SAAB 9-5 2.3t Vector Sport 4dr (2004)

Saab 9-5 Vector Sport - Comfort, class, space, reliability

The only trouble is that it's called 9-5. Seriously why would you call a car that? Might as well call it 'Commuter' or something equally bland. My wife often jokingly sings "workin' 9 to 5, what a way to make a livin!" as we walk up to it in the morning. Bad move Saab, but then, that's pretty much the only bad move.

Start at the start, you sit down and whoomf, you're in a world of back support and butt comfort, great feeling from start to finish, even on really long drives. The only problem is that it's quite low down, which my dad finds is a bit hard on his knees, but that would be the same in any car that isn't a big old people carrier, or a van. Our kids are fine in the back, and it's so quiet they often just drop off when we're driving to see their gran (200 miles away).

The insurance on the Saab 9-5 is quite expensive, which I haven't really been able to work out. It's perhaps the size of the engine. I find it very safe and secure though, so maybe it's just a statistical guess from the insurance company based on what sort of car it is more than anything else.

The 9-5 2.3 Vector Sport is always reassuring to drive. Even if I take a corner at a slightly higher speed than I was expecting, it still manages just fine, and doesn't lean over to either side too much. It does sometimes annoy me that there are control buttons to the side of the gear stick, like facing upwards, so you can quite easily knock them when you're just resting something there or if you drop something. The ignition is there too! It's altogether too accessible to any of the car's passengers, which I find a bit disconcerting. That's a bit daft. My only other complaint is that the satnav display is a bit too low, so you need to look away from the road just a fraction of a second longer than you might want to.

There's loads of space inside the car, especially up front. The boot is easily big enough for us and the two kids to travel. Or we can get their diddy little bikes in the boot for a trip round the lakes. A lot of cars I see for some reason the opening of the boot is quite a bit smaller than the boot inside. I really don't understand that, but anyway the Saab 9-5 is more sensible, easily lets you get things in and out without too much wiggling. The back of the car itself makes parking a little bit tricky. The parkng sensors help a lot, but not quite so much with making sure you don't scuff the wheels on the kerb. The bonnet is also quite long, but you easily get used to all that (at least I did).