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by Swade

Tuesday Snippets

March 31, 2009 in Archive

I’m on a work assignment for a few days, so posting will be at a slower pace than normal.
If you feel like trying your hand at being a blogger, now’s the time to write.
——
Two things from Autoblog this morning.
First…… 1,000 words on why I’d hate to see Geely take over Saab:
geely_ge_limo.jpg
And second…..
Does anyone else think Autoblog have fallen early for an April Fools joke?
Onstar to offer hands-free Twitter functionality?
I did my own April foolery a few weeks agowith the “Saab sold to Saudi Arabian” piece so there’ll be no more foolery from me.
——
As seen recently on a customer mailout here in Australia.
Nice to have you back at SAAB Australia, Parveen. None of this Premium Brands crapiola. Seriously, it’s great to see Saab with it’s own identity again here in Australia.
Thanks PT!
PBsig.JPG

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The Obama administration’s findings with regard to General Motors

March 31, 2009 in News

The following is an edited reproduction of a PDF that was embargoed until Midnight last night (US time).
It lays out findings and new goals for both GM and Chrysler with regards to their viability plans as previously submitted by them.
In short, they’re not seen as viable – yet. But they’ve got time.
There’s nothing directly related to Saab in here, but I thought it important to share if only as an addition to the GM Crisis articles here on the site.
There is a more detailed PDF on General Motors only, available here.
——
Obama Administration New Path to Viability for GM & Chrysler
In accordance with the March 31, 2009 deadline in the U.S. Treasury’s loan agreements with General Motors and Chrysler, the Obama Administration is announcing its determination of the viability of the companies, pursuant to their February 17, 2009 submissions, and is laying out a new finite path forward for both companies to restructure and succeed. These findings and new framework for success are consistent with the President’s commitment to support an American auto industry that can help revive modern manufacturing and support our nation’s effort to move toward energy independence, but only in the context of a fundamental restructuring that will allow these companies to prosper without taxpayer support.
Key Findings
• Viability of Existing Plans: The plans submitted by GM and Chrysler on February 17, 2009 did not establish a credible path to viability. In their current form, they are not sufficient to justify a substantial new investment of taxpayer resources. Each will have a set period of time and an adequate amount of working capital to establish a new strategy for long-term economic viability.
• General Motors: While GM’s current plan is not viable, the Administration is confident that with a more fundamental restructuring, GM will emerge from this process as a stronger more competitive business. This process will include leadership changes at GM and an increased effort by the U.S. Treasury and outside advisors to assist with the company’s restructuring effort. Rick Wagoner is stepping aside as Chairman and CEO. In this context, the Administration will provide GM with working capital for 60 days to develop a more aggressive restructuring plan and a credible strategy to implement such a plan. The Administration will stand behind GM’s restructuring effort.
• Chrysler: After extensive consultation with financial and industry experts, the Administration has reluctantly concluded that Chrysler is not viable as a stand-alone company. However, Chrysler has reached an understanding with Fiat that could be the basis of a path to viability. Fiat is prepared to transfer valuable technology to Chrysler and, after extensive consultation with the Administration, has committed to building new fuel efficient cars and engines in U.S. factories. At the same time, however, there are substantial hurdles to overcome before this deal can become a reality.
Therefore, the Administration will provide Chrysler with working capital for 30 days to conclude a definitive agreement with Fiat and secure the support of necessary stakeholders. If successful, the government will consider investing up to the additional $6 billion requested by Chrysler to help this partnership succeed. If an agreement is not reached, the government will not invest any additional taxpayer funds in Chrysler.
Detailed Findings on GM and Chrysler Plans

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So just which brands were profitable for GM?

March 31, 2009 in Troll Stuff

i don’t know the answer to the question in the headline, but it popped into my head the other day as I was reading the various corporate obituaries following Rick Wagoner’s removal from GM.
One of them mentioned that GM have lost around $80billion dollars in the last four years.
That’s $80,000,000,000 and to put that in perspective, that’s more than 10% of Australia’s 2007 GDP. Ten percent of the annual output from a prosperous, industrialised nation of 20 million people lost by one company over a period of four years.
A lot has been written about Saab’s lack of profitability, mostly in justification of GM getting rid of Saab. But with numbers like that, and all the internal accounting hoo-haa, it’s easy to see that Saab were, at most, just a tiny blip on the corporate radar screen. Jettisoning Saab is like swatting a fly.
In contrast, very little has been said about which brand is the major villain in this 80-billion-dollar sinkhole.
I would love to see the brand-by-brand breakdown and see who’s lost the most. The next time some journo rabbits on about how Saab were just a dead weight, we could then point them in the right direction and let them know that Saab’s philosophy on vehicle design was the way of the future, which GM ignored to their own detriment.
Just a thought.

