All generations and engines together · 1,245 MOT tests in the 2025 data
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 1,244 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
The B205/B235 four-cylinder turbo engines are prone to oil sludge building up in the sump and cylinder head if oil isn't changed often enough, blocking the passages that feed the timing chain and tensioner. It shows up as rattly cold starts, a lit oil pressure light, or a blocked sump pickup, usually from 60k miles on cars that have had long service intervals. Saab extended the engine warranty to 8 years in the UK in 2005 because of how widespread it was; a sump clean and pickup replacement runs a few hundred pounds, a full rebuild much more.
The four coil packs sit in one moulded cassette on top of the engine, and Saab enthusiasts widely regard it as a wear item rather than a rare failure. Symptoms are a rough idle, a flashing engine management light, and misfire codes (owners report P1312/P1334 together as the classic pair), sometimes with no-start after it's run rough for a while. It tends to strike from around 80-100k miles, sometimes repeatedly on the same car, and a replacement cassette plus fitting is roughly £150-350. Saab issued a technical bulletin covering ignition module replacement (TSB 1577), which forums say occasionally sent good units back out as replacements.
Owners regularly report knocking or growling from the rear axle and uneven rear tyre wear, traced to the rubber trailing arm bushes wearing out, with aftermarket poly bushes a common owner fix. This lines up with the measured MOT data, where suspension is the standout failure category for this model. It backs up the folklore: the rear end does wear, and by the time it clonks on a test drive it's often already borderline for MOT advisories.
On the 1.9-litre diesel, the water pump is driven off the timing belt and its failure can also wreck the belt, so missing the roughly 40,000-mile belt/pump/tensioner change is far more costly than on a normal cambelt car. Owners and Honest John also report swirl flaps in the inlet manifold breaking up and getting ingested, and EGR valves and DPFs choking with symptoms of poor pulling power and warning lights. None of this is manufacturer-acknowledged as a design fault, but it comes up repeatedly on the same engine.
The GM/Isuzu-sourced 3.0 V6 diesel is reported to burn oil heavily under load, up to a litre every 1,400 miles when towing according to Honest John, so buyers of this engine need to check oil level religiously rather than trust the dashboard warning. EGR valves on this engine are also said to fail early, sometimes within around 12,000 miles of a replacement. It's specific to the V6 diesel and doesn't affect the four-cylinder petrol or the 1.9 diesel.
On automatic cars, owners describe hunting, jerky or delayed gear changes developing from around 80k miles, often linked to worn solenoids or an ECU that's fallen out of adaptation, and regular ATF changes are said to make a real difference to longevity. On 1.9 diesel automatics there's a separate, more serious fault where the transmission fluid heat exchanger in the radiator can leak and let coolant into the gearbox, contaminating the fluid and damaging the box; repair costs range from a service and adaptation reset up to a full transmission rebuild if coolant has got in. Manual cars aren't affected by either issue.
Built from the two sections above.
Same segment (Saloons & estates), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.