My trusty Saab 93 convertible is nearing the end of its life, and I am thinking about replacing it with an X type Jaguar, 2.0 diesel. I do about 25,000 miles a year just commuting so need something comfortable, economical and cheap. My budget is about 2.5k.
My alternative is to just get a newer Saab (would be my third in a row) but the Jaguar looks good from what I can see. Do any lifers have experience of owning one of these, and what was it like?
Not a very good idea, you're not going to get a very good and reliable jag for 2.5k and for your high mileage they are probably about as juicy as they come and won't hold a very good resale value, parts are also expensive. Agree you're probably better off getting a newer Saab, or if you really like the look of the jag get a cheaper more disposable rover 75 (jag imitation).
Well the Saab is just back from MoT. Needs a headlight bulb and a tyre. That's it. So I'll get the thing out of limp home mode and keep it after all. Can't let the old thing go if there's nothing else wrong with it.
An X Type Jaguar is a Mondeo for goodness sake! It was the Baby Jag designed and built by Ford.
Used a common floor pan but how many other parts? I worked for Ford at the time this car was developed so I know the answer to this. Its as much as a Mondeo as an Audi TT was a Golf.
Common floor pans are the norm nowadays and have been for many years for all car manufacturers.
Without Ford I doubt if there would even be a Jaguar car company today. They really were in a poor state when taken over by Ford.
Hey Keston! so did I (work for Ford at the time). Small world.
Well the Saab is just back from MoT. Needs a headlight bulb and a tyre. That's it. So I'll get the thing out of limp home mode and keep it after all. Can't let the old thing go if there's nothing else wrong with it.
Done 100,000+ on my 2001 convertible and with 145,000 on the clock still runs like a dream - throttle housing went a while back 45 quid on ebay and an easy fix. The only non consumable I`ve ever needed.
Stick with the Saab, treat it to a tune up at one of the excellent independents such as Neo`s and away you go!
Well the Saab is just back from MoT. Needs a headlight bulb and a tyre. That's it. So I'll get the thing out of limp home mode and keep it after all. Can't let the old thing go if there's nothing else wrong with it.
Done 100,000+ on my 2001 convertible and with 145,000 on the clock still runs like a dream - throttle housing went a while back 45 quid on ebay and an easy fix. The only non consumable I`ve ever needed.
Stick with the Saab, treat it to a tune up at one of the excellent independents such as Neo`s and away you go!
Like it Dave. On the forums this guy is reknown - a million mile Saab with original engine gearbox etc!
Not long after his divorce, Peter Gilbert treated himself to a new sports car - a Saab 900
Seventeen years and more than 1 million miles later, Gilbert donated his car to the Wisconsin Automotive Museum. The car survived eight deer collisions, including one that punched a hole in the radiator, before it was parked for safekeeping at the museum in Hartford.
"I couldn't kill that many deer with a gun," said Gilbert, a financial services salesman from Glendale.
Saab, the Swedish car-maker that's a division of General Motors, verified the high mileage on Gilbert's car last summer. Almost everything on the vehicle was original equipment, except for the front hoods and other parts that were replaced after the car-deer collisions.
Gilbert was meticulous about vehicle maintenance, including regular oil changes with premium, synthetic oil. He replaced the car's transmission at about 200,000 miles, but beyond that the engine was hardly touched.
"I knew someone who put 2.5 million miles on a Volvo, but the engine was rebuilt several times," Gilbert said.
Originally from Britain, Gilbert fell in love with Saabs when the cars were winning European road rallies in the 1960s. His trusty 900 SPG was no slouch, either, having once clocked 135 mph at the Road America race track in Elkhart Lake.
An X Type Jaguar is a Mondeo for goodness sake! It was the Baby Jag designed and built by Ford.
Used a common floor pan but how many other parts? I worked for Ford at the time this car was developed so I know the answer to this. Its as much as a Mondeo as an Audi TT was a Golf.
Common floor pans are the norm nowadays and have been for many years for all car manufacturers.
Without Ford I doubt if there would even be a Jaguar car company today. They really were in a poor state when taken over by Ford.
Hey Keston! so did I (work for Ford at the time). Small world.
It paid the mortgage off for me, the best memory I have of that company. I got to see how a few other car makers bashed metal into boxes, (basically pretty much the same as everyone else does) and then took voluntary redundancy . And thats the highlights of 15 years.
An X Type Jaguar is a Mondeo for goodness sake! It was the Baby Jag designed and built by Ford.
Used a common floor pan but how many other parts? I worked for Ford at the time this car was developed so I know the answer to this. Its as much as a Mondeo as an Audi TT was a Golf.
Common floor pans are the norm nowadays and have been for many years for all car manufacturers.
