Old Top Gear Saab 900

[krirks]

It's unbelievable that I got so many cool musics from the 80s from old top gear!

[plectroman]

2:13........HAHAHAHAHAHAHAaaaa­aaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KJP71]

I had two of these a decade ago. Old 900 `s are made like tanks. They are safe, quiet and comfortable. Nowdays cars are like golf carts in every way, compared to them.

[helmuthoorn]

One of the best kept secrets in the 2nd hand car field.

The other one is, wait for it.......the Citroen Xantia.

[pandacrunch]

R.I.P. Saab. There's not much money to be made from cars that don't break down frequently. My 84' 900s still runs beautifully.

[autumnwake]

@FrightfulAccountant Superior European engineering? Have you ever owned a Land Rover? Or a pre-Ford Jaguar? Gah!

[Jurassic0Al]

The Saab 900! The car nice people drive.

[HesseJamez]

I own a `'89 Saab 16V (no Turbo), almost 400.000 km run now - 2nd clutch, but 1st engine + gearbox. Rotten doors, oil loss and hanging roofliner are normal, but you can't kill the engine, the trunk is giant and the heating is made for Sibiria.

[FurryWereWolf93]

This car reminds me of Porsche's 944T Convertible

[rajithaify]

that is an extremely good review!

that's how a car review should be done, but sadly new topgear has lost the hang of it completely

[jmmullarkey1]

If anyone is interested to know, a modification was available where the SAAB 900 tailgate could be unbolted and replaced with a GRP caravan-type attachment called a Toppola - google it to see what I mean. Also an estate car modification replaced in the same way - google SAAB 900 estate. The SAAB 900 - a jack of all trades!

[lossadjuster1]

I have a 1987 900 3 door Saab, brought by my late father new, I couldnt bear to part with it when he died! It now has a genuine 75,000 on the clock, full history, and is described by the local Saab specialist as the "museum piece"!! It drives as well as the day it was new, and never fails to start first time. The interior looks new, the only part to be replaced was the headlining which fell down last year!

Such a shame that Saab are in such financil trouble.

[botkyrkakillen]

My saab 900 from 1988 has soon done 300 000 km

[Annihilator1111]

the 1978-1993 Saab 900 was assembled in

Trollhättan, Sweden

Arlöv, Sweden

Uusikaupunki, Finland

[lawtowngirl85]

@Annihilator1111 my dads saab is made by trolls in trollhattan!

[steveingvar]

i love those old saab's. it's kind of like seeing an old bimmer, very classy

[HexagonalSun]

lmao did he literally roll the r in "brake"

[TheCarismaGT]

"Built like a Merc, safe as a Volvo and so much cooler than a BMW..." , well said Mr. Willson.

[tg72211]

Don't drive like psychopaths? I assume you have never been to Boston.

[volvo145]

Brrrreakpads, rrreumatism.

[russ13b]

3:41 it's only a minor detail, but the handbrake works on the front

[saabtart]

@russ13b The handbrake was on the front til the E reg, then it was switched to the rear :-)

[saabtart]

hey, I'm the lady technician in the Ashby Garage scenes. both me and my man own classic saabs.Both wound up on boost & rapid tanks.Love them and worked on saab for 24yrs.;-)

[brutsi]

Bahh, i got my first speeding ticket ever in one of those.

[baoap]

"Built as a Merc, safe as a Volvo, and so much cooler than a BMW." Great quote.

[23chilled]

ugly well made car only saab i ever liked was the 9000turbo the rest are plain horrid

[newandused1998]

@StuntBiker93 why are you a psychopath?

[RidgeRPG]

My Dad had a Saab 900 Turbo but it seems to be a rare one since that one was two coloured.. grey and then a purple like colour half the doors down and around... havnt found one like it :(

[idontgiveasheet]

Now i really want to drive my 1995 900 SE Convertible

[dolphtrains2]

oops. iv just read the rest of the comments so only 1 is still on the road haha

[dolphtrains2]

and im willing to bet that nearly all of those saabs in this video are still on the road today, pushing 400,000 miles and still in great condition!

even post 93 GM owned saabs still cover incredible mileages with few faults. i had a 97 NG900s. i sadly sold it which i regret now, but it had done 191,000 miles and the only thing that went wrong with it was a slight crunch when engaging reverse, and a loose exhaust manifold which was easily tightened up. and that was it!

[vvodonos1980]

the 900 is one of my favorite cars of all time. Maybe someday I'll buy a restored black SPG.

The emergency brake going to the roof like that could also mean your front calipers since the early 900 had the e-brake on the front brakes... Really weird.

[nonamebrand0]

ill always remember the SAAB as Seinfeld's car

[fredrik999z]

I'm from Sweden and SAAB 900 was the last good car produced in Sweden. SAAB used to be famous for building reliable, economical, safe and innovative everyday sport cars. After GM bought it they became thirsty, poor quality and boring. Today they are a decade behind German cars in development. :(

[lawtowngirl85]

@fredrik999z thats why i hate gm they took SAAB and just killed it. i have no respect for gm.nor ford they sold volvo to geely ( china) to i have to say anything more?

[jmmullarkey1]

@lawtowngirl85

Yeah, I hate GM too for what they did to SAAB, and Ford only bought Volvo to steal the MK1 S80 platform. I wonder what it would have been like if SAAB had merged with Volvo, as proposed in the mid-nineties?

