Saab: Saab repair, r 134a, saab repair

Question
Thank you so much for your gracious offer to help!

I'm considering buying a '98 saab convertible 82,000 miles with a salvaged title. The private party and salvaged title blue book price (kbb.com) are the same, which is confusing to me. Do you know why this would be?

The price is $7200 and the seller's asking price is $5450.



The problems with the car that he told me about right off the bat:

1.)The AC only works for 3 minutes and then turns off. He says it needs a relay. He didn't really sound 100% sure. He also said he just had it filled with Freon and maybe there's too much in there?



2.) During the test drive there was a slight clunking sound at times. He had it checked out and said it needs a left front ball bearing which he says would cost a couple hundred dollars.

He says he would take $ off if I would fix these problems myself or he would fix them and the price would be $5450.





Is the AC and bearing problem as simple as he's making it sound? He is an older retired gentleman and seems trustworthy. The car felt good other than the clunking. I've heard mixed things on the salvaged title.



Any advice you can give me is greatly appreciated as this would be a big purchase for me. Thank you so much!


Answer
First of all, I have never heard anything positive about the "GM Saab" which includedes all Saab's 1994 and newer.

1) I am not the extremely knowledgeable about air conditioning, but sounds like he might be right. That clunking noise is proby the compressor cycling on and off. You should explore this further. The AC system in that car does not use Freon (R-12), it uses R-134A. I don't know the effects of overcharging a system - proby isn't good for the seals.

2) Sounds like B.S. You can't simply replace a single ball bearing. The sound is proby coming from a bad CV Joint or Ball joint.

I have never delt with a salvaged title and can't help you much there. It sounds to me like this car has been a victim of a "do it yourselfer" whom doesn't really know what they are doing. I would highly recomend that you pull a carfax report and take it to a Saab mechanic (don't take it to a dealership!) to look over.