9 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
Wagons HO! Best in class for the 9-5 Wagon!
Date of Review: Dec 7, 2001
The Bottom Line: It's a great car to drive -- comfortable, roomy, sturdy and reliable. And you get all that without sacrificing sportiness.
About six months ago my now-husband and I decided to trade two cars (a 99 Saab 900S and a 99 Pontiac Grand Am) for one nice car. We already had a GMC Jimmy that we loved, and were thinking second SUV. We pretty much ruled out anything small or a minivan right off the top. So the vehicles we compare the Saab to were all SUVs or Wagons.
First of all, there were fewer wagons out then than there are now. The real competition in the wagon department was the Volvo XC wagon. Nice, but a bit stiff to drive. And we drove pretty much every SUV in the middle to large size of the market end. And wound up with the Saab. Why? When you're looking in this end of the market, it's the little things that matter. The cars are all of similar miles per gallon, cost and interior cabin look.
* The Saab is comfortable to drive. I have a friend who was burned by an airbag, so I'd like to stay as far away from the steering wheel as possible without having to strain to reach. Saab lets me do this and reach the pedals. The steering wheel is tilting and telescoping, which is especially nice since I drive with it in and up and my husband drives with it out and down. (note to husbands: like toilet seats, steering wheels are to be returned to the appropriate setting)
* Seat heat. Let me start by saying I truly love my Mother in Law. She's terrific. But she's always cold, so she wants to be in one of the seats with seat heat. But a lifetime with her in the front seat instead of my darling husband, well, you get the picture. So when we found that this car had rear seat heat as well, we were thrilled!
The seat heat also has three settings, unlike most cars I've driven where ON and OFF are the only options. What makes that nice is that you can put the seat on 1 (the low setting) and use it as a heating pad. Don't laugh! When my husband drives for a while, his back starts to hurt. Doesn't matter what car, it's because he grips the wheel too tightly (or so I think). So to get him comfortable for long trips, I put the seat heat on low and his back doesn't bother him.
*It's great on gas mileage. We've had it 6 months and put about 8,000 miles on it. Average mpg is 23.5 for us and average speed is 35 mph (so that gives you some idea). We can go about 500 miles on a tank of gas assuming highway driving.
*The seating capacity is terrific. Most cars when they say three in the back, they mean three 10 year olds. And certainly not three baby seats. Or two adults and a baby seat. But we've done that and had it work beautifully. And as a bonus, the baby seat doesn't hit the front seats unless you're very reclined, so Junior can kick to his heart's content without permanently injuring your spine.
*It's cargo capacity is amazing. We got married about three months after we bought the car, and I wound up shuttling people and presents everywhere. I got to the airport to meet one flight and found three of my aunts and a cousin waiting at the gate. Now my cousin has it together. She understands traveling light, but she was a bridesmaid so she had extra stuff with her. My aunts, well, can I suffice it to say they wanted to be prepared for everything and they're in their 70s and 80s? Now keep in mind that I'd been shuttling things and already had a pretty full trunk. We managed to put all of us in the car (five people) plus all the things (three large boxes, two smaller ones) plus all the luggage (6 medium suitcases) in the car and were comfortable for the trip into town (half an hour away). Plenty of legroom for the purses (and if you've got them pictured, you know how big those purses were!) plus my cousin's backpack (aka purse). And they couldn't get over how nice the car was!
*You don't have to sacrifice sport for utility in this wagon. Now this is pure bragging, but my little blue wagon and I were driving down the road one day and passed three red convertibles sitting in a row waiting for the light to change -- a Sebring (drool, drool), a Ferrari (slobber, drool) and a VW Cabrio (awww...). And all three drivers were MALE. (this is key because I don't know too many guys who drive convertibles, especially FERRARIs that even notice station wagons). And as I drove by in the opposite direction EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEIR HEADS TURNED TO LOOK AT THE CAR. It was amazing. I get compliments on it wherever I go. Even my husband, the I-want-a-hot-rod guy, thinks that my wagon is pretty sporty after all.
Why did we lease it if we liked it so much? The leasing deal at the time made leasing cheaper than buying. But we're planning on buying it out of the lease at the end and keeping it until it drops. This is my third Saab, second one of the upper end line and the first one lasted 10 years and would've lasted longer if I'd realized I needed transmission fluid a bit sooner (oops -- won't make that mistake again!)
What did we like in other cars/SUVs?
*the drawers in the Lexus LS350 -- instead of the cavernous center console.
*flip down videos
*third seat option (Volvo wagon, Rendezvous)
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