Best Manual to use for 89 Saab 900T? Chilton's?

Is Chilton’s the best?

The actual SAAB factory manual is best if you can get your hands on one. Failing that, Chilton’s, Haynes, etc. are all good. I’ve found, generally, that the Chilton’s has better information about the computerized stuff which is extremely useful for doing diagnostics, but the Haynes has better actual step-by-step directions.

Chiltons is the absolute worst for any vehicle, not just SAAB. The hardcover Chiltons are a sight better than the softcover ones. The softcover manuals are birdcage liner material at best. Much of the info is recycled generic drivel and contains mistakes.

The factory SAAB manuals are best but they’re pricy. The last time I priced a set for my SAAB they were about 80 bucks apiece with 8 or 9 of them in the set. Ouch.
You might consider following eBay since many manuals pop up on there and often at reasonable prices.
These are pretty decent for example.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1985-1986-1987-1988-19891990-1992-SAAB-900-shop-manual_W0QQitemZ220230256443QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item220230256443&

Even if you don’t get the year dead on, often one year can be used to guide you through another because SAAB keeps the same design for years on end; a testament to reliability IMHO.

I agree the Haynes are much better than Chiltons. You might also consider a subscription to ALLDATA online if they have your model available. It’s 25 dollars a year with a 15 dollar renewal. It’s not perfect but far better than Chiltons or Haynes.

Get all three. Really! When it comes to laying out big bucks for parts that didn’t need to be changed, and paying someone a healthy chunk of change for troubleshoot/repair, that you could have done if you had had the information/instructions, the costs will seem trival.

I actually like to grab the factory manual and either a Chilton or Haynes just to compare procedure and torque values. Sometimes they’re very similar, sometimes not. I’m speaking about cars in general though, not Saab specifically.