Would you buy this car?

It happened here as well, the SAAB dealer went out of business, and the GM dealership subsumed all service into the Cadillac dealership for several years before dumping it off at the generic high end imports shop across the road.  Makes it funny now to drive past Lamborghinis, Maserati and Rolls Royces to pick up parts for my 800 buck beater ..

In reply to travellering :

When was that?

I ask because the last time I got parts for a Saturn L300 engine (SAAB 54 degree V6), the parts came in Opel labeled bags... and GM has divested itself of Opel recently.

Point Pleasant is unfortunately 2 hours from me.

It makes me wonder if I misunderstood; they have a couple 900s for sale in their inventory and there was a restored Sonett in the waiting room.  I will quiz them when I get it inspected.

Only issues with my new-to-me 9-5 that I know of is one key needs to have its battery replaced and there is an issue with the HVAC passenger side blend door (climate control self test reports 1-11).

It was a misunderstanding, apparently whoever I talked to when I made my appt got confused between a 9-5 and a 9-4X which is similar to the Cadillac SRX.  All is well for "real" Saabs.  There is currently a 96 in the waiting room.

The car I bought:

Swedish Motors, right? I recognize the weirdo 96 'convertible'.

Yup, in Marietta PA.

I didn't know they existed back in the late 80s when I had my first Saab, but I started taking my Audi A6 Avant there after two Audi dealers refused to change the trans fluid because it was "lifetime" but Swedish Motors agreed to do it.  Now that I have Saabs again it is the obvious place to go.  I am now retired and have more time and less money so I plan to do more work myself but nice to have a knowlegable place to go also.

Excellent! You should bring your new steed down to Saabs@Carlisle at the Carlisle Import & Performance Nats in a few weeks! We'll be there in the red sedan that you drove while you were down here, provided that its back from its spa day in time.

In reply to Powar :

Thanks for the suggestion; I signed up and we'll come for Saturday and the dinner.

alphahotel said:

Besides buying a spare DIC, what else do I need to look out for?

Congrats on your "new" Saab. We have an '04 9-5 wagon we originally wanted as an appliance but have grown pretty fond of.

I read your post back when you wrote it, and have come back to recommend getting a spare, known-good ABS module. They are known to fail, the '04 version was a one-year-only part, it's NLA (of course, and even though it's from Bosch) and they are *not* repairable (despite what you may read; yes, other years can be fixed, but for some reason the '04 will still not work, per a reputable Saab shop).

Why come back to respond ~3 weeks later? Last night, the second one in our car has started to fail after a couple years. All related warning lights come on: traction control, ABS, etc., and your speedo and odo won't work. Then everything sorts itself out a few minutes later, or cycling the key does it. This will go on for a month or so. Then, finally, it's done.

BTW, R&R is DIY and doesn't involve dealing with brake fluid. As for the DIC, if you re-gap the plugs regularly, the cassette lasts longer. I do it every other oil change.

Thanks, I will be on the lookout for one.  I have already started accumulating a few parts: FB showed me a front subframe (with control arms and sway bar) for $50 that I bought (though AFAIK mine is fine) and when I got there he had a few other parts so I ended up with a pair of rust-free front fenders (which I also don't need, yet).