The 2000 9-5 SE I recently purchased was 5000 miles from the 90000 mile mark, so I decided to have the service done. Basically I wanted to see if the Saab dealership could find anything wrong. To my surprise ..nothing was wrong. Correction: One of the keys is worn, so SAAB will have to cut a new one and the dealership will mail it to me- cost 32 dollars. Also I wanted to make sure that SAAB approved fluids were in the car..so out with the old and in with the new. When I purchased the car, it came with the leather-case and original owner's manual. (Though I had opened the glove compartment immediately after I purchased the car I didn't realize how deep the compartment was and thus missed the case) All the maintenance records were there, and I was able to locate and talk to the previous owner who did an outstanding job of keeping up on the maintenance. There are a lot of SAABs and Volvos in the Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia area and it's fairly easy to find a used one. Note: When I dropped the car off for servicing they gave me a Buick Lacrosse. After a month of Saab driving, I really hated the handling of the Buick. On Interstate 5 , after it warmed up, and I was cruising at 65..the Buick was ok, but otherwise it was dull and unresponsive. Couldn't wait to get back to the Saab. Interesting, that some of the most pleasurable driving I get on the 9-5 is from in-town driving! My main gripe with the 9-5 SE is noise, but some of that is due to the Toyo tires. Anyway Saab has won me over.
I have the original price sticker for this car. New it sold for 38, 835. Engine built in England. Transmission from Japan. Just over 20 % of the hardware is Swedish....
Rich