Saab 9-5 Aero HOT's
Discussion
The early ones like this
£1500 seems to be the going rate for a good one, seems alot of car for the money why so cheap am i missing something?
I know they dont have the best image and are FWD but they seem to tick all the boxes for a nice big comfy cruiser and with 230bhp there must be some fun to be had?
The facelift model still fetch good money for what is basicaly the same car isit not?
I quite like the sleeper aspect of them also.
Has anybody ever owened one what are they like to live with are they reliable what are they like on fuel and are the tuneable?
£1500 seems to be the going rate for a good one, seems alot of car for the money why so cheap am i missing something?
I know they dont have the best image and are FWD but they seem to tick all the boxes for a nice big comfy cruiser and with 230bhp there must be some fun to be had?
The facelift model still fetch good money for what is basicaly the same car isit not?
I quite like the sleeper aspect of them also.
Has anybody ever owened one what are they like to live with are they reliable what are they like on fuel and are the tuneable?
I used to have a 2001 aero exactly the same as the one in the pic, as said above it handled like a boat, i loved the interior by far the nicest seats iv ever sat in, manuel box felt a little notchy but other than that i loved it, really smooth to drive and boy did it shift 2nd and 3rd gear where awesome tonnes of torque pinned you have in your seat if you floored it at 110mph private road of course,
did over 20k in the time i had it and not a single thing went wrong engine sounded sweet as a nutt the whole time, only sold it as it cost a fortune to run i do most of my driving around town and i averaged 22mpg driving super carefull i could get 24/25mpg if i booted it everywhere i would get 21/22mpg no matter how i drove it.
would love another one with a few engine mods 280bhp 440nm of torque is easy enough to achive properly quick car then.
if you can see past the image ( persoanly i think they are a smart looking car) and not worried about handling then go for it they are great cars.
did over 20k in the time i had it and not a single thing went wrong engine sounded sweet as a nutt the whole time, only sold it as it cost a fortune to run i do most of my driving around town and i averaged 22mpg driving super carefull i could get 24/25mpg if i booted it everywhere i would get 21/22mpg no matter how i drove it.
would love another one with a few engine mods 280bhp 440nm of torque is easy enough to achive properly quick car then.
if you can see past the image ( persoanly i think they are a smart looking car) and not worried about handling then go for it they are great cars.
I had one and loved it. But it was not reliable and very costly to run (see some of the costs on my profile). In addition there was the radio reception going when the heated rear screen was put on, new rear screen replaced under warrenty, the Air-con control unit failing, and a new DI cassette also replaced under warrenty.
However it was the most relaxing way to do serious miles and I never tired of the smoothness and surge of power the car kept delivering.
However it was the most relaxing way to do serious miles and I never tired of the smoothness and surge of power the car kept delivering.
Edited by stumpage on Wednesday 17th November 12:59
Evil.soup said:
All i do know is they have a reputation for handling like a boat. A lot of car for the money though!
Depends on what you compare it to. For a decent sized FWD smoker it is more than OK. Tyre choice seems critical. They generally prefer Asymmetric treaded tyres and respond well to a four wheel alignment/set-up.The Auto boxes on the 230bhp pre-facelift ones are only 4 speed and without the gear change buttons behind the steering wheel that the 250bhp 5-speed auto facelift ones had. But, the pre-2003 ones were wired for sound. By which I mean SAAB installed the full loom/switches, making upgrades a plug and play affair for almost every option, unlike the more heavily GM influenced post facelift models. Look for the tell tale electronic fuel filler release on the inside of the driver's door, if it has one it has the full loom. Ventilated Seats, elec seats, elec dimming mirrors, etc are all a matter of buying the actual switches/seats/part and replacing the std item and plugging into the relevant connector that is already there.
Common faults are front ball joints (£30 part), coil pack thingy (DI Cassette £280 for the part, DIY 5 min fitting), at that age the PCV pipes/kit can be duff (around £150 in parts), anti-roll bar bushes around 60k miles and reverse parking sensor heads.
