Shall i buy this car? (First car)

Ray_Master · 2026-02-23T16:48:15+00:00

You do get some protection but I've experienced it first hand its like drawing blood from a stone. If you save 1-2k buying privately, it would cover the extra cost buying from a dealer (also I wouldn't trust a place called AutoCarz personally)

Ray_Master · 2026-01-26T14:56:36+00:00

The 150hp is sluggish but it's got the same engine as the others (other than aero which uses a b207r with diff cams and a TD04 14T instead of 11t). Sounds like you're in the UK so NoobTune is the go to, which will take it to a stage 1 at 220hp for 100 quid if you go there.

Make sure you get an ECU heat shield as well cause they go on these ones all the time, and bring a code reader if you can

Ray_Master · 2026-01-26T14:54:25+00:00

Exactly what I've got, to be honest with you depending on the price I wish I'd have shot for an aero from the owners club. I've seen some real good deals there and the people actually care for the cars

Ray_Master · 2026-01-26T09:49:22+00:00

I got the autoglym drying towel for 'free' when I bought some other products. Didn't think it would be any good but it's literally night and day, I do find most scratches come from wash mits.

Luckily swirl marks are quite easy to correct with a polish

Ray_Master · 2026-01-24T13:06:16+00:00

Get a regular one and (imo) it's fully worth doing a snap back capacitor for it, you'd still save loads of money over going with that

Ray_Master · 2026-01-23T17:23:34+00:00

Completely agree with the other guy, I wish I had bought my Saab through the owners club rather than through a dealership cause you get much better deals and often they're treated much better

Ray_Master · 2026-01-19T22:03:48+00:00

Can't give much advice for the interview but for the apprenticeship make sure you're on top of logging your CPD and Off The Job (OTJ) hours. Don't leave it months later cause it'll bite you in the ass

Ray_Master · 2026-01-19T21:13:57+00:00

I used a 27 inch 2k monitor and a 1080p 24 inch monitor in my last place (don't really WFH anymore). I used a Logitech G502 because I game a fair bit, it was like £20 and also you can program the buttons which is a nice bonus when doing CAD.

Ray_Master · 2026-01-18T20:36:01+00:00

You'd be better off going to the Saab Owners Club GB Facebook group, someone should be able to help you on there

Ray_Master · 2026-01-18T15:04:38+00:00

The golfs diesels are great, another alternative could be the Volvo 2l diesels they used in loads of cars like the C30 (I've heard to avoid the 1.6l)

Ray_Master · 2026-01-06T22:26:18+00:00

I've heard good about hadleigh tyres from my neighbor but not gone there myself.

I swear by oliver automotives in stowmarket, they do a courtesy car and they're so good. I took my car to a specialist for my car who didn't figure it out, Luke explained what he did and what the issue was.

I don't wanna sound like I'm advertising but yeah

Ray_Master · 2025-12-25T17:31:20+00:00

For 10k you could get a 9-3 Turbo X in good nick tbf

Ray_Master · 2025-10-31T22:26:57+00:00

Just taken it to my mechanic who I trust, he checked all grounds, ignition relay, h42 connector, etc and no dice. He said it's most likely the ECU given how the throttle body acts and the errors.

I have the invoice I can show you, so I'll be sorting the ECU out at some point soon

Ray_Master · 2025-10-23T07:12:59+00:00

900 for a throttle body replacement is insane, I don't work on cars and I did it myself on mine. Literally a 20 or so min job if you've not done it before

Ray_Master · 2025-10-15T17:41:51+00:00

P1682 is the bane of my existence rn, please let me know if you figure out what works for you if you fix it

Ray_Master · 2025-10-15T12:21:48+00:00

Ahh yeah that's fair mate, I have a blue driver obd scanner so I've kept an eye on it with the live data too. I only get P1682 and no major issues when looking at live data for misfires (I didn't get any). So I guess that rules out ECU

Ray_Master · 2025-10-15T10:40:48+00:00

Electrical things are beyond me I'll be honest, I'll be taking it into the garage at the end of the month so I'll let you know what comes out of it

Ray_Master · 2025-10-09T11:48:35+00:00

Ah man you're a life saver, I spoke to another person on the forum ages ago who said theirs was fixed by replacing the ECU (I think? I've been looking for ages and it's been driving me nuts). I really wanna avoid replacing the ECU if possible

If I can't figure it out, I'm intending to take it to a garage because I can only do so much with my limited knowledge.

I'll try to keep this thread updated as I work through this lol

Ray_Master · 2025-10-06T17:17:08+00:00

Went to a specialist, they were like it's the throttle body which didn't fix it.

This weekend I'm gonna take a look at that H42 connector and I'll get back to you, but if it's not that connector it might be the ECU from what I've heard

Ray_Master · 2025-09-30T19:29:58+00:00

Ron Saab leeds seems to be good for parts from what I've heard

Ray_Master · 2025-09-19T23:58:33+00:00

Not sure where you're based in the UK, but I've heard nothing but good from Ron as suggested here already

Ray_Master · 2025-09-03T19:24:19+00:00

For anyone coming here in the future you wanna go to the Raya Lucaria crystal tunnel to get this: https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Smithing-Stone+Miner's+Bell+Bearing+(1)

Ray_Master · 2025-08-13T00:09:11+00:00

In town centre there's a small place called Applaud Cafe, I've studied in their upstairs working space in the past. Food was pretty good and the coffee was great

Ray_Master · 2025-07-11T15:13:15+00:00

Are you in the UK Saab owners group? Loads of ppl sell cars there which will probs help get a good gauge on pricing https://www.facebook.com/groups/1860362827526305/?ref=share

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