My wife and I have an 89 900S, which she loves and won't give up for anything. I have to admit, Saabs do grow on you. They are quirky in their own sort of way.
I haven't done major mechanical work on it but have done some minor things with no trouble. All areas are very accessible and there is plenty of room to move around with little difficulty. It's comically well known in Saab circles that if yours doesn't have a slow and steady leak, there's something wrong! Saabs have more seals than you can shake a stick at!
Check out the following resource,
http://www.saabnet.com/ they have one of the largest/loyal followings on the net (next to Pelican of course!). If you are going to have it serviced, make sure you use a "Saab Master Tech" to perform the work. Unfortunately because of their quirkiness many mainstream mechanics have little experience and will invariably end up flubbing something. This may be why most mechanics are steering you away.
All in all, we love ours. Great on fuel, TONS of cargo space and reasonable to maintain.
Good Luck!