I am looking at purchasing a 2002 Saab 9-5 ARC, and I've received mixed advice regarding the reliability of these cars in general. l realize that because it’s a somewhat uncommon foreign car, it will be more expensive and time consuming to repair. As l said, some people have told me these are good cars, and the downside is that when they do need repair, it’s more expensive. Others have told me that Saabs are prone to problems, and are expensive to repair on top of that. The latter is my concern. Good cars or not so good – that’s my question?

Well, l had an 03 9-3 Vector for about 7 months before l traded it. l had to take the car into the shop so many times it was embarrassing. In fact, l opened a ticket with Saab is customer service center about some electrical problems back in July. It is almost January & the ticket is still unresolved.

Of course, keep this in mind: My 03 was the redesign using GM platform & more GM parts than ever before, so there was a big source of problems. Your model is different & is a year older, so l do not know how much GM influence would be in it.

All in all, l would never go with another Saab. The cars look nice & were once well built but not any more. They r now little more than a GM built in Sweden instead of Mexico.

consumer reports says NO GO! l was gonna get a 9-3 and looked at the track record, too bad, nice looking cars and pretty cheap. of course, if you know how to work on them and it is cheap-go for it.

l have info on where u can obtain more detailed information.
SaabCentral.com is a forum dedicated to such questions. l own 5 Saab 900's. The major issue with these cars ( & mostly any car) is preventive maintenance. If u simply note changes as ur ownership progresses, then remedy these changes. The condition of the vehicle will remain new.
Generally speaking my older Saabs have been very reliable.
Good is a very relative term. Yes they have been good cars, to me.

Heather, as a SAAB Master Tech for 16+ years allow me to offer u this advise if l may. The year & model u r contemplating purchasing is in my humble opinion one of the LAST good years to own in the SAAB line. Reasons, u still r buying for all intent & purpose a SAAB. Yes GM owns them but the power train is still Swedish, made in Sweden & engine managment systems r 80% SAAB. In this year range, 2000 thru 2003 stay with the 9-5 only. The 9-3 2.0L turbo motor has serious faults that u do not need. And of course under no circumstance buy the V-6 models of any year, u do not need the expense of ownership there. Also have the prospective purchase inspected by a knowledgable tech that u trust. l can not stress this enough. GM dumped over 14,000 lease return cars & factory buy-backs on the market recently & most have been at best, poorly maintained. Have ur tech do a compression check & pull the valve cover off the engine to check for sludging. The engines compression should be equal or at least within 10% of each other highest to lowest readings. Also the compression should be within 10% of new engine specs. If the engine is sludged, pass this car by, u will not have a good experience with it l assure you. On the topic of sludge. If u find a car that passes muster we recommend the following as to oil changes. First, u do not need to go the expense of FULL synthetic oils in ur car. Use a GOOD quality SEM l synthetic oil & follow these guidelines as to changing it. IF, ur daily commute is of sufficiant distance that ur car reaches normal operating temp for at least 20 minutes, change ur oil every 4000 miles. If not, change ur oil every 3000 miles. The reason, oil has to reach 350+ degrees temp to break down & fail. If it does u have so many other problems that oil is the last one. Oil does however get contaminated. Mostly from moisture & unburned fuel, this due to short cold engine trips because the engine never gets hot enough to purge these contaminats from the oil. These contaminants form acids that will litterally eat ur engine bearings. The use of a good additive, l like BG products MOA additive, will keep these contaminants from doing their dirty work but it is still no substitute for regular oil changes. These r the top recommends we tell our customers every day. There r a few more & if u wish to contact me about the rest feel free to do so. In closing l will add this. The above, while they concern ur pending SAAB purchase, u can apply to any car u ar thinking of getting involved with. They will keep ur car alive for many a year no matter what u buy. Just a fun note, one of our customers holds the SAAB mileage record with his 1986 SAAB 9000 turbo. He has 710,000 miles, documented, on the original engine & turbo. l will add that his maintainance file in my computor is 39 pages long just listing service dates. He is trying to hit 1,000,000 miles & will most likely make it. Hope this gives u some help in ur search. l Bid You Peace, Al.