2000 SAAB 9-5 from North America - Comments

To the poster of 21 Oct, there's nothing wrong with buying a Saab, provided you get a good one. Trouble is, there's just no way to tell.

BMWs are not entirely trouble free cars - far from it. However, it seems that there are more specialists out there who know how to put one right, or who can get the correct parts to do so.

If all else fails, it is also generally easier to offload a BMW than a Saab and you would probably lose less in the process.

I once had a 1987 9000 Turbo. My comments and review are in the review section. Great car, but simply falls to pieces. Mileage is high now, but serious things failed, such as head/head gasket/power steering/gearbox at very low mileage (40k miles) and continued to fail repeatedly (i.e. 3 gearboxes!).

Also have a BMW 5 Series. Can't even compare the cars. The BMW is by far the better driving, better built, better overall car. Have owned for similar miles to the SAAB, but no problems.

Have used long term rentals for the 'new' SAAB (if you can call a car built around a 15 year old platform new) and it feels like a 15 year old car. Worse actually; feels like a tarted up Vauxhall. It is a mistake to even put BMW and SAAB in the same category.

Yes, you will deny this, but go out and take a long term test of a 5 Series. There is a simple reason why the 5 series outsells the 9-5 by a million miles.

I must say, that all these comments are a mixed bag. Let's take all the reasons to buy a Saab in to context. I have a 2005 9-3 ARC. It has 210 hp turbo engine in it coupled to a 5 speed manual. It is fast and handles well. Right now it has 26000 miles on it. I have had no problems with the vehicle short of a couple of loose trim pieces. I am a former Lexus owner (ES 300). I really liked that car too, but I'm 6' tall. In fact, I was a big fan of japanese cars after clocking 290,000 miles on my '90 Nissan Maxima (only major repair was the clutch - granted it was rusting and rattling a little). Japanese cars are generally not made for tall people. My head grazed the headlinger of the Lexus and I constantly found myself crouching down at every traffic light to see if it turned green. Furthermore, the Lexus was a automatic (yuk) and boring to drive. One more thing to mention (If you have your lexus serviced at the dealership, you can plan on an average of $1000 in maintenance costs - sure they will make you a cappuccino, but I can buy a better tasting one at Starbucks for $3 -or better yet, if you buy a Saab where the first 3 years of maintenance are covered, you can take the $3000 and fly to Italy and have a REAL cappuccino) Sidebar: In the past years, the manual transmission has been disappearing from cars (don't have an explanation except maybe the aging of America (those with hip replacements can't handle the clutch pedal?). My personal feeling is that driving an automatic after knowing what it is to drive a good manual is completely unsatisfying.

I love driving the Saab and would buy another.

Everyone talks about the BMW as it it is the holy grail. True, the resale is higher (as a percentage of the purchase price) and they probably handle a little better, but you've got to come up with another $10,000 to $20,000 in the first place. Also, their reliability (I'm sure equally costly to maintain) is comparable they aren't cheaper to lease and how much time to you really spend in your car? I work for a living and put no more than 15,000 miles on my car each year. I guess if money is no object, then a BMW is the way to go, but I also am looking forward to a comfortable retirement and the extra costs of owning a BMW are not worth sacrificing the annual contribution to my Roth IRA.

Can anybody help me? my saab 9-5 1999 starts runs for 10 minutes then shuts off by itself. both check engine and check gear box lights stay on at all times and the car runs sluggish. been this why for months when it shuts off I have to wait 2-3 hours before it would even think of starting again. can someone please help before I burn it it!

Wow. I found this site while trying to help a friend who has replaced her 9-5's battery twice in short order and is still having starting problems (starts fine with someone elses battery hooked up with jumper cables). It isn't the fuel pump, it just won't crank over unless it is being jumped.

Reading all these posts (and I read every one) makes me very happy with my 1998 Ford Ranger. I have changed brakes, tires, oil and a thermostat, and have 150,000 miles on it. All the lights are original, as is the battery. Everything still works. Sure, it isn't a Saab. But it is paid for, and I don't pay a dime for repairs. Sorry for everyones troubles, but THANK you for sharing!

Just wanted to add my.02 to the posters with the engine sludge problems. My 2001 9-5 officially joined the ranks of the engine replacement group, though so far I have not been told I need to pay anything for it (fingers crossed). So far, it's taken three weeks for the new engine to arrive, and now it will be another week before I can actually drive the car again. I have had to do all of the follow-up calling to make sure the dealer doesn't keep me on the back burner...: (

I have owned some lemons before, but none have ever cost me as much as this car. Though I still love my "Saabie" when it actually works, I have really felt the $$$ pain when it hasn't. Oh yeah, and I just spent $1,500 replacing the timing chain and the serpentine belt last year...sigh...

When I get this car back, I promised my husband and kids I would trade it in for something more dependable. We've looked at the Saturn Aura XR (hate the XE) but am still open-minded.

My advice for folks who want to do that is to talk to independent mechanics and ask them which cars they see the least, or which seem to be the best deal for the $$. Wish I could try a newer Saab, but I'm extremely gun-shy now that this one has cost me in excess of $5,000 since I bought it.

