Hold onto my Saab or change it?
I have a 2005 Saab 95 (2.0t) petrol automatic with about 136,000km on the clock. It just failed the NCT on emissions with "smoke". It is apparently a problem with the turbo (burning oil) and between that and a few other more routine issues it looks like about €1,200 to sort. The car seems to be running well otherwise, but I'm worried that there might be other issues around the corner.
That's the background - my question is, should I hold onto it and get it fixed or... bite the bullet and go for a change?
J B (Dublin)Jun 2013 Filed under: reliability
Expert answer
Hi James,
I’m tempted to say yes, simply because the car is going to be worth very little if you go to sell it or trade it in without that work being done. True, the cost of repair in this case is probably about what the car is worth, but if you still love it (and it sounds as if you do) then I think it’s worth having a go at maintaining it.
True, there’s always the danger of more trouble down the line and it’s impossible for us to quantify how likely that is, but put it this way — the €1,200 you’ll spend on it now will be a fraction of the cost of chopping it in for something new, so if there are bigger problems in a year’s time, you won’t have cost yourself too much.
Neil Briscoe - Complete Car Advisor@neilmbriscoe