2008 Saab 9-3 problems
Owners have filed 218 complaints with NHTSA about the 2008 Saab 9-3. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 33% of complaints. After that come engine (31%) and fuel system (7%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 218 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 33% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 7 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 10 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 80,000 miles 136 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 | 10 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 11 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 21 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 25 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 31 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 21 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 11 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 4 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 136 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 80,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 7 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 10 injuries reported; 2 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2008 ranks 6th most-complained-about out of 13 model years of the Saab 9-3 with enough data (44 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.
At 65 MPH, the gear shift knob, shift cover and assembly separated from the car - the base-metal stick shift was all that remained, and thus the safety latch that prevents car from being shifted into reverse, instead of a forward moving gear, normally attached to the exterior, was now missing. Alas, safely shifting into any of its 6 gears, was not an option ...
Driver seat-belt is not retracting, and operated defectively similar to recalled saab convertibles and other recalled GM models. Driver therefore has no working seatbelt and was told by the dealership that it was not covered under warranty. GM installed the defective seat belt in multiple vehicles that have already been recalled. Thank you for your consideration. Has been an issue since 2015.
On the 2007-2011 saab 9-39-3 there is a common issue with the intake valve seals going bad causing a rough idle and/or misfire on cold starts. Mine exhibits this behavior but is not still under warranty. This is not just wear and tear it is a bad part or bad design that is basically designed to fail. To fix this it costs $1500+ and GM should be responsible for a flaw in the vehicle regardless of the 5 year/100,000 mile warranty.
Vehicle exhibits all signs of premature intake valve wear causing loss of compression and/or hard start/no start when ambient air temp is below 40 degrees. See all previous complaints of the same issue!