My Two Dents on the Forthcoming 2010 Saab 9-5

The people at Saab are a bit kooky. I don’t mean in the old-fashioned “we’re building a quirky, turbo hatchback” kind of way. I mean “we’re selling restyled GM rubbish for BMW prices and expect you to buy it.” They think they can realistically charge over fifty-two thousand dollars for a front-wheel-drive convertible with 17-inch wheels. Following this drug-induced fantasy comes the latest, and most likely last, attempt by Saab to woo the buying public: the next-generation 9-5 executive sedan.

Before we talk about the camouflaged mule, we need to understand the car it’s replacing. The current 9-5 is, put plainly, a rip-off. It’s outdated, poorly designed, and pathetically marketed.The “sport sedan” that was born from jets comes with a 2.3 liter turbocharged 4-cylinder and front-wheel-drive and costs over forty thousand dollars. That’s enough to get a turbocharged 3-Series or a second-hand 5-er, which should be most peoples’ choice.

With an interior that features a Kia-inspired automatic shifter – or a circa-1988 manual gearshift – this car screams “don’t buy me”. I know nitpicking about shifters is a tad much (although I’ve done it before), but for that money you shouldn’t feel like you’re buying a time machine.