With wide price ranges and numerous body configurations, this diverse segment has two clear Best Buy choices--the refined Lexus LS 430 and the unique Audi A6. The LS 430 can't be beat for comfort and features at around $55,000, while the A6 earns Best Buy status for its blend of space, performance, design sophistication, powertrain choices, and workmanship at prices below those of most rivals.

We Recommend the Acura RL--a steal at around $45,000 fully equipped. Though it is a front-drive V6 in a field of V8 rear-drive models, it has a great ride, plenty of power, and is quite luxurious. If you are looking for something a bit more sporting, we Recommend BMW 5-Series. If your taste ranges more toward the luxury end, then take a look at the roomy Cadillac DeVille.

Saab has been redesigning plans for a redesigned 9-5. The replacement had been conceived around a so-called "premium" platform intended for Saab, GM's German Opel unit, and certain models within the much-troubled Fiat group, in which GM owns a 20 percent stake. But that architecture was cancelled to save money, leaving the front-drive Epsilon platform as the only suitable choice. As a result, the next 9-5 has been postponed a year, to 2006. Despite underskin engineering shared with the newest 9-3, the 9-5 will still be longer, wider and heavier, as well as more upscale in features and, of course, price. Sedan and wagon body styles should continue with a choice of several engines.

Earlier reports predicted an even larger sedan as a new Saab flagship, built on the same Sigma corporate platform as Cadillac's rear-drive CTS, but with all-wheel drive and a Saab-sourced turbo V6. But we've heard nothing more about this idea, which suggests it's been scrapped in another cost-cutting move.

Saleswise, the 9-5 has lately been flat, down a few thousand units in calendar 2001, up a similar number through the third quarter of 2002. That's quite a change from the 20-percent surge in 2000, but not bad for a fairly pricey car in a much more uncertain market.