2008 SAAB 9-3 Complaints

COLD START PROBLEM CAUSED BY LOW COMPRESSION / DEFECTIVE VALVES WHEN COLD. RUNS FINE AFTER IT WARMS UP. GETTING WORSE OVER TIME. *TR

READ OVER THE POSTED PROBLEMS WITH SAAB 9-3. THREE MAIN ISSUES ARE FRONT COILS, FUEL GAUGE, AND FAULTY VALVES. I HAVE HAD ALL THREE OF THESE ISSUES. COILS REPLACED 18 MONTHS AGO (GM WOULD NOT PAY). GAS GAUGE DOES NOT WORK (GM WON'T PAY). JUST HAD THE ENGINE REBUILT TO FIX THE EXHAUST VALVE PROBLEM (OUT OF LUCK AGAIN). OBAMA WAIVED GM OF THEIR HISTORY OF FAULTS (HE NEEDED THE VOTES FOR RE-ELECTION) AND NOW CONSUMERS ARE STUCK. SAAB WAS A QUALITY PRODUCT BEFORE GM GOT A HOLD OF IT. *JS

OVER TIME THE VALVES IN THE 2.0T ENGINE WILL WEAR CAUSING DRAMATIC LOSS IN COMPRESSION. PROBLEM STARTS WITH ROUGH IDLING AND TROUBLE TURNING OVER AT COLD START BUT ESCALATES TO A POINT WHERE THE CAR WILL NOT START WHAT SO EVER. IT APPEARS THAT WHEN MANUFACTURING THE ENGINE GM PUT VALVES MADE OF A SOFTER THAN USUAL METAL. THESE VALVES GET ESSENTIALLY HAMMERED AGAINST THE CYLINDER HEAD TO A POINT WHERE THE EDGES BECOME SO THIN THEY ARE RAZOR SHARP. A SERVICE BULLETIN WAS SENT OUT TO DEALERS FROM SPNA (SAAB PARTS NORTH AMERICA), WHICH MEANS THAT GM IS WELL AWARE OF THIS ISSUE. A SAAB MECHANIC WARNED ME THAT THE PROBLEM COULD GET WORSE AT ANY TIME REGARDLESS OF MILEAGE AND THAT SOONER OF LATER MY CAR WOULD NOT START. TO FIX THIS ISSUE ALL 16 VALVES WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED. THIS INVOLVES SERIOUS TIME AND EFFORT AND I WAS QUOTED A PRICE OF UP TO $3,000 FOR A REPAIR. PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THIS PROBLEM EFFECTS EVERY SAAB 9-3 WITH THE 2.0T FROM 2007 TO 2011. GM SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THESE FAULTY PARTS AND ISSUE A RECALL. *TR

MY WIFE'S CAR IS A 2008 SAAB 93 SEDAN. IT HAD APPROXIMATELY 48,000 MILES ON IT WHEN THE ENGINE CONTROL MODULE FAILED AT HIGHWAY SPEED. THIS CAUSED LOSS OF POWER-BRAKES, POWER-STEERING AND ABILITY TO CONTINUE DRIVING. FORTUNATELY, WE WERE ABLE TO COAST OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. THE ENGINE WOULD NOT RE-START. WE WERE ABLE TO RESTART IT AFTER FIGURING OUT WHICH FUSE CONTROL THE "ECM" AND PULLING/RESETTING THE FUSE. THE PROBLEM RE-APPEARED MULTIPLE TIMES ON APPROXIMATELY 100-MILE INTERVALS. WE FINALLY HAD THE ECM REPLACED WITH A USED ONE BY AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC. THE LOCAL SAAB DEALER QUOTED ~$1000 FOR A NEW ECM. THE USED UNIT COST ~$350 AND REQUIRED THE SHOP TO "MARRY" THE UNIT WITH THE CAR'S VIN. THERE WAS NO WARRANTY ON THIS CAR AS SAAB WENT BANKRUPT. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY CONCERN. FORTUNATELY I WAS DRIVING AND THE KIDS WERE NOT IN THE CAR. *TR

