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Yesterday, we traded our 2003 9-5 Linear for a new 2005 9-5 Aero, and we drove it home from Billings last night. Apparently, 5 speed Aeros are hard to find, but Dana Saab found just what we were looking for in "port stock" in Hueneme? California. The steel gray 5 speed with executive package and vented seats was assigned to another dealer, but they got it from them and had it shipped (in an enclosed trailer, they said) to Montana for us.
What a great car! Since it only had 7 miles on it when we picked it up, we didn't want to put too much stress on it until it had some break-in miles. We cruised at 80 most of the way home, but we tried several bursts from 80 to 100 in fifth gear, and the acceleration was great, as was the handling.
We spent some time noticing what had changed from our 03 to the 05, including no weather band on the radio (boo!), no remote fuel door release, no on-star, the revised SID display, and a few other things I can't remember right now. I like the classic 9-5 look, and the steel gray metallic looks great, though my wife would have preferred red (our Linear was silver). The Aero seats are terrific, and the vented seat option should prove to be useful. I am glad that we got the P6 FourSeasons tires instead of the summer-only rubber they used to put on the Aeros, since you never know when it might snow around here.
Dana's parts department had a set of Goodyear snow tires on 16" Saab alloy wheels at a price I couldn't pass up ($720), so they put three of them in the trunk and the fourth on the folded back seat, and off we went, ready for the first snowfall (or ready to fix five flat tires on the way home!).
To me, our Linear was a near perfect car, with outstanding performance, room, build quality, and fuel economy. The Aero has better performance without sacrificing anything else, so what's not to like?
John R. Boyce
Bismarck, ND
2005 9-5 Aero, 5 speed
posted by 209.62.224...
, Tue, 26 Apr 2005 15:27:41
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