On Mon, 4 Feb 2008 21:13:00 -0000, Elder
<carl.robson@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>What is it like on fuel, and how is the service history on yours?
>I am worried about the blue smoke at startup, and the potential issue of
>sludging even though the oil is a nice toffee colour.
>
>Maybe I should stick with my first thoughts and find a nice 9-3/9-5
>diesel instead.
Mine is a 2003 Estate model, and runs on LPG/Autogas, and I got it
with 294.000Km's on it (183.000Mi) as the third owner. Service history
is perfect, the car was sold new by the dealer****p, and traded-in
there with 60.000 miles, sold again and traded-in again by the same
dealer****p, where I evetually got it from. All service was done at the
same shop, and the head engineer personally checked all my questions.
I was kind of worried at first with the hight mileage, but I got a
great deal, and never regretted it so far. The high mileage is a
counter indication for worries of sludge, so I learned from the
reactions on my question on the SAABcentral forum. Also Sludge happens
a lot less on LPG runners, because of cleaner combustion.
See also the topic at
http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108436
I'd be weary form blue smoke at startup, that might mean the turbo is
a goner, and a blown turbo could be a omen for sludge problems later.
However if the oil is nice, it might have been changed recently to
trick you into believing it has no sludge issues, on the other hand it
could also mean that the car is in great shape and will make many
happy miles with you. Only dropping the oil sump will give you 100%
certainty.
I'd stay away from the early 3.0 V6 Diesels, that's for sure. You get
better fuel savings with an LPG!
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