2000 SAAB 9-5 from North America - Comments

Just for the record, I have a '99 Saab 9-5, 106,000 miles. I have owned it since new and its been pretty much a peach of a car. I keep driving it because it keeps on working and not causing me problems and I think its the most "environmentally friendly" thing to do (ie, not buy a new car every 3 years). Not to say its never been at the dealer or in for repair and yes my headlamps blow too often but some repairs after nearly 10 years are to be expected. It needs brake work now for instance, for the second time - to be expected.

I've always figured that if you can own an older high mileage car, whether Toyota or Saab or Pontiac, and put no more than $1500 or so into it per year you are making out well. There is a good Saab specialty independent mechanic shop nearby that I trust which is a definite asset.

So not all owner's experiences are bad. I'm certain that the nature of this site is generally to attract those who have had problems so readers need to be aware of that. Its good to read about the sludge problem, which I was not aware of. I will have that cleaned out. My one problem with the car is that, at idle with the AC running during warm weather only, it lurches and stalls if not given some gas. It has done this since 40,000 miles and I've had it at the shop 3x but no fix. Its bothersome but a little gas, opening up the carburetor I assume, helps prevent stalling. Its smooth anywhere over 10 mph and has been a reliable car to own for 10 years.

Hello, unlike many of you, I have not had any major problems to my 1999 Saab 9-5 with 91000 miles. Only the battery died and it needed new brakes, but remember that happens to every single car out there, no matter what make it is.

I've had the car for 2 years now, changed the oil every 3 months or 3000 miles, and still no problems.

To be honest, I think it is just careless owners, cause I know many people that do not change the oil, or even bother to take a look at their car's engine.

I own a 2000 9-5 "money pit edition". I bought it new from the dealer. It may be nice to look at and fun to drive, but it's a total drain on my wallet.

I have had issues with the LCD screen (radio, time, etc) and have replaced it twice. It is out again now but I refuse to replace it again.

The radio control button on the steering wheel went crazy & randomly changed.

Had to have the transmission rebuilt about 5 years ago.

Headlights constantly burn out.

Key remotes don't work.

Alternator replaced.

Serpentine belt failed.

Replaced the water pump twice.

Just last week the master cylinder went out & had to be replaced.

Today the front passenger side window went down and never came back up.

The check engine light is on but no one know why?

The thermostat went out about 3 months ago & had to be replaced.

There have been more repairs... those are just a few highlights.

As much as I want to continue to like my SAAB... I wish a big wind would blow it away & I would never have to look at it again.

I just bought a 1999 9-5 model from a private person. Within a week's time it has cost me over $500 fixing the rear brakes. Now the dealer is telling me the head gasket needs to be replaced because old one could be either leaking or oozing out...

The pixels on the SID UNIT are are broken. You can hardly make out what they read. I am tempted into getting a new one or even a second-hand, but when I went to my local SAAB dealer, they say it would cost me $780.

Now my AC won't even blow cold air unless I drive like a maniac.

I have to admit with the rest that the car is a monster on the road! It drives really good. But after reading all your comments, now I am left sweating out. I am considering not to change the AC since we are getting into cold season. The car has only 142xxxkm. About 86xxxM.

I am now expecting another problem.

Does anyone know where I can get another SID UNIT other than in our SAAB dealership? Apparently we don't have a lot of them here.

If you google saab sid you will get a few sites where you can get a remand unit or send yours out for repair. You can even find saab9-5.com which explains how to repair one yourself, don't know if it works, had mine replaced under warranty.

I found a site http://www.saab9-5.com/howto/sidrepair.htm

that showed how to fix the SID unit step by step and still never worked. My SID unit has broken connections from the circuit board. I have to say it's the worst technology that a company like SAAB would use to make their SID unit. I guess the only other chance I have now it to ship it to a place I found in MA for $135. I hope this works out. Thank you for your advice...

Joe.

I bought a 2001 9-5 about sixteen months ago. At the time, it had about 62,000 miles on it. The seller was the original owner, and the car appeared to be well maintained. I had it inspected, and everything checked out well. Still, I bought an extended warranty for protection.

At about 72,000 miles, the engine light went on, and the fuel pump had to be replaced. At that time, I was told by the Saab mechanics that it was pretty clear that the previous owner had never done one iota of required maintenance, so I spent about $1500 bringing fluids and filters up to par. After this, things went downhill. In the past five months, I've had a coolant leak (which was not easily diagnosed), replaced the water pump, and had the air conditioning fixed after it started blowing warm air. (I live in South Florida, so not having functional air conditioning is not an option.) Most of these problems have been at least partially covered by the warranty, but I have forked out quite a bit of money for uncovered items, not to mention the cost of renting cars while this one sits in the shop.

Just over a week ago, I was doing errands locally, and I noticed the "fill coolant fluid" message on again, and the car started smelling like it was on fire. Fortunately, I was about two blocks from home and I immediately parked the car and had it towed to Saab the next day. The diagnosis was that the overheating caused the cylinder heads to warp. Tonight I was told that the warranty company denied the claim. The dealer has promised to try and work on getting it covered. I am not optimisitc about this working out in my favor (the language in the warranty is of course vague and open to interpretation). Does anybody know what I can expect to pay for this repair? I know it will be in the thousands, but I know dealers inflate prices at any opportunity. I still owe about $6000 on the loan and have no choice but to make the repair. After that, I am getting rid of the car.

Hello to my fellow Slab owners.

Lets get right to it. As previously posted, Saab has great ideal vehicles. Safer than most, faster, and extremely comfortable. But damn, if I can keep this thing running.

