Comments on: Who’s driven a Saab 9-7x? (one of Inside Line’s worst cars ever)

By: John V. Aldridge

John V. Aldridge — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:54:00 +0000

The 9-7x is GM inbreeding at its finest, nothing Saab about it. I hooked up the Saab Tech II scan tool to one that came in our local independent Saab shop. There was no YS3 as the beginning of the VIN, and the fifth character was a “T.” That “T” stands for Trailblazer in GM VIN numbers, the Saab Tech II Factory Scan Tool didnt recognize it as a Saab. And thats good enough for me.

By: eggsngrits

eggsngrits — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:07:00 +0000

I also rented one and I’ll agree with Ted on two things: the automatic transmission was old school in a bad way, and talking about cars is much better than the other crap.

By: R. Piereck

R. Piereck — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:52:00 +0000

I have never owned a 9-7x but I have test driven a used one when I was considering buying an SUV for towing a few years back. A friend of mine at the time had bought a new Trailblazer, and one glaring difference between the SAAB and its Chevy sister truck were panel gaps, which hints at build quality. The panel gaps on my friend’s Chevy were uneven throughout the truck, with almost an inch between the bumper and the sheet metal on the rear!

The SAAB had the even panel gaps you expect from any European manufacturer and just felt better built. It had plenty of grunt with that huge engine, was very comfortable and I am sure would have been a great road trip vehicle.

In the end the numbers just didn’t work out for me as far as fuel mileage and so forth, and I didn’t see the point of owning a vehicle that big for a family of two.

By: R. Piereck

R. Piereck — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:47:00 +0000

Saying Ohio is the best state also takes some comedic license…. !!!

By: Ted Schafer

Ted Schafer — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 04:35:00 +0000

What a weird list of cars. All those vehicle from the 70′s and 80′s… You could pretty much put 90% of the cars built during that era on the list, they were all… Not good.

By: Ted Schafer

Ted Schafer — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 04:28:00 +0000

I had one as a rental and I simply did not care for the vehicle as it felt way too much like a lot of bloated GM vehicles I have driven over the years…. Never was a fan of the inline 6 cylinder and the archaic 4 speed automatic it was chained to either.

And the V8, well it was a V8 – but who would want to go over 75mph in that chassis and expect to feel confident etc.

No love here for that beast.

But hey, we are talking about cars again so this is fun.

By: Mike Grenier

Mike Grenier — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 02:32:00 +0000

Like Chris below we are also Saab loyalists. Here in the US. We currently have a 78 95GL, 84 900t 8v, 2003 9-5 2.3, 2007 9-7x 5.3i, and a 2010 9-3x (ONLY 2 DRIVERS)

My wife always wanted a 9-7, and we bought one about 2 years ogo with 18k on it. It now has 52k on it. Only have had one problem with gas guage. That’s it. Still original brakes half worn. Original tires were on until 45k. A real cheap to maintain vehicle. (except for gas LOL)
I think the truck looks great, as does she. The kids love the dvd system in the back. I personally love the power and the handling. That baby with the 5.3 really moves, I can’t even imagine the thing with the 6.0 in it. I am not a chevy fan by any means, but these trucks are really nice. No it’s not a real Saab, but it looks great if you ask me. Especially the front end grill and xenon headlamps. Take the same hood emblem as a 9-5
The best part is the towing!!!! I tow a full size car trailer with it, with it’s great built in tow package, and air ride keeps it level, even fully loaded… I have towed thousands of trouble free miles. And heavy stuff too! And this baby hauls my trailer loaded 80mph, nice and smooth and steady. I really couldn’t ask for more.
Definetly not one of the worst 100……

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:36:00 +0000

I also like the AMC Gremelin. It is as odd as odd and wrong can be. But still its kinda sleek and cool, just look at the stripes! But my favorite in the line up is the always in top ten most ugly cars ever -Pontiac Aztec. Yes its butt-ugly but since it looks like a car taken directly from the set of the “Blade Runner” movie to me that is enough to make it uber-cool. Also there is a reason Walter White in “Breaking Bad” drives one. Actually if Walter White had been at bit more highbrow and a bit less of a family guy he could easily have been driving around in a used Saab.

I really hate that “pontiac aztec” never gives me a hit at blocket.

By: MitchbSC

MitchbSC — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:24:00 +0000

Former 9-7X Aero owner here. Loved it! Yes. It was a GM truck tuned to the 9′s by one of the best tuning houses in the world, i.e. Saab. Yes. It was a Euro lux SUV that was late to the SUV party in the States. Yes. The 9-7X was a brand misstep, made especially bad by the existence of the 9-2 Saabaru. Yes, Yes, Yes!! The 9-7X Aero Corvette engine and the suspension were loads of fun.

… but maybe too much stiffness in the suspension. My 9-7X Aero had a failure causing the airbags to deploy. It hit the state 30-day lemon law because Moraine didn’t have interior parts to replace those damaged by the airbag deployment and seat belt tensioners firing. I ended up with a GMC Acadia in exchange … talk about “Das Boring.”

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:59:00 +0000

I remember discussing the 9-7X with Saab Cars USA’s former PR guru, Jan-Willem Vester, at the Turbo X media launch in Boston, and he told me that the Saab engineers who tuned the 9-7X’s suspension had actually benchmarked the 9000 as its ride-and-handling bogey. That, I thought, was a pretty cool target to aim for…