Without Ford I doubt if there would even be a Jaguar car company today. They really were in a poor state when taken over by Ford.
Hey Keston! so did I (work for Ford at the time). Small world.
It paid the mortgage off for me, the best memory I have of that company. I got to see how a few other car makers bashed metal into boxes, (basically pretty much the same as everyone else does) and then took voluntary redundancy . And thats the highlights of 15 years.
Wasn't the happiest time for me either. It seemed like they felt you should regard it as a privilege to work for such a wonderful company - the pay certainly reflected that! But it opened (car) doors for me - I spent a short time working for Toyota shortly after, and it even helped me get my current job.
How do I get very very minor paintwork/scratch repairs without using 'chipsaway' which came and quoted a silly figure?
If t-cut won't shift it you can use a cutting paste which is coarser.
I had chips away quote me for a repair on mine. Came round, photographed it and emailed a fairly reasonable price. Booked him in, took the day off work but 10 minutes after turning up cane in and told me he couldn't do it as he couldn't match the paint as it wasn't showing up on his charts and it was too old for the computer. Obviously the fact that it was on a 45 year old car didn't give him a clue when he came round initially.
The Saab has gone. Clutch was starting to judder, suggesting the springs are on their way out. One expensive job too many, so I am now in the X type, which cost me £2k in the end. I have to say, Mondeo or not, it's fabulous, which probably says more about the state the Saab was in. A week in I am finding it quiet, comfortable and economical. If it adds reliable to that, I'll be happy.
I did buy an x type in the end - several non mot faults on the saab, so got an 05 plate 2.0 diesel with 100K on the clock for £1,900 in May 2015.
Been using it daily for commuting until lockdown, and been a great car- comfortable, solid, stupidly economical for its size, and fast enough for my needs. 92,000 miles in 6 years with only one major item, being a replacement steering pump for about £250 fitted. It is a close second in my automotive affection to my old Saab 9000, and far more economical.
But the grim reaper of the MoT has finally had its way, and its now beyond economic repair, needing suspension work and sill welding. Now considering a peugeot 508 sw or other medium sized thing, my budget is still very modest, but then i try never to spend more than about a week's pay on a car anyway. After all, its just a car.
I havent had a peugeot since a little C reg 205 years ago, which was good fun. The 508s look decent, and are very cheap by comparison to rivals. Anyone have experience of these relatively uncommon things?
I did buy an x type in the end - several non mot faults on the saab, so got an 05 plate 2.0 diesel with 100K on the clock for £1,900 in May 2015.
Been using it daily for commuting until lockdown, and been a great car- comfortable, solid, stupidly economical for its size, and fast enough for my needs. 92,000 miles in 6 years with only one major item, being a replacement steering pump for about £250 fitted. It is a close second in my automotive affection to my old Saab 9000, and far more economical.
But the grim reaper of the MoT has finally had its way, and its now beyond economic repair, needing suspension work and sill welding. Now considering a peugeot 508 sw or other medium sized thing, my budget is still very modest, but then i try never to spend more than about a week's pay on a car anyway. After all, its just a car.
I havent had a peugeot since a little C reg 205 years ago, which was good fun. The 508s look decent, and are very cheap by comparison to rivals. Anyone have experience of these relatively uncommon things?
I can't believe Peugeot have been going that long.
I did buy an x type in the end - several non mot faults on the saab, so got an 05 plate 2.0 diesel with 100K on the clock for £1,900 in May 2015.
Been using it daily for commuting until lockdown, and been a great car- comfortable, solid, stupidly economical for its size, and fast enough for my needs. 92,000 miles in 6 years with only one major item, being a replacement steering pump for about £250 fitted. It is a close second in my automotive affection to my old Saab 9000, and far more economical.
But the grim reaper of the MoT has finally had its way, and its now beyond economic repair, needing suspension work and sill welding. Now considering a peugeot 508 sw or other medium sized thing, my budget is still very modest, but then i try never to spend more than about a week's pay on a car anyway. After all, its just a car.
I havent had a peugeot since a little C reg 205 years ago, which was good fun. The 508s look decent, and are very cheap by comparison to rivals. Anyone have experience of these relatively uncommon things?
Unless matchbox starts making their cars a bit bigger I'm not sure that's going to be an option
I did buy an x type in the end - several non mot faults on the saab, so got an 05 plate 2.0 diesel with 100K on the clock for £1,900 in May 2015.
Been using it daily for commuting until lockdown, and been a great car- comfortable, solid, stupidly economical for its size, and fast enough for my needs. 92,000 miles in 6 years with only one major item, being a replacement steering pump for about £250 fitted. It is a close second in my automotive affection to my old Saab 9000, and far more economical.
