I'm going to do something really dumb...

road_rascal

road_rascal

Joined
Dec 9, 2002
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Location
Eastern burbs, MN
Flying one way from Minneapolis to Denver tomorrow to pick up my elderly father (85) and drive him back to St. Paul in his 1987 Saab 9000 turbo 5 speed manual. I've been trying to get them here (mom passed 2 years ago) for over a decade now and finally he decided to move into a senior facility 5 miles from us. He keeps his cars in tip top shape, but after getting my mom's car (posted here with the wrong rear struts) I'm a little nervous (how can you miss this for so long). It's about 950 miles from Centennial CO to St. Paul and he said the car just had a recent oil change, alignment and tire rotation. Wish me luck! I'll post updates when I have a chance.
 

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road_rascal said:
Flying one way from Minneapolis to Denver tomorrow to pick up my elderly father (85) and drive him back to St. Paul in his 1987 Saab 9000 turbo 5 speed manual. I've been trying to get them here (mom passed 2 years ago) for over a decade now and finally he decided to move into a senior facility 5 miles from us. He keeps his cars in tip top shape, but after getting my mom's car (posted here with the wrong rear struts) I'm a little nervous (how can you miss this for so long). It's about 950 miles from Centennial CO to St. Paul and he said the car just had a recent oil change, alignment and tire rotation. Wish me luck! I'll post updates when I have a chance.
Click to expand...
Your parents take excellent care of their cars! I've always liked the Saabs of that era. My buddy had a late 80's non-turbo back in the day that you just couldn't kill. It was an old rust bucket back when I lived in VT. We'd take it down logging roads, abuse the heck out of it and it'd beg for more.

Good luck on the adventure. I had a similar experience driving a 30+ year old vehicle across country in 2017 when I moved from CO to KY. I was on the fence about it but it worked out just fine and the vehicle did stellar. Had to retard ignition timing some halfway through the drive (due to pinging) because of the drastic change in elevation. That worked until I was able to rejet the carb for lower altitude when I got here.

The Saab being fuel injected should be smooth sailing. With the car in good condition, I think it's worth the risk.
 
I have a '06 Saab 93. Granted it was an amalgam of Saab and GM but I'd still drive it from NC to MN. Btw my SIL lives near St. Paul. In my case I'd carry along a jug of Dexcool. Get a gallon of whatever that '87 takes and toss it in the trunk.

Good for you to transport your dad in his personal chariot.
 
Age 85 isn't so elderly. I had lots of older patients in my medical practice and didn't consider someone old until they had reached age 95. I had patients who were still cheating at cards well past age 100.

My neighbour is over 90, still lives in his own house, mows his own lawn, has lady friends from time to time and serves a proper 2 finger Scotch when you drop in for a visit.

A Saab 9000 turbo 5 speed manual is a terrific car. If it's running well when you pick it up it should make for a nice trip. [I wish I could do a long road trip with my dad who was struck down as a young man of 78 years by a lymphoma.]
 
AZjeff said:
Enjoy the time with your dad and the adventure. (y) At least the change climate shouldn't be a shock to him (should it?) Hope someone has some sort of roadside assistance plan just in case. Check the fluids, psi and take off!
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We lived in WI (1970-1977) for a bit before he was transferred to CO for a job. Before that IA and NY. He knows about the weather here. He also has the AAA towing/roadside assistance program.
 
ecotourist said:
Age 85 isn't so elderly. I had lots of older patients in my medical practice and didn't consider someone old until they had reached age 95. I had patients who were still cheating at cards well past age 100.

My neighbour is over 90, still lives in his own house, mows his own lawn, has lady friends from time to time and serves a proper 2 finger Scotch when you drop in for a visit.

A Saab 9000 turbo 5 speed manual is a terrific car. If it's running well when you pick it up it should make for a nice trip. [I wish I could do a long road trip with my dad who was struck down as a young man of 78 years by a lymphoma.]
Click to expand...


Ahh 85…. Is not young by any measure.

It’s above the expected life expectancy for men in the US.

I took care of a lady who lived to be 112… She was 110 and could still do a whole lot of activities of daily living for herself, She was the 7th oldest person in the US when she passed away. She had a son who was 97 when she passed away.

At one time on the floor I worked in we had 4 people over100 years old. One of whom was in quite good condition until he was 103 years old.

Mind you this was a very high end long term care facility. With people in it who were very, very wealthy.
 
UPDATE: we both arrived without any issues about 7 hours ago. I was actually surprised on how well his Saab handled on the highway. It rode on newer Kumho Ecsta 4x II 205/55 R15's and the front and rear struts were replaced about 2 years ago. It tracked nice and didn't feel squirrelly at highway speeds- very tight steering. The car now has about 156,000 miles on it. After 3 fuel stops over 950 miles we averaged about 31.4 mpg, which is above the EPA 28 mpg. At 73 mph the tach was showing 3,000 rpm and while there was a bit of engine drone in the cabin it wasn't too bad. The 5 speed manual was a bit clunky (it was always like this) and I only stalled it out once when leaving his house- the clutch is pretty heavy compared to the 1988 Nissan I recently inherited. The fastest we got up to was 85 mph (the speedo was waaayyyy off; at 73 mph on my phone (using the Waze app) the speedo was showing 80 mph) when passing a group of 18 wheelers in Nebraska with traffic flying up my rear. Wow- you guys like to go fast out there.

