Other electrical problem on the 2003 Saab 9-5
When other electrical problem gets reported
Owners of the 2003 Saab 9-5 report other electrical problem at a median of 75,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 50,000 miles and a quarter after 90,000 miles, from 18 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 45,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 110,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 63,669 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45,628 miles | 48,508 miles | 76,327 miles | 91,500 miles | 109,297 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 $250–$2,000 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 on other years
The same failure is reported on 5 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2002, at a median of 35,000 miles, and latest on the 2003 at 75,000 miles.
By volume the 1999 carries the most reports, with 66; the 2003 has 22. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
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.
Check engine light on 2003 saab 9-5 aero diagnosed as failing ignition cassette which is the same faulty part for recall on the 2000-2002 cars only. A complete failure while driving would have caused the engine to totally shutdown. This part was replaced at my cost, but the original part number was installed vs. The newer upgraded version to hopefully prevent future failures. Re: campaign id# 05v399000. Shouldn't the faulty "original" part be pulled from dealer stock and why has the 2003 model year and other years been excluded since the faulty part is exactly the same? *nm
The engine warning light on my 2003 9-5 wagon has been coming on periodically for the last year. We had it serviced by an indy and two error codes came up, p1312 and p1334, both having to do with the direct ignition cassette. We just had the part replaced. Only once did the car "die" while driving and luckily it was at low speed and I was able to pull off the road to restart. The identifying information on the original part is 9197559 (tk3.6). My vehicle was built in 2002. Consider expanding the recall in place for 2000-2002 model years (NHTSA #05v399000) to include 2003 vehicles, particularly those built in 2002. *tr
The engine warning light on my 2003 9-5 wagon has been coming on periodically for the last year. We had it serviced by an indy and two error codes came up, p1312 and p1334, both having to do with the direct ignition cassette. We just had the part replaced. Only once did the car "die" while driving and luckily it was at low speed and I was able to pull off the road to restart. The identifying information on the original part is 9197559 (tk3.6). My vehicle was built in 2002. Consider expanding the recall in place for 2000-2002 model years (NHTSA #05v399000) to include 2003 vehicles, particularly those built in 2002. *tr
Also reported on the 2003 Saab 9-5
No-start or intermittent start failure
Alignment fault and uneven tire wear
Stalling while driving
Fuel pump failure
Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure
Other wheel or tire problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 22 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 other electrical problem happen on the 2003 Saab 9-5?
Across 18 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 75,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 50,000 miles and a quarter after 90,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other electrical problem on the 2003 Saab 9-5?
22 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.6 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