I have a 1995 CDE with the V-6 that currently has over 160,000 miles
on it.  My only admonition would be that since this V-6 is an
interference engine, the regular changing of the timing belt is an
absolute must if you don't want major problems with a belt breakage.
If the rest of the car is in good shape, the price sound pretty good
to me.

This is probably true for the engines in the C900/9000/early 9-3 models
(B201/B202/B204/B234). I have had three of them with more than 200000
problem-free km each. However the new 4-cyl engines in the 9-5/late 9-3
(B205/B235) have problems with crankcase ventilation leading to early
oil wear out and corresponding early cam shaft chain wear out if you
don't change change oil frequently enough. They also have a problem with
excessive balance shaft chain wear out in combination with automatic
transmissions. The balance shaft chain problems were also noticeable on
the B234 although there I'm not sure about the relation with the
transmission. I think there was a version of the B204 engine with
balance shafts as well, but I've not heard anything about problems with
that version.

As the engines are not really designed for changing the chains the
repair is quite costly compared to service on engines with timing belts
that require regular changes.

Then you could always argue whether the DI cassette is part of the
engine or if it is considered as a part with limited life time?!?

Probably the B205/B235 can also become very reliable if Saab gets the
time and resources to fix the problems. However I doubt that this will
be case as the model life times are getting shorter and shorter. If you
read Saab plans the 9-5 will be replaced by a new model in 2007 or 2008
after just 10 years on the market. As a consumer I would like a reliable
car that runs at low cost without problems and not a car with a lot of
new and fancy functions that have not been proven in real life. 10 years
market time is too short for all design problems being discovered and
corrected. To a great extent the motor press journalists are to blame
here as they require new models every now and then and for instance
already now thinks that the 9-5 is an old and out-of-date model.

A very good example here is the Volvo 240 series, a very reliable car
that can last forever with low repair costs. It had long enough market
time to have the early model problems at the end of the production. Boring?