The Rolling Money Pit

Anyboday want to buy a 2003 Saab 9-5? Less than 70K miles on it. It's a pretty car - candy apple red, light brown leather interior... it's very zippy.... except when it's not.

My car is in the shop, again. The check engine light came on and I have no idea what's wrong with it. Seems every 6 months or so, something go wrong with it. That's not even the usual maintenance... brakes, alignment, lamps/bulbs, etc.

In the past 12 months, I have probably spent $2,500 on repairs and maintenance, and I know I'll dump at least $1,000 into this repair, since I have some (cough cough) deferred maintenance that must be done or it will turn into a non-rolling money pit.

Here are some of the repairs I've done recently:
Fuel pump: $1,000
Thermostat replacement: $500
Brake Job (the seond one): $600
Headlight (damn xenon bulb) replacement: $250
Oil change: $75

It's time to dump the car, but I need to repair it before I do. Then, in that hot second between repairs, I need to sell it to some sad soul who doesn't know what it means to own a Saab out of warranty.

Would I buy another Saab? Yes! If I had a lifetime warranty and a trust fund for the repairs. I love the car other than these pesky repair issues. I have learned my lesson about high sticker price autos. You might be able to afford the payment, but if you intend to keep it longer than 5 years, you have to look at the average repair cost of the car once out of warranty. Do your research, or you might end up like me: Praying for a huge hailstorm so I can get the value out of the car without having to sell it!