Originally Posted by
TheKillerPenguin
My Saab, she is dying. It's a 9-3 Convertible. It has been a fun car. It has been a terrible car. I love this car. It is a stupid car.
The last 12 months I've replaced...
Vacuum lines ($)
Evap Purge Valve ($)
Muffler ($$)
DI Cassette (Saab is weird) ($$$)
Ignition Switch ($$$)
AC compressor bypassed with a short belt mod ($$)
Left Axle ($$)
+ std maintenance stuff.
OK great. No repairs in 4 months. Things are good. My car is happy. Happy little car. Fast little car. It gets me where I need to go. I can stop worrying.
A month ago I turn on my car. I'm on my way out to see family that is in from Australia and I'm 3/4 awake at this point. Coffee sounds good. I will stop for coffee. Except, the passenger's side impact airbag went off when I turned on the car. My ears ring. I rue this day.
#Saab
OK, checked open recalls since there are known airbag issues from the early 2000's. My VIN isn't a part of them. GM is like sorry bro, we can't help you. Also Saab is dead. It's a 2001 and is worth about as much as a large bag of Doritos, so no comprehensive coverage.
OK, so what do? Hmm. I'm handy enough. Maybe I'll just swap in a new passenger's seat! Yea alright, salvage yards have em for $150-200. Aw sweet, my indy mech says that's a good idea and he'll do it, but he wants to give the car a once over to make sure there aren't any faulty sensors.
So yesterday I started making a gameplan with the mechbro to replace the seat and make sure no other airbags are gonna pop in my face.
Today I drove it like 3 miles to go check out another car I am thinking of buying, the CEL came on and there is now a rattling noise on decel, but only when the Turbo is spooled.
#Saab
The car I'm looking at is an 05 Acura TL. The pluses are full records, garage stored, all preventative maintenance done, comes with winter wheels and tires, pretty much pristine condition, and $3.5k. But I don't think I can justify buying another aging low end luxury car after the **** show that has been my current one, especially with the CEL turning on while driving over there.
Poetry.
I finally "fixed" the check engine light in my Honda. Basically involved moving the o2 sensor about 4 inches further away so it would stop triggering the catalytic convertor error code. Its been running great recently and I fixed a rock chip in the windshield last night.
Hoping it sticks around. I love the convenience of having a car I can sleep and travel comfortably in while still keeping bikes inside. Gas mileage could be better and I wish it had some more power going up the mountain roads. And it's an aerodynamic brick and sucks in cross winds, but it has been a great car! Ticked it up over 169k this past weekend. I've put 5000 miles on it since June.