I’m a DIY kinda guy, and my 9000 Aero has been a joy to own. Only an occasional project to be done… about the same or less than any 16 year old car.

Any chance my mention of the 9-5 Aero, Wagon, stick-shift last week prompted this YSE post?

Cheers,
~P

The Saab 95 is a “platform mate” with a 1998 Opel Vectra in the same way a chimpanzee is a platform mate with a human being.

In fact, the chimp and human are about 99 percent the same. Other than the floor pan, what do the 1988 Opel and the 2008 Saab share that makes them drive remotely alike?

You can buy a brand new one now for about $25k.

In my view, reliability is Saab’s Achilles’ heel, but the more recent 9-5’s have been decent, and with Saab you should distinguish between reliability and long term durability. For example, my Aero had two serious failures between 50k and 55k and a few other issues in the first three years, but has been rock solid for the past 75k, and it still drives like new despite lots of pounding over the streets of downtown Philadelphia.

The key is to buy one with the substantial upgrades made for 2002, which obviously includes the 2005 example featured here. These got stability control, much better sport seats in the Aeros, and a new front sub-frame and steering rack, which provide significantly better handling. (I’ve driven a couple, and it’s immediately apparent.) I think they also have reduced road noise, and that the problems with mine were largely fixed: the ignition discharge module and throttle housing. They got new dash displays too, which are less prone to failure.

Though I love my car, I wouldn’t recommend a pre-2002 9-5.

The recent 9-3 Aeros are more agile, and much better drivers’ cars in my opinion, but the interiors aren’t as nice as the 9-5.

Two weeks ago I picked up a ‘08 CPO Magnum SXT with 16K miles on it for $12,800. I stole it – it was sitting on the lot for 3 months and the dealer wanted to get rid of it. I have the remaining warranty as well as the 6 year/80K powertrain warranty, roadside assistance, etc.

Great car so far – Awesome style, upgraded interior for ‘08 with better quality/finishes, good power with the 250hp V6 and more room/better ride then my pops ‘08 Edge. Funny stuff – all-in my Magnum purchase is the same as his payments on a 3 year lease…

There is so much I love about this car. The right size, good mileage, great exterior styling, you don’t see many on the road.

Two things that so far have kept me from pulling the trigger are 1) lack of rear curtain airbags and 2) reliability– I know the engine sludge problem was corrected by 04, and there are a bunch of Indy Saab shops near me, but let’s face it, it’s still a Saab, and I know I’ll be spending a lot of money for maintenance and repairs.

No, they took a contemporary, commodity GM platform, dressed it up into a luxury car left it to rot for over a decade. Imagine if Toyota was selling very nice 1997 Camries as 2010 Lexus ESs, or if Honda was selling the 1997 Accord as the 2010 Acura TL.

Get the idea?

Saab did a good job, all things considered, but it’s not acceptable to market a car as a serious competitor to BMW or Audi and subsequently base your offerings off aging, plebian platforms.

So what? So this gives people who don’t know anything about the mechanical components that go into a car a reason to act like snobs because it shares a “platform” with an older Opel / Saturn.

People say this about Lexus, Acura and, to a degree, Audi all the time. It’s worse because Saabs are not just a platform mates with a mass-market car, they’re platform mates with some very old mass-market cars (the 2002 Impreza, the 2002 TrailBlazer, the 2003 Opel Vectra, the 1998 Opel Vectra).

Think about it: the Saab 9-5, which is on sale today, is based on the GM2900 platform which debuted in 1988. The NG900/9-3 and L-Series were pushing their luck using this platform, and both were discontinued almost seven years ago. The Vectra, ostensibly Saab’s junior in the GM heirarchy, has been through three platforms (the C Vectra and now the Insignia) in the time the 9-5 has been around.

You know what else either debuted or was on the market with the GM2900? The E30 3-Series, the W124 E-Class, the Volvo 240 (at the end of it’s life, admittedly) and the Audi 80. The first Ford Taurus showed up a year before in North America. About the only car platform that’s also this old and still in production is the GM W-Body, and even it’s gotten arguably better treatment than the Saab 9-5.

You can get a lot of mileage out of a platform or nameplate, but twelve years (for the 9-5) and 22 years (for the GM2900) is disgraceful for a luxury brand.

I bought it a few years ago CPO’ed on the cheap.

I have currenty racked 95k miles on it.

The only problems I’ve had are

-burnt out power window motor
-bypass coolant valve-which is a common problem and cheap to fix. The original valve only has a lifespan of 4 years.
-oxidation of headlight lens-which I remedied myself

If your DIYer you’ll love the car. Lots of room to work and everything is logically laid out.

The car is comfortable, fuel efficent, safe, easy on insurance and in wagon form utility is amazing. The front seat folds down(take that Chrysler stow-and-go!!!). About 3 years ago I had no problem transporting an 8 foot tree.

Equip it with 4 winter tires when the snow starts flying, put it winter mode and the car becomes a Scandinavian tank.

Are there any shared body panels? I don’t think so. Maybe the windshield? So what about the “platform” is the same as a Saturn? The floor pan? Perhaps.

