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Topic: The end is nigh (Read 14691 times) |
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Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
Posts: 3900
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The end is nigh
« on: Sep 23rd, 2012, 3:15am » |
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Well.....looks like my 2.3 Ultima will be biting the dust soon 
There's still plenty of life in the old girl & the body work is pretty good considering I've been using her as a taxi for nearly 7 years. But she is rapidly drawing close to retirement age now & I have to start thinking about a worthy replacement....something a bit quirky & uncommon (like the Scorpio) 
After much looking around & not much cash to spend, I've kind of decided on a 2003-2005 Saab 9-5 ARC 2.2 TID auto as a worthy replacement.... similar spec (leather, climate control etc) & as big as the Scorpio with great economy.
Does anyone own or know someone that owns/has owned a Saab 9-5, that could offer any positive/negative testimonials ?
From what I've researched, spare parts seem to be just as readily available as most other car manufacturers parts & seem to be similarly priced 
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PJDavis
Senior Member
2 x 1995 Jag X300 3.2 / 4.0 (Henley) 1957 XK140
Posts: 1474
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Re: The end is nigh
« Reply #1 on: Sep 23rd, 2012, 12:31pm » |
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Brother in Law has a 9-5. He says he's finding it increasingly difficult to get spares readily, and when he does find them they have gone up in price.
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I love 'Movvy'
1995 Jaguar XJ6 X300 3.2 (Henley)
1995 Jaguar XJ6 X330 4.0 (Dopey)
1957 Jaguar XK140 USA (converted to RHD, and to have fitted Mk10 420G Engine with BW 65 Auto Trans)
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5stud
Full Member
I'm a YaBB newbie!
Posts: 436
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Re: The end is nigh
« Reply #2 on: Sep 24th, 2012, 10:45am » |
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seduced by a vauxhall vectra in drag.what is the world coming to.
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Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
Posts: 3900
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Re: The end is nigh
« Reply #3 on: Oct 4th, 2012, 2:09am » |
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Sorry to anyone that read the posts that I deleted....but they were based on mis-informed data collected from various websites.
Yes, Saab 9-5 parts are expensive & to a certain extent, widely unavaliable.....but there are outlets if you source
Yes, the Saab 9-5 is a Vauxhall Vectra in drag to a certain extent....but then again, aren't many cars hybrids of others ?
Besides, I've gone off Saab 9-5s now....as they are uneconomical compared to other similar sized cars in that price range....the seats are also crappy compared to the earlier Saab 9000 
I really don't wan't to get rid of my Scorpio because she is so comfy, reliable & cheap to fix (thanks to this site & Spikies Scorpios). But what do I replace her with 
After nearly 7 years as a taxi, she is the longest lasting licensed Hackney carriage vehicle in the borough that I work in & has outlived all others.... Avensis, Mondeos, Vectras, Omegas, Rover 75s, Nissans, Jag X type, Merc E class & many more .....some are on their second, third or even forth car in the time that I've owned the Scorp 
257,000 miles on the clock & she still passes every MOT & twice yearly council MOT which cars half her age seem to fail regularly.
She owes me nothing (no finance) & all she requires is petrol, oil & TLC.......so here's to another year 
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Matt
Senior Member
Manual'd and a 4.0 in the making
Posts: 2816
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Re: The end is nigh
« Reply #4 on: Oct 4th, 2012, 10:24am » |
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Then i have to ask, why replace her if she still fits the bill?
keep the old girl going, at least its something different to the normal drab thats out there
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FDS2000 Scans - Birmingham
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Tompion
Administrator
1997 2.3 Ultima estate.
Posts: 2918
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Re: The end is nigh
« Reply #5 on: Oct 4th, 2012, 10:26am » |
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on Oct 4th, 2012, 2:09am, Jonnycab wrote:.......so here's to another year
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Good choice JC better the car you know.
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ABS multiplug wheel sensor pins MK IV or MK 20
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Jeff
Full Member
I love YaBB 1G - SP1!
Posts: 359
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Re: The end is nigh
« Reply #7 on: Oct 4th, 2012, 9:19pm » |
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It seems to me all us Scorpio owners will be facing the same dilemma sooner or later: what next?
We may well be able to find something with better (or at least, more modern) styling but I doubt if much else will be an improvement.
Economy might be better...I was in the wife's VW Eos today, 2 litre turbo, fast and powerful (and only 4 cylinders, poor thing). But I had the proverbial BMW up me backside in spite of flooring it away from the r/a/b, so I let him through. When I caught him up at the next r/a/b it was a 535 Diesel...it had rocketed past, and I was moving. Probably enjoying 45 mpg as well as considering himself the best driver and car on the road. So that might be something we can look forward to: less visits to the pumps. Anybody think of owt else?
