2000 SAAB 9-3 Viggen review from North America

Mass air flow sensor.

Head gasket.

Water pump.

Temperature gauge.

Crank sensor.

Transmission fluid leak.

Worn out transmission bearings.

Bent wheels.

Digital display burnt out.

Seat button broke.

Until 115,000 miles, the car was fantastic.

Good: The seats and seating position are perfect. The utility of the hatchback is unrivaled. High-pressure torquey turbo power is awesome. It steers well, with well-weighted movement. It gets 26.5 miles per gallon in mixed driving (premium fuel of course). The controls are logical. Not surprising for a Swedish car built in Finland, but it handles well in the snow and has nice cold-weather features. It handles well in the dry, for a front-heavy front-drive car.

Bad: The shift action is horrible, the worst I've ever driven; I actually thought the transmission was broken on the test drive. The wheels bend easily. It has more rattles and shakes and vibrations than is contemporary rivals.

Reliability: I had zero problems for the first 40,000 miles I had the car, until 115,000 miles. Then the thing literally started to fall apart. It's now breaking faster than I can afford to fix it. I have several problems that need to be fixed fairly urgently that I simply can't afford to fix.

Conclusion: If you can get a low mileage one, go for it, I highly recommend it. I'd say don't buy one with over 100k though. At the moment I'm in love with it one day and angry the next day, as each problem reasserts itself.