Faults:

O/S/R door lock doesn't work with remote. Have yet to get round to fixing it.

Had new front brake discs with last service.

Local SAAB dealer not as expensive as I had been warned!

General Comments:

I'm very impressed with this car.

Very quick and reasonable economy at around 29 overall.

Extremely comfortable seats and I love the dash layout. Of course this is all subjective, but this car really appeals to me, both in it's looks and the fact that it's different from the crowd.

Most of my friends urged to me by a BMW or Merc, but I simply didn't want to buy into that stereotype.

The SAAB 9-5 has elegance and has been reliable in the 2 years I've had it.

A good replacement for my aging XJ6.

Faults:

Condensation on drivers side read light cluster. Dealer replaced under warranty.

Engine warning light came on due to cir clip holding turbo shaft coming off. Dealer fixed under warranty. Had to be recovered by AA and taken to dealer. Disabled the car until fixed.

Replacement oil strainer due to squealing noise when started from cold. 5 days off road until fix made. Dealer fixed under warranty.

Rattles and squeaks beginning to appear after 30,000 miles.

General Comments:

Sports chip fitted makes huge improvement to acceleration - especially over 3000rpm.

Comfortable and quiet, fuel efficiency great on motorways - avg around 36mpg. Around town and daily commute avg 29mpg.

Quality materials inside and loads of rear legroom make this an excellent proposition as a family car.

Costly extras which I feel should be included as standard dent my enthusiasm however. £300 for a retractable cargo net seems too much.

Also, the solid parcel shelf seems like a great idea, but becomes a pain when you want to carry a bulky load. The shelf needs to come out completely. Would have been better to use a roller-blind type arrangement like other vehicles.

Costly spare parts and middle of the road servicing costs.

I found an excellent dealer (County Saab in Ayr) after disappointment with other Saab dealer (in Glasgow).

Faults:

Front wheel bearing - Fixed reluctantly under warranty after an argument with warranty company and dealer.

Air bag warning light came on for 2 weeks then went off and no trouble since - weird.

General Comments:

Had a choice of a company car or take the monthly allowance. Took the money and bought this from Car Shop Northampton. Could not believe how much car for so little cash compared to similar age BMW, Mercedes or Lexus.

Had the SAAB tuning kit fitted. Takes it from 150 to 192 BHP. Cost 700 pounds. Absolutely worth it. It goes like a different car. Saab should make this standard. Economy suffered, but only for "spirited" driving on country roads.

Superb cruiser.

Effortless overtaking.

Averaging 35MPG (according to Computer.

Excellent sound system.

Parking Radar is brilliant.

Faults:

The performance is quite spectacular and the load-carrying ability is excellent. It's a very practical form of quick transport, but...

Gearbox/clutch problems appeared and have never been properly diagnosed. The gear-change can crunch intermittently. Mostly it works OK and the dealer has been very helpful and attentive.

The previous SAAB 9000 I had suffered a complete gearbox failure after 20,000 miles. The moral is - consider buying an automatic if you are looking at a 9-5.

Torque steer is also a problem because the front wheel drive is barely capable of transmitting the power delivered by the turbo-charged engine (which eats fuel and front tyres, not necessarily in that order).

General Comments:

Very quick and safe

Very comfortable

Very practical

Well-designed

Build quality is not up to BMW or Audi standards

Manual transmission is suspect

Not cheap to run because of fuel and rubber consumption, but surprisingly cheap to service otherwise.