Saab 9-5 3.0 V6 TiD

Before I say anything about my Saab 9-5 3.0 tid;let me state that I am talking from a background of owning 4 v12 jags amongst other powerful cars,including the v6 3.0 24v Renault Laguna manual.The Saab I now own,between 40 to 120 mph,blows the others away easily. The torgue in that range is sensational. Official figures confirm that the 3.0 tid has the same performance as the 2.3 Hot aero petrol turbo,between those two figures.The cars do have a poor reliability record but,if you can get a good one and look after it,you will never regret it.When you add in all the other,many plus points,you get a car that once owned will never be forgotten.

Saab 9-5 Vector Sport 3.0 TiD.

The WORST car I have ever had the misfortune to own. What is so sad is it had the potential as a great car but reliability has been worse than a chocolate frying pan.

EVERYTHING has gone wrong with the car despite intense dealer and specialist service; rear brake discs warping, front pads disintegrating, handbrake cable coming off, engine mounts continually failing, mystery engine noises with repeat (3 in 1000 miles) oil, fuel, air filter changes to try to find plus sump removal - still clueless. Subframe bushes, catalyst, egr valve, turbo compressor wheel shatter, fuel pump, headlights, rear wiper and washer, alloy wheel distortion, front suspension noises, interior falling apart, climate control, heated seat failure, elec seat position fault, centre armrest wobble, gear lever shake, gearbox mountings.

I am a time served combustion engineer, not a clueless inpractical and careless car driver!

DO NOT BUY ONE OF THESE CARS! You have been warned!

I've had my fire-engine red 9-5 Vector 3.0 TiD estate for 7 years. I absolutely love it, and can't even imagine why I would want any other car. Supremely comfortable on long journeys -- went to the Alps and back twice last year, and my friends commented on how easy the journey was. Only service problem I've had is batteries -- I'm on my third -- and a steering pump that went wrong about 5 years ago. Everything else is "normal wear and tear". Just about the only thing I don't like is the ventilation controls -- too many indistinct buttons It's beginning to look dated inside, but otherwise it is still a head-turning, classy car.

I think car buyers are nuts , somebody must have told saab they wanted a car like this , even though it is very fast and very powerfull it cant be driven by a sane person , your brain would have to be reduced to jelly from loud rap music to appreciate this car ,its unbelieveably uncomfortable no executive on drugs or not would go anywhere in one twice at 27k??????????????

The Saab 9-5 3.0 V6 TiD has more power than the 2.2 TiD. Good fuel economy relative to engine size. Service parts -except for the engine- are quite sensibly priced & widely available due to being shared with other GM products. World class... when running properly. Devastatingly costly when engine problems arise. Demands best quality (NOT supermarket) diesel or can run poorly. The V6 TiD demands an intensive regime of regular maintenance. Dealers don't always understand them!

Better known as the 'mad 9000 enthusiast', I have owned a huge number of SAABs over the last decade including V6 petrol variants of the 9000, NG900 and 9-5. Great times and vast mileages have been had (on the whole) and I remain a keen SAAB supporter.

The V6 diesel 6DE1 Isuzu unit in the 9-5 is a different kettle of fish and I have had mixed experiences with them. When the engine is running properly, performance is strong and economy is good but I couldn't help wonder why SAAB never offered an automatic option as Renault and Vauxhall did offer this when the engine was fitted in the Vel Satis Diesel and the Vectra respectively.

On the 6DE1 engine (tagged D308L by SAAB), Cylinder liners can be a problem but it was discovered that in nearly all cases, the root cause of the failures was engine oil level dropping too low between services. The fix was ludicrously simple - increase the oil level and change the dipstick!

Although this sounds 'Heath Robinson' - a word of caution! Over filling a diesel engine is courting disaster because diesel is heavy oil and the engine can run on the contents of the sump IF it is overfilled. If this happens, the engine will rev out of control even if the key is turned off because the fuel supply from the sump is bypassing the key. The only way to stop an engine in this nightmare scenario is to stall it in gear.

