Hankering after a 9-5 Aero - advice required
Discussion
I've always had a soft pot for Saabs, mainly because my dad had several in my earlier years.
Started to look at 9-5 aero wagons and looking for some advice and any other advice that you think would be helpful.
1. How does the aero do in the real world in terms of mpg?
2. Is it a handful round the corners in terms of lots of oversteer and are there any good mechanical remedies for this?
3. Does the aero suffer from the dreaded sump sludge or is this more common in the lesser models?
4. Are there any Saab specific insurers?
5. Does the aero munch front tyres every few thousand miles?
6. Will £5,000.00 get a decent 9-5 aero estate?
7. I'm 27. Am I mad to buy a car that goes hand in hand with beards, slippers and pipes?
Sorry for all of the questions and prob a few more still to come. Appreciate any other info, you may have.
Started to look at 9-5 aero wagons and looking for some advice and any other advice that you think would be helpful.
1. How does the aero do in the real world in terms of mpg?
2. Is it a handful round the corners in terms of lots of oversteer and are there any good mechanical remedies for this?
3. Does the aero suffer from the dreaded sump sludge or is this more common in the lesser models?
4. Are there any Saab specific insurers?
5. Does the aero munch front tyres every few thousand miles?
6. Will £5,000.00 get a decent 9-5 aero estate?
7. I'm 27. Am I mad to buy a car that goes hand in hand with beards, slippers and pipes?
Sorry for all of the questions and prob a few more still to come. Appreciate any other info, you may have.
I'm 28, I bought a Saab 9-5 Aero Wagon last week, my first Saab and I have to say, i'm very impressed so far. Mine is a 2000 manual car, so prefacelft. The 02 onwards cars are supposed to be better although I didn't notice much difference when looking. The 02's are 250bhp rather than 230 and the front end is slightly neater, the headlight washers are tucked away and the grille is different. i'm sure someone else will come along and explain the differences in more detail than I can.
Mine returned 35mpg on the motorway coming home from the purchase, but it's giving me 25ish when pottering around town now, the mpg does drop when looking at the SID if the needle enters the red turbo area, but on the flip side I find it very easy to drive economically when I want to.
I didn't buy mine to hoon around, I wanted a fast sofa, it certainly fulfills this requirement. I think it would handle ok in the corners, grip seems adequate but you have to be careful about when you feed the power in, especially in the wet.
I don't know about insurance, I used Confused.com and pay a shade over £500.
I can't comment on the tyres thing as I haven't had it long enough, but it is very easy to spin the front wheels, I'm finding i'm having to alter my driving style to be silky smooth anyway.
My car was £2500 with FSH and under 100,000 miles, there seem to be ample facelift versions about with low miles within your budget. I called a few specialists and found that most services are around the £200 region, £800 for the timing chain to be replaced, oil to be changed every 6000 miles with fully synth and you shouldn't have any sludging issues. Also needs to be run ideally on 98Ron fuel, mine has got 95 in it at the minute and the performance drop is noticable.
It's a proper Q car in my opinion, it isn't lairy or loud, you can't boot it everywhere, it's about rapid progression rather than balls out pace. It's remarkably comfortable, sounds nice in the cabin, and has lots of toys. A superb family car IMO.
Mine returned 35mpg on the motorway coming home from the purchase, but it's giving me 25ish when pottering around town now, the mpg does drop when looking at the SID if the needle enters the red turbo area, but on the flip side I find it very easy to drive economically when I want to.
I didn't buy mine to hoon around, I wanted a fast sofa, it certainly fulfills this requirement. I think it would handle ok in the corners, grip seems adequate but you have to be careful about when you feed the power in, especially in the wet.
I don't know about insurance, I used Confused.com and pay a shade over £500.
I can't comment on the tyres thing as I haven't had it long enough, but it is very easy to spin the front wheels, I'm finding i'm having to alter my driving style to be silky smooth anyway.
My car was £2500 with FSH and under 100,000 miles, there seem to be ample facelift versions about with low miles within your budget. I called a few specialists and found that most services are around the £200 region, £800 for the timing chain to be replaced, oil to be changed every 6000 miles with fully synth and you shouldn't have any sludging issues. Also needs to be run ideally on 98Ron fuel, mine has got 95 in it at the minute and the performance drop is noticable.
It's a proper Q car in my opinion, it isn't lairy or loud, you can't boot it everywhere, it's about rapid progression rather than balls out pace. It's remarkably comfortable, sounds nice in the cabin, and has lots of toys. A superb family car IMO.
cannondale said:
1. How does the aero do in the real world in terms of mpg?
Depends and whether you’re looking for an auto or the rarer manual gearbox?My 04 Aero auto averages around 24-27 in my daily commute within the M25 boundary, which is pretty good for a auto 250hp/350Nm car weighing 1600kg or so. A manual might be a tad better than that. On a run, if keeping under 3 figure speeds 34-36 is easily achieved, as the auto has mech lock-up from 3rd-5th, so the auto is almost the same as a manual on a run.
