300,000 km coming up on my Swedish Beauty :)

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › 300,000 km coming up on my Swedish Beauty :)

freemark

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Topic # 160619 13-Jan-2015 20:23

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..how should I celebrate?
She is a Saab 9000 Aero, was $97,000 new here in 1996, cost me $4000 in 2011 and about the same since (all up excluding petrol.)
I've owned new cars, other Euro cars, 3 other Saabs as well, but as a testament to good design & engineering nothing has come even close.
I drive Akl-Wgtn 3-4 times per year, my body & soul feels better when I get out of the car than when I got in...we'll average 91kmh & 33.6mpg (excuse the mixed units)
Any required parts come via the Interweb & Fedex from the USA at 1 week & 1/3 of local cost (when they're available here).
Who else has a good old car story?

blakamin

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Reply # 1213383 13-Jan-2015 20:45

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I daily a 95 BMW 740iL. Love it. Soooo comfortable. Was $200k new and I paid $5k. 230000kms on it now.

And before that was the 93 730i. (since gone to a new home)

Before that was the 89 and 92 5-series.
And before that was a 71 mercedes.
I have an addiction to older german cars.

Batman

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Reply # 1213385 13-Jan-2015 20:52

where do u guys learn how to fix cars? tempted to start "servicing" me nissan something something ...

Swype on iOS is detrimental to accurate typing. Apologies in advance.

blakamin

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Reply # 1213389 13-Jan-2015 21:00

I've done it since I was about 9... my brother was 9 years older than me.
The only time I've ever been to a mechanic was last year... I'm over the smell of transmission fluid and the 93 needed a trans service. I could've done it, but YUK, that stuff stinks for days, so I got lazy:)

freemark

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Reply # 1213392 13-Jan-2015 21:07

I don't even bother to try much fixing, although I did replace the ignition barrel/switch ($64 landed part & 20 mins vs $450 quoted repair)
What I do is research the problem, print out the repair method, & source the bits.
For next WOF I've been quoted $550 or so for repair/splice of one leakingh PS Hose...I've already imported both of them for $146 landed..worse case scenario I'll do it myself but I'm guessing maybe $160 for labour from the pro's...

blakamin

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Reply # 1213393 13-Jan-2015 21:11

Power steering is the other smelly fluid :) (most cars, it's just transmission fluid... mine has something different due to self levelling suspension)

jpoc

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Reply # 1218774 21-Jan-2015 07:36

In the ten years that I owned my first Toyota Celica, I put 440,000 km on it. I'd often do 2,000 km in a weekend and for several years I had a 180km daily commute in the UK.

Apart from the regular cam belt changes, the engine was untouched.

The last time that I drove it was on a drive from Germany to the UK. On the autobahn, I got it up to an indicated 245kph and it was still accelerating but I decided that was enough for me.

Great car and I am sure that I would have had it well past 500,000 but I had no need of a right hand drive car in Germany so it had to go.

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Reply # 1218775 21-Jan-2015 07:38

i wonder if your driving habit had something to do with it.

sounds like the perfect way a car should be driven. long haul, and one or two gunning the engine to burn off the carbon deposits once in a while.

stop start brake potholes cold start - ie city driving, they kill cars!

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MikeB4

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Reply # 1218780 21-Jan-2015 07:43

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blakamin: I've done it since I was about 9... my brother was 9 years older than me.
The only time I've ever been to a mechanic was last year... I'm over the smell of transmission fluid and the 93 needed a trans service. I could've done it, but YUK, that stuff stinks for days, so I got lazy:)

When young and broke I did my own repairs including engine rebuilds (my father was a motor engineer) but now all I do it check the fluids and there pressure etc and get the service done by the dealer.

Mike
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DravidDavid

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Reply # 1219034 21-Jan-2015 12:50

My parents have a cheap run around 1997 Toyota Corolla SE which I ran out of oil many a time when I was younger. Those engines are bullet proof.

Apart from that, no awesome car stories. I'm trying to find a car that I can do up myself. We will see. :)

Sometimes what you don't get is a blessing in disguise!

wasabi2k

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Reply # 1219044 21-Jan-2015 13:08

2000 Caldina GT-T (not very old I guess) is around 275,000kms - had 105 when I got it.

No major repairs required so far - just regular servicing. Still goes like the clappers when you plant it.

Think I will upgrade when it hits 300 though.

DravidDavid

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Reply # 1219372 21-Jan-2015 18:22

wasabi2k: 2000 Caldina GT-T (not very old I guess) is around 275,000kms - had 105 when I got it.

No major repairs required so far - just regular servicing. Still goes like the clappers when you plant it.

Think I will upgrade when it hits 300 though.

OH! I have a GT-T ST215 too! Ours is a '97 sitting on 196XXX. It's so much fun to drive. It surprises a lot of Mitsubishi owners that think they have fast wagons at the lights. ;)

Next time it goes for a WOF, get the mechanic to check wheel bearings, CV joints and boots. They split, piss grease everywhere and the bearings start developing high points. :( It was a $1200.00 fix for me. :(
I'm patiently waiting for the dreaded tractor noise.

Sometimes what you don't get is a blessing in disguise!

blakamin

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Reply # 1219428 21-Jan-2015 19:58

KiwiNZ:
When young and broke I did my own repairs including engine rebuilds (my father was a motor engineer) but now all I do it check the fluids and there pressure etc and get the service done by the dealer.

I used to do silly things like change cam/heads/crank/timing gear/occasional full respray after work in the middle of the week and still manage to drive to work the next day :)
I did an engine swap from 6 to V8 one night and had to ring a mate from 200ks away to bring me a waterpump pulley... Still drove it to work the next morning.

I'd love to have a car that was young enough to go to a dealer, but my 95 is the youngest ever (I did own a 97 Ducati, but serviced it myself and it doesn't count as it isn't a car)

After soooo many transmission swaps and rebuilds, they're the only thing I wont touch any more. Not because I can't, but because I hate the smell, and it lingers for aaages!

My last full engine swap was my E34 BMW just over 3 years ago... from M20B25 to M30B35... needed everything from wiring, mounts, radiator, tail shafts, battery relocation and transmission bellhousing (Had to split 2 different trannys because of the computer system!)
All because the head was warped and I got scammed on TM.
That was a fun 2 days. Only because I had to split the 2-piece tail shafts & trans and swap bits around, and didn't know before I started.

Batman

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Reply # 1219438 21-Jan-2015 20:14

ah, so Frankenstein really exists!

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blakamin

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Reply # 1219445 21-Jan-2015 20:26

I couldn't bottle the lightning tho.

Everything was actually out of the same model, just 3 years later. BMW are good like that :/

Smithy100

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Reply # 1219737 22-Jan-2015 08:45

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Reading this thread is making me reconsider my decision to upgrade my '99 A4 2.4 Avant Quattro (260km) over the next couple of months as it's a bluddy good wagon and I've loved driving & owning it... then I remember I have the mechanical aptitude of a toothbrush and realise it's probably for the best!