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How reliable is your Saab?

March 30, 2009 in Archive

I was chatting with a friend of mine the other night. He’s a regular here and a fellow Saab nut, though he doesn’t currently own one. He’s in the market for another car but is a bit worried about picking up a Saab because of reliability problems.
Now, I should explain further….
This car will be used a fair bit for his small business, so uptime is important. He’s also got a young family to go along with the business, so running costs are important.
Me? I don’t place a huge premium on reliability. I never expect a machine to run perfectly and therefore, I’m never disappointed when something goes awry. I absolutely never expect a car to work perfectly. All those moving parts and the way I drive most of the time are a recipe for wear and tear.
Having said that, my luck with Saabs seems to have been rather good. In 4 years with the 9000, the only unexpected item we’ve had to do is a radiator. With the Viggen, the only surprise was an exploding shock absorber. With my C900 there was an intermittent fuel delivery problem that annoyed me a bit, but it was a 23 year old car and issues are to be expected.
I tend to class Saabs as pretty reliable vehicles. Look after them and they’ll look after you. But maybe I’m one of those who wears rose coloured glasses a little too often.
So how do you rate your experiences with Saabs in terms of reliability? When they go, they tend to go big, but I’ve just never had one go on me and regular maintenance (5,000km services) and a top notch mechanic seem to do the trick for us.
How about you?

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2010 Saab 9-5 out and about in Trollhattan

March 30, 2009 in Archive

Djup Strupe’s been in touch and let me know that from this week, some Saab 9-5 mules will migrated south from northern Sweden and will be visible out and about on the streets of Trollhattan.
Trollhattan locals who frequent this site ought to carry their cameras at all times. Saab 9-5s will most likely be disguised in some way, but as Saab are keen to remind people of their ongoing viability, they shouldn’t be too hard to spot.
You’ve been told, now go out there, hit those usual test roads and see what you can see!
——
And speaking of Trollhattan, one of our regulars here at SU visited the factory last week (I’ll refrain from mentioning names).
The factory was idle but he said there were some Saab 9-3x’s on the production line and they looked quite good in the metal.
There was also some work going on in setting up for the next generation of vehicles, which was quite exciting to see.

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Is Saab safe from Chinese ownership?

March 30, 2009 in Archive

I know that a few regulars here have made good arguments to support the possibility of Chinese ownership of Saab. I understand that they’re improving in terms of design and production and there’s a good possibility that they’ll come up to world standards quicker than what the Koreans did.
In intellectual terms, I know this. But I still don’t want Saab to go into Chinese hands.
I don’t know if it’s their preference for having a slice of state ownership in just about everything they do. It could be their habit of just taking whatever the heck they feel they’re entitled to (a nice slice of Australia’s Antarctic territory, for example). Maybe it’s just because they’re the looming biggest player on the world stage. And maybe it’s just plain old fear borne from ignorance of their language and culture. They make decent martial arts movies and if I’m to believe the eatery down the street (which I don’t), they make a good honey chicken also. But I’m not sure I want them trying to make my favourite cars.
As it turns out, I may have nothing to worry about.
One thing that puzzled me just a little as I read the stories about Chinese companies chasing Volvo as whether or not they’d have the resources or the understanding of scale to pull such a transaction off. Same with a relatively smaller operation like Saab.
It’s one thing to come up with a purchase amount. It’s another thing all together to run the company.
I wasn’t the only one with such doubts. From AFP:

Despite their global ambitions, Chinese automakers are still not big enough to take over their troubled foreign rivals, analysts and company officials said….
….Analysts….. said they do not expect to see any startling Chinese auto acquisitions in the near future.
“Compared with more than 40 billion yuan (5.8 billion dollars) needed to acquire Volvo, (Geely’s) market value is only about three billion yuan,” consultancy Roland Berger said in a research note.
“The total assets of Chery Automobile are about 30 billion yuan, with capital of three to four billion yuan and the acquisition requires about 40 billion yuan,” the firm said, listing the Chinese automakers that would be most likely to bid.
…..One exception — and one that has turned out badly — is SAIC’s acquisition in 2004 of small South Korean automaker Ssangyong, which now faces bankruptcy.
Jia Xinguang, an analyst with the China Automotive Industry Consulting and Development Corporation, agrees Chinese companies lack the necessary management experience.
“The complicated relationship between trade unions and employers in foreign companies is another problem for them,” he added.
But size is the main obstacle.
“Any overseas acquisition needs National Development and Reform Commission approval and at his time the NDRC has concerns about Chinese companies’ capacity to run such acquisitions,” said John Shen, an analyst for Roland Berger.