2000 Saab Estate Wagon with 101k miles. It's a base model 2.3t.

- Water pump @ 75k

- Coolant by-pass valve @ 90K

- Driver power seat occasionally jams

- DIS display, can't see nothing

- A/C blows hot when the weather is warm.

- Whining pulley replace @ 95k

- Turbo replaced @ 92k

- Undefined vibrations on the right wheel

- Fuel gage is crazier then my wife

- 5 speed transmission has a rattle

- Key at times doesn't want to come out.

- Tail lights and headlights always go out (what pain this is)

- @ 98k miles, New engine

- @100k A Christmas display on my dash board.

I took it to Saab, they said I need this and that. The cost $2,391.13. I said "I'll be back". Drove the car to my farm and parked it in a safe, yet, visible place. Called a few friends. Opened a few Corona's. Pulled out all my gun's and open fired. My wife had the most fun though, it was her car.

The next day, I towed what was left to the dealer that made all that money off of me, and said, "I think the car has something else wrong with it! would you have your mechanic take a look at it? I'll be back later to pick it up."

I received a standing ovation from all those who knew the pain I suffered in my short time of ownership. Many of which were service customers waiting on there vehicles. Although my previous experience with Saab has been more enjoyable, I WILL NEVER AGAIN BUY ONE.

My wife now drives 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe Limited/AWD. She's so happy even my sex life has gotten better. Sorry love for putting you through so much. I had no idea.

Geez . . . guns & beer, and you owned a Saab?

What happened to your pick-up truck?

I'm Dominican! We usually drive Honda's and Toyota's. I just thought I'd change the tradition a little.

But to answer your question on the pick up truck, it's in the garage, right next to my GT3, M6, R63 and my wife's Santa Fe (Hyundai? At least it runs with no problems). The Saab was just to have something a little more fuel friendly, and what a mistake this was. By the way, I also had changed the catalytic converter right before we shot the thing. I hate to admit what that cost.

So far after posting my comments on the 23rd and 24th of September, I have still been money drained about $350.00 Changing this and that. But not a major issue. Coolant, transmission, and oil change to avoid the sludge. One thing I noticed though it that even after changing the oil, it still shows dirty oil after a day or two. Wonder what's the deal!

I wish I had enough guts to shoot my car too, but so far it's behaving good!

I guess I was lucky with my MR2000 9-5 SE (4 cyl Airflow) Estate (=wagon). Bought it from a dealer 2 years old with 26K miles on the clock. I didn't have too many problems with it and it is a delight to drive.

We are amazed how little it costs us to get to our boat on the south coast of England (around 150 miles round trip). It is very economical when driven 60 - 70 MPH on a fast, good road. A weekend's travel costs next to nothing.

It also tows occasionally my boat with no problems. That's 1300Kg of boat, plus maybe 300Kg trailer and I could tow faster than I am allowed with brilliant economy (but prefer to stick to the speed limits - that makes it even more economical!).

I had crank case breather modification done by the dealer for free. After the warranty period I said stop to scheduled services. The car actually doesn't really need so much servicing! And I am saving hundreds of pounds per year for the next car!

This is the first car which I don't have serviced in line with the dealer schedule with the exception of the 6K mile fully synthetic oil change. I always get a free safety & brake/brake pads check when they change oil. This way it is incredibly cheap to run. It is good for the environment too! I have my own schedule. I am aware what may need to be changed and don't change it too often. I cover under 10K miles per year.

Over the years I did have two problems with the aircon - air too warm. One garage said - nothing wrong with it. They were wrong - there was some pressure but not enough and it needed re-gassing. Dealer did that for free as they failed to give me the right advice the first time. Advice: use your aircon in winter from time to time to keep it oiled. That makes it gas tight. Will work longer between re-gassing.

Avoid buying 6 cyl SAABs. Avoid 2.3litre. Buy a 2.0, 4 cyl one. It seems that lots of people have problems with SAABs which have auto transmission. Maybe you should avoid it too? I have manual and love it. Zero problems.

I had SID missing pxels problems, but fixed it myself as per website - not a penny spent. I had small coolant leak near the turbo after scheduled coolant change. I just waited a few months topping it up now and than. Until it stopped leaking. It did stop. It was 3 years ago. No problems since. Not a penny spent (it could potentially cost hundreds of £££).

DI cassette blew when the car had 47K on the clock (the hottest day of the year!). Had the new DI fitted in 30 minutes by an AA patrol. It cost me to unnecessarily subscribe to AA for a year plus the new part. Since than there was a recall and I turned up at a dealer with all the paperwork. Got a new generation DI cassette fitted for free and a refund for the one fitted by AA.

Otherwise the car is FANTASTIC and impossibly cheap to run. Hope it will stay that way for the next 100K+ miles. Happy motoring! :)

I agree.

I've just bought a UK model, 2000 9-5 Aero Wagon 2.3L turbo.

Reading thru this long thread, I can't find a consensus - should we use synthetic or regular, and oil changes at what interval 3K or 7.5K miles?

Can anyone suggest an independent saab-savvy mechanic in the UK or France?

TIA

pARISpAT

saab@02-4.com.

I own a Saab 95, bought it brand new and it has been a money pit. When under warranty, I took it to the dealership, but stopped because the cost of fixing it after that were astronomical. I live in the MA, and in the past two months with three snow storms I have been stuck four times on the highway because my alternator went. The car is at the mechanic with the same problems... every time it snows the alternator goes... I can't figure this out. Anyone out there with this problem?

I will never recommend a Saab to anyone, it is a crap car...