There are plenty of really good online forums to advise best/worst ways of DIY'ing lots of things, and you get that SAABist relaxed smugness after every trip.
I really like mine, it does exactly more than what it says on the tin and never fails to put a smile on my face when I stick it in sport and mash the throttle.
On our later 250bhp model we are getting an average of around 27mpg, lots of crappy little journeys and say 5 or 6 of 35mile runs on a tank. Best efficiency was on a long m-way trip, around the limit on cruse, got 34mpg, but never got less than 26mpg from a tank (V-power).
BB
They look better in estate guise I reckon. That's what I had, 54 reg Manual Aero Wagon.
It's all been said but they are really stupidly fast in 2nd/3rd from a steady 30mph up to 100+
Pros
- Look lovely, very unassuming
- Nice(ish) interior
- Comfy seats (not as comfy as a Volvo V70 mind)
- Practical
- Fooookin fast (in a straight line)
They have there cons though:-
- Notchy manual gearbox (far from a pleasure to use)
- Handling, you can't throw them about, need to be smooth in, smooth out, then plant throttle. It all goes tits up if you try and drive it like a hot hatch.
- Massive front tyre consumption if you have a heavy foot (I went through a pair of Toyo Proxes in 8k miles)
- My rear window aerial connector was snapped off by the dog, bodged with superglue but needs a new window to fix properly.
- Fuel sensitive, mine was slow with 95ron, flew with 999ron.
- Poor MPG in mine, saw 23mpg average.
- Poverty spec (relatively) from 54 on without the options ticked.
- Depreciated massively. Lost over 3k in 10months on mine
Not an issue at this price though - I paid 8.7k for mine a while back.
Having owned both I would personally have an E39 5 series over one of these, they are still pretty good though.
It's all been said but they are really stupidly fast in 2nd/3rd from a steady 30mph up to 100+
Pros
- Look lovely, very unassuming
- Nice(ish) interior
- Comfy seats (not as comfy as a Volvo V70 mind)
- Practical
- Fooookin fast (in a straight line)
They have there cons though:-
- Notchy manual gearbox (far from a pleasure to use)
- Handling, you can't throw them about, need to be smooth in, smooth out, then plant throttle. It all goes tits up if you try and drive it like a hot hatch.
- Massive front tyre consumption if you have a heavy foot (I went through a pair of Toyo Proxes in 8k miles)
- My rear window aerial connector was snapped off by the dog, bodged with superglue but needs a new window to fix properly.
- Fuel sensitive, mine was slow with 95ron, flew with 999ron.
- Poor MPG in mine, saw 23mpg average.
- Poverty spec (relatively) from 54 on without the options ticked.
- Depreciated massively. Lost over 3k in 10months on mine
Not an issue at this price though - I paid 8.7k for mine a while back.Having owned both I would personally have an E39 5 series over one of these, they are still pretty good though.
Edited by dave_s13 on Wednesday 17th November 15:36
Have a 2003 Aero (see profile). Great car, very quick but do suffer from a few niggles. The T7 ECU is quite controlling and has sensors on everything so can flag up the smallest problem.
They do consume a bit of oil, and must be fed on fully synthetic otherwise sludge in the sump could cause problems. ( I would recommend droping the sump and checking it out if/when you buy one).
Take one for a test drive and enjoy.
They do consume a bit of oil, and must be fed on fully synthetic otherwise sludge in the sump could cause problems. ( I would recommend droping the sump and checking it out if/when you buy one).
Take one for a test drive and enjoy.
Coming from someone who’s got one they are very under-rated cars. They don’t shout about their performance and I think therefore makes them very good sleepers.
People will tell you they don’t handle but what are they comparing it with? Of course a modern sports car will out handle it, but in my experience to notice any serious handling deficiencies you would be realy having to push it hard and properly north of the legal limit anyway. It is a fast comfy four door saloon at the end of the day with a good turn of speed, not the ultimate track weapon.