Saab are, of course, a much smaller fish that the Chinese would have to fry and it’s arguable in terms of size that they could pull it off.
Saab have indicated that they are talking to interested buyers from both inside and outside of Sweden and they’ve acknowledged that at least one of them is from Asia.
On a Saab-staying-alive level, I hope that whoever takes over Saab will have the stability to keep the company alive and the resources to make the company thrive – whoever they are.
On a personal level, I hope that someone more in tune with the company buys it before the Chinese do as I believe they’ll mostly be after what they can get from Saab rather thn what they could give to Saab.
But that’s just me.

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Rick Wagoner takes one for the team – steps down.

March 30, 2009 in Archive

One of the chief architects of the last 8 years at GM – CEO Rick Wagoner – has reportedly stepped down as a preface to President Obama’s statement on the reconstruction of the motor industry, which is due tomorrow.
From Automotive News:

General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner is about to resign after eight years as the Obama administration prepares to decide on the automaker’s request for additional government rescue loans, two people familiar with the matter said.
A senior Obama administration official told NBC’s John Yang that Wagoner, 56, was asked to step down by the White House.
The automaker, which has lost about $82 billion since 2004, awaits word Monday from President Obama on a request for as much as $16.6 billion in additional U.S. aid. GM, surviving on $13.4 billion in U.S. loans received so far, has failed to clinch needed concessions from bondholders and the UAW that government officials had set as targets to justify further aid.
Obama said in an interview broadcast today that GM and Chrysler LLC had not done enough yet to become “lean, mean and competitive” under federal oversight.
Obama, who appeared in a taped interview on the CBS-TV news program “Face the Nation,” said the automakers had more work to do to reduce costs in the face of slumping demand.
“We think we can have a successful U.S. auto industry. But it’s got to be one that’s realistically designed to weather this storm and to emerge … much more lean, mean and competitive than it currently is,” Obama said.
“That’s going to mean a set of sacrifices from all parties involved — management, labor, shareholders, creditors, suppliers, dealers. Everybody’s going to have to come to the table and say it’s important for us to take serious restructuring steps now in order to preserve a brighter future down the road,” he said.
Obama added: “They’re not there yet.”
Immediate departure?
The Associated Press said Wagoner will leave immediately. The story was first reported by Bloomberg News.
Wagoner came under fire for his stewardship of GM late last year when U.S. lawmakers debated a bailout for the automaker. He had repeatedly said that he intended to stay on, and GM’s board has offered unanimous support for him.
A GM spokesman declined comment.

——
Today’s my birthday.
One might think I’d see this as a nice little birthday present, but in truth, I’m a bit sad for Wagoner. I think he’s probably being made to be a scapegoat here by an administration that’s trying to look like they’re all about taking action.
If there’s one thing GM need at the moment it’s stability at the top and whilst Fritz Henderson will probbly make a good replacement, I don’t think Wagoner’s deserving of the large slice of blame that he’ll get for this.
Wagoner always made sense when he spoke, which is more than what you can say for many of his cronies. Still, GM’s share price has dropped around 95% since he took over, so I suppose that says more than any of Wagoner’s eloquence. At the end of the day, the buck should stop at the top.
The big question now is what a change at the top will mean for GM’s ongoing obligations with Saab, and perhaps even more immediately, whether the Obama administration will try and force more action by way of a structured bankruptcy proceeding.
An announcement like this one hints at big things coming.

