2009 Saab 9-3 SportCombi

Although Car and Driver testers say the Saab 9-3 wagon is fun to drive, other experts find its performance and handling just about average. The base front-wheel-drive Saab 9-3 2.0T SportCombi Touring (*est. $32,565) comes with a 210-horsepower, 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. It delivers an EPA-estimated 23 mpg in mixed driving (19 mpg city/29 mpg highway with the six-speed manual transmission, 19 city/27 highway with the five-speed automatic). Power is adequate but "nothing special," Edmunds.com says. The Saab 9-3 2.0T Comfort trim (*est. $35,315) offers some optional amenities, such as xenon headlights, fog lamps and walnut interior accents. The 9-3 2.0T Sport (*est. $38,305) features a lowered, "sport-tuned" chassis.

For all-wheel drive, you'll have to step up to the Saab 9-3 2.0T SportCombi XWD (*est. $37,810), which drops the fuel economy to 21 mpg combined, (18 mpg city/26 mpg highway with the manual transmission, 17 mpg city/27 mpg highway with the automatic). Or you could opt for more power: All-wheel drive comes standard on the top-of-the-line Saab 9-3 Aero SportCombi wagon (*est. $44,885). However, its 280-horsepower, 2.8-liter turbocharged six-cylinder drops fuel economy to just 18 mpg combined (15 mpg city/24 mpg highway) -- the worst of any small wagon, according to the EPA -- and it's still not as sporty as a BMW, reviewers say.

Between the sluggish economy and its bankruptcy filing, Saab has been offering some cash-back and zero-interest deals in an effort to move some of its slow-selling cars. But a Cars.com expert cautions that a Saab will probably lose its resale value quickly, thanks to brand uncertainty. As for the four-year/50,000-mile warranty, GM promises it will honor Saab warranties forever. However, a blogger at The New York Times points out bankruptcy scenarios that could force GM to break its promise. According to J.D. Power and Associates, Saabs are more likely to break down than other cars, although another top consumer organization says the Saab 9-3's reliability is about average.

ConsumerReports.org, Edmunds.com and ConsumerGuide.com all provide trustworthy, test-based reviews of the Saab 9-3, although they don't concentrate on the wagon version. Car and Driver does provide a separate review for the Saab 9-3 station wagon, but it is briefer than the others. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the high-powered versions of the Saab 9-3 are the most gas-guzzling small wagons you can buy, and J.D. Power and Associates finds Saab vehicles less reliable than most. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration crash-tests the 2009 Saab 9-3 wagon; the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gets contradictory results, but its Saab 9-3 crash tests are based on an older model. Write-ups at Cars.com and The New York Times provide advice for buyers who wonder whether they should buy a Saab, now that the company has filed for bankruptcy protection.