Well this sucks

"Godspeed11- I own a SAAB" (Godspeed11)
02/06/2014 at 20:18 • Filed to: None

The Turbo X was sent in to the shop to get some maintenance done and a few things checked out. I bought the car knowing that it had been in a minor wreck, mostly cosmetic apparently. Well the shop found that a few repairs had been done poorly and it caused damage to the cooling system. That means probably a new radiator and intercooler. I'll have to wait to see just how bad it is. Worst case scenario, the whole cooling system needs to be redone and it'll be upwards of $2,000. Ouch.

DISCUSSION (26)

BeaterGT > Godspeed11- I own a SAAB
02/06/2014 at 20:20

#saabstory

bob and john > Godspeed11- I own a SAAB
02/06/2014 at 20:21

*cringe*

then again, you did only pay what, 12k? for it. here in a canada those things called 20k all day long

Aaron James > Godspeed11- I own a SAAB
02/06/2014 at 20:22

Are we talking a few bent rows of fins or what? are you having cooling problems? are you able to keep boost through the intercooler? Do you trust this shop? Things don't always have to be cosmetically perfect to work properly.

PRBot II > Godspeed11- I own a SAAB
02/06/2014 at 20:23

Damn. From one Saab lover to another. I know that feel.

I own dead car brands only > Godspeed11- I own a SAAB
02/06/2014 at 20:28

From another Saab owner to another, I'm pulling for you.

Are you skilled mechanically? You can go to Goldwing and get replacement parts for it and donut yourself.

Brian Silvestro > PRBot II
02/06/2014 at 20:32

That was one of the funniest videos I've ever watched.

Godspeed11- I own a SAAB > Aaron James
02/06/2014 at 20:40

I don't know, this is all coming from my dad who dropped the car off at the shop. We are family friends with the owner and the shop is fairly well know around here. When I drove it for a week or so it didn't have any apparent issues until the last few days when the XWD stopped working. I was thinking maybe it was electronic but I guess it might be linked to the cooling some how. Boost pressure was good, after parking it though I could hear a faint bubbling near the center tunnel. I couldn't find the source at home but I'm guessing some ducting goes around the back of the engine for the Turbo.

Godspeed11- I own a SAAB > bob and john
02/06/2014 at 20:42

Yeah we stole it. $12,000 before taxes. If it ends up being $2,000 then we still got a bargain. The last Turbo X with a manual and nav to sell in the states went for $15,500 on Ebay.

bob and john > Godspeed11- I own a SAAB
02/06/2014 at 20:47

yea.

lucky friggen bastard

If i had the money, i would have bought it.

Aaron James > Godspeed11- I own a SAAB
02/06/2014 at 20:51

If you know and trust the shop, then I wouldn't second guess it. I lightly wrecked my Durango and turned my radiator and AC condenser into a shape like this ) no leaks and never had trouble. Much simpler design though. Good luck with it, hopefully it will be an easy fix once they look closer at it.

Godspeed11- I own a SAAB > Aaron James
02/06/2014 at 20:58

Initially they said it was a leak somewhere and it shouldn't be major (loose or cracked hose maybe). Then they got under the car and saw it was more serious. Hopefully the radiator wasn't damaged by the repairs and it simply needs a re-mount and adjustment.

Godspeed11- I own a SAAB > bob and john
02/06/2014 at 20:59

Hey if I ever decide to sell it (highly [I mean very highly] unlikely), you'll be at the top of the list!

Godspeed11- I own a SAAB > I own dead car brands only
02/06/2014 at 21:17

I'm sure I could do it but I don't have the time. It would be 3 or 4 weeks before I could get it in and do it myself.

Godspeed11- I own a SAAB > BeaterGT
02/06/2014 at 21:17

my life.

bob and john > Godspeed11- I own a SAAB
02/06/2014 at 21:33

ya. i;'ll have to see how hard it is to sawp from an auto to a stick. i would REALLY want the wagon in a stick.

Godspeed11- I own a SAAB > bob and john
02/06/2014 at 21:46

In the U.S. there's only 13 wagons with a stick and Navigation. There was a mess up at the factory and the codes were processed wrong. People ordered wagons with nav and a manual and it didn't process right so there are very very few of those. About 100 wagons in the U.S. have manuals of the 250 here.

