Faults:

Clutch went at 110,000 miles.

Power steering pump went at 140,000 miles.

Worn driver's seat.

Clutch cable broke at 150,000mi.

General Comments:

Owned since 75,000 miles, and have had very little problems with the car overall.

It does need some extra love and attention now and again, but any decent DIY mechanic can do it themselves.

It handles great. It has some torque steer which is hard to avoid with front wheel drive. Excellent handling in the snow. You'll be passing BMWs and Mercedes through the pass.

Overall, doing your own repairs is the key to keeping costs down with this car. If not, find a good independent mechanic who knows these cars.

Faults:

97k; Direct ignition cassette.

99k; A/C condenser.

101k; Trip computer - repeated false malfunctions, like an Alzheimer's patient, turbo needed replacement.

115k; Starter - unavailable in U.S. Had to be shipped from Sweden.

120k; Motor mounts weakened from rust.

140k; Convertible top sensor and motors dead.

145k; Cracked head gasket.

General Comments:

I bought this new, as a handed down 9000 I'd had was indestructible. Initially it was a complete pleasure to own. Great seats and stereo, weak heater for a Swede. Driving it felt more like flying.

Nearing 90k, minor niggles that I didn't mention started - then major ones. In all fairness, it held up an average amount of miles. I have a very light, pampering touch with cars though. Two VWs I've had and an 80's Peugeot lasted virtually trouble free for nearly 300k. Those three cars combined probably cost less than this beauty.

All told, great for an average duration. Not for those who keep cars till they die.

Faults:

Funky electrics -

Vert top does whatever it wants sometimes. Up means down - or it will just stop working sometimes. Yeah, water also finds its way into the top beams, and out the seams, so when you pull out the driveway after a rainy night, you get pissed on.

Saab Information Display drives me crazy - blown pixels, always low washer fluid message (uses gallon per wash).

Headlight wipers don't work, and are pointless anyways.

Leaks small amount of trans fluid.

Ignition switch went bad.

Plastic things breaking - seat handles, cup holder, SID buttons fall off, ashtray opens itself.

General Comments:

4 cyl engine seems very reliable and strong.

Quick enough, sport mode with downshift button is a plus too.

Acceleration is decent, I like the grunty exhaust note, sounds grumpy. Gas pedal feels heavier to push than most cars.

Pretty quick through corners until the tire's limits are reached, then you just start plowing forward. Good ABS too ha.

Interior leather didn't handle the sun too well, and seats don't feel very snug, soft or supportive.

Back seat is Hell.

Telescoping wheel is good, but Saab forgot the tilt?

Convertible could have used some more structural support, car twists and shakes over rough roads or expansion joints. Feels like the front end is just going to shake off and leave you behind.

Cup holder is dumb.

So is the headlight switch, as they are ALWAYS ON anyway. The only thing it can do is turn on JUST the orange parking lights - but only while in P.

Fold down seats are handy.

Overall a good car mechanically, but could have cut some things out and made the materials better.

From what I read Saab did make the cabin nicer in the new ones, but forgot to make sure the junkers would run past 50,000 miles. Is GM finally gonna figure out how to compete with the Germans and Asians?

Faults:

Engine coolant hose split.

Rear brake bulb failed.

Dash rheostat switch failed.

Driver's door kickplate cover came loose.

Cd autochanger would periodically jump track for no reason.

General Comments:

Mine was a black one with 16" alloys and fully colour coded, I really like the shape of these old Saabs, it's a very classic shape and seems to be a lot more timeless than stuff like Mondeos and Vectras from the same era.

Plus points first -- Very torquey engine, nice and quiet at a cruise with very little wind noise, good kickdown response in sport mode from the auto box.

Handling is reasonable and grip good from the 205 width tyres I had, brakes are fantastic and very reassuring.

Mine had a really good info display that came in very handy when it informed me of a "low coolant level" warning and made a loud bonging noise that frightened me half to death! If it hadn't been for this I probably wouldn't have realised and possibly overheated the engine.

The trip computer was also very accurate with the mpg readout, I don't always trust these things, especially on older cars, but this was about as spot on as you'd need, for the record I averaged anywhere from 28-30mpg on average, which I think is OK.

The cruise control was very easy to use and a lot better laid out than on some other cars I've owned.

Final big plus point for me was a really big boot with a low loading sill, with plenty of space for my 35 kilo boxer dog!

Number one negative I think had to be the steering feel and the fact the steering wheel had reach but not rake adjustment, I sit low and always felt like the steering wheel was too high, I'd far rather have tilt adjust than reach adjust and can't understand why so many manufacturers fitted only reach on this era of car, of course, now they've all got reach and rake.

The steering is very lacking in feel and it's hard to tell what the front wheels are up to sometimes.

The ride was a bit too firm for my liking and it did struggle on bumpy country roads sometimes, not surprising really bearing in mind it's a Cavalier based chassis. My dads got an 02-reg 9-3 and they improved the ride quite a lot when they changed to the 9-3 in '98.

Another niggly point was that in economy mode the auto could be a bit too reluctant to change down a gear, and it was necessary to use sport mode more than I would've liked to in everyday driving.

Packaging wise, although the boot is big, rear seat legroom leaves a bit to be desired and the cabin's definitely too narrow, another hang up from its Cavalier underpinnings I guess.

Overall though I've got fond memories of this car, it felt like it'd go on forever and I'd happily have another, or a 9-3, maybe a Turbo next time!

Replaced by an X-reg Omega, which I've got to say, mainly feels lightyears ahead on most counts, although I do miss that Saab-ness!