I will look to the Japs probably - perhaps a Lexus. But not just yet...mine's only done 80k.
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2.9 Cosworth saloon and 2.3 saloon
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Daniel
Full Member
Best cars Ever!!!
Posts: 636
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Re: The end is nigh
« Reply #8 on: Oct 5th, 2012, 8:27am » |
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I would not touch a bm at all!!! When i was at school my teacher brought a brand new bm 1series and after 3 monhs it needed a new engine!!!  then about a month ago a freind of my mom and dads phoned for us to pick him up because his M5 diesel's engine blew up!!! if you look for bms for sale you will see some that say new engine or recently repaired engine Anyway jonnycab i hope you get many more years out of your scorpio mate well done for keeping it
Dan
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98 Facelift 2.3 Cuirass Ghia Estate 170k miles
97 pre facelift 24v Silver Ultima Saloon 24k miles
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5stud
Full Member
I'm a YaBB newbie!
Posts: 436
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Re: The end is nigh
« Reply #9 on: Oct 5th, 2012, 8:58am » |
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is the council test more on condition .dirt-dents rips
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Matt
Senior Member
Manual'd and a 4.0 in the making
Posts: 2816
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Re: The end is nigh
« Reply #10 on: Oct 5th, 2012, 10:13am » |
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if i was to get rid of the cossie there will be 2 options to replace it, XJ jag or a yankie ford crown victoria, had a play with one at ford fair, supprising good you know... apart from the wheel being on the wrong side of the car lol
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FDS2000 Scans - Birmingham
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Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
Posts: 3900
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Re: The end is nigh
« Reply #11 on: Oct 5th, 2012, 5:16pm » |
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on Oct 5th, 2012, 8:58am, 5stud wrote:| is the council test more on condition .dirt-dents rips |
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The council test is really just an MOT plus general condition & cleanliness, although small dings aren't really a big issue as they are classed as occupational battle scars
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Simmo
Administrator
I'm an OAP !
Posts: 5508
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Re: The end is nigh
« Reply #12 on: Oct 5th, 2012, 8:12pm » |
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on Oct 5th, 2012, 5:16pm, Jonnycab wrote:
they are classed as occupational battle scars |
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Bit like New Years Eve at Golf Clubs!!!!!!.
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Now I'm an OAP
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rich1
Full Member
london cabbies have the knowledge!!
Posts: 747
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Re: The end is nigh
« Reply #13 on: Oct 6th, 2012, 10:20pm » |
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on Oct 5th, 2012, 10:13am, Matt wrote:| if i was to get rid of the cossie there will be 2 options to replace it, XJ jag or a yankie ford crown victoria, had a play with one at ford fair, supprising good you know... apart from the wheel being on the wrong side of the car lol |
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Id like one of those crown vics , they sort of remind of a scorpio a bit (in my wierd mind anyway)
But if i couldnt have one of those i think it'd be back to the range rover for me , juicy i know but THE most comfortable car on the road ,better even than the scorpio , only downside to the range rover is the forums , when i had my holland&holland i scoured the web for forums but sadly they where filled with numptys more intrested in taking the p### than offering advice . It just proved to me that this site is by far the best of its kind . So for that reason lets keep these great motors on the road for as long as possible please !!!
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Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
Posts: 3900
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Re: The end is nigh
« Reply #14 on: Oct 7th, 2012, 2:56am » |
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on Oct 5th, 2012, 8:12pm, Simmo wrote:
Bit like New Years Eve at Golf Clubs!!!!!!. |
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That's why I don't play golf
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a900one
Full Member
A scorpio is for life not just for christmas
Posts: 980
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Re: The end is nigh
« Reply #15 on: Oct 13th, 2012, 11:06pm » |
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I have an EOS 2.0 tdi as well as the cossie, and at the moment the granada scorp. Can the BMW drop the roof, the reason I bought the EOS, NO. The BM may be quicker than the EOS but, 50mpg and open top motoring, what a joy, and most people dont think your a d--k.
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TiberiuS
Senior Member
Ex. 1996 2.3 Ultima - RIP P789 KHJ
Posts: 2257
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Re: The end is nigh
« Reply #16 on: Oct 24th, 2012, 10:21pm » |
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Jon, I did the Rover 75/ZT thing for a while. I currently have a late ('05) MG ZT 160 Turbo for a daily driver (which I've just about sold...but that's another story ).
