ABS module or sensor failure on the 2000 Saab 9-5
Only 6 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When abs module or sensor failure gets reported
There are 6 reports of ABS module or sensor failure on the 2000 Saab 9-5, 6 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 7th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 81,600 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $500–$2,400 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure, every year of the Saab 9-5
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Following dash lights came on: ABS, tcs off, warning triangle and brake. Check engine light came on after intermittent problem became permanent. Speedometer and odometer ceased to operate. Researched to discover a common problem with like vehicles (saabnet.com). Service technician confirmed that ABS ecu was inoperative and needed to be replaced. Mike shaw saab attempted to resolve issue with saab usa to replace $2500 part. I would pay labor. Saab usa offered to pay half. I decided to repair myself. I removed the ABS module (a bosch sub-part of the ABS ecu) and sent it to be re-built for $249. I rented a car for about $200 and paid $120+tax for the saab service diagnosis. I re-installed the module, and the car is fine. It appears that these bosch ABS modules are causing problems in many brands of vehicles. Searching ebay, I found there to be more instances of this than I could count. *jb
I was traveling to san diego when my engine problem light came on along with tcs, ABS and speedometer lights came on. I have learned from previous experience with this vehicle that the engine problem light means that this vehicle engine could blow up. After spending the night (not intended) in san diego, I called the local dealer and they explained that this was a common problem and that it was a $2500 fix. They recommended that I drive the vehicle and not worry about my traction control or ABS not working properly. I have purchased a new vehicle and am now working on fixing this problem via resources on the web for 1/4th the dealer cost. *jb
While driving my 2000 saab 9-5 lpt, the warning lights come on and the speedometer goes to zero. The mechanic states that the ABS computer has failed due to a defect in the electronics. *nm
Also reported on the 2000 Saab 9-5
Other electrical problem
Catalytic converter failure
Misfire or rough idle
Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure
Stalling while driving
No-start or intermittent start failure
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 6 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 6 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does abs module or sensor failure happen on the 2000 Saab 9-5?
Across 6 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 80,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is abs module or sensor failure on the 2000 Saab 9-5?
6 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed