buying a used 9-5 estate; advice please!

Hi,

I am thinking about buying a second hand Saab 9-5 estate through the SAAB approved scheme here in the UK.

I have about £12-13K to spend and from what I can tell looking at the SAAB website that should get me a 99-00 2.0 or 2.3 SE with 40K ish miles on the clock.

To me this seems very good value compared with say the BMW 3/5 or Audi A4/6 Avant. Have I missed something or is this truly as it seems?

Can anyone advise me what are the key things I should look out for when I take one for a test drive? Are there any 'known' issues I should look out for? Can anyone tell me the difference between the 'S' and 'SE'.

Also, I understand there was a newer model in 2001, what is the difference? Should I save up and get one of the post 2001 models? Are they significantly better that the earlier one?

Finally does anyone have any experience of any of the SAAB dealerships in London (or inside the M25) - any I should avoid?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Cheers!

Dave

Reply to
Dave
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Dave - have a look at

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It's an absolute mine of useful information on 9-5s. The first topic is a buyer's guide and tells you what to look out for. There are a few common problems that can be expensive, so it's worth checking for them.

You get more 9-5 for your money at this age than you will with a 5 series or A6 (due to lower initial price and heavier depreciation). I made a similar comparison and went for a 9-5 estate because it was bigger, faster and more comfortable than the german opposition. Handling isn't quite as good, but that's fairly easily fixed.

Also see Saabscene...

Reply to
TW

[...]

Could you give details of fix? Apparently, all 2002 9-5 models got the same chassis setup as the Aero model.

Reply to
Johannes H Andersen

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