9000 reasons to get a 9000
 Oct 1st, 2003
Advantages:
Nice affordable motoring
Disadvantages:
Electrified Everything
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
Reliability
Road Handling
Looks
Fuel consumption
more
  o_morris
About me:
...
Member since:13.04.2003
Reviews:33
Members who trust:2
Review rated by 15 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
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The SAAB 9000 is a very sophisticated car designed for today’s modern roads, even if it was discontinued a few years back! It is now known as the SAAB 9-5, and although the name is marginally different the car isn’t significantly different. The SAAB 9000 has sleek looks, with the curvy bonnet and rear spoiler, and galvanised everything.
SAAB made many special editions of the 9000, for an example the Griffin 3.0. Other Saab’s came with a 2.0, 2.3 or 3.0 petrol engine. I’m not sure if they made diesel,
but I doubt it. Firstly, the engine. That mean little beast situated right in front of you, with pistons going up and down at least 12 times a second, and up to and beyond 100 times a second. They were either v4 or v6 (4 Cylinders or 6 Cylinders), which is commonplace on most cars. All SAAB 9000 engines were OHC engines I think, which stands for ‘Over Head Cam’. Any mechanics reading this will know what I mean! The engines also had direct ignition, and I’m not too sure what this is either! I think it means there are no spark plug caps. Most SAAB engines will cover over 300,000 miles plus without any major worries at all! Also, most SAAB engines have a turbo, although not all of them do. It is an added advantage, especially on motorways etc. The engine also has a cruise control, for when you can’t be bothered to keep your foot on the pedal! (You lazy people!!!)
Now lets go onto the 9000’s looks. Like I already mentioned, the sleek design works wonders for it. Everything is built to a super-high standard, as you’d expect from some of the safest cars in the world. The indicators are designed to blend in with the cars looks, as well as every other exterior accessory. Even the interior is build very well indeed, especially the leather models. Most 9000’s have a walnut dash, although some have a slightly cheaper plastic one. Even the steering wheel is build superbly, that’s how good it is! Most metalwork is galvanised on this car, so rust is very unlikely to form. This is what takes most cars off the road and into the great scrap yard in the sky; rust. It’s a serious hazard and a serious MOT failure.
The cars performance is also astounding, with a top speed of well over 130MPH. Just make sure you keep the shaft drive well oiled; you don’t want that playing up! They’re quite streamlined, again it’s the styling, but it does help in this aspect too. The handling on this car is second-to-none; it’s responsive and sharp without huge amounts of over/under steer. It is quite thirsty on petrol though, average of around 25 MPG. This can work out costly, but it shouldn’t make a big difference. The only other thing that may well cost a lot is servicing if done by a main dealer, they do tend to charge quite a lot for what they do. But hey; if you can afford a SAAB you can afford to have it serviced.
In 4 years of super, disaster free motoring I’ve only replaced tyres and the clutch cable! That’s been it, and it just goes to show how reliable these little workhorses are compared to some of the junk that goes around on the road these days. Inside, the 9000 has plentiful space for passengers and the driver. The drivers seat moves up and down, side to side as does the passengers. There’s electric everything; electric seats, electric aerial, sunroof, climate control, battery meter, you name it the 9000‘s got it and its electrified!
The 9000 comes in either Automatic or manual, but me being an automatic hater, mine is of course Manual. I can’t think of anything more boring to drive than an Automatic, that’s all. Like I said the 9000 is no longer available new, but used prices are from free (For a battered old one) to 8 or 9 thousand for a newish top of the range model.
I’ll stop ranting on about this magnificent piece of engineering now, thanks for reading this op. Now go out and buy a SAAB 9000!
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by (7%):
20.02.2004 20:24
Nice review - I love aitomatics though - I can only cope with 2 pedals ! lol
13.02.2004 11:09
Great and interesting op about the saab 9000. cu albertas
03.10.2003 21:24
MM its hard to believe that the 9000 was spawned from Fiat's Type 4 designs, especially the CD Saloon version which looked classier than the Lancia Thema saloon. Great op. N