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What are your thoughts about a 2011 9-5 Turbo4 Premium manual vs. auto trans? There is a dealer near me that is dropping their Saab franchise at the end of June and is cheap-selling their remaining 2010 and 2011 inventory. Among the cars that remain are an auto and manual Turbo4 Premium. The manual's exterior/interior colors are more to my liking and I think I'm ready to move back to a manual based upon recent experiences. EPA gas mileage forecasts are somewhat better for the manual too: 17/27 MPG for the auto versus 20/33 for the manual.
I'm currently driving a 2003 9-5 Linear w/auto trans that I bought new. It only has 70k but has become rather slow to engage in drive from reverse. (It had a transmission flush about three years ago) I often have to wait from 2 to 5 seconds before it drops into gear. I've had enough problems with this car that I'd rather NOT spend money on a transmission repair if that's the next thing around the corner. It's had three water pumps, alternator and lots of other stuff I wouldn't have expected to fail in such a low mileage car. I was so paranoid about potential problems to come that I bought an extended warranty for it when the original warranty expired. It turned out to be a wise decision as it paid for itself and then some. And yes, I've been very diligent about maintaining it properly.
So maybe another question I should ask is should I buy another Saab? I've had 5 classic 900's, beginning with a '79 EMS that I bought new. I still use my '85 Turbo 3-dr as my daily driver. I can't believe I'd say that my 26 year old car is more reliable than my 8 year old car but dem's the facts.
I've been looking at an Infiniti M37X too. It's certainly more expensive and is AWD versus the Turbo4's FWD. The Turbo6 AWD would be a fairer comparison but I like Turbo4 better. Nissan/Infiniti is in much better financial shape than Saab currently is which, unfortunately, I have to take into consideration in my decision-making.
So my choices are: keep the current 9-5 and hope that it doesn't bankrupt me with repairs or consider buying either the Turbo4 or Infiniti M37X. Any thoughts, observations or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
posted by 98.245.187...
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