cannondale said:
2. Is it a handful round the corners in terms of lots of oversteer and are there any good mechanical remedies for this?
Err.....no oversteer at all, it’s fwd 
cannondale said:
3. Does the aero suffer from the dreaded sump sludge or is this more common in the lesser models?
Not as much as the lpt cars as the Aero’s always have had full synth oil scheduled in the service, which was one of the problems with the lpt’s having semi-synth specified. But, an Aero with an iffy service history is to be ovoided as there have been ones with sludged engines.2004 spec cars onwards (approx 53 reg onwards) don’t have the problem as they have a redesigned engine and PCV system.
cannondale said:
4. Are there any Saab specific insurers?
Chris Knott is the only one I can thing of.cannondale said:
5. Does the aero munch front tyres every few thousand miles?
Depends on your driving style. They don’t take kindly to aggressive driving, not only in terms of killing front tyres, and so the trick to making progress is to have a smooth driving style, the fly-by-wire throttle has a peculiarity which also rewards a smooth throttle action as well.I’ve just got 27k miles out of a set of Bridgestone RE50A tyres on my Aero (but mines modified with Hirsch chassis bits)
cannondale said:
6. Will £5,000.00 get a decent 9-5 aero estate?
Yes....that will put you in nice 2003/2004 territory.cannondale said:
7. I'm 27. Am I mad to buy a car that goes hand in hand with beards, slippers and pipes?
No. They are very underated, and do what hey do very well. Sure, they are not a ‘sports car’, but as a value for money, well equipped, very comfortable, safe car that has a monumental overtaking ability, they are very good.
Pipe n slippers my arse
Agree with Aeropilot.
I've got to sell mine and get a cheapy 50mpg snotter soon following Mrs Zep's redundancy, but its a saloon unfortunately...
Very hard to find something which isn't a decade old, has 250bhp, 30+mpg potential, sort of prestige badge, nice ergonomics, great seats, great safety, lots of kit for less than £5k. Volvo S60/V70 T5 is a rival, but almost everything else is too expensive, slower, garish japanese, or struggles to get anywhere near 25mpg.
Its ideally suited to daily busy commutes/long journeys where you just forget about the performance aspect and enjoy the comfort and calm. Then when you have a bit of room shock yourself at how single overtakes easily turn into safe 2-3 car overtakes. The power isn't soft edged V6 waft, its urgent turbo shove. In the dry.
I love mine. And I happen to think they look cool.
I've got to sell mine and get a cheapy 50mpg snotter soon following Mrs Zep's redundancy, but its a saloon unfortunately...
Very hard to find something which isn't a decade old, has 250bhp, 30+mpg potential, sort of prestige badge, nice ergonomics, great seats, great safety, lots of kit for less than £5k. Volvo S60/V70 T5 is a rival, but almost everything else is too expensive, slower, garish japanese, or struggles to get anywhere near 25mpg.
Its ideally suited to daily busy commutes/long journeys where you just forget about the performance aspect and enjoy the comfort and calm. Then when you have a bit of room shock yourself at how single overtakes easily turn into safe 2-3 car overtakes. The power isn't soft edged V6 waft, its urgent turbo shove. In the dry.
I love mine. And I happen to think they look cool.
Had my first 9-5 Aero at 23, so no, 27 is way too old. They're a young man's car!
As others have said, understeer, yes mildly, oversteer, don't be silly. 36mpg more than possible on a run in a manual. Tyres will easily last 20k+ assuming you have a decent smooth style: be aggressive and of course you'll munch through them.
Reliability - sold my first, a 2000 230 saloon at over 100k with little having gone wrong. Sold my second, an 02 250 Estate at 168k, it's now on 190k in the hands of a pal and is still on the original clutch with the only major work so far being new dampers/springs (£600) at 132k and a new exhaust backbox at 170k.
Awesome cars and supremely underrated.
As others have said, understeer, yes mildly, oversteer, don't be silly. 36mpg more than possible on a run in a manual. Tyres will easily last 20k+ assuming you have a decent smooth style: be aggressive and of course you'll munch through them.
Reliability - sold my first, a 2000 230 saloon at over 100k with little having gone wrong. Sold my second, an 02 250 Estate at 168k, it's now on 190k in the hands of a pal and is still on the original clutch with the only major work so far being new dampers/springs (£600) at 132k and a new exhaust backbox at 170k.
Awesome cars and supremely underrated.
Right, two weeks into my Saab ownership experience and I'm still over the moon with the car. After reading ever more online reviews of the 9-5 it seems you really do get alot of car despite it (mine anyway) being 9 years old.
I managed to take it down some country B roads I know extremely well a few nights ago, temperature had been up all day and there was next to no ice about so I drove it with a little more urgency than I previously have and I was very impressed how it managed to hustle it's bulk across country, more than capable to keep a grin on my face when needed I think.
I managed to take it down some country B roads I know extremely well a few nights ago, temperature had been up all day and there was next to no ice about so I drove it with a little more urgency than I previously have and I was very impressed how it managed to hustle it's bulk across country, more than capable to keep a grin on my face when needed I think.
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