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by Swade

Friday Snippets

March 27, 2009 in Archive

Greetings from the city of my birth, Melbourne, where last night my wife and I joined almost 87,000 other people in watching my beloved Carlton Football Club win the first game of the AFL season.
Ah, life is good!
Tonight it’s Billy Elliot, the musical.
Access is limited so writing will be in short supply until a return home in the very near future.
——
Edmunds have a short story on Volvo and Saab being sold, with them mentioning several suitors for Saab.
My mail says the number is very close to, if not already in, double figures.
——
Saab Story #1
According to a writer at consumer reports, Saab convertible owners are more authentic than other convertible owners.
But then we probably already knew that, right?
——
Saab Story #2
Memo to Ben Rubin at Salon:
Saab’s not dead, buddy. And don’t count on them being that way just yet.
I’d encourage everyone to read that article. Thanks to the multiple Salon readers who linked me up with it.
——
I’ll be back with more when I can. Have a good weekend.

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State of Nine Saab Survey results

March 26, 2009 in Archive

A few weeks ago I invited people to participate in a survey being conducted by one of our Saabs United website sponsors – State of Nine.
The results have been tabulated and presented and I received this release from State of Nine a few days ago.
——
Saab Enthusiasts Have High Hopes for Brand Despite Probable Split with GM
State of Nine, the world’s premier website for Saab enthusiasts, recently polled its customers to learn what they hope will happen with the neglected Saab brand.
More than 2,200 customers responded to the “Save Our Brand” online survey at www.stateofnine.com . Results about the state of the brand included:

  • 53.9 percent of customers would like to see Saab become an independent brand, while 21 percent would like to see it merge with another brand
  • If Saab were to merge, 22.5 percent would like to it with Volvo and 17.6 percent would like it to be BMW

Members also shared their opinions on the best features of the Saab: 32.2 percent say that it is fun to drive and 24.9 percent appreciate the design the most. The majority of respondents are driving the Saab 9-3 and Saab 9-5.
By a large margin, State of Nine members polled say their favorite Saab model is the Classic 900.
Saab owner Jack Stoughton would love to see Saab and Saturn merge and then have a car company like Fiat purchase them to run as an independent company.
“The marketing and engineering of these two cars are almost the same – but the Saab has a much more upscale market segment,” Stoughton said.
Saab owner Simon Anderson said that the State of Nine survey clearly demonstrates the car company’s loyal customer base.
“SAAB’s loyal customers will strongly support their brand through a transition to return to the advantages an independently owned car company offers in terms of innovation in safety, design and driving pleasure,” he said.
State of Nine was founded in 2002 and has served 30,000 customers. State of Nine was founded on the principal that owning a Saab is a lifestyle. It also sells Saab accessories and products.

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Saab 9-3 TTiD Road Test – Australia

March 26, 2009 in Archive

Following are a few enlargeable scans from RoyalAuto, the magazine of the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria.
They’ve just published this review of the Saab 9-3 TTiD. Turbin spotted it, scanned it and sent it in.
It’s a good positive writeup and well worth a read for those interested in the TTiD. I’ve chopped it up a little for the sake of bandwidth economy.
Thanks Turbin!
SaabTTiDroadtest1.jpg
SaabTTiDroadtest2.jpg
SaabTTiDroadtest3.jpg

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Thursday Snippets: market at bottom? – Saab/Fiat? – Saab/GM tech

March 26, 2009 in Archive

Parts manufacturer Autoliv claim that the market has now bottomed out and that they expect conditions to improve in the second half of this year. Speaking with Dagens Industri, they cited encouraging signs in both China and Germany as the reason for their optimism.
Fiat’s CEO Sergio Marchionne agrees, speaking with Automotive News:

“The recovery process has started. The worst of the global financial crisis is over, but the consequences remain,” Marchionne said. “After the storm is over, you can start cleaning up.”
He predicts the U.S. economy will begin to grow again in the second half, while Europe’s rebound will take a little longer to get started.
“Europe will be slower, the first signs will start to appear at the very end of this year,” Marchionne said Tuesday in Geneva. “In Europe, I am worried about national protectionism, particularly on the industry side, which slows the recovery process.”

I hope they’re both right.
——
A new rumour associating Saab with Fiat emerged in comments last night.
I tracked it down this morning at Examiner.com

According to an inside source who did not want to be named it is possible that Chrysler won’t be permitted to join forces with Fiat. The U.S. Government could have other plans for Chrysler including a merger with GM. There may be a forced merger with two of the beloved Big 3…..
….In this plan GM and Chrysler would merge. GM would have overall control, their assets would be pooled, and a stronger company formed. This would leave Fiat without a home.
Fiat would be basically “given” Saab so that they would have an existing dealer network and some importing infrastructure to use to get into the United States. Fiat S.p.A. wants a piece of the U.S. market and they are getting here no matter what it takes.

