Presumably this bad past experience was with the Saab 340, which certainly had a lot of early engine problems (none of the other turboprops introduced at the same time used the GE CT7 engine), in particular with the propeller brake on the starboard engine which used to jam on ! (on the ground, I hasten to add). Apparently Comair in the US, who had a big early fleet, had a huge engine unscheduled removal rate. But I believe Saab and GE eventually cracked it.
Is it the 340 in prospect ? There are a lot of Saab 2000s on the market (in fact most of the ones built are up for grabs), different kettle of fish altogether. Different engine, better economics, faster, more modern design.