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4200 mile trip, perfect car for it Posted by NP [Email]  (#244) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from NP) on Wed, 14 Jun 2006 11:42:37
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I just got back from a 4200 mile roundtrip from the Midwest to the west coast. My 2000 9-5 wagon was just about perfect the whole time, and it started the trip with over 100k miles on it already! My girlfriend and I were the only passengers and we planned on doing some camping, so I removed the back seat cushions and folded down the seat backs. Back of the wagon was perfectly flat, and taking out the cushions meant there was still room for storage behind the front seats. After stashing the parcel shelf, the back of the wagon swallowed an amazing amount of luggage, including all the camping gear. In fact, we had to sleep in the wagon one night because our tent sucked. We took out most of the stuff and put it in the tent and put down a sleeping bag in the back. I'm 6 feet tall, and it was still pretty comfortable.
One thing I'd recommend to anyone else planning to spend a night in the back of the wagon: be careful how you lock your car. At first, I used the remote from inside the car. Then I unlocked the rear door to dump out some water. The alarm started going off when I opened the door, since the security system must have thought the lock had been jimmied. After waking up the campers nearby, I decided not to open any more doors. However, I must have rolled over too heavily, because again the alarm went off. So I just unlocked the car via remote and manually pushed down all the locks.
One of the only issues I had with the Saab was a persistent burning smell coming from the engine bay when I turned the car off. This was usually accompanied by whitish smoke wafting out from the dipstick area. After driving for nearly 500 miles straight, I noticed a large amount of smoke when I stopped at a gas station. From what I've read on this site, it is likely the oil pressure switch dripping oil on the exhaust pipe. It didn't seem to have a negative effect during of the trip (aside from making me nervous), although I did need to add more oil about 3000 miles into the journey.
There was a fair amount of elevation change as we drove West, and the Saab felt a little sluggish going up some of the hills. I noticed many times in the Big Horn Mts that the radiator was working overtime after I turned the car off. I heard the fan blasting, and this was even when I hadn't used the AC and had been gentle on the accelerator. Maybe that's normal. The temperature gauge never raised much past the midway point.
Aside from that, the Saab was supremely comfortable and pretty quiet on the interstate. With cruise control, I could relax and enjoy the sound system. I averaged between 28 and 31 mpg during the entire trip, mostly closer to 30 mpg. Only in SD with a strong headwind did the average drop to 24 mpg. And I was usually driving 75 mph or more. My parents just drove in their Highlander Hybrid along a similar route and averaged 26 mpg. I couldn't ask for much more in a road trip vehicle.
posted by 172.165.177...
, Wed, 14 Jun 2006 11:42:37 <-- Viewing This Message
, Thu, 15 Jun 2006 22:17:59
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