1997 SAAB 900 S Convertible review from North America

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.

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?