Saab 9-5 which reached +1,000,000 km!

Saab has built a solid reputation for reliability (Saab 9-3 was most reliable in its class), toughness and safety. Another evidence for this claim is this 1998 Saab 9-5 from Antwerpen, which is a few years ago reached 1,000,000 km! (1,016,000 km at that time)

Saab 9-5 and AutoWeek.nl magazine verified the high mileage on Sjef’s car 12 june 2012. Almost everything on the vehicle was original equipment. The owner drives about 100.000 kilometres every year. The engine was converted to run on LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas or Propane), a common automotive fuel in the Netherlands.  His is the kind of story that PR folk pray for, or pay lots of money to artificially orchestrate.

This is a video story about million-kilometers Saab 9-5:

In Sjef Kuijpers case, however, it’s fact that he did indeed drive over a million kilometers in his Saab, just as Gilbert story about his 1-million mile Saab 900 SPG.

Once (2006), Saab Automobile USA has offered to every Saab owner with a million miles – brand new Saab :)

GM PRESS RELEASE:
One Million Miles in a Saab? Get a New One from Saab – For Free

Convinced of the jet-like performance and endurance of its products, Saab Automobile USA is announcing that it will offer a free new Saab to any U.S. customer who covers the distance of one million miles (or more) in a Saab that he or she originally purchased new. The new Saab will come with the 100,000 mile/5 years GM Powertrain limited warranty and 3 years/36,000 miles no-charge scheduled maintenance, standard with every model in the 2007 Saab Automobile USA portfolio.

A Different Era, Same Outcome – Saab Did It Again

The story of a Saab 9-5 crossing the one-million-kilometer threshold is not an isolated milestone when viewed in the broader context of Saab ownership. What makes it relevant today is how closely it aligns with a much older, mechanically simpler car that achieved the same result under entirely different conditions.

A recently documented case involving a 1973 Saab 99 owned for 50 years by a single driver shows that this pattern extends far beyond the modern Saab era. Despite using a Triumph-derived engine and requiring multiple replacements over time, the car has now surpassed 1,011,539 kilometers, backed by complete handwritten records covering every aspect of ownership.

You can read the full story here:
https://www.saabplanet.com/saab-99-1-million-km-lennart-50-year-ownership-story/

Placed alongside the Saab 9-5, the comparison is not about engineering similarities but about consistency in use. Different platforms, different decades, and different technical constraints – yet the same outcome when the car is maintained with long-term intent.

From One Million Kilometers to a Whole Community of High-Mileage Saabs

This 1,000,000 km Saab 9-5 remains one of the strongest examples of long-term Saab ownership, but it is no longer an isolated story on SaabPlanet. After we asked our Facebook community to post their Saabs and current mileage, the response revealed a much wider picture: cars still being used at 500,000 km, 700,000 km, and even 678,152 miles.

The new SaabPlanet feature brings together five standout owner-submitted cars, including Greg Hacker’s 2002 Saab 9-3 with 678,152 miles, Søren Graagaard Tokkesdal Lund’s 2011 Saab 9-3 TTiD at 700,000 km, and Mark van Kampen’s LPG-powered 9-3NG test car at 545,000 km. Together, they show that Saab longevity is not only a one-car legend. It is still visible across the active owner community.

Read the full follow-up here: Saab owners reveal the high-mileage cars they refuse to retire