SAAB Complaints

GAS PEDAL GETS STUCK WHEN DEPRESSED FULLY DURING TAKEOVER MANEUVERS OR PASSING. THIS HAS HAPPENED ON THREE OCCASIONS SINCE WE PURCHASED THE CAR USED EXACTLY TWO YEARS AGO IN VIRGINIA AND AFTER THE THIRD TIME, I DECIDED NEVER TO PUSH THE PEDAL ALL THE WAY IN FOR FEAR OF AN ACCIDENT SPECIALLY WHEN MY CHILDREN ARE PRESENT. THE PEDAL DID BECOME UNSTUCK AFTER A FEW FRIGHTENING SECONDS ON ALL OCCASIONS. SPEED WAS NOT HIGH, 35 MPH ONCE AND 45 OR SO THE OTHER AT THE MOST. *TR

2005 SAAB 93 - FRONT PASSENGER COIL BROKE AND DUG INTO TIRE. NO WARNING INDICATED SUCH AS STRANGE SOUNDS OR CAR HANDLING DIFFERENTLY. JUST SUDDENLY BROKE NEAR BOTTOM OF COIL AND THE BROKEN END OF THE COIL DUG INTO THE TIRE. THE TIRE HAS AN INDENTATION THE GOES COMPLETELY AROUND THE INSIDE. TIRE IS DAMAGED/DANGEROUS NOW AND NEEDS TO BE REPLACED ALSO. WAS DRIVING SLOWLY AT THE TIME SO NO PERSONAL INJURY. *TR

CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON CONSTANTLY. FAULT CODE DETERMINED DIRECT IGNITION CASSETTE COULD FAIL ANY TIME. REPLACED IGNITION CASSETTE AND SPARK PLUGS.*CW

THE HALOGEN HEADLIGHTS ON THE SAAB 9-3, FROM 2003 THROUGH PRESENT, DO NOT ADEQUATELY ILLUMINATE THE ROADWAY. THIS TYPE OF HEADLIGHT LAMP DESIGN IS KNOWN AS A "PROJECTOR BEAM" & IS A DIFFERENT CONCEPT THAN TRADITIONAL HEADLIGHTS. THEY'RE DESIGNED TO BETTER ILLUMINATE ROAD SIGNS & PERIPHERAL ROAD MARKERS, WHICH THEY DO, BUT AS FAR AS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF HEADLIGHTS, (TO ILLUMINATE THE ROADWAY IN FRONT OF THE VEHICLE) THEY ARE INADEQUATE & ONLY EXTEND LIGHT ABOUT 40' DOWN THE ROADWAY, WHICH IS NOT NEARLY ENOUGH TO DRIVE SAFELY AT NIGHT. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS COMPLAINT IS ONLY REGARDING THE LOWBEAM HALOGEN HEADLIGHTS, AS BOTH THE HIGHBEAMS & OPTIONAL XENON TYPE HEADLIGHTS ARE MORE THAN ADEQUATE. THE IRONY OF THIS PROBLEM IS THAT THE SAAB 9-3 IS AMONG THE VERY SAFEST CARS AVAILABLE TODAY, FROM A CRASH TEST PERSPECTIVE, BUT NIGHTTIME VISIBILITY IS A SEPARATE SAFETY RELATED ISSUE WHICH I'VE NEVER SEEN TEST RESULTS FOR. MY FAMILY HAS OWNED SAABS EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE LAST 30 YEARS & HAVEN'T HAD THIS HEADLIGHT PROBLEM UNTIL WE PURCHASED A SAAB MODEL 9-3, OF WHICH WE NOW OWN 2: AN '04 & AN '07, BOTH OF WHICH SUFFER FROM THE SAME PROBLEM. IF YOU ACCESS THE WEBSITE WWW.SAABNET.COM & SEARCH ON "DIM HEADLIGHTS", YOU'LL SEE NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS REGARDING THIS SAME ISSUE. *TR

