Still Saabin'

[rpiereck]

Well gents, here I am, still alive, still kicking. I've been spending the last few weeks of my internet time on Facebook and Jalopnik, have been busy with finals for one crucial course I was doing (I am glad it's over), and I have been finalizing an application packet for a job change in the Army. The biggest hurdle is getting a Top Secret clearance that is required for the new job.

I sold my Saab 900. A new guy who showed up at my unit came from Maine and was raised in a Saab family. He kept bugging me about selling my 900 to him. I even showed him other 900s for sale here in Germany, but the closest in decent shape was two hours away. I ended up asking him for a high price for the car, and he agreed to it. So for almost $3000 I sold my 900, he got all my spare parts and my Ronal Silverspokes too. He didn't want the spare Nardi steering wheel, so I kept that.

I thought about getting another 900, and I almost got a 1989 900i 16v five door hatchback, but the car had some more rust than mine, had a nasty looking headliner and wasn't registered, which meant I would have to rent a car trailer and go fetch the car without doing a test drive. So I let it go. I also thought about getting a 9000, a car I always liked, but all 9000s I found locally had issues that would either cost money soon or that would prevent them from being driven as soon as I bought them. I found one excellent, beautiful 1985 9000 but it was on north Germany, almost on the Danish border, but again, those were just pictures, and the car was also not registered.

I ended up getting my second French car ever. I got me a 1991 Peugeot 309 GTI. The 309 is a cousin of the 205 (which I own), shares some mechanical parts but it is longer and slightly wider. The 309 has the same engine, same suspension design, but they are world's apart as far as how they drive. The 205 is a nervous little car with ultra short gears, light weight, hard suspension, noisy exhaust, revvy engine, touchy clutch, etc. The 309 is much more relaxed, with a more compliant suspension, no noisy exhaust, longer gears. It's funny how similar these cars are but how differently they feel. The handling on the 309 is awesome, however, the car is very composed in curves and for a 1980s car it handles like on rails. Reviews I read said the 309 took the 205 handling one notch higher because the car was more balanced on curves, whereas the 205 is prone to throttle-lift oversteer the 309 doesn't do that due to a heavier body and better weigh distribution. The 205 was already known as a great performer, the 309 just wasn't as famous because it wasn't much of a looker.

One thing the 309 has in common with the 900 is that both are white, and both are three door hatchbacks, the rear of the 309 is kinda 9000-ish, with that wrap around window and the short butt. But the 309 is much smaller than a Saab.





The 9-5 hasn't taken too well to having the 900 depart our home. It has been running rough, sometimes sputtering on acceleration, and has been throwing codes P1230, P1260 and P1251. It all points to the throttle body, so I will be cleaning it as a whistle and will replace all vacuum lines, hoping it will go away. I don't want to have to replace the body itself! Oddly the front left low beam has also stopped working, I replaced the bulb, checked the fuse (it was OK) and will no light. Tomorrow I'll put a multimeter on it to see where I am not getting juice. To add insult to injury when I opened the hood today to check the light bulb I heard a PFFFFFSSSSSSHHHHHTTTTT from my left and saw the right side engine hood shock leaving oil all over the engine bay as the seal busted. Like I sai,d the 9-5 isn't happy being the sole Saab in the Piereck household.

[Dave T]

Farewell to the white 900. I knew it had to go eventually since it was not US spec, though it passed the 25 year threshold to get to the US. In Canada, it's 15 years before unmodified importation is permitted.

[nordwulf]

Sounds like many things happening at the same time! Small cars like the 205 are fun but in the end, they are just small cars. The 309 like the Golf seems just the nice size. I like the understated look of the 309, looks like it is in pretty good shape. It sounded like you really enjoyed the 900 but at least it went to another enthusiast. Glad to hear things are still going (mostly) good for you.