Wow...

I never thought I'd be a Saab man. but, I love this Saab! I bought this car for $800 as a runner but, not a driver. Originally from Flint, Michigan, this car does have some rust typical of the northern states where they excessively salt the roads.

The previous owner was done with it and wanted it gone. All it needed was a crankshaft position sensor. A part that cost $60. The previous owner's local mechanic misdiagnosed it somehow. It's not like they didn't put a code reader on it. There was one code (minus the ignition cassette codes) that read, "P0340" for a bad crank or cam sensor. These cars don't have cam sensors (the ignition cassette has that function) which means it's the crank sensor or the engine jumped time.

She's the manual transmission flavor; the best way to experience all 260HP and 258 FT-LB. Boost comes on in 2nd - 5th gear. So yes, she is boost-limited in 1st gear which does suck a bit... For a late oughts car, she's well appointed. Materials are nice, definitely a step above the Saturn L series it shares a GM Platform with.

Honestly, there's so much to love here whether you find a manual or automatic flavor of Saab. These were stout cars with fairly reliable drive trains. This car is a testament to that reliability as this 9-5 has ~265,000 miles on the clock and climbing.

All is not well though, she will need a clutch eventually. So, no smokey burnouts or 0-60 pulls for this car unless you want to KO the rest of the clutch in the process. Lastly, she'll need an ignition cassette but, I'm waiting for the existing one to fully fail first.