2005 Saab 9-3 problems
Owners have filed 114 complaints with NHTSA about the 2005 Saab 9-3. Suspension is the most reported problem area, at 28% of complaints. After that come seat belts (19%) and air bags (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 114 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Suspension 28% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 5 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 9 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 62,000 miles 92 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 15 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 10 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 20 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 22 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 7 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 7 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 5 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 4 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 92 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 62,000 miles. For suspension specifically, the median reported mileage is about 65,000 miles (30 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 5 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 9 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2005 ranks 5th most-complained-about out of 13 model years of the Saab 9-3 with enough data (48 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Takata recall driver in front was in motion and came to an abrupt stop at the yellow signal light. I was not able to stop in time. There was a direct impact front end collision to my car. The force of collision activated my passenger airbag to inflate, but my driver's airbag did not...updated 05/09/16
I have an on going problem with my saab linear 9.3 two-door convertible. I have the type of seats that are manually adjusted. When trying to access the rear seat, the front seat don't stay stationary. This means that 1) you can not load luggage or other cargo without the assistance of a second person but more importantly 2) the seat slides freely back and forth while passengers are trying to get in or out of the car.
Dt*: the contact stated while attempting to move the passenger front seat forward to let passengers out of the back seat the seat slid back and pinned the passengers. 3 of them sustained injuries. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and it was determined the seat was designed that way.
Normal driving. Bottom six inches of front right strut coil spring just broke. I have never seen a coil spring just break before. This part is still on the car and I have the broken six inch semi-circular piece. It took almost three months before I discovered where a clicking sound was coming from in the front right suspension.
Approximately 4 months ago my right front coil spring broke on my 2005 saab 9-3 at around 75,000 miles. I was pulling out of my garage when it snapped, but could not determine the source of the sound as nothing appeared broken to my untrained eye and the vehicle still operated fine. Over the next couple weeks I brought it in to the dealership for front end noise and the broken spring was discovered. Not a big deal as the repair was covered under a service bulletin and no damage occurred to the vehicle.