I've seen similar Q asked, but my nearest Saab dealer is approx 1200km away, in South Africa. Soft top was working fine, but now it comes with failure message. Boot does not respond to remote opening any more & when l press boot relese button on driver is door, message on SID is: Finish soft top motion! l checked pump & oil leve seems to be ok. When l try to operate soft top, it refuses straight away - will not even engage the motor - l had VW cabrio & in case of low fluid level, it would still operate the motor & top but it was producing funny noise & bubbling the fluid - unlike my Saab - just SID message & no sound, no movement. To me, it seems like a faulty sensor/microswitch. Can anyone advise where are they positioned and how to get to them? Thanks

it probably is the 5th bow microswitch or the boot cover switch. Open the trunk & give the boot area a couple of slaps with the palm of ur hand, hitting it from the bottom. Try the top if it still does not operate then u will have to manually open the top & lift the rear glass area to access the 5th bow micro at the left side of the top near the piston. Adjust it slightly & then try the top. If it still does not operate then check the universal joint located in the trunk behind the boot area. There is a pin in the joint that has a tendency to shear.

Good Luck

PS the owner is manual will tell u how to open the top manually.

Okay, Saab has posted on the web a way to replace the microswitch that causes this to work (and at the same time discloses where they are and how to get to them). Here is a link to a PDF which tells you step by step how to do it (Click on the fifth choice on the search) - good luck with this:

http://search..com/search;_ylt=A0geu62jXjBHWcsAsxBXNyoA?p=Saab+9-3+microswitch+convertible+top&fr=yfp-t-471-s