Does the panel approve?

And the gearboxes are designed to last the life of the vehicle without being touched :(

The auto is a weak point on these though, apparently sealed for the lifetime of the vehicle. Except it is GMs idea of lifetime of the vehicle, not Saabs, so they can just give up the ghost and go. Even at

Any idea of the mileage? At that price that vehicle may be near the end of its designed life. (c:

Anyway, the only quirky things about it are the 'Night Panel' gimmick and the 'frighten everyone with your reverse lights when you park' feature. Which, being an auto, it may not even have.

Nah, if anything major goes wrong, the repair will be more than the=20 worth of the car. Remember when I looked at freshening up the=20 suspension? =A31100 just for shocks, springs, and the necessary arms=20 needed because bushings and balljoints aren't available seperatly.

A cambelt when needed is either =A3900 dealer, or =A3300 with a 60mile roun= d=20 trip from an indy.

An LPG kit that a local place has worked out is =A3800 fitted (he has a V8= =20 soarer that he developed it on).

--=20 Carl Robson Audio stream:

I'm going to check that, and the service history tomorrow. If it isn't full, and doesn't have the sludge recall work done I won't touch it with SteveH's.

I like Saabs for being crazy sane, not just quirky. Although I'm still thinking of holding out for a low mileage 9000, they are holding their price much better than the 9-5 because they have more room, longer life, and don't have the sludge issue. GM specified the 9-5/9-3SS version of the engines with a 12k service interval, long life oil and a finer pump pickup strainer. This has lead to dry pump and top ends, total engine failure and large recall bill due to larger particulates in the oil clogging the strainer.

There's nothing 'crazy sane' about a Vauxhall with a low pressure turbo and a Saab badg.

It isn't that which is crazy sane, it is safety touches like the key in the centre and a transmission lock for two reasons, in a collision you can't wedge you knee onto the key, and in the event of an attack it is harder for someone to snatch the keys.

Touches like orthopeadic designed seats, and even though not relevant to me (apart from in my kilt), designing cars so that women in skirts can find it easier to get in and out.

Touches like designing the bonnets and their fastening so that in the even of a crash, the bonnet will slide up the A pillars, and the engine and trans will move down and bag rather than straight back to minimise crush injury

The elk test (the real one not the A class killer) that checks resistance again intrusion by heavy irregularly shaped fast moving objects.

The night dash that only shows relevant info unless something changes.

Those are some of the crazy sane Saab features.

You have very odd definitions of 'crazy' - and I suspect some of the 'unique' features you're claiming are also present in other cars, it's just that they don't shout about it.

Some things are now, but not always. Remember when Vauxhall made such a revolution of headlights that followed the path of the steering wheel in corners.

Night dash is pretty unique, though I believe there's a 15th level menu option in iDrive to let you turn the 5 series to HUD only, and the S class has the brilliant TFT info display with nightvision.

All the other stuff is applicable to Volvos too.

Edited for accuracy.

That no-one needs? Oh, you mean like soft touch dash, damped coin tray holders and electric handbrake?

Which Vauxhall did/does that?

Call me old fashioned / paranoid (delete as applicable) - but I'd prefer to see all my instruments - not let the car decide which ones are important.

I fail to see how turning off the lights to most of the dash can be a useful or even nice feature.

Reasonably priced and easy to get, but not as easy as the local GM dealer.

And on the subject of fuel, currently spending about £250 a month, for about 1100 miles. I can claim back the mileage for the business driving but if it is the same ammount regardless of wether it is a 2.0 using £20 or a 4.0 using £30.

If it is 2.0t rather than a 2.0T, it will be slightly sprightlier but not much more thirsty than an NA 2.0. 2.0t is just the latest incarnation of the Saab LPT format.

The 2.0t feels a huge difference away from the 2.0i; ignore the relatively small difference in headline power output.

Just about anything with four doors will be less thirsty than the 4.0 auto.

If you're wanting to cut fuel costs, the only way changing can make sense is if you make a concerted effort to do so. That means smaller and / or diesel. Otherwise you're paying money for an incremental reduction in fuel costs that'll take years to fund.

Buy this Saab if you want to, but justification on consumption grounds is a bit thin.

The "New" Vectra did, but only many years after the Citroen DS.

You don't see the ones the ones that aren't changing. So there is less glare less to distract the driver.

If the status of a gauge changes, it lights. That draws your attention because you need to see it.

Ah: "It's not a car... It's a phenomenon". (c: