MY 2009 SAAB 9-3 STARTED AND RAN FINE ON THE WAY TO WORK, BUT AT LUNCH IT STARTED FOR A COUPLE SECONDS AND SHUT OFF. THE CAR CRANKS, BUT IS AUDIBLY TOO FREE SPINNING. A LOCAL SHOP SAID COMPRESSION IN THE ENGINE WAS VERY LOW, AND AFTER MULTIPLE CALLS IT SEEMS THAT MY CAR HAS THE INFAMOUS "SOFT INTAKE VALVES" PROBLEM THAT HAS BEEN A WIDESPREAD PLAGUE FOR THESE CARS FOR MODEL YEARS 07-11. THIS CAR ONLY HAS 78,000 MILES ON IT, AND HAS ALWAYS HAD THE OIL CHANGED WITH THE CORRECT GM SPEC OIL. I WOULD THINK AN ENGINE SHOULD LAST MUCH LONGER THAN THIS.
- NHTSA ID
- 11186875
- Incident
- Mar 4, 2019
- Mileage
- 78,000 mi
MISFIRES WHEN COLD, RESULTING IN ROUGH LOW IDLE SPEED AND POSSIBLE STALLING AFTER COLD START.
- NHTSA ID
- 11076411
- Incident
- Jan 7, 2018
- Mileage
- 71,000 mi
MY CAR HAS FALLEN VICTIM TO THE SOFT INTAKE VALVE ISSUE. MY CAR WAS PARKED IN MY DRIVEWAY, IT RAN PERFECTLY WELL THE NIGHT BEFORE. I ATTEMPTED TO MOVE IT ON CHRISTMAS EVE MORNING 12/24/2017 BUT IT WOULD NOT START. I THEN HAD IT TOWED TO MY LOCAL SAAB MECHANIC, AUTOMOTION IN BILLERICA, MA- THE OWNER SAID THIS IS A WELL KNOWN ISSUE HE HAS SEEN ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS; HE SAID HE SAW IT SO MANY TIMES HE PURCHASED NEW EQUIPMENT TO BE PREPARED FOR THE VOLUME OF CUSTOMERS. THIS IS BEING WELL DOCUMENTED AT THE SAABCENTRAL FORUM FOUND AT WWW.SAABCENTRAL.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=329066 MY 2009 9-3 IS ABOUT TO HIT 70,000 MILES; MECHANIC IS CURRENTLY WORKING TO FIX THE INTAKE VALVE ISSUE AT A COST OF $2,245.00 PLUS TAX. THERE ARE 35 PAGES OF DOCUMENTED INSTANCES AT SAABCENTRAL. IT ABSOLUTELY SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED WHETHER OR NOT GM ALLOWED THESE FAULTY ENGINES TO BE IN PRODUCTION AND SOLD TO CUSTOMERS. IT HAS BEEN STATED THAT GM ALLOWED SOFT, NON-HEAT HARDENED INTAKE VALVES TO BE USED; THESE INTAKE VALVES WILL DEFORM OVERTIME AND LEAD TO THE COMBUSTION CHAMBER NOT HAVING A PERFECT SEAL.
- NHTSA ID
- 11060779
- Incident
- Dec 24, 2017
- Mileage
- 70,000 mi
THE INTAKE VALVES ARE WORN ON THE ENGINE THIS STARTED AROUND 80,000 MILES AND HAS PROGRESSIVELY GOTTEN WORSE. THE CAR WILL NOT START ON VERY COLD DAYS. IF IT DOES, IT IDLES VERY ROUGH AND HARD. DATE BELOW IS AN ESTIMATE OF WHEN THIS STARTED.
- NHTSA ID
- 11052774
- Incident
- Dec 31, 2013
- Mileage
- 80,000 mi
EngineFuel system
Filed Feb 12, 2016
THE INTAKE VALVES ARE BAD ON THIS CAR AND IT HAS 100K MILES ON THIS. THIS IS A $2000 PLUS JOB THAT COMES OUT OF POCKET. IT SEEMS TO BE THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH SAABS AND IT APPEARS THERE ARE SEVERAL COMPLAINTS ON HERE. THIS NEEDS TO BE RECALLED AND PAID FOR BY GM, BECAUSE THEY DID NOT PROPERTY BUILD THIS ENGINE IF SO MANY ARE FAILING. MY CAR WILL TURN OVER AND NOT START IN THE COLD WEATHER.
- NHTSA ID
- 10825910
- Incident
- Feb 12, 2016
- Mileage
- 103,000 mi
CAR WENT INTO "LIMP-HOME" MODE. UPON MECHANIC INSPECTION, FAILED COMPRESSION TEST AND HAD BAD INTAKE VALVES. OUT-OF-POCKET FIX, CAR RUNNING FINE NOW. KEPT ALL PARTS REPLACED, EDGES OF VALVES ARE AS SHARP AS A KNIFE. SIMILAR EXPERIENCE AS DOCUMENTED BY OTHER SAAB OWNERS AT LINK BELOW. HTTP://WWW.SAABCENTRAL.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=329066
- NHTSA ID
- 10824602
- Incident
- Jan 27, 2016
- Mileage
- 77,000 mi
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 SAAB 9-3. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT 65 MPH, THE ENGINE STALLED WHILE ALL THE WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED. THE FAILURE OCCURRED NUMEROUS TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 76,000.
