thinking about buying a 9-5 aero. 2001 and up

any opinions on them?

8/8/2006 2:20:33 PM

saabs are overpriced for what you get - for the same amount of money you'll spend on it i'd be willing to bet you'll be happier in something else

[Edited on August 8, 2006 at 2:46 PM. Reason : .]

8/8/2006 2:46:03 PM

^ Overpriced new, but they tend to depreciate quickly. If you're looking at a 4+ year old car a decked out Saab is a hell of a lot of car for the money. The downside to that is that it doesn't stop depreciating the day you buy it, so if you're not planning to keep it forever you can expect to take a hit when you sell it.

I've driven an Aero and it is a lot of fun. I think they're around 240HP and 260 lb.ft. of torque iirc. There is no noticeable amount of turbo lag and the power comes on pretty low in the RPM range. Decent handling, LSD, great brakes, 17" rims, decent seats, good sounding stereo, etc. The roadtests always scored pretty well.

Yes, it's FWD; but it will spank most other comparable FWD and RWD sedans.

I see little reason to buy one with all the E36 M3's out there though.

8/8/2006 4:16:28 PM

^ maybe because there are just way too many E36 M3's around?

8/8/2006 5:29:08 PM

^too old for me. didnt they stop making those in 98?

8/8/2006 7:57:40 PM

^2000, but the 00 models aren't cheap.

8/8/2006 9:07:45 PM

The 9-5 is an excellent value on the used market. I had one for a while. Great fuel economy, good ride, little bit soft on the handling front (mine was non aero SE turbo) but way more grip than you'll ever use, also very good looking and comfortable interior.

Make sure you get the manual transmission though - the automatic sucked a lot of the fun out of the turbo experience.

Since you're looking at aeros, they should all come with the Harmann Kardon stereo - which is a plus - it's easily the best sounding stock audio system I've owned.

8/9/2006 9:18:45 AM