[lawtowngirl85]

@jmmullarkey1 they mmm they were both in need of bigger help. If they would have merged Saab and Volvo would have fallen sooner then what they did.

[jmmullarkey1]

@lawtowngirl85

Your'e probably right. Hopefully Geely will think that SAAB are worth saving too? (Hopefully). The 900 and 9000 were THE solid SAABs. The 9-5 was well known for major engine failure issues if the oil wasn't changed every 6000 miles. The 9-5 is a nice car, as was the 9-3, but GM cut costs heavily and used cheap Vauxhall/Opel bits in many areas - A SAAB is in a different league from a Vauxhall, hence you need higher quality parts!

[lawtowngirl85]

@jmmullarkey1 i want to hopeful but geely? What you can start seeing is saabs with the geely logo on them. Then we can say that (really HATE SAYING THIS) Saab is dead. if funny every car on the road today hads what i call Saab DNA. trust me i have been studying this car since i was 6 year old.

[armeniansdoitbetter]

@jmmullarkey1 I had a 2002 9-3 and a 2004 9-5 bothe were turbo 4 eco tech and both had the oil changed at 3k always. I missed 1k on the 9-3 and it developed a rod knock at 97k miles and the turbo went . The 9-5 blew its turbo and the hvac was shot. if you want swede, buy an old volvo 240. I left it with 350k and still life in it.

[pabloseba35]

makes me want to take my '94 turbo convertible for a spin....

[cm18cam]

Thanks that was really helpful

[cm18cam]

So does anyone know how good a 2001 saab 9-5 v6 is when it comes to reliability?

[TheLegendTomWing]

@cm18cam The most important thing when looking at Saab reliability is not really the car itself, but how it was maintained. These cars can either be the greatest cars on earth or a complete nightmare. Make sure the person has used Saab approved fluids, and all service intervals were taken note of (and don't trust what the owners manual says, call a saab dealer and ask what they suggest, the stuff changes with the wind).

So in short, look for a bunch of major problems in service and maintenance.

[lbs129]

@cm18cam The 9-5 is a reliable car, but you'd better get a real Saab 4-cylinder turbocharged engine than the GM V6.

[StuntBiker93]

i hate saab |-(

[apejens44]

@StuntBiker93 why the fuck is that?

[Brainiac83]

The only reason i clicked on this vid is to hear the comments about SAABs Dash ...I can make a nicer one in my garadge.And this car if effin ugly.

[kafertreiber]

fur shizzle in ma nizzil dizzle katrizzle biz

[roggerfrogger2]

brrrrrrrrake pads

[keviiinn]

awesome video. though my dad has a 2000 9-3 that's been anything but a tank, I still like the 2008+ 9-3 body styles.

[FrightfulAccountant]

Again an example of superior European engineering, ruined by General motors ;)

[VTS1337]

@FrightfulAccountant You couldn't be more correct.

The fools at my school think that Saabs are s*** (why, may I ask.) Because they are not in F1? If I was the manager of Saab, I wouldn't want cars designed to be cars to be dumbed down to a few bits of metal connected to an engine. And they have no other reason. I really want a 900 when i'm old enough to drive, sadly, that will be in 2016, and the 900 will be a museam piece. I remember the 900T16S, brought for next to nothing & it never broke.

[JELH]

Both the J-reg silver Saab 900 and the D-reg 900 Convertible have been put out of the road in 2007. Sorry for posting these comments, but I'm always curious to find out if these cars featured in the old TG episodes still are on the road.

[ysivyboi1]

No worries I like doing that too its interesting to see if the presenters had a point and id love to own a car one of the presenters had driven, the owner wouldn't know so they wouldn't cost anymore

[tiggetigge]

@JELH how do you find that in britain?

[bullet50000]

@JELH

Still, almost 25 years is pretty good, and it probably had over 300,000 miles

[JELH]

Neville Fanibanda says his grey Saab 900 Turbo is built like a tank, but his "tank" is no longer the road. The enquiry is complete The vehicle details for F544 VEW are: Date of Liability01 04 2006 Date of First Registration01 08 1988 Year of Manufacture1988 Cylinder Capacity (cc)1985CC CO2 EmissionsNot Available Fuel TypePetrol Export MarkerNot Applicable Vehicle StatusUnlicensed Vehicle ColourGREY

[ysivyboi1]

It could be being kept in a garage because he cant afford to run it or in the worst case broken up for parts but it hasnt been scrapped because the details are deleted, my dad's car's details for S493 RBO disappeared from DVLA Enquiry 3 days after he left it at the Mazda dealer for the scrappage scheme

[Jurassic0Al]

@JELH- Dude. What the FUCK are you talking about? NOBODY FUCKING CAAAARES. Thank you. And for the record, the Saab 900 is awesome.

[jmmullarkey1]

@JELH

Must be on about 3 Billion Miles, I'm guessing.

[JELH]

The red Saab is no longer on the road. The enquiry is complete The vehicle details for B78 SAC are: Date of Liability01 02 2004 Date of First Registration17 04 1985 Year of Manufacture1985 Cylinder Capacity (cc)1985CC CO2 EmissionsNot Available Fuel TypePetrol Export MarkerNot Applicable Vehicle StatusUnlicensed Vehicle ColourRED