2002 SAAB 9-5 Reviews - Page 6 of 8

A stop light is about to go out. It still works, but the on board computer has warned us that it will go out soon.

This is an incredibly smart car. Well built easy to maintain. I have never done any of my own car maintenance, but this car is so easy to work on. The parts easily purchased. There are a lot of people who love their 9-5's. We totally love ours. So far so good... the car did have quite a few things replaced under warranty according to the previous owner's records. This is a sweet car. It's a luxury sedan with the sport ride. VERY safe.

Ran and idled rough since the day we got it home.

Transmission slipped and shifted erratically since the start as well.

Interior pieces fell of w/in the first 5,000 miles of ownership.

Engine makes excessive noise at various times- a whining, pump/ vacuum sound.

20,000 miles, paint bubbled and pealed.

25,000 miles- Turbo had to be replaced- had been blowing blue smoke and loss of power.

28,000 miles dashboard lights burned out.

30,000 miles - rotors needed replaced- told it was normal.

I wanted to like this car, BUT, it is more than a lemon, it is just a boatload of little issues that make it a miserable driving experience for most miles. It is by far the noisiest car I've ever been in. It shifts when it wants to, for no reason, brakes freeze, and it runs so rough and idles just as rough on most occasions, that your teeth feel as if they might fall out.

The dealer can never find any problems, only "updates the software" whenever a new version is available.

The paint it turns out was not a factory issue, but the result of shoddy work performed by the dealer when the car was in its service fleet prior to our purchase. Of course we asked if any body work or paint work had ever been down, but they deceived us. Buyer beware. We would have never have bought the car with miles had we known. Overall our dealer doesn't know BEANS about Saab's and customer service.

The first thing I noticed wrong with my Saab 95 was the rear suspension was completely broke down. The struts had to be replaced. This was done at no cost to me, but made me nervous the dealership may not have looked the car over before putting out on the line for sale.

I got the car back from getting the rear suspension serviced, it handled like it was on rails, but before I could even put 100 miles on it the turbo blew. That handy factory warranty saved the day once again. The dealership replaced the turbo at no cost to me.

I got the car back from the dealership this time and noticed it seemed to want to stall when shifting from park into reverse. I also noticed smoke coming from the tail pipe. I noticed the power the car had before the turbo work was done was no longer there. The car acted like any other non-turbo powered 4 banger on the road. Oh and if that wasn't bad enough every time I hit a little bump in the road the suspension makes a sound similar to that of a gas station bell, the kind that goes off when you run over the black rubber hose at the pumps. I took the car back again this time voicing my lack of confidence in the vehicle. The dealership responded by trying to set up a deal to get me into a Chevy Malibu. I politely declined and insisted my car be fixed properly. The kicker to this story is I purchased the car from the dealership second hand 3 weeks ago. I've yet to even make my first payment on the car and it's already spent more time in the shop than on the road.

Even with all the problems I've had with this car, I don't know of another vehicle out there that I'd like to have. I like the looks, power and handling of this car. I'm afraid, however, that I'm not going to have a nice experience with it.