That's a good warning, but it's not all that bleak! - Saab 9-5 Bulletin Board - Saabnet.com
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That's a good warning, but it's not all that bleak!
Posted by Noel [Email] (more from Noel) on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 11:42:53
In Reply to: Re: What to know before buying a 99-05 Saab 9-5, LesH, Tue, 11 Jan 2011 09:49:41
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With a 9-5 you get style, decent quality and CAN get good reliability. But lower repair costs are not necessarily in the picture. Saabs are not the most expensive European cars to own, but they will need more care and cash infusions than say, a Toyota Camry. But it depends.
IF you can find a 9-5 that has a full set of service records so you know what was done when, can see that the oil has been changed about every 5K miles (using synthetic oil), and can see that the car has been cared for, that's a START. The oil is *critical* as up through '03 there were sludging issues that could kill the engine. That said, a friend has an '01 9-3 sedan with 210K miles that's still running fine on the original engine and is a couple changes behind in the PCV mods.
Then take it to a good independent Saab repair shop for a pre-purchase inspection. It has to be a Saab specialist shop because they'll know what to look at/for. It WILL need stuff, so have the shop tell you what those repairs will cost. Then you can make your decision.
At 100K+ any car will be at or approaching a service cycle when a bunch of things need to be replaced. Some are basically once-in-the-life items, others are just wear items and vary with how the car was used.
Owning a used Saab is a much better experience if you have some mechanical skills and can do some of the work yourself. It just helps keep the costs down. Parts costs in general aren't a lot different than other cars, but the labor is always the killer. However, if you have a good indy shop who charges reasonable prices you may be OK---but know that some stuff IS going to be pricey.
Good luck!
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