Too right Ian, Saab went down hill once GM got their claws into them. As Saab fanatics we loved the 99 Turbos and 900's from Saab's golden era, so were quick to notice penny pinching, cost cutting, drop in build quality and reliability in cars they produced after these models. The longer GM ran Saab the quicker the deterioration in safety innovations, character, reliabailty, drive performance and build qualty. The 99 Turbo is our fave Saab, with great character, handling and cornering, a light steering considering it has no power steering, and a fun to drive turbo engine. The Lexus takes over from where our 99 left off, retaining the driving enjoyment factor, although there is a 23 year technology gap between them. The Lexus is a noticable jump in quality and ride over any GM Saab, especially later models, so I am always a little amused at seeing the Saab 9-3 mentioned as an "alternative" in reviews of the IS200.
Thanks Barney, I'm usually into Black, white or Silver, but quite like this rich blue finish. We actually short listed the Honda CRV, Toyota Celica and Supra along with the Lexus IS200. We'll need a second car when my wife starts working, but we are still looking at another IS200 of some sort, RX300, Toyota Celica (pronounced "Silly Car" by my old manager) or Honda CRV. If possible we would like to stay with Lexus or Toyota, as family in the auto trade advised us to stick with Japanese makes like Toyota/Honda for a reliable runner, or Lexus if we wanted reliable prestige. They've serviced Porches, Lambos. Ferraris, Mazaratis, Astons, Bentleys, Rollers as well as Mercs, Beemers and Audis for decades so know their reliability shortcomings. Given their experience, Lexus came out way ahead of beemers and mercs.
We must have done something right with the Lexus as our daughter has kindly offered to swap cars with her Astra 1.7 SRI TDi if we want to make any long trips, to save us on our fuel economy of course. lol. Not a chance!