I’m just not sure about this one. It’s a small report that hasn’t circulated and it’s from an unknown (to me) reporter with no source mentioned.
Wait and see, I guess.
——
SaabUSA’s Jan-Willem Vester spoke to Automotive News about the GM/Saab tech agreement.

General Motors and its Saab unit have agreed to share technology for at least the next five years. The arrangement is designed to make Saab more attractive to potential buyers, which is key to winning loan money from the Swedish government.
GM will let Saab use its global platforms, components and other systems in exchange for Saab’s safety, chassis and engine technology, Jan-Willem Vester, Saab spokesman, said today.

Again, bear in mind that this was always expected. The exact progress of a written agreement is somewhat immaterial. If GM want to sell Saab, then they’d have to continue to supply materials and technology. If GM want to continue to rely on Saab’s expertise in certain areas, they’d have to agree to pay for it.
——
bilde.jpg As an aside, what piqued my interest at the AN story was the graphic they associated with it. I’ve not seen one so official-looking without the SAAB name before.
Perhaps we’ve been right with the predicted modifications to the Griffin logo? Or maybe it’s normal and I just haven’t noticed…

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Saab TTiD opportunity in the US?

March 26, 2009 in Archive

Co2 is harmful to the environment and its output needs to be regulated.
That statement wouldn’t surprise a single European reader but it might come as a surprise to US readers. Up until now the US market was mainly concerned with fuel economy and NOx output.
It seems that’s about to change as the EPA has finally come out and announced – actually, it’s more than announced, they’ve declared – that Co2 output is harmful and is going to come under the microscope.

In a letter to the White House, the Environmental Protection Agency has declared CO2 a danger to public welfare. This represents the next step in the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions that come from motor vehicles, power plants, factories, as well as certain appliances. The so-called “endangerment finding” that CO2 is harmful is currently under review in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). If it approves the finding, CO2 could be regulated under the Clean Air Act as stipulated by the Supreme Court in 2007.

Of course, Co2 output is a key indicator in Europe already, where in many countries, the taxes associated with a vehicle are based on Co2 output.
Saab have recently modified their superb TTiD engine to get it under the magic 140g/km emissions mark and thereby make it more attractive to corporate and private buyers alike.
I’ve been trumpeting the introduction of Saab’s diesels into the US market since way back in 2005 and GM have consistently said that they couldn’t justify the investment. This announcement from the EPA is just another brick along the road of progress and yet another indicator as to how far off the mark GM have been with Saab.
I hope a new owner can reconsider and bring these superb engines into the US market. The only companies to invest in diesel for the US were the German manufacturers and they’ve been getting plenty of kudos for doing so (also as predicted).
There’s going to be plenty of acceptance as US consumers get more and more comfortable with modern diesel technology. Saab would be crazy to miss out on a slice of that pie.

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EnG C900 Convertible Update — Am I crazy for considering an automatic?

March 26, 2009 in Archive

As the title suggests, I am seriously considering an automatic in my next C900 convertible. I’ve been a stickler about all of my Saabs having a manual transmission. So much so that I went well out of my way to get a 9-5 with the manual.
However, circumstances have significantly changed for me with the new company car in the driveway and the fact that my travels will be much more weighted locally rather than halfway across the country each week as I’m prone to do now. In the past, I could let my wife drive the company vehicle virtually 100% of the time since my car is parked at the airport 3-4 days per week anyway. Thus, she willl need a car that she can easily drive when I’m away in Memphis or Louisville for two days or so.
Additionally, there seems to have been a very strong preference for the automatic transmission in the 900 convertibles when new. I estimate that the availability here in the United States is about 3:1 automatic-to-manual transmission. Quite simply, I’m ruling out some cars in great condition if I don’t consider an automatic.
On the flip side, I could be rid of the 9-5, replace with a daily driver for my wife, and get the manual 900 ‘vert for me. However, I like the brownie points of letting my wife drive the convertible when I’m gone. She really enjoys that idea.
Feedback requested.
For an idea of the current cars that I have to choose from, take the jump.

