Thread: Servicing Steering Wheel Lock - Warning Light On

Hi,
The other day I got into my new (ex-demonstartor) 2011 9-5 Vector Turbo 4 and literally sat in the driver's seat and placed the key fob in it's holder between the seats and pressed the start button........guess what? It didn't start! The Service Steering Wheel Lock came on and the car would not start. I did not even touch the steering wheel when I got in to the car. So I was surprised to say the least as the car is brand new. I rang SAAB assist here in Melbourne Australia, and they said it could be a flat battery. Anyhow the SAAB assist guy came to the car very promptly, and checked the battery; it was fine. So he did a check and had to re-boot the car software. Once re-booted the car started no problem. I spoke to the dealer and they have heard similar situations regarding the key fob. Has anyone else experience such a problem with software freezing? Otherwise the car is a delight to drive and a great improvement on my old 2003 9-5 wagon.

I've had a couple of occasions where the display told to me that the key fob was not present when in actuality it was. Locking and unlocking the doors via the key fob was enough to get things back in sync.

Thanks for the tip I will keep it in mind if it happens again. Further discussion with the dealer has also shed some light on the problem. The SAAB service manager said he is aware of the situation and he has been telling customers to (weird as this sounds) keep the key fob clean by wiping with a cleaning cloth similar to spectacle wipes and keeping the key fob repository between the seats clean from dirt and dust on a regular basis. He said this removed the built up sweat and dirt which apparently has helped. So I will keep this in mind, together with your tip and hopefully I won't be stuck on some outback road miles from SAAB assist in future!

Alas, last week when returning from our local town centre, got into the car and the same warning light came on. So the car is at the dealer getting serviced under warranty. The guys at the dealership are going over the car with a fine tooth comb to ensure it is rectified once and for all! I must say our local dealer is being very thorough to ensure things are right.

Someone asked about warranty on the car. It comes with a 6 Year 175K warranty. First 3 years as per SAAB Warranty provided by local SAAB dealer and third party insurance company. The remaining 3 years by the dealer. So as far as we are concerned we just take the car to the dealer to be serviced as per usual. No drama for the next 6 years or 175K's.

Hi,
The software was upgraded across three computers on the car and the issue has now been resolved. Apparently, one of the computers wasn't "talking" to the other two correctly and this generated the error message and car shutdown. Goes to show how complicated cars are today! The dealer was very good in identifying the problem.

Originally Posted by Jawd62

The dealer was very good in identifying the problem.

That's good to hear the dealers still care about the customers. Thanks for the update.

Do you know how many 2010+ Saab 9-5 have been sold in Australia? I imagine it is pretty rare over there.

Hi Frank
From what I can gather there are still 16 2010+ Saab 9-5's for sale across Australia according to carsales.com.au. I think I read some where SAAB Australia were looking to sell around 100 per year before the instability. Anyhow, I know we have the only car in our part of the city which I kind of like. I haven't seen many here in Melbourne to be honest. The only other car I have seen on the street is a guy who has got an Aero and we are both members of the SAAB Car Club of Australia. But Melbourne is a very big city geographically. So yes they are pretty rare!