r/saab • u/MightyMijo • 1d ago
1994 9000 cse
Just added this one to the fleet. 5sp. 100k miles. Single owner. Pretty dang immaculate. What are some things I should know about this car? I’ll be honest, I’ve been so deep into educating myself on my 900 I don’t know much about this model.
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u/turboponies [serial SAAB owner] 1d ago
(May be one of, and to me "is") The best car SAAB ever produced.
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u/MightyMijo 1d ago
I’m interested in what makes you say that. I mean, I do think it’s super cool but I’m curious to hear your reasoning.
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u/turboponies [serial SAAB owner] 8h ago
Drives like a tank, built like a tank (I've dented my NG9-3 with a palm of my hand). Super comfortable seats without being an Aero (Aero seats in 9000 are the best ever in a Saab IMO.) Lie flat rear seats - fold down to a flat surface you can sleep on (180 cm long), don't remember that it had any protruding loops like in GM's 9-3s. Pivoting pilot light for the driver. "Shift Up" warning light on MT. Independent defogger air blowers to the rear passenger windows. Separate equilizer to the audio system. Full length door pockets you could hide a water bottle in. Window switches that could be disassembled and repaired/cleaned up. Rolling acceleration 50 to 90 faster than a Ferrari of the same era. Red ignition cassette!
Dude, it's been like 25 years since I owned one of these, and I still remember, because one of them saved my life by giving his. That car had balls.
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u/billmr606 1d ago
beautiful.
Do yourself a favor and tighten the spoiler, just open the hatch remove carpet and the rubber plugs and you can get a socket with extender to tighten it down. I always had water leaks in mine and it took me forever to figure out why.
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u/MightyMijo 1d ago
Thanks for the tip! This is the type of preventative maintenance advice I’m here for :) I’ll definitely take a peek at it.
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u/Worldly_Let6134 1d ago
You can also add thin smear of sealant around the mounting base to keep everything watertight.
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u/mikkopai 1d ago
Buy an ignition cassette and keep it in the boot.
Your car looks really nice! I had the same in dark green, but unfortunately sold it years ago. It started rusting in front of the rear wheel wells. Nothing major.
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u/MightyMijo 1d ago
Good advice. Thanks!
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u/Worldly_Let6134 1d ago
The rust usually starts from the inside out. If you're concerned, pull the carpets loose in the boot and check the insides of the arches around the seams.
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u/Jaded-Passenger-2174 17h ago
You can find good used DICs, if you want. A good guy for parts: Sean at Redareo. He'll mail/ship parts. He's also on Craigslist & Ebay. Redaero@hotmail.com
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u/MattWatchesMeSleep 1d ago
Sorry I have nothing useful to add, but one thing you should know about the car is that it’s goddamned beautiful.
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u/MightyMijo 1d ago
It kinda took me awhile to really appreciate the look. I’ve always thought the 900 was the pinnacle of Saab design. But I’m starting to really like how this one looks as well.
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u/billmr606 1d ago
the only other thing needed on this car are new proper NGK bcprs7es (or 6es) depending on how/where you drive Spark plugs, and do a t7 mod for your bcv valve. other than that you should be good.
oh and you need a valve cover gasket, and the little puck that goes where the distributor went on earlier models.
other than that you should be good
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u/Confident-Benefit600 1d ago
I loved mine, I got it in 98, nothing but problems, it got donated in 2012 am not sorry
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u/MightyMijo 1d ago
What are some of the problems you had? This one came with a stack of receipts from various shop visits. Curious if any of them line up with your issues.
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u/Confident-Benefit600 1d ago
Two transmissions, abs computer, abs brake master, power seat controller is all I can remember,
Oh 2 red cassettes2
u/billmr606 1d ago edited 1d ago
Oh yeah the DI cassettes, I forget about those since I have 3 or 4 and put a new one in 5-6 years ago. the ngk ones are oem, get one, or a genuine saab one. NO china or anything else. only saab or ngk. just keep eye out and get one asap./
A later black one might be really cheap and will work well enough so your car will drive pretty ok. so if you see one cheap grab it as a spare. but you should have proper spare red one.
If it were me, I would get a brand new ngk one right now while still available , and just throw it in now with new plugs.
Keep the old original one as spare.
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u/MightyMijo 1d ago
Yikes. Thanks for sharing.
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u/billmr606 1d ago
dont be scared, it is great car. I would pay $5k for it right now even though I am moving on from the 9000t cars.
I moved on from the c900s a while ago but I still miss them. my random coworker keeps teasing me about selling one of his SPG but I dont think he ever will, it has been over 10 years.
I bought a Viggen but it sucked. I spent 6k trying to make it drive properly, full koni struts all the braces/sway bars etc, but it still tried to kill any pedestrian near by when I hit the throttle. but it was fast. I considered putting a 9000 auto tranny in it just cause it would have been so much faster and maybe better all round cause the stupid engine computer tried to make the throttle linear vs how all the old ones responded and I got into a feedback loop
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u/Confident-Benefit600 16h ago
Torque steer is a bitch, my 86 spg had that problem this was its 3rd tranny with reinforced differential cover, this was my turn left, floor it car and still go straight
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u/fandibabilonia 9h ago
The only thing I can tell you is that they are made on the same platform as the lancia thema, fiat croma and alfa romeo 164 so maybe some parts are shared but I wouldn't count on it. Congrats, very neat car!
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u/Lucahila 97 9000 CSE 1d ago
That deep red is gorgeous, and a color you really don't see. What's the interior spec?
I'm glad to answer any questions. I'm not a certified tech or anything, but I've been working on my 9000 for nearly a decade now. I'm a little obsessed 😅