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About those Saab profits

March 25, 2009 in Archive

UPDATED for Saab 9-6x.
——
I think that Maud Olofsson and the Swedish government are right in wanting to prevent General Motors from dumping Saab on the Swedish taxpayer.
I think that if they can find away, they should support Saab in a manner that ensures that the benefits stay in Sweden and do not flow to the US. I think they’re right in trying to ensure that Saab are saved the right way and that GM live up to the responsibilities they have in being Saab’s owners.
But I also believe that maybe, just maybe, they’re stalling to some degree in doing this and that their hesitation is based on the well-worn line of Saab not being profitable. They say “GM couldn’t make them profitable, so why should we keep them going?” and it’s a popular line to take. No-one wants to see taxpayer funds go to a delinquent party.
But does this line take in the full picture?
Consider all the things that Saab have had to put money into and got little-to-no return for due to decisions made by General Motors.
- The full Saab 9-3 range was ready to go when GM put the brakes on Saab back around 2003. The development of what is believed to be a much fuller range than what we have even now cost a lot of money, which was never recouped through sales.
- A prime example of this was what is now going to be released as the Saab 9-3x. This model was ready to go, but cancelled.
- A re-development of the Saab 9-5 was ready to go several years ago and was cancelled. Again, you have significant development costs with no return.
- Instead of a new 9-5, you incur some more (albeit minor) development costs in refreshing the Saab 9-5 yet again. You do get some revenue from this, but they’re declining revenues and much less than an all-new model would bring.
- You have more development costs for stop-gap models such as the 9-2x and 9-7x, the first of which is never a big seller and the second selling at mediocre levels in one market only. Both vehicles end up damaging the brand to some degree.
- Saab worked on a 9-6x SUV that was to be built alongside Subaru’s Tribeca. The model was cancelled when GM sold it’s stake in Fuji Heavy Industries and naturally, all that development money went down the drown with no revenues to offset it.
- Then there’s all the work that went into development and tooling in Sweden for the Cadillac BLS. The car sold in pitiful quantities and all Saab saw from the investment was some better insulation in the 2008 Saab 9-3.
——
Add to all this the possible implications of inter-entity transfer pricing and it’s plain to see that in all the years that Saab were nearly profitable in the last decade, they most likely would have been doing well if it were not for some boneheaded decisions that were forced upon them.
In order to make a profit you have to sell the cars that you develop and make money on them. Spending a heap on a 9-3 range, a 9-6x, a new 9-5 range and a bunch of half-baked re-badges that sell at mediocre levels is not a formula for profitability, yet this is the position that Saab found themselves in at GM’s behest.
GM saw the potential in 2005 when they authorised the building of the Aero-X. They probably hadn’t realised that they couldn’t manage such a niche brand by that stage, but they know that now.
What they did see at that time was that Saab could make money. I’m sure their internal calculations confirmed this, which is why Saab are still around today.
My hope is that the Swedish government see this too. I hope they see that Saab have not only been mistreated in the past, but also that they have a plan for the future – one that involves new models in the short term and the development and implementation of some very cutting edge technology in the medium-long term.
They need to come out and support Saab in their search for a new owner. There are a lot of jobs and income resting on it and sitting back playing school headmaster isn’t going to achieve much at all.

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by Swade

Saab 9-5 – help wanted

March 25, 2009 in Archive

Jono is a SU regular living here in Australia.
He shot the following through via email and I thought it’d be a good opportunity to stop talking about finance and do something really important – help someone get into the Saab they want.
The email:

I was just wondering if you could put a call out to the saab community.
I am looking to buy a first generation 9-5, and i need to know people’s opinions.
Is there any common faults with model. Which is the best year / best version, average KM for these years etc….
I am already looking around, and have found one apparently owned by a saab mechanic that looks in reasonably good condition.
Any feedback would be much appreciated

Having never owned a 9-5 I’m probably the least qualified person here to comment, so I’m honoring Jono’s request and putting the question to you.
Jono has around $10,000 to spend and in Australia, this is the range of Saab 9-5s that are currently available around that price range (there’s be a few more at 11K or a little more that you could probably get for 10K as well).
Comments are open.
The only suggestion I’ve got is that if it’s a 2.3, you’d want to see a very good service history and perhaps even drop the sump to check for sludge issues with the oil pickup. I’ve seen two of those in my mechanic’s workshop in the last month and it ain’t pretty.
Other than that, get as much gear as you can. And if you’ve got performance in mind, then BSR are your friend.
Then again, if this is the car (and I’ve got a hunch it might be) then I’d suggest there’s no more mods required.

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