My 2004 Saab 9-5 Arc wagon (4-cylinder) will be off warranty in 1 month (August 1, 2008). I’m trying to decide whether to:
a)panic at the prospect of numerous repair bills and trade it in on something with a smaller carbon footprint
b)buy the extended warranty so I can sleep at night
c)hang a rabbit’s foot on the rear-view mirror and keep driving.
Any Saab owners or mechanics out there have advice for me?
I would forget about the carbon footprint; the next owner will actually drive your car, and if he/she drives more your trade will INCREASE the CO2 emissions. So, only sell it to someone you know for sure is going to drive it a lot less.
I would also forget about the extended warranty; it is very expensive INSURANCE, and the odds are stacked against you collecting more tham you are paying.
If you have looked after your SAAB, I would just keep driving it. I colleague of mine has had SAAB for 10 years and looked after it; he plans to keep driving it for its natural life.
Our two past Saabs, both of older vintage (a 1984 900T and a 1989 9000CD), were superbly reliable cars right through 160K mikes when sold. We replaced nothing on the 84, and AC on the 89, and that’s all. Further, when we sold them, they both drove like new.
We now have a 90 Lexus LS400 (bought in 93) and a 2000 Mercedes ML320 SUV. We are now thinking about replacing the Lexus with a used Saab 9-5 wagon or 9-3 convertable… probably about your vintage. Nothing much compares to Saab safety, relative economy, and fun to drive.
A recent post here had two Toyota owners complaining about AC repairs of $4,000, $2,400 and $2,500 on 2003 and 2004 Toyotas. So, even the reliability icons break, and it costs a bunch to fix them. I had the Lexas at the dealer about 10 years ago for a minor fix and a fellow with
a small Toyota truck was paying $900 for his 30,000 mile check… yikes! Our Lexus BTW is at 230K miles and so far had 2 failed AC compressors, one steering rack replacement, and one
power steering pump replacement in all this time. You can expect similar from the Saab, at least in our experience.