff available on eeuroparts than any of the German suppliers.

Holy shit do not buy a sensonic or automatic Saab. The sensonic will drive you fucking insane and the autos are made of glass, esp the OG 3-speed. OG900 16v Turbo five speed is the master race, regardless of body style. Short throw shifter is the best mod but unless a forum does another group buy the kits are basically unobtanium

'original' parts are surprisingly available and affordable even here in the automotive wasteland of northeast US

Wow thanks! A noob question: What is the difference between cable clutch and hydraulic?
I am envisioning a long metal-wire loosening whenever I press the pedal lol

Really? Interesting. I saw some parts go cheap but I wonder if the prices are going to go up after a while when the stock of original parts vanishes. That´s my biggest fear.

Also. What experience do you have with the sensonic? It was so fuck and have no idea why they would make such a thing. And don´t worry. I´ll never buy auto.

MK1 OR MK2 GOLF GTI NIGGER its like a fwd bimmer without muhammeds aids all over it

Would it be difficult to turbocharge a 900NG? I sense it would be a huge pain in my rectal area to do.

FWD can drift fine though

Forgot to mention: In my thoroughly biased opinion, the best Saab is the 9000. It's reliable, powerful and there's not too much that can go wrong - no all-powerful central computer controlling everything like on 9-3s and 9-5s.
The NG900 is fine too but I prefer the 9000's looks. I'd recommend to steer clear of the TCS models (I have one of those) as they can make a bunch of trouble and have a dumb, idiosyncratic 80s integral ABS system whereas the non-TCS models are simplicity itself. Removing TCS completely is a bunch of work as to get all the benefits of not having it, you need to replace the entire ABS system as well. So yeah, just get one without it if you wanna be on the safe side. Its only downside for me is how loud it is at higher speeds, it would be a great cruiser otherwise.
You're best off looking at some animations, they'll get the point across much better than if I were to write a long paragraph here.

NG900s came turbocharged. Not all of them, but definitely enough to make it not worth boosting an N/A model.

b23 motor's are a big meme, you can basically crank up the boost and beat the dick out of them till the block is literally red hot, shut it off wait for it to cool, and do it again. With iron block/head and some pretty damn strong stock conrods/pistons they are literal tanks.

Already looking them up but they are so boring.

It feels like having a crush on the perfect girl you´ll never have and you know that even if you somehow managed to get here, she would fuck your life up. The Golf GTIs are the nice girls that really want you but are so dull.

>one of the best handling cars of its time
>dull

haha buy a saab then

>snaab hasn't showed up yet
He must be posting in the discord too much.

>m.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=78225969

Might turbo this thing if I buy and also chiptune. I would like the Aero model the best, but it is too expensive and rare.

I already got a good handling car. My TT is good for driving to the mall or picking up ONE buddy and driving mildly fast through corners. But it has no real sense or feel to it because it is super german. Might just get my grandpa´s 2002 Golf then as a DD because what´s the point?

Fuck its auto. BAIL

Again, don't get an n/a saab and turbo it. It's not worth the time or money with how many of them there are with factory turbos.

The best saab is a subaru
9-2x aero

>>Is there a better Saab out there?
The 2003+ 9-3 SS. Comes with GM's amazing 2.0L Ecotec turbo.

Right right right, looks like it's time to set some shit straight here...
Saabs are not inherently unreliable, you just have to know what you're doing with them. That means you'd better be on top of your maintenance, you'd better know exactly what's going into the thing, and if you buy used, you'd better know exactly what was done to it beforehand. There's a little bit of leeway in some areas, but you really have to be dead-on with the schedules.

Now that said, not all of them are as finnicky as some can be, since NG900s and most if not all 9-3s don't have the same sludging risks as 9-5s. And the all-important computer functions are not inherently fearsome; if anything, they make diagnostics way easier because they're so sensitive to what's going on at an ionic level.

There's way too much to explain in just one post, so here's a few resource links:

>saabcentral.com/
Their "information" sections are a bit out of date, but the forums are chock full of how-tos, oddball inquiries, and absolutely necessary data.

>youtube.com/channel/UC0Ilmq-1TepHfNzSvANiM5Q
Phenomenal channel with all sorts of details and tricks. Updates constantly, and very quick to answer questions.

>eeuroparts.com/
AMAZING parts source. Just know that unless you want to pay a mint for shipping, it's probably going to take a few days to get to you. They do, however, have all kinds of neat deals and occasionally partner with sites like SaabCentral to offer discount codes.

>genuinesaab.com/
These guys have a decent selection of tuning stuffs, from flashed ECUs to freeflow exhausts and forged pistons and all that fun stuff. I also really like their accessories, because I'm a dweeb.

And remember, aftermarket DICs are ALWAYS a dice roll. Your best bet, cost be damned, is a genuine Saab/SEM DIC.

>m.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=74080814

Here´s one 5 min away from where I live. Is that the type you meant? And what is it that makes it better? Thanks.

That's one. That 9-3 shares literally NOTHING with the older 9-3/900NG. It rides on GM's Epsilon platform, shared with the Opel Vectra C.
The glorious thing about it though is the Ecotec engine. Bulletproof, and easy to modify for more power.

>genuinesaab.com/
Very nice, must say. That´s one thing I dreaded about the older Saabs. Not sharing many parts with companies still alive would probably make it difficult to fix them up in the future or send to a mechanic.

I will pop by there omw home on tuesday. Really hope this one won´t go before I get there.

Thx based Saabro. I think I´ll check out the 9-3 nearby my home as pointed out.

So glad I asked you guys for this stuff.

DIC jokes still make me chuckle like a little girl.

I've only had my 9-5 for 2 months so I cant speak much on reliability, and pretty much every model of saab has its own quirks, but you should just buy one. I love everything about this car.

just stay away from the 2003 9-3, and be cautious of 99-03 9-5s because of the sludge issues.

>2002 base golf in any way comparable to an original gti

buy the saab so you can post about what an awful choice you made to feel speshul

What´s the problem with the 9-3?

The first model year of any new car always has issues they worked out in later years.

I´m looking at the 04 version but thanks for the advice :)