Of the 350 sedans only about 125 have manuals and about 50 have manuals and Nav. I don't truly realize how rare my car is...those are just numbers but I know that my specific car is rarer than basically every car that I see at my local C&C

I own dead car brands only > Godspeed11- I own a SAAB
02/06/2014 at 22:04

I suppose that's better as I can't bear to be without my 07 Aero convertible any longer than a day

Godspeed11- I own a SAAB > I own dead car brands only
02/06/2014 at 22:15

I have an "07 Aero Sportcombi but it is nothing compared to the Turbo X. I only got to drive the X for about a week before it started having issues. Hopefully it won't be too long before I finally get to drive it hard and see what it's really made of, but for now I will be content with my wagon.

I own dead car brands only > Godspeed11- I own a SAAB
02/06/2014 at 22:16

Nice! I tried to find one as I really wanted a wagon but they're rare as heck around here so I settled for a convertible. It's been tuned so it's easily the fastest car I've ever owned.

Godspeed11- I own a SAAB > I own dead car brands only
02/06/2014 at 22:20

I spent about a year trying to find the wagon. I wanted an '08 or newer but the facelift models were too much and manuals were scarce. I settle on the '07 with an auto only because it had nav and was about a 5 hour drive away from where I live. It has been mostly problem free, the gas gauge no longer works and the nav disc skips but both are easy fixes. Right now I'm focusing on the Turbo X though. My sister is going to inherit the wagon and we'll get it fixed then, for now I can use the trip computer to keep track of gas.

The Aeros are crazy fast. I took the wagon to autocross and it was a blast. The Turbo X though...that's a whole new world. Until I got it the fastest car I had driven was a 335i and I have no doubt the Turbo X would beat it. Plus having a manual makes everything so much more fun. Is your convertible a stick? I have only seen one aero convertible around here, they're pretty rare.

bob and john > Godspeed11- I own a SAAB
02/06/2014 at 22:27

......
dam.
I dont really care about nav, but i do want a manueal. oh well. maybe once i'm out of uni i'll be able to get something nice. if not a saab, then a v70r with the spaceball

Godspeed11- I own a SAAB > bob and john
02/06/2014 at 22:34

Gosh the space ball is so cool. It's like some weird future gated shift with no physical gates or something...

Nav wasn't really a priority when I was searching for the Turbo X but of all the ones for sale with a manual it was the only one close with low miles. When I started looking there was one in Washington state (1,300 miles away), wagon with 129,000 miles...no good. Then another with 115,000 in New York. Still an 18 hour drive and lots of miles. The closest one showed up about 6 months ago in Chicago and I knew that it was the one. 80,000 miles when I bought it, stick, and nav. Had it lacked nav I still would have gone for it, now there are none in the U.S. For sale with manuals so I feel very, very blessed.

I own dead car brands only > Godspeed11- I own a SAAB
02/06/2014 at 22:39

I wish it was a stick. Aeros with the 2.8T in convertible with a manual are so incredibly rare. I've only seen one and that was on ebay. Convertibles in Aero guise are very rare around here as well. There's several others but they are lesser trims.

Mine came from Florida and I live in ohio. So sadly it doesn't have heated seats. Otherwise it's everything I wanted. I had to swap in an autodim mirror and just installed a trailer hitch. Planning on getting a small camper and go camping with it.

Godspeed11- I own a SAAB > I own dead car brands only
02/06/2014 at 22:46

I see tons of 2.0t around here, aeros are a rare sight. There's a family or two that swim in the Southeast zone and when I travel to some meets I see their NG 9-5 Aero. My dad drives a 2011 9-5 biopower and I've only ever seen two others, both from swim families.
I've seen maybe 3 or 4 sportcombis here but only one aero other than mine. There's an anniversary edition convertible I see occasionally and a 9000 cse I see a few times a week on campus.

I own dead car brands only > Godspeed11- I own a SAAB
02/08/2014 at 16:31

Are you on Saabcentral by any chance?

I tried to convince my family to get more Saabs but they balk at the idea of it. Bah

Godspeed11- I own a SAAB > I own dead car brands only
02/08/2014 at 23:17

I'm not, I visit some Saab forums on occasion if I'm looking for parts or something.

After we got my Aero sportcombi my dad went out and replaced his and my mom's cars with Saabs because they were so cheap at the time and much nicer than anything for the price. Plus he was tired of getting 14 mpg in his tundra and my mom's 2005 SRX was on it's last leg....