I bought the ZT when I changed jobs last year, it's handy to get me to engineering college once a week and to work, has a fun factor because it's turbo'd and the suspension setup is quite stiff and it's running on rubber band tyres, it's actually quite a heavy car but feels more nimble and handles better than my Mondeos did. It's kinda quick off the mark (0-60 in 8.5 sec) but it's no rocket by any means - more like enough when you get tailgated by the average Astra on back roads but not to keep up with higher end cars. The V6 I had was alright but again no rocket and was thirsty.
Not bad little cars but have a fair few design faults and rough edges, not sure I'd fall for another
75 is more of a step-up from a Mondeo, Scorpio is more toward premium car territory in my opinion. Less road noise, better driving position, rear wheel drive, better audio system, etc etc.
If the rust isn't an issue and it's still proving reliable, I'd keep the Scorpio a while longer.
Bruce .
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Bruce - '07 Jaguar XKR coupe, '95 Jaguar XJ Sport 4.0, '82 Ford Capri 2.0 Ghia, '15 Honda Civic (sloooooww..)
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Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
Posts: 3900
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Re: The end is nigh
« Reply #17 on: Oct 25th, 2012, 3:47am » |
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Nice to see you pop in again Bruce
Rust has been an issue for a while, especially on the sills & rear wheel arches. The sills look like a patchwork quilt....but sprayed with black stone chip, so doesn't notice too much. I've patched up the R/N/S wheel arch & just have the O/S/R wheel arch to do. So she will still look very presentable for a while
But I'm now already starting to look around again for a replacement  .....I hate to admit it, but I've got to face the fact that she is now almost 15 years old & really is getting too old to use as a taxi anymore.
The inevitable will probably happen sooner rather than later to be honest (within a few months). I really need something more economical & modern if I am to attract any new regular business.
I find myself being drawn back to buying a Saab 9-5 again (I quite like the look), but also, the Volvo S80 bi-fuel or diesel has also caught my eye recently.......It's a real dilemma
P.S....I know a few taxi drivers who have owned Rover 75s, & they are absolute money pits. Economical they might be, but the suspension is made of fine glass....one pothole & that's it
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TiberiuS
Senior Member
Ex. 1996 2.3 Ultima - RIP P789 KHJ
Posts: 2257
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Re: The end is nigh
« Reply #18 on: Oct 26th, 2012, 10:23pm » |
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on Oct 25th, 2012, 3:47am, Jonnycab wrote:| P.S....I know a few taxi drivers who have owned Rover 75s, & they are absolute money pits. Economical they might be, but the suspension is made of fine glass....one small pothole & that's it |
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Suspension on mine was alright, but I had grief with the rest of the car when I first bought it (heavy clutch, electrics filling with water, losing coolant, bad misfire, etc etc). It's been fine since I fixed it up, but those things shouldn't have gone wrong on a 50k mile 1 owner car 
The overall build quality (bodyshell etc) is quite high, it's let down by the quality of some of the parts.
From a driver's point of view, if I had to pick one major gripe it would be the visibility - the A pillars are as thick as tree trunks, one helluva blind spot on roundabouts and when pulling out of turnings, nearly come to grief a few times when I first owned them. Rear vis not much better either. I guess you could say the same about a few new cars, but IMO it seriously needed a rethink
They certainly aren't a bad car but on the surface they look better than they really are, bit of a sheep in wolf's clothing in some respects
My 1.8T isn't economical - fun in a boy racer kind of way, nice and smooth for a 16v, turbo whoosh is nice, but it has the thirst of an alcoholic nun
Bruce.
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Bruce - '07 Jaguar XKR coupe, '95 Jaguar XJ Sport 4.0, '82 Ford Capri 2.0 Ghia, '15 Honda Civic (sloooooww..)
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Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
Posts: 3900
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Re: The end is nigh
« Reply #19 on: Mar 13th, 2013, 4:10am » |
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Here we go again....thinking of a change. The old girl's got 264,000 miles on her now & I fear not too many more as a taxi
Although she passed the MOT a couple of weeks ago & a council inspection 2 weeks before that, I fear that she won't last much longer as a taxi & needs to be retired & enjoy a less strenuous life. The autobox is giving indications that it would prefer a quieter life, the engine is using & leaking oil, the wishbone bushes (& most likely balljoints as well) are starting to go again (MOT advisory & last replaced 120K miles ago) & rusting wheel arches & sills are an ongoing & tedious chore.
The real reason though, & I hate to admit it, is that after seven years, I'm just plain bored of driving her every day...I fancy something different
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