2006 Saab 9-5: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2006 Saab 9-5
On the 2006 Saab 9-5, the failure owners report most often is airbag inflator rupture, with 10 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 60,000 miles. Overall it scores 65 out of 100, high risk for a 2006.
High risk for a 2006 — 262nd riskiest of the 343 2006 vehicles we can rate. 29 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
The failures owners actually file about
Owners have reported 13 named failure modes on the 2006 Saab 9-5, and the three most-reported carry 52% of everything filed.
Airbag inflator rupture leads with 10 reports and about 1.1 per 1,000 vehicles.
Fuel gauge or level sensor failure follows with 3 reports.
Catalytic converter failure follows with 2 reports.
By system, the reports fall mostly into airbag (11), fuel (3) and engine (3).
At what mileage it happens
11 of the reports on the 2006 Saab 9-5 came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 60,000 miles.
Cumulatively, 45% by 50,000 miles, 55% by 100,000 miles and 82% by 150,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.
The busiest stretch is between 110,000 and 120,000 miles, which alone holds 27% of the dated reports.
36% of the dated reports were filed below 36,000 miles, which is early enough that a fair number of these cars were still under a factory warranty when the owner complained.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
Showing the 12 most-reported failure modes of 13. The full list is in the table below.
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
- Dashed the median reported mileage
What happens when these parts fail
Nothing in the reports on the 2006 Saab 9-5 mentions a crash, a fire or an injury. That is the ordinary case and it is worth stating: most defect complaints are about a car that stopped working, not one that hurt somebody.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 4.48, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: airbag inflator rupture at $0–$0, fuel gauge or level sensor failure at $300–$1,200, catalytic converter failure at $900–$3,500 and other engine problem at $300–$4,000. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
14% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbag inflator rupture | airbag | 10 | 0 | — | — | — | 1.1 | $0–$0 | Critical |
| Fuel gauge or level sensor failure | fuel | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.3 | $300–$1,200 | Moderate |
| Catalytic converter failure | emissions | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.2 | $900–$3,500 | Moderate |
| Other engine problem | engine | 2 | 2 | — | 25k | — | 0.2 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Other lighting problem | lighting | 2 | 2 | — | 150k | — | 0.2 | $120–$1,200 | Moderate |
| Misfire or rough idle | engine | 1 | 1 | — | 61k | — | 0.1 | $250–$1,600 | Moderate |
| Loss of braking | brakes | 1 | 1 | — | 44k | — | 0.1 | $400–$3,000 | Critical |
| ABS module or sensor failure | brakes | 1 | 1 | — | 10 | — | 0.1 | $500–$2,400 | High |
| Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault | airbag | 1 | 1 | — | 5 | — | 0.1 | $300–$1,600 | High |
| Tire blowout or tread separation | wheels | 1 | 1 | — | 187k | — | 0.1 | $200–$1,500 | Critical |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 1 | 1 | — | 113k | — | 0.1 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other steering problem | steering | 1 | 1 | — | 113k | — | 0.1 | $350–$2,400 | High |
| Unclassified problem | other | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.2 | — | Moderate |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 2006 Saab 9-5 draws about 3.1 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 78th percentile of complaint rates among 2006 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 9,476 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2006 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
Recalls on the 2006 model year
NHTSA has issued 2 recall campaigns covering the 2006 Saab 9-5, affecting an estimated 17,674 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover air bags:frontal:driver side:inflator module and seats:front assembly:head restraint. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
One caution about reading these together: a recall usually raises the complaint count for the same part, because owners who read about it go and file. The mileages stay informative; the counts get noisy.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
113,716 vehicles 2016-02-03- Defect
- General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2006-2011 Saab 9-3 vehicles manufactured May 31, 2002, to February 15, 2011, 2006-2009 Saab 9-5 vehicles manufactured June 7, 2005, to May 28, 2009, and 2008-2009 Saturn Astra vehicles manufactured April 11, 2007, to July 24, 2008. Upon deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture.
- Consequence
- In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflator on Saab 9-3 and 9-5 vehicles and will replace the driver's frontal airbag module on Saturn Astra vehicles, free of charge. The recall began on March 1, 2017. Owners may contact Saab customer service at 1-800-955-9007 or Saturn customer service at 1-800-553-6000. GM's number for this recall is 28810.
SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:HEAD RESTRAINT
57,389 vehicles 2008-04-09- Defect
- Saab is recalling 57,389 my 2002-2008 9-5 series vehicles for failing to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 201, "occupant protection in interior impact." during compliance testing, one of the upper interior occupant protection test points exceeded the standard's requirements.
- Consequence
- In the event of a vehicle crash, personal injury to occupants may occur.
- Remedy
- Dealers will install a-pillar trim with improved energy-absorbing capability free of charge. The recall began on november 25, 2008. Owners may contact saab at 1-800-955-9007.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
How it ranks in the 2006 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
Better and worse years of the same car
High risk for a 2006 — 262nd riskiest of the 343 2006 vehicles we can rate. Every score on this site is a rank inside its own model year, which is what makes a 2004 and a 2019 comparable at all.
Across the 10 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 2005 comes out best at 56 and 2002 worst at 67, with 2006 itself at 65.
If the model year is negotiable, 2005, 2000 and 1999 score lower than 2006 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.
Within the 2005–2011 generation specifically, 2005 is the strongest year at 56 and 2008 the weakest at 66.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 2005-2011 generation, 2005 Saab 9-5 scores best at 56 and 2008 Saab 9-5 worst at 66.
Where these figures stop being useful
29 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 29 reports, 11 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 38% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
The failure modes are assigned by software reading the owner's own words, which is accurate in bulk and wrong in individual cases. A mode with a handful of reports may contain a misfiled one.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 2006 Saab 9-5?
The most-reported failures are airbag inflator rupture (10 reports), fuel gauge or level sensor failure (3 reports) and catalytic converter failure (2 reports). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Is the 2006 Saab 9-5 reliable?
It scores 65 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 262nd riskiest of the 343 2006 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2006 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Saab 9-5 is best?
Within the 2005–2011 generation, 2005 scores best at 56 out of 100 and 2008 worst at 66. Same body, same engines, different luck.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
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