2003 SAAB 9-3 Complaints

MY BRAND NEW 2003 SAAB 9-3 WITH 1100 MILES ON IT, FAILED ME. I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF MAKING A RIGHT TURN IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC, AND MY ENGINE QUIT - THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, POWER STEERING AND POWER BRAKES WERE OFF SO IT MADE THE CAR INCREDIBLY HEAVY TO TURN. I WAS ABLE TO COAST INTO A PARKING LOT WITHOUT GETTING HIT, BUT IT WAS STILL TERRIFYING. I TURNED THE KEY OFF, AND STARTED THE CAR RIGHT BACK UP, DROVE IT TO THE DEALERSHIP A MILE AWAY WHERE IT'S BEEN AWAITING A "SOFTWARE UPGRADE" FOR 5 DAYS. ON WWW.EDMUNDS.COM I FOUND THAT SEVERAL OWNERS OF 2003 SAAB 9-3S HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SAME THING. HOW DANGEROUS! *JB

I PURCHASED A 2003 SAAB 9-3 LINEAR W/ LAUNCH PACKAGE (STEEL GREY) APPROXIMATELY 2 MONTHS AGO. FOUR DAYS AFTER MY PURCHASE I WAS DRIVING USING THE STEPTRONIC SHIFTING AND THE CAR LOST POWER. WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON AND THE DASH SAID TO PULL OVER AND CONTACT SAAB. WHEN I ATTEMPTED TO ACCELERATE AND PULL OVER, A SEVERE GRINDING NOISE WAS HEARD AND FELT UNDER MY RIGHT FOOT. I CALLED ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE AND THEY BROUGHT IT BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP. AFTER SEVERAL DAYS THE DEALERSHIP SAID THEY SAW A COMPUTER EVENT "WHEEL SPEED MISMATCH" BUT WAS NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED OR HOW THIS WAS CAUSED. THEY SAID WHEN THE CAR DETECTS A PROBLEM IT DISABLES PORTIONS OF THE ENGINE AND COMPUTERS AND ONLY ALLOWS YOU TO GO APPROX 20 MPH TO MAKE A SAFE STOP. THE DEALERSHIP CALLED THIS "LIMP HOME MODE" THEY SAID IT WAS SIMILAR TO A WINDOWS "SAFE MODE". AS YOU COULD IMAGINE I WAS ANGRY BUT UNDERSTAND SOMETIMES UNEXPLAINABLE THINGS HAPPEN. NOW LESS THAN 2 MONTHS LATER IT HAPPENED AGAIN. THIS TIME THOUGH I WAS ON THE FREEWAY IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC. AFTER NEARLY GETTING INTO AN ACCIDENT I MANAGED TO CALL SAAB ROADSIDE AND AGAIN THEY HAD TO TOW ME. ALL OF THE SYMPTOMS WERE THE SAME AND EVEN THE GRINDING.. I SIT HERE WITH A LOANER WAITING FOR INFO ON THE CAUSE. I WAS WONDERING IF ANYONE ELSE HERE HAS EXPERIENCED ANYTHING SIMILAR? OR HAS ANYONE HERE HEARD OF ANYTHING LIKE THIS WITH THE SAAB? ANY INFORMATION OR INSIGHT WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.*JB

SAAB 93 - LINEAR - 2003 - AFTER 71 MILES THE ONBOARD COMPUTER SYSTEM DISPLAYED A WARNING LIGHT AND BUZZER - AIR BAG MALFUNCTION - CALL SAAB DEALER. - THIS WAS AFTER 24HOURS OF OWNERSHIP. THE VEHICLE IS PURCHASED.*JB

MY 2003 SAAB 9-3 WITH 900 MILES HAS BEEN BACK TO THE DEALER TO BE SERVICED ON 3 SEPARATE OCCASIONS FOR COMPUTER MALFUNCTIONS. I HAVE LEASED THIS CAR FOR ABOUT A MONTH. THE DEALER HAS ATTEMPTED REPAIRS BUT HAS NOT BEEN SUCCESSFUL. THE COMPUTER PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN A HAZARD WHILE DRIVING THE CAR AND HAVE ALSO BEEN A NUISANCE. THE LOCKING SYSTEM ON THE CAR HAS FAILED TO WORK ON MORE THAN 3 OCCASIONS LEAVING THE CAR UN-LOCKABLE AND IT HAS TRIGGERED THE ALARM SYSTEM ON MANY OCCASIONS. THE DOME LIGHT WILL LIGHT AND STAY ON WHEN I AM DRIVING MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO DRIVE AT NIGHT. THERE HAVE BEEN OTHER COMPUTER MALFUNCTIONS THAT I CAN DISCUSS IN DETAIL IF NEEDED. THE COMPUTER PROBLEMS MAKE THIS CAR UNPREDICTABLE AND IN MY OPINION DANGEROUS TO DRIVE.

AT 65 MPH THE VEHICLE PULLS TO THE RIGHT AND LEFT VERY HARD EVEN AT THE SLIGHTEST TURN.THIS PULLING IS REALLY VIOLENT. CONSUMER HAS TO DRIVE AT LOW SPEEDS TO CONTROL VEHICLE. DEALER SUGGESTED CONSUMER TO GET SKINNIER TIRES. PLEASE PROVIDE ANY FURTHER INFORMATION.*AK