Five stars for adult occupant protection in the Euro NCAP crash tests and a long history at Saab of investigating real-life road crashes means the 9-5 is one of the safest vehicles on the road. All cars also come with a potentially life-saving electronic stability programme as standard.

The 9-5 estate makes a very useful load carrier. While the storage capacity to window level is 416 litres, it will hold nearly 1,500 litres up to roof level with the rear seats folded down – the rear seats fold completely flat without having to remove head restraints. The estate offers an optional load securing pack: two floor-mounted aluminium rails run down either side of the load area and four spring-loaded attachments snap into the tracks to help tether items with the load straps or an elasticated net.

Storage areas in the cabin include door bins, stowage pouches on the front seats, a net pocket in the passenger footwell, map pockets in the front seat-backs and cubbies in the front and rear armrests.