PREMATURELY WORN INTAKE VALVES RESULTING IN LOW COMPRESSION AND EXCESSIVELY ROUGH RUNNING MOTOR. *TR

VEHICLE'S FRONT PASSENGER SIDE COIL SPRING HAS FRACTURED AS A RESULT OF POOR DESIGN. *TR

THE PROBLEM OF A COLD START ROUGH IDLE INITIALLY STARTED LAST YEAR AROUND FEBRUARY 2013. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT DID COME ON EVERY SO OFTEN AND WOULD EVENTUALLY RESET ITSELF. I HAD THE CODE CHECKED OUT, AND I WAS TOLD IT WAS MISFIRING OF THE SPARK PLUGS. I HAD THE SPARK PLUGS REPLACED, BUT UNFORTUNATELY THIS DID NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM. I DID NOT HAVE THE CAR LOOKED AT AGAIN TILL THIS YEAR, FEBRUARY 2014, AS I WANTED TO MAKE SURE I DIDN'T HAVE BAD GAS, OR IT WASN'T CARBON BUILDUP IN THE ENGINE. AFTER INFORMING THE DEALER OF THE PROBLEM I WAS HAVING, THEY SUGGESTED I LEAVE IT OVERNIGHT SO THEY COULD TEST IT OUT THE NEXT MORNING. THAT MORNING THEY CALLED AND TOLD ME THE PROBLEM WAS WITH THE INTAKE VALVES GOING BAD. THEY ARE IN THE PROCESS OF ORDERING THE PARTS AND I WILL HAVE THE WORK COMPLETED IN MARCH 2014. I HAVE CONTACTED SAAB PARTS NORTH AMERICA TO SEE IF THEY WOULD BE WILLING TO HELP IN ANYWAY SINCE MY CAR WAS JUST OUT OF WARRANTY, AND I WAS TOLD THEY WOULD NOT AND THAT GM PROBABLY WOULDN'T EITHER DUE TO THE BANKRUPTCY. I WILL BE ATTEMPTING TO CALL GM AND SEE IF THEY ARE WILLING TO HELP IN ANYWAY SINCE MY VEHICLE WAS MANUFACTURED WHILE SAAB WAS STILL OWNED BY GM. I HAVE ALSO FOUND OUT AT SAAB CENTRAL FORUMS THERE ARE NUMEROUS OWNERS OF THE 07-11 YEARS THAT ARE EXPERIENCING THE SAME PROBLEM AT ABOUT THE SAME MILEAGE. I HAVE ALSO LEARNED THERE IS A SPNA BULLETIN THAT HAS BEEN SENT TO DEALERS, SO THEY KNOW ABOUT THIS PROBLEM AND HAVE CHOSEN NOT TO STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCT BY ISSUING A RECALL. *TR

MY 2008 SAAB 9-3 2.0T HAD A SIMILAR ISSUE TO THE SAAB'S AFFECTED BY THE 2003-2006 WARRANTY EXTENSION FOR THE FRONT COIL SPRINGS. I AM IN A SALT BELT STATE, MASSACHUSETTS, AND MY FRONT COIL SPRINGS FAILED AT 64,500 MILES. IT WAS FOUND DURING A ROUTINE INSPECTION. CLEARLY THE DESIGN CHANGES MADE AFTER THE 03-06 ISSUE WERE NOT ENOUGH TO STOP THE FRONT COIL SPRING FRACTURES AND THE ENGINEERING ANALYSIS DONE WAS NOT ADEQUATE. *TR

I'M NOT CERTAIN IF THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE BUT IT CERTAINLY QUALIFIES AS AN EMISSIONS ISSUE AND A MANUFACTURER'S DEFECT. ON EVERY COLD START, THE ENGINE WOULD RUN ROUGH UNTIL I PUT IT IN DRIVE AND WOULD RUN FINE AFTER A FEW MINUTES. I LET IT SIT AND IDLE FOR A WHILE ONCE AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AS A RESULT. A LOCAL DEALERSHIP FOUND LOW COMPRESSION ACROSS 2 CYLINDERS AND INFORMED ME IT WAS THE DREADED VALVE ISSUE (INTAKE VALVE CUPPING THEY CALLED IT). THE DEALERSHIP HAD FIXED A NUMBER OF THESE AND FROM VARIOUS ONLINE FORUMS, I SEE THAT A NUMBER OF 2007 AND 2008 SAAB 9-3 OWNERS SEEM TO HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SAME PROBLEM. THE REPAIR CONSISTED OF REMOVING AND REPLACING ALL 8 INTAKE VALVES, HAND LAPPING THEM, REMOVING AND REPLACING ALL VALVE SEALS, AND REFINISHING THE HEAD MATING SURFACE. THE REPAIR WAS VERY EXPENSIVE, SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLARS. I'VE HAD THE CAR BACK FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS AND THE PROBLEM IS GONE. I WAS TOLD THIS ISSUE SEEMS TO HAPPEN AROUND THIS AMOUNT OF MILEAGE AND IN COLD WEATHER STATES. OF COURSE MY WARRANTY HAD EXPIRED 6 MONTHS EARLIER AND I IMAGINE THIS IS THE CASE WITH MANY OTHER SAAB 9-3 OWNERS WITH '07 AND '08 VEHICLES. WITH THE NEW PARTS, I WAS TOLD I SHOULDN'T RUN INTO THIS PROBLEM AGAIN. *TR

IT HAS VERY ROUGH START EVERY MORNING WHEN IT'S COLD. FROM SAAB FORUM (HTTP://WWW.SAABCENTRAL.COM/) THERE ARE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE THAT IS HAVING THE SAME ISSUE FOR NEWER SAAB 9-3'S. THE PROBLEM IS INTAKE VALVES OF ENGINE BECOMING REALLY THIN AND FAILING OVER TIME.. THE ENGINE SHAKES THE WHOLE CAR AND SOMETIME THE CAR DOESN'T EVEN WANT TO START.. I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISE IF ONE DAY I CANT START THE CAR.. *TR