Category: Executive 
Price Range: £19,580 to £29,536
Comfortable ride, fine interior design, distinctive image, powerful and characterful petrol engines, good crash protection, improved diesel
Only one diesel engine to choose from now; though fast, not that sharp a drive; 2005 facelift won't please the conservative Saab faithful
Interesting and well-made alternative exec, if hardly state-of-the-art; estate models make the most sense. The updates of autumn 2005 have gone a long way, however, towards keeping the 9-5 appealing in an ever-more competitive market sector.
In recent years, the 9-5 has scored the full five stars for occupant protection in the Euro NCAP crash tests and has been judged to be the safest car in its sector in several European and American "real life" surveys.
It hasn't gone through the pedestrian tests yet, but the new front end should improve pedestrian safety in line with new European and US regulations.
The 9-5 was the first car with active head restraints, which move forward in a rear-end impact to reduce whiplash injury. Electronic stability control and traction control are now standard in all models, along with three-point seatbelts for all five seats, front seatbelt pre-tensioners, anti-submarining protection on all seats, Isofix child seat mounting points and front and side airbags. Saab doesn't believe in curtain airbags, claiming that its sidebags do a better job.
Security-wise, all versions have deadlocks, an alarm and immobiliser and remote locking; traditionally, Saabs (except perhaps the 9-3 cabriolet) have rarely been stolen, anyway, thanks to the lock-in-reverse device which makes starting up without a key impossible.