THE PROBLEM APPARENTLY OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE FREEWAY. I HEARD A LOUD "CLUNK" THAT SOUNDED LIKE I HAD HIT SOMETHING BUT THERE WAS NOTHING IN THE ROAD. FOLLOWING THAT, EVERY TIME I WOULD DRIVE OVER AN IRREGULARITY IN THE ROAD I WOULD HEAR A "CLUNK" IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE. I TOOK IT TO A LOCAL SHOP TO FIND OUT WHAT WAS MAKING THE NOISE AND THEY DISCOVERED THE BROKEN RIGHT FRONT COIL SPRING. THE SHARP BROKEN END WAS VERY CLOSE TO ROTATING INTO THE SIDE OF THE TIRE WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN CATASTROPHIC. I HAVE THE BROKEN PIECE OF THE SPRING. I HAVE ALSO LEARNED THAT THIS IS A DISTURBINGLY COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS MODEL OF SAAB AS I RAN ACROSS A WEB SITE WITH MANY SAAB 9-3 OWNERS THAT HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SAME THING AT ROUGHLY THE SAME MILEAGE I HAVE WHICH IS 49700. MY FOUR YEAR, 50,000 MILE WARRANTY RECENTLY EXPIRED. I JUST FOUND OUT ABOUT THE BROKEN SPRING YESTERDAY AND HAVE NOT YET HAD IT REPAIRED. I INTEND TO CONTACT THE DEALER TOMORROW MORNING BUT I WANT YOUR ORGANIZATION TO BE AWARE OF THIS DANGEROUS DEFECT. *TR

I HAVE A 2007 SAAB 9-3. IT HAS A PLASTIC COVER/PROTECTOR UNDER THE DASH OVER THE PEDALS. THE PROBLEM IS THAT MY FEET CONSTANTLY GET CAUGHT BY THIS PROTECTOR WHICH LIMITS MY ABILITY TO PRESS ON THE PEDAL, ESPECIALLY THE BRAKE AS MY FOOT MAY GET CAUGHT. SIMILARLY I HAVE ENCOUNTERED ISSUES WHERE I CANNOT RELEASE THE BRAKE OR ACCELERATOR FOR THE SAME REASON. THERE IS ALSO A CONNECTOR THERE WHICH LOOKS LIKE THE CONNECTOR TO CONNECT TO THE CAR ECU. THIS CONNECTOR STICKS OUT BELOW OTHER POINTS AND CAUSES THE MOST INTERFERENCE. IT IS THIN SO IT IS ONLY A PROBLEM AT CERTAIN TIMES, BUT WHEN IT GETS IN THE WAY IT CAN SEVERELY IMPEDE MY FOOT. MY SHOES ARE NOT VERY LARGE AT ALL AT A MEN'S SIZE 9, BUT I KEEP HITTING THE COVER AND CONNECTOR ON MY SAAB. I AM POSTING THIS AFTER THE TOYOTA RECALLS, SINCE I FEEL THAT THIS CAN HAVE A SIMILARLY DANGEROUS EFFECT ON MY DRIVING. *TR

DRIVERS SIDE LOW BEAM IS DIM. DEALER FOUND THE LOW BEAM BULBS WERE OVERHEATING. REPLACED LOW BEAM BULBS AND REPROGRAMMED THE ELECTRICAL CENTER UNDER THE HOOD WITH NEW SOFTWARE TO PREVENT THE HEADLIGHT BULBS FROM OVERHEATING. *TR

WIPERS ARE NOT PARKING CORRECTLY. DEALER FOUND WIPER MOTOR FAULTY AND REPLACED. *TR

WHILE SHIFTING FROM STOP THE PLASTIC SHIFT KNOB FELL OFF EJECTING ITSELF INTO THE REAR SEAT. DEALER CLEANED OLD GLUE OFF AND REASSEMBLED SHIFT LEVER MECHANISM. REINSTALLED SHIFT KNOB WITH TWO STEP EPOXY. *TR

TRACTION CONTROL FAILURE LIGHT IS ON. DEALER FOUND YAW RATE SENSOR FAILURE AND REPLACED. *TR