Coming onto the best bit about the car as others have already mentioned is its savage midrange. 1st gear is quite short (with boost limit in 1st) also being FWD and with a relatively high kerb weight means it is not last word in acceleration from a stand still but once its rolling in 2nd or 3rd give it a bootfull and it will easily pin you back in the seats and once the revs hit 3000 the pull is staggering. I have surprised quite a few drivers of so called hot hatches.
These now can quite righty be picked up for £1200-£1500 for a good one which is amazing value for money. People may say a BMW is better but that is proberly why every other car I see on the roads these days is one... which is the reason why id take the SAAB.
Buy a good one and you wont be disappointed
People will tell you they don’t handle but what are they comparing it with? Of course a modern sports car will out handle it, but in my experience to notice any serious handling deficiencies you would be realy having to push it hard and properly north of the legal limit anyway. It is a fast comfy four door saloon at the end of the day with a good turn of speed, not the ultimate track weapon.
Coming onto the best bit about the car as others have already mentioned is its savage midrange. 1st gear is quite short (with boost limit in 1st) also being FWD and with a relatively high kerb weight means it is not last word in acceleration from a stand still but once its rolling in 2nd or 3rd give it a bootfull and it will easily pin you back in the seats and once the revs hit 3000 the pull is staggering. I have surprised quite a few drivers of so called hot hatches.
These now can quite righty be picked up for £1200-£1500 for a good one which is amazing value for money. People may say a BMW is better but that is proberly why every other car I see on the roads these days is one... which is the reason why id take the SAAB.
Buy a good one and you wont be disappointed
Edited by Turbochops on Wednesday 17th November 21:25
I've recently bought one and love it.
Mine is slightly newer than you are looking at - 2002 post facelift Aero automatic estate. It's got pretty much everything from auto wipers and auto dimming rear view mirror to dual climate, cruise control, parking sensors and electric/heated seats.
I actually went to look at a pre facelift Y-reg but managed to get the newer one for only a couple of hundred quid more. From what i'd been told, the facelift model is the one to go for. Lots of improvements were made - suspension, brakes, seats, equipment, engine and gearbox. 5-speed auto on the facelift is supposed to be the one to go for. Better ratios than the 4-speed and the manual is notchy with a heavy clutch (so i've heard).
As said, things to look for are sump drop, pcv change, DI cassette, parking sensors etc. Fuel economy isn't great but then again I didn't buy a 250bhp car with fuel economy in mind. Some say it handles like a boat, I find it's great for my needs - quick when I want it to be but a nice lazy drive when i'm not in a rush.
Good luck.
Mine is slightly newer than you are looking at - 2002 post facelift Aero automatic estate. It's got pretty much everything from auto wipers and auto dimming rear view mirror to dual climate, cruise control, parking sensors and electric/heated seats.
I actually went to look at a pre facelift Y-reg but managed to get the newer one for only a couple of hundred quid more. From what i'd been told, the facelift model is the one to go for. Lots of improvements were made - suspension, brakes, seats, equipment, engine and gearbox. 5-speed auto on the facelift is supposed to be the one to go for. Better ratios than the 4-speed and the manual is notchy with a heavy clutch (so i've heard).
As said, things to look for are sump drop, pcv change, DI cassette, parking sensors etc. Fuel economy isn't great but then again I didn't buy a 250bhp car with fuel economy in mind. Some say it handles like a boat, I find it's great for my needs - quick when I want it to be but a nice lazy drive when i'm not in a rush.
Good luck.
bigweb said:
Sump drop? Does this just mean change the oil properly?!?!?!
It's to check to see if you have any sludge build up in the sump. If so, clean it out and fill it back up with fully syn.Any decent indie will know about this issue. Would be the only thing I would insist on doing once I'd bought one
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