Head gasket failures on the 3.0 TiD are more common and a huge and expensive job. A SAAB gasket set is quite reasonably priced but the bolts need renewing and are not cheap but cost pales into insignificance compared to the time involved to carry out the repair.

In a four month period, I had a head gasket fail, a turbocharger let go (the Garrett GT24 is about double the cost of the GT17 fitted to 4-cyl non Aero petrol cars) before the engine seized less than 500 miles after an oil change. The replacement engine fared little better - the dual mass flywheel failed leaving a distinct vibration through the clutch pedal, so I dropped the subframe, removed the box and changed the clutch and flywheel (the parts cost just short of £800)only to find that the car drove little better, although the clutch was lovely and light. Upon investigation, it became apparent that the dual mass flywheel failure had caused the engine to run out of balance -due to the high compression and the V configuration- and the main bearings had spun in their housings (the block is alloy, remember ). NOT good! I cannot help feeling that GM dumped the engine on an unsuspecting SAAB who then let their customers do all the development work. Ironically, I'm told that engines from 2004 were stronger but note that the V6 TiD was dropped from the SAAB range just after the bulk of the problems were sorted out.

My advice when considering a V6 TiD is buy with extreme care. A good warranty is essential, as with any complex machine. Before buying check the service history and especially the modifications plate on the front n-side inner wing - there should be a healthy number of what looks like figure eights scribed in the boxes. These show that the maintenance will have covered software updates to the management system and other essential modifications (like the dipstick). Most important of all, if a clutch needs changing, the flywheel should be renewed as well.

Although the other 9-5 TiD V6 I ran was brilliant, for most people, I cannot help feeling that the 2.2TiD represents a better diesel choice (or the later 1.9TiD, £££s notwithstanding!).

The problem burdenben alluded to is correct in my experience. My Saab 3.0 TiD is now on its 3rd (count 'em) engine. Luckily I was able to persuade Saab to replace the engine at their expense both times, although I did have to pay labour costs on the 2nd new engine. Some of the build quality is distinctly ordinary compared to a 5-series for example. They always seem to be playing catch-up compared to their teutonic rivals, and are WAY behind Lexus GS for example.

The Saab 9-5 is a good all round car: travelled all over europe in all weathers

No problems as yet. consumables ie tyres, bulbs etc about usual for this size of car.

Still love her, so do our dogs.

Very reliable car... as once you try a Saab you definitely won't find any comparable car to this for same amount of money.

Buy one of these cars at your peril. I promise you, you WILL regret it. I bought a V6 Vector and almost £1,000 lighter in pocket after 6 months with a leaking head gasket, I called it quits. I was quoted over £1200 for a new head gasket and at the same time warned that because the engines are a very poor combination of an aluminium block with steel bore liners, the bore liners can 'drop' after a leaking head gasket repair. The cost of a new engine.............£7,500!

Additionally, these cars are awful to drive around town. The engine produces far too much torque for the relatively flimsy gearbox, which flexes under the power. The car also has additional faults such as a very poor tailgate lighting connection which simply fails as a result of chafing wires - this is such a basic design fault that it shouldn't occur on any car built after 1958.

There is enormous road noise from the very wide tyres which is amplified in the cabin by badly designed standard alloy wheels (which are porous to boot!). Any item of damaged trim costs the earth to replace.... Try a new plastic chrome radiator grille for over £100.00 or a rear light cluster for over £300.

Overall I would say that the car feels like it has been built by an unenthusiastic bunch of convicts. I remember opening the hatch mot long after I bought the car and being faced with a row of 3 drain holes drilled in the floor of the hatch. Needless to say they ran across the door at an angle of curvature which could never have been matched by the handling of this car. Simply the most appalling car I have ever had the misfortune to own. As for the dealers they are at best indifferent and at worst positively hostile.

My Saab 9-5 Estate 3.0 V6 TiD was an import direct from Sweden. Now approaching the end of its two year warranty. To date all repairs covered. But the cost of repairs would have been high, first diesel leak almost £1000.

Local dealer (canterbury) excellent always has a loan car, feedback good.

Extended warranty almost £700 for 20,000 miles!