YSE Car of the Week: 2005 Saab 9-5 Aero

Justin Crenshaw
by Justin Crenshaw

Needless to say, YSE (Your Shitty Economy) Car of the week suffered cataclysmic depreciation, thanks to General Motors. The General bought into the Swedish brand in 1989. After spending $600 million for a half-share, the General proceeded to nickel and dime the automaker to death, mostly through a non-process we know as badge-engineering. Now, if you head over to Saab’s US website, you’ll see something called the 9-5 SportCombi. To channel Mandarkian mirth, enter your zip code and start configuratoring the Aero version at . . . $42,790. All done? Now check out its predecessor, the 9-5 Aero Wagon. This example includes two out of three TTAC tokens required for automotive Valhalla: wagon, yes; stick, yes; diesel, no. This week’s YSE selection is a middle of the road, 47k mile 2005 Aero Wagon for $12,999. For Nissan Versa money, you can put what is probably the last true Saab in your garage, and enjoy some enthusiast driving while hauling around your favorite cargo. Just make sure you have one of them quirky Saab repair shops nearby.

Justin Crenshaw
Justin Crenshaw

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  • Vvk Vvk on Jul 06, 2009

    9-5 is an outstanding car in many ways, reliability and durability being one of them. Supremely good long distance cruisers due to excellent comfort, ungodly amount of mid-range acceleration in top gear and fuel consumption in mid-30s (US mpg). Just don't buy it with an automatic tranny, please. You can buy a brand new one now for about $25k.

  • Carlos.negros Carlos.negros on Jul 06, 2009

    "Think about it: the Saab 9-5, which is on sale today, is based on the GM2900 platform which debuted in 1988." 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?

  • PGAero PGAero on Jul 08, 2009

    I like these cars. I'll probably end up with an '04-'05 Aero Wagon in the next couple years. 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

  • Jim Zeleniak Jim Zeleniak on Dec 21, 2009

    Just came across this old thread but thought I'd jump in since I have owned a 2005 9-5 AERO Wagon from new. I love the car. It is my 2nd Saab. I have owned BMW and Audi. The car has 77k miles now and I haven't done any real repairs to it, just normal fluid and maintenance. Not even a tune up or brakes. It is comfortable, utilitarian, (surprisingly) fast, and gets over 30 mpg in the summer on the highway at 70+. Oh and it is an auto too (I did change the trans fluid at 35k and will do again soon). My 1st Saab was a stick and it was fine, but this auto w the Turbo 4 is a great combo, esp. in a wagon. Don't knock it if you haven't tried it. SO sad...they have trashed this car and company. The one thing I missed was AWD since I have a BAD driveway off a country road in the NE....I was looking forward to a 2011 Saab Aero 4 AWD wagon oh well.

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