I have a 2000 9-3 Turbo and in the last 3 weeks to Check Engine and Gear Box light have been coming on simultaneously. They stay on for a few hours, and then both go off. The car runs in limp mode when they are on. I took it into my dealer service department, and they ran diagnostic/code read on it and call edme back saying "no fault found" on the scan test. At this time they cannot figure out what is wrong with the car. They wanted to keep it another day since when they took for a test drive, the lights were back off, and the car ran just fine. I am a little worried though, that they are desperately looking for something to be wrong. In the less than 2 years that I have owned this car I have spent almost $2000 in repairs alone. I cannot wait to get rid of this car.

Auto box and Engine warning lamps. I had these come on simultaneously on my MY2000 9-5 and they disappeared after a few startups. the driver handbook says they come on together for a gearbox fault. my dealer cannot/will not say what it is that is being "sensed" but seems happy to quote me for a replacement autobox! I cannot tell anything wrong, limphome did NOT take effect like the book says.

I shall wait and see.

Dave, UK.

I have a 2000 Saab 9-5 V6 wagon that I bought with 75,000 miles on it. Or I guess I should say I "had" a Saab. It is currently at the dealer with a blown engine under 2 feet of snow. I love the car, but unfortunately when the dealer did the 60,000 mile timing belt replacement they did not replace the tensioner pulley and due to this lack of vision, the timing belt blew when I was traveling 70 miles down the interstate. Now I am searching for a used engine replacement through a local mechanic. It states in the manual that they will replace any timing belt that fails under 100,000 miles and I currently have 90,000 miles on the car. Now they are saying that the timing belt did not fail, it was caused to fail. This has caused me incredible distress. I do love my Saab, but I would buy the V4 if I had to do it over again. I don't think that they should design something that if one part breaks it destroys your entire engine. Doesn't seem logical. I guess I have a love/hate thing for Saabs. I am using my mom's car which is a Honda Civic, nice for around town, but I miss my Saab magic carpet and am trying to get it back on the road. Thanks for reading, I feel better! Oh, yeah and they (Saab/GM) never did call me back. I left several messages. I did file a claim with the attorney generals office because I think they are really rude! I am in a service related business and your customers should be a top priority even when they have problems. OK, I'm done..

My experience with Saab has been uniformly unpleasant. I purchased my 1999 9-5 V6 SE with 79000 miles, the car now has 101000 miles. I have had to replace the rear wheel bearings twice due to rapid bearing failures. I have also had to replace the rear driver side trailing arm for the suspension since it had failed and was causing the car to swing widely to the side when the car would go over a bump. The shock mounts has to be re-milled due to stress warping when I changed shocks. I also have had to replace the fuel pump which failed less than 3000 miles after I bought the car. The front passenger side window controls have been replaced 3 times, and continue to suddenly fail causing the window to pop open. I also now have a valve bushing which is beginning to burn.

+++++ IMPORTANT SAFETY INFO+++++++

The Saab 9-5´s radiator is not able to handle the pressure of mountain driving. Sudden changes in elevation can cause the fluid of the radiator to flash boil, causing the plastic side tanks to literally explode off the side of the radiator.

This happened to me recently. Replaced the original radiator with a custom all aluminum radiator set up. Also, the suspension of the car is way too soft for mountain driving, this car is extremely dangerous for anyone who lives in mountainous topography.

I would not ever buy a Saab again. I would sell this one, but so far I have not even had an offer to buy this car after having it listed for 4 months.

This car makes my 180,000 mile, 15 year old, V12 Jaguar XJS look like a model of mechanical reliability. That's not a good thing folks, the XJS is probably the least reliable thing JAGUAR ever put on the market.

I have just developed an unusual problem with my 2000 9-5 Aero. I had it into the dealership, but they weren't able to diagnose the problem - apparently the problem didn't appear during their test drive. The car develops a severe shudder through the Steering column and the gearbox after driving for approx 15 minutes (only happens after car warms up). The Steering wheel shakes violently from side to side. However, I can accelerate out of the shudder and it also disappears temporarily after I turn a corner. Ruled out the tires/rims and alignment - changed the winter set over to the summer set and had an alignment done. Also, don't believe it's related to the brakes or rotors because it happens at speed. Shudder continues even if I shift into Neutral and coast. Dealer did a visual check and couldn't find anything obvious. Appreciate any advice?

Bill, Toronto.

Bill.

Have you checked the engine (or motor) mounts? If they split you can get some vibration, even shudder, through the steering wheel.

Appreciate your feedback. I spoke to a mechanic yesterday and he also said to check the brake calipers and motor mounts. I pulled all the calipers last night and reset, but haven't driven very far to see if the problem has cleared. Will let you know. Thank you.

Well, I have spent the past half hour reading all of these reports, and I am another one whose engine bit the dust from sludge. I have a 2001 9-5 wagon. The red oil indicator went on. We stopped to check the oil, added more, talked to a service attendant who said everything was fine. Then on the way home from a three-hour drive, the car engine kept running, but the accelerator died. After towing the car to the dealer, the dealer said that the engine was seized and that it is probably from a lack of oil changes. I did change the oil regularly. The car has 101,000 miles on it. I am having the car towed to an independent repair shop highly regarded in Woodbury, CT. The dealer said to buy a new car and that the car had no value whatsoever! Then when I said that I was having it towed, the representative at the dealer gave me some options with replacement, used engines. I still am taking it to the independent auto repair place. How much can I expect to pay for a used engine?

I found this site while doing research in preparation to buying a 2002 Saab 9-5. Thanks to the time each of you took to register your comments, I will not be doing so. Thank you for keeping me from making a very big mistake.