But the grim reaper of the MoT has finally had its way, and its now beyond economic repair, needing suspension work and sill welding. Now considering a peugeot 508 sw or other medium sized thing, my budget is still very modest, but then i try never to spend more than about a week's pay on a car anyway. After all, its just a car.
I havent had a peugeot since a little C reg 205 years ago, which was good fun. The 508s look decent, and are very cheap by comparison to rivals. Anyone have experience of these relatively uncommon things?
Unless matchbox starts making their cars a bit bigger I'm not sure that's going to be an option
I might stretch the budget a bit on the next one, i've been offered £300 for the x type as scrap
I did buy an x type in the end - several non mot faults on the saab, so got an 05 plate 2.0 diesel with 100K on the clock for £1,900 in May 2015.
Been using it daily for commuting until lockdown, and been a great car- comfortable, solid, stupidly economical for its size, and fast enough for my needs. 92,000 miles in 6 years with only one major item, being a replacement steering pump for about £250 fitted. It is a close second in my automotive affection to my old Saab 9000, and far more economical.
But the grim reaper of the MoT has finally had its way, and its now beyond economic repair, needing suspension work and sill welding. Now considering a peugeot 508 sw or other medium sized thing, my budget is still very modest, but then i try never to spend more than about a week's pay on a car anyway. After all, its just a car.
I havent had a peugeot since a little C reg 205 years ago, which was good fun. The 508s look decent, and are very cheap by comparison to rivals. Anyone have experience of these relatively uncommon things?
You earn £100k per annum and you dont want to spend more than £2k?
I did buy an x type in the end - several non mot faults on the saab, so got an 05 plate 2.0 diesel with 100K on the clock for £1,900 in May 2015.
Been using it daily for commuting until lockdown, and been a great car- comfortable, solid, stupidly economical for its size, and fast enough for my needs. 92,000 miles in 6 years with only one major item, being a replacement steering pump for about £250 fitted. It is a close second in my automotive affection to my old Saab 9000, and far more economical.
But the grim reaper of the MoT has finally had its way, and its now beyond economic repair, needing suspension work and sill welding. Now considering a peugeot 508 sw or other medium sized thing, my budget is still very modest, but then i try never to spend more than about a week's pay on a car anyway. After all, its just a car.
I havent had a peugeot since a little C reg 205 years ago, which was good fun. The 508s look decent, and are very cheap by comparison to rivals. Anyone have experience of these relatively uncommon things?
You earn £100k per annum and you dont want to spend more than £2k?
Tight.
Not tight at all, just got better things to spend my money on. And i was doing a bit better when i bought that car than i am now.
It's just a car. Also, I'm not very careful with them and dont want to be fixing it every time i scrape a bollard.
Comments
Stick with the Saab, treat it to a tune up at one of the excellent independents such as Neo`s and away you go!
On the forums this guy is reknown - a million mile Saab with original engine gearbox etc!
Not long after his divorce, Peter Gilbert treated himself to a new sports car - a Saab 900
Seventeen years and more than 1 million miles later, Gilbert donated his car to the Wisconsin Automotive Museum. The car survived eight deer collisions, including one that punched a hole in the radiator, before it was parked for safekeeping at the museum in Hartford.
"I couldn't kill that many deer with a gun," said Gilbert, a financial services salesman from Glendale.
Saab, the Swedish car-maker that's a division of General Motors, verified the high mileage on Gilbert's car last summer. Almost everything on the vehicle was original equipment, except for the front hoods and other parts that were replaced after the car-deer collisions.
Gilbert was meticulous about vehicle maintenance, including regular oil changes with premium, synthetic oil. He replaced the car's transmission at about 200,000 miles, but beyond that the engine was hardly touched.
"I knew someone who put 2.5 million miles on a Volvo, but the engine was rebuilt several times," Gilbert said.
Originally from Britain, Gilbert fell in love with Saabs when the cars were winning European road rallies in the 1960s. His trusty 900 SPG was no slouch, either, having once clocked 135 mph at the Road America race track in Elkhart Lake.
I had chips away quote me for a repair on mine. Came round, photographed it and emailed a fairly reasonable price. Booked him in, took the day off work but 10 minutes after turning up cane in and told me he couldn't do it as he couldn't match the paint as it wasn't showing up on his charts and it was too old for the computer. Obviously the fact that it was on a 45 year old car didn't give him a clue when he came round initially.
I have to say, Mondeo or not, it's fabulous, which probably says more about the state the Saab was in. A week in I am finding it quiet, comfortable and economical. If it adds reliable to that, I'll be happy.
http://www.autorefine.co.uk
Tight.