A few things I'm going to try and fix for my dad- the mass air sensor (I don't think it's called a mass air flow sensor) just in front of the intake is bad. A cold start results in a horrible idle condition where you have to keep your foot on the throttle so it doesn't stall. Once the car warms up it starts and drives great. The APC/boost guarge doesn't work and there's a check engine light for the oil level sensor (it didn't burn any oil during the trip and I checked it 3 times). Like the Nissan, finding parts for this car is going to be an adventure. I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to let my dad drive (he's 85) and I'm going to ride along with him tomorrow to see how well he does. We had a great 2 day trip and I'm glad he's only minutes from us in his new place.
 
Last edited:
road_rascal said:
UPDATE: we both arrived without any issues about 7 hours ago. I was actually surprised on how well his Saab handled on the highway. It rode on newer Kumho Ecsta 4x II 205/55 R15's and the front and rear struts were replaced about 2 years ago. It tracked nice and didn't feel squirrelly at highway speeds- very tight steering. The car now has about 156,000 miles on it. After 3 fuel stops over 950 miles we averaged about 31.4 mpg, which is above the EPA 28 mpg. At 73 mph the tach was showing 3,000 rpm and while there was a bit of engine drone in the cabin it wasn't too bad. The 5 speed manual was a bit clunky (it was always like this) and I only stalled it out once when leaving his house- the clutch is pretty heavy compared to the 1988 Nissan I recently inherited. The fastest we got up to was 85 mph (the speedo was waaayyyy off; at 73 mph on my phone (using the Waze app) the speedo was showing 80 mph) when passing a group of 18 wheelers in Nebraska with traffic flying up my rear. Wow- you guys like to go fast out there.

A few things I'm going to try and fix for my dad- the mass air sensor (I don't think it's called a mass air flow sensor) just in front of the intake is bad. A cold start results in a horrible idle condition where you have to keep your foot on the throttle so it doesn't stall. Once the car warms up it starts and drives great. The APC/boost guarge doesn't work and there's a check engine light for the oil level sensor (it didn't burn any oil during the trip and I checked it 3 times). Like the Nissan, finding parts for this car is going to be an adventure. I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to let my dad drive (he's 85) and I'm going to ride along with him tomorrow to see how well he does. We had a great 2 day trip and I'm glad he's only minutes from us in his new place.
Click to expand...
awesome news! happy to hear the trip went well, nice that you and your Dad got a nice road trip in, together! :giggle:
 
^^Actually not. The PEA works upon shutdown. Better to run PEA cleaners before local driving.
However, I firmly believe good long runs are good for any car.

I found two 9000's for a friend's son. He was zooming on a country road in the first one and flipped it over.
He skid for a while and ground through where the A-pillar met the roof. The car rolled off the road and landed on all four tires.
He opened the door and walked home.
His mom (my oldest friend) subsequently demanded I sell them MY SAAB for their other son who'd just graduated college.
That was a 2002 Saab 9-5 Linear wagon.
While this brother didn't rally on open country roads, he did soften and dent that delightful wagon with job tasks.
He sold it to a local.

I watched that Hazelnut Saab decay. Every time I saw it in the Walmart parking lot, it was worse.
 
Kira said:
^^Actually not. The PEA works upon shutdown. Better to run PEA cleaners before local driving.
However, I firmly believe good long runs are good for any car.

I found two 9000's for a friend's son. He was zooming on a country road in the first one and flipped it over.
He skid for a while and ground through where the A-pillar met the roof. The car rolled off the road and landed on all four tires.
He opened the door and walked home.
His mom (my oldest friend) subsequently demanded I sell them MY SAAB for their other son who'd just graduated college.
That was a 2002 Saab 9-5 Linear wagon.
While this brother didn't rally on open country roads, he did soften and dent that delightful wagon with job tasks.
He sold it to a local.

I watched that Hazelnut Saab decay. Every time I saw it in the Walmart parking lot, it was worse.
Click to expand...
PEA isn’t the only cleaning compound.
 
ecotourist said:
Age 85 isn't so elderly. I had lots of older patients in my medical practice and didn't consider someone old until they had reached age 95. I had patients who were still cheating at cards well past age 100.

My neighbour is over 90, still lives in his own house, mows his own lawn, has lady friends from time to time and serves a proper 2 finger Scotch when you drop in for a visit.

A Saab 9000 turbo 5 speed manual is a terrific car. If it's running well when you pick it up it should make for a nice trip. [I wish I could do a long road trip with my dad who was struck down as a young man of 78 years by a lymphoma.]
Click to expand...
I read an article that talked about health age I think. Basically not how old you are but what shape is your body in. Do you have all kinds of medical issues or are pretty healthy at an age beyond 65. I forgot to retire at 65. Now at 70 still working full time. Trying to figure out when to retire.
 
Donald said:
I read an article that talked about health age I think. Basically not how old you are but what shape is your body in. Do you have all kinds of medical issues or are pretty healthy at an age beyond 65. I forgot to retire at 65. Now at 70 still working full time. Trying to figure out when to retire.
Click to expand...
I retired at age 66 1/2. I had a good job, liked what I was doing, liked the people I worked with and for, was still at the top of my game, and was making a lot of money. But I no longer had the drive that I once had (for example being eager to take on difficult projects). I had always thought I would retire before anyone else thought it would be a good idea. It was time to let someone else lead the team. It was time to go.

It was quite hard to walk away from my credentials and work experience. I dreamed about work at least once a week for the first 6 months.

But all that has faded and now I'm glad I retired. I'm still in pretty good health. We're financially secure. I'm busier than ever and wouldn't dream of going back to work.
 
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