- NHTSA ID
- 10806808
- Incident
- Nov 11, 2015
- Mileage
- 76,000 mi
MY SAAB HAS FALLEN VICTIM TO THE, NOW WELL KNOWN, WELL DOCUMENTED ,SOFT VALVE ISSUE. WHILE GM OWNED SAAB THEY SOMEHOW ALLOWED NON-HARDENED VALVES TO BE PLACED INTO SAAB ENGINES THAT ARE NOW FAILING AT ASTRONOMICAL RATES. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR ENGINES TO FAIL AT 50-60M MILES. THE COST OF REPAIR TO CONSUMERS IS $2,500 AND THERE IS NO CHOICE OTHERWISE THE ENGINE DOES NOT START UNLESS IT'S 70-80 DEGREES OUTSIDE. THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO TAKE ACTION AND HOLD GM ACCOUNTABLE FOR THIS AS THEY RIGHTFULLY DID FOR THE SEAT BELT RECALL. HUMAN SAFETY IS IMPORTANT BUT SO IS KNOWINGLY PRODUCING AN ENGINE THAT FAILS NOT ALLOWING CUSTOMERS TO BE A PRODUCTIVE MEMBER OF SOCIETY.
- NHTSA ID
- 10790198
- Incident
- Nov 13, 2015
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 SAAB 9-3. WHILE DRIVING AT 65 MPH, THE VEHICLE STALLED AND THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT ABLE TO RESTART AND WAS TOWED TO THE CONTACT'S RESIDENCE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED INTERMITTENTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 33,000. ...UPDATED 09/28/15 *BF UPDATED 11/22/2017*CN
- NHTSA ID
- 10734065
- Incident
- Jul 6, 2015
- Mileage
- 33,000 mi
CAR BEGAN RUNNING ROUGH UPON COLD START UP, BUT WOULD RUN BETTER AFTER A FEW MINUTES. I HAD THE PLUGS REPLACED AND PROBLEM PERSISTED. PROBLEM BECAME MORE PRONOUNCED AS WEATHER GOT COLDER. SAAB TECHNICIAN SUSPECTED AN INTAKE VALVE PROBLEM THAT HAS BEEN VERY COMMON IN THESE CARS. A COLD COMPRESSION CHECK CONFIRMED THAT VALVES IN THREE OF THE FOUR CYLINDERS WERE BAD. I WAS QUOTED ~$2,500 FOR THE REPAIR!!!! TECHNICIAN SAID THAT GM IS WELL AWARE OF THE PROBLEM BUT REFUSES TO RECALL THE VEHICLES TO REPAIR. THEY ARE ONLY REPAIRING THOSE STILL UNDER WARRANTY. *TR
- NHTSA ID
- 10671165
- Incident
- Jul 15, 2014
- Mileage
- 79,223 mi
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 SAAB 9-3. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE STALLED AND NOTICED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS OVERHEATING AND HAD TO WAIT FOR THE VEHICLE TO COOL DOWN ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT ABLE TO RESTART INTERMITTENTLY DUE TO THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE CONTACT'S RESIDENCE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 60,000.
- NHTSA ID
- 10609309
- Incident
- May 30, 2014
- Mileage
- 60,000 mi
THE INTAKE VALVE IN THE FIRST CYLINDER HAS TO BE REPLACED AT THE COST OF APPROXIMATELY $2500. THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE FOR ALL SAABS (2009-2011). THERE IS A TECHNICAL BULLETIN RELEASED FOR HOW TO FIX THIS PROBLEM. IT IS OBVIOUS THAT VEHICLE WORKMANSHIP IS THE PROBLEM AND THE COST OF REPAIR IS BEING PASSED ON TO THE CONSUMER. AFTER PURCHASING THE VEHICLE IN GOOD FAITH WITH THE EXPECTATION THAT I AM PURCHASING A QUALITY VEHICLE FROM GM, I AM DISAPPOINTED THAT THIS KNOWN ISSUE IS A PROBLEM WITH ALL SAABS MANUFACTURED BY GM. THE 2009-2011 SAABS ALL HAVE THE SAME ISSUE. THIS IS A MANUFACTURER PROBLEM. I WANT TO VOICE A COMPLAINT ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE WORKMANSHIP PRODUCED BY GM. AFTER THE TAX DOLLAR BAILOUT, COSTUMERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO EXPECT, AT THE VERY LEAST, A QUALITY PRODUCT. *TR
- NHTSA ID
- 10566935
- Incident
- Mar 4, 2014
- Mileage
- 71,000 mi
MY SAAB HAS WORN INTAKE VALVE SEATS WHICH WAS CONFIRMED WITH A COMPRESSION TEST. BECAUSE OF THIS PROBLEM, MY CAR IS HAVING TROUBLE STARTING COLD. ACCORDING TO MULTIPLE SAAB BLOGS, THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM AND IS POSSIBLY CAUSED BY DEFECTIVE PARTS. *TR
- NHTSA ID
- 10563904
- Incident
- Jan 15, 2014
- Mileage
- 80,000 mi
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.