THE digital display on the centre of the Saab 9-5's dashboard alerted me to the fact that the car was due for its first service the other day.

Nothing unusual about that, you may say - apart from the fact that the car only had 5,500 miles on the clock.

Years ago, 6,000-mile services were the norm but nowadays the average fleet car can go anything up to 20,000 miles before a visit to the garage is necessary.

This makes the Saab 9-5 not only an expensive car to run, but also means it is a relative pain in the posterior, what with booking it in for servicing so regularly and losing it for a day. The chances of getting a replacement car under these circumstances are virtually non-existent too, in my experience.

This annoyance apart, the mighty Saab is thundering on like a titan. The leather seats are as big and comfy as ever, the CD player is superb and the massive amount of room in the rear means the car will lug mountains of cargo around.