I have always been a SAAB guy but I need an awd car. We have a steep gravel drive and my SAABs while great cars have a hard time getting up it. I have always wanted a Jag and love the looks of the X types. I do all my own work on my cars so I'm looking froward to trying something new. So anyway I will be looking for a 2004 or up 3.0 manual in the near future, after I pay off a few bills hehe. I'm learning a lot from this forum , thanks for all the great info!

 

Welcome to the group. I think you will find that there is lots of useful information here that will help keep your kitty purring for a long, long time. if you have any questions, feel free to post them.

 

Thank you for the welcome and yes Im sure I will learn alot here. Now to get out and test drive some of these fine cars and get the feel of them. I hope they handle as well as my SAABs do. Only thing I know Im going to miss is the key in the floor..... oh well.

 

Welcome, I always presumed the key in the floor was quite useless rather than conventional ignition place lol .Thermo is a great source fro your questions

 

Good luck with your search, Gurn, and welcome. I owned four Saabs in my life before getting the X-type, with the quickest and best handling being a '95 9000 Aero and the last being a 2002 9-3. Not sure what you will be replacing, but I have been very happy with teh handling of the X compared to the 9-3 I had. I have the sport package on mine. And unlike a number of others on hre I am satisfied with the performace of it as well. Have had mine two years and have put on about 35K on it and it's been bullet proof up to this point. The manuals were discontinued after 2005, so you are limited there. By 2005 they sold very few 3.0 manuals, so they are hard to find. Not impossible, but you'll have to search. For me the manual is the only way to go, but everyone is different. Because of the hills you speak of you might want to opt for the 3.0 over the 2.5 for the extra torque. Love my car and hope you end up finding the right one for you. Just do a lot of research on the car up front and I'm sure you'll be rewarded.

 

Wecome to the site, you could just wait for the new 9-5 awd to come out and pay th 60k that it seems they'll want for it. I thought new ownership might do Saab well as the product looks the part but it definately seems a little high in the price range. The X type handles just as well as any Saab I've driven, including some vigs. Might not have the fun factor of a turbo engine but it should compare nicely. I'm perfectly content with the 2.5 so I wouldn't count it out. It does give a little up on acceleration but not a whole lot. It does seem to be a smoother better sounding engine over the 3.0 from my experience but both are solid engines.

Coming from Subbies I thought I'd loose a bit on awd which I in fact did but the Jag being rear biased compared to fwd biased Subies is a bit more fun to drive in the white. Not as setting but definately more fun as it drives much like a rwd car which actual goes in the snow.

 

welcome welcome welcome!

 

The X-Type handles like it is on rails! If snow is a concern for you, no worries! Put some good snow tires on it and it does great! I bought our X-Type for my wife, she does not like SUV’s but we need AWD here in the winter, it really does a good job in the snow, and I have a blast driving it every time I get the chance! Reminds me of the good old days when I was single with my XK8. J