Bottom line is that SAAB took an older GM platform and redid the drive train, brakes, suspension, seats and body panels. So what? So this gives people who don’t know anything about the mechanical components that go into a car a reason to act like snobs because it shares a “platform” with an older Opel / Saturn.

If you DIY or have a reliable private shop, go for it. If not, or you have only dealer, no way.

The cars themselves are well designed and go like stink in normal use. I got 25 mpg @ 90-100 mph crossing the midwest one trip. Great seats !

Interesting cars include…

2008 Saab 9-3 Aero .. 6 speed manual… 17 miles

2008 Porsche Cayman… 25 miles…

2008 Mazda 3 Grand Touring… 60 miles

2008 Porsche 911 Carrera… 125 miles

2009 Mazda 6i SV…. 1,394 miles

and more Porsches and Corvettes than I could ever care to count.

We couldn’t quite bring ourselves to get another one when our died this winter, so we got a Volvo v70 instead. No trips to the mechanic, same long distance comfort, but it isn’t nearly as fun as the Saab was.

This car turned me on to the beauty of sporty station wagons and now I’ll never own any other body style for a daily driver. Sadly, when the lease was up the buy-out value was $5K more than the lease residual and Saab wouldn’t budge on price. I actually paid less for the replacement Mazda6 wagon brand new than the residual on the Saab. The Mazda has been stellar so it worked out well. Oh well, Saab’s loss I guess.

Yeah I know, I cringed when selecting that car but a search for manuals only resulted in 5 hits, all of which were high mileage or overpriced. The car link serves as an example of what is available, not necessarily the car.

Five 2008 Saab 9-3’s. All Automatics.

However he also has 28 2008 Audis (But only one manual, an A4)

15 GM’s (including a 5-speed Aveo with a sunroof, who woulda thunk?)

5 2008 Hyundais… all of them boring.

4 VW’s including an R32…

4 Mazdas including a Miata manual in ‘Sunlight Silver’.

I don’t know. I wonder how tight an R32 would be. But wait… it’s an automatic. Damn!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PiCb66CjyA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-6CmCaDvkA&feature=related

According to Volvocanada.com

The following Dealers have stick shift V70Rs

Volvo Pointe Claire in Pointe Claire, Quebec

Erin Mills Volvo in Mississauga, Ontario

Franke Volvo in Ste. Agathe des Monts, Quebec

In base engine tuning it’s no rocket, but adequate enough, especially in the Sport auto mode. It also has gotten us through some interesting winter episodes, with an uncanny ability to maneuver around pricier, fancier vehicles stuck spinning wheels on icy roads.

Needless to say, none of this will get in any respect in certain circles, but who gives a flying Finn about them…..

I had no trouble except a couple of broken interior trim pieces, such as the cupholder, which were replaced under warranty. Even so, I purchased an additional 3/36 warranty from the SAAB dealer for $1365 just before my factory warranty expired. The good thing about SAABs is the 4 year factory warranty. If there was anything wrong with the car, the original owner likely fixed it.

Overall, I like the car for cross country family vacations and hauling stuff from Home Depot. The sludge problem was resolved in 2004; previous model years won’t have an issue if the oil was changed frequently or if they had the PCV update. I change the oil every 5k even though the owner’s manual specifies 15k – which is insane.

$12900 isn’t bad, but I would offer 10k and pay up to 10,500. That leaves money for an extended warranty, if you want to be covered.

Now that SAAB has found a home, I expect the brand to carry on for at least a few more years.

Now, at 47 you probably have another 20 to 30K before major items start going south. So, go ahead, take the gamble: but not at $12,900. The maker has been deep sixed, and who knows how they will be with a new owner? Offer them 10, and keep 3 on hand–always–for repairs.

I don’t think it is right to try and go cheap with an expensive car. If money was no object a 9-5 would be an interesting car to own. But if money was no object, you’d probably own something else.

I don’t know how much of a hassle it would be, but when I was looking for a wagon there were TWO V70-R’s listed. I think one was 17k and only had 30k miles.

Just thinking you might have better luck in the US.

Oddly enough I had a price quote on an 08 hold over a few months back before I bought a used one; what stickered for around 42k was offered no-haggle for 35k. (at the time there was a 6k rebate, which has been changed no to “dealer marketing support.” Same difference, just not published on the SAAB website.

Sure, everything about it is dated, but there is something about it I really like. Like broken in shoes or something. And the seats are fantastic.

Only option I didn’t get were the ventilated seats.

Aesthetically, it’s strange that SAAB has a more driver oriented dash than BMW.

I’m also trying to locate and snag a ‘05-’07 Volvo V70 R, with manual tranny and Atacama interior. That depreciated pretty good, but it’s still about $10K more than that 9-2X Aero….

Anyone in the northeast or in Canada (Montreal/Ottawa/Toronto) who knows of a manual, Atacama-interior V70 R, let me know. Seriously; I am currently shopping for a pre-owned car, and have decided to go out of the mainstream.

It’s also a really sad car, not in it’s abilities and quality … but as a testament to everything GM is capable of doing wrong: from ruining brands to failing quality to a lack of planning…to bad marketing … to hubris (oh, yeah, we can price this car to compete with a 5-Series, sure) it’s all here.

Damn. It *is* all there.