Date arrived: February 2012
Costs this month: £1,150 (purchase price)
Mileage this month: 103 miles
Mileage overall: 80,123
Problems: That Check Engine light

As first drives go, this one didn't get off to the most auspicious of starts. An illuminated Check Engine light was there from the moment I turned the key - something that wasn't there on the test drive a week before.

Test drive? Ah, well, yes. You see what with Saab UK going into administration, long-term test cars had somewhat dried up - liquidators repossessing those that were still on fleets. It's a fate that became my previous steed, so if I fancied another Saab it would have to be one less than factory-fresh.

My meagre pay wouldn't stretch to a current 9-3 or 9-5, so I ended up with one nearly two decades old. It's okay though, as despite the advancing years this particular 9000 had only 80,100 miles on the clock. Which as any car bore will inform you, is barely run in for a Saab. Yawn...

The reasons this particular 9000 Aero appealed were many. That mileage was incredibly low for a start. It was black, which, despite what a photographer will tell you, is not only the best colour, but the fastest as well. It was also rust-free. Oh, and someone somewhere along the line had spent a lot of money at Abbott Racing - once the world's premier tuner of Saabs.

Which meant this example has a high-flow intercooler, stainless steel exhaust, gas-flowed head, limited-slip differential, Koni adjustable suspension and some ECU trickery too.

It's not perfect - as an early Aero the wonderful Recaro seats remained on its option list, and the original Carlsson style alloy wheels were replaced with some doubtlessly expensive, but not to my taste, Abbott Racing rims. All easily sorted though, and the type of problems I'm more than happy to tackle.

And the Check Engine light? Well I've checked under the bonnet, and the engine is definitely still very much there - and I'm trained to spot these things.