Saab 9-3's: Are They Reliable?

Today I discuss Saab 9-3's and whether or not they're actually reliable. Own a 9-3 yourself? Comment your thoughts down below!

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[OfficalTeiKash]

My Saab never let me down I own a 2007 saab 2.0t stick and I gotta say it’s the best car I owned fast, reliable, a lot of truck space, overall just a great car, as a matter of a fact I’m on the highway in Florida driving it right now I just love this whip 💯

[iSchmidty]

I can personally vouch for the OG 9-3's reliability! My old one had almost a quarter of a million miles on the clock and still running strong as ever

[ARCHIMIND]

My 2007 9-3 never left me stranded on the road. It is currently in the shop with mechanical and body work getting its yearly maintenance worth the money and time to keep up to date and a lot of people don't know how great these cars are. keep it up with the content.Thumbs up

[chancock]

“Are Saabs reliable?”
(Coolant light comes on)
This was my life with both of mine.

[dandyfi]

I purchased my current 2010 9-3 in 2012 with 17K miles on the odometer. Almost exactly seven years later with 102K miles on it I have only ever had one mechanical issue of the radiator fan not switching off when it should. Making only one repair in seven years is pretty damn good for any car, knock wood.) Lots of Saab love here! 👍👍👍

[then]

My 08’ 9-3 is very reliable. Got it with 182k miles added about 4 miles in the past 7 months and she’s still treating me well. No major issues ever since it’s first repairs from when I purchased it like new battery, fog lights etc. Still a long way to go. Looking forward to a paint job and modifications next 🤞🏽
This is my first car too

[alexsaab]

*Stability control failure*
_Contact Saab Dealer_

[Wismr]

Hi, looking at 9-3s rn in Germany.

I’m the only male in the family without a Saab. We got a 9000 cse 2.3t in the multi-layer midnight blue which resembles the oldest, but most loved one in the family.
As a daily driver, I‘m looking into 9-3s. Father drives a 9-5 pre-goggles, 1st facelift, you call it a linear of the ‚Gen 2.1 phase‘ plus some extras. He bought the 9000 in '97, and gave it to my eldest brother, still running.
Another brother drives a 9-5 full spec aero with goggles and towbar. His wife drives their first born around in a 9-3 station wagon.
My wife’s not happy with Saabs sadly bc she‘s the real Petrol head… Alfa or no change of car. That‘s why I didn’t dare to get a Saab yet.
The main reason we’re so fond of Saab: My grandparents crashed a Saab 9000 once (which my father bought for them to replace their Merc w124) and destroyed a tractor with it without severe injuries. If it wasn’t for the 9000 series at least one of my grandparents would have been dead 5/15 years before their time.
My grandparents kept saying when I was a child:
Visit us, drive in the Mercedes with grandpa
Now it’s my parents saying to my daughter and nephews: Visit us, drive with the Saab

[kevyarham]

I've had a 1 owner 43k 9-3 2ttdi for nearly three years now and it's spot on so far and drives lovely when opened up. 👍

[swizzlstyx]

Had an OG 9-3. constant issues with the A/C, heater core, motor mounts, suspension, sunroof, power windows, vacuum lines, water pump and SID. Why do i still want another saab lmao

[paulsehstedt]

Hey, I'm just on the last stretch of a 6.000 km tour in 11 days from Denmark to Spain in my 2000 9-3 with a 2 litre n/a engine; 314.000 km on the clock. 14 km to the litre. Spins smooth. It's a hatchback or 5-door.

[themancuniancandidate]

Seasoned 9-3 owner here. Never left stranded by any of the 3 9-3s I owned. But they did need constant maintenance, the kind that I wouldn’t have gotten if I’d been driving a Mazda or Toyota.

[dougS]

With 209, 000mi, currently, on my 2007 9-3 2.0T, I would say yes! I’ve owned it since about 59, 000 miles.

[suolihuuhtelu]

i have owned 3 saabs ng900 og9-3 ng9-3 tuned them all to more than twice the factory horsepower and abused them as daily drivers and none of them have ever broken or left me on the road (exept once when the alternator belt snapped but was my bad for not changing it on time) :D

[johnwitmeyer]

Still driving my 2004 9-3 convertible with just 87, 000 miles on it. It's in great shape and fun to drive (standard). I still get many compliments on it. My 3rd SAAB convertible. Love em.

[AnalogPlanet]

I've driven nothing but SAABs since 1972. Bought a 9-3 Turbo-X new in 2008. Aside from clogged injectors because I foolishly used 91 octane gas for a while, it's given me NO TROUBLE whatsoever. It gets regular maintenance and I made sure to change the differential oil a few times. Oh, I did need new front discs. This car (6 speed manual) handled as good as the day I drove it home, if not better. It's definitely saved my life a few times doing "square waves" on the highway to avoid trouble. Very much bonded to this car as I was to my first model 96 that I kept from 72-2000 (with newer models in between including 900s, 9000s, and 9-3s). I visited the factory in 2011 as they were rolling out the final 9-5...and sat in on some engineering meetings for the electric car they were working on and I got to ride in one. If I could publish pictures here of the factory I would...but there's no way. This Turbo-X owes me NOTHING at this point. I see no reason to sell it though I wish it had a few "modern" conveniences like integrated Bluetooth and a much better SiriusXM operating system. Oh, and the Bose sound system SUCKS....but otherwise

[darth_batman]

I bought my 9-3 in May of 2017 and with 91, 000 miles (now 174, 000) and outside of maintenance and re-wiring the front left headlight and replacing the license plate light piece, I have had no issues. I agree that my Saab 2003 9-3 Linear has been pretty reliable. The more I drive it, the more I love it. It has been my favorite car to drive that I have owned.

[marcushoglund]

Yes saab 9-3 is one of the most reliable cars on the market// a swedish saab owner

[saabtech]

The early NG 9-3's had a ton of issues and customer satisfaction campaigns. Not unusual after a few years for the warranty work print out to be literally a number of pages of line by line operations that were done on the car. After a few model years most of the bugs got worked out. I think a lot of the problems were GM lowest bidder parts supplier related problems, not Saab engineering. Two experiences illustrating this problem: 1) The early 9-5's NEVER had a rear trunk wiring problem. Somewhere around the '05 or '06 model, the the wires started breaking where you open and close the trunk. Just cheap wires made in Mexico that could not take the flex. 2) You know the plastic push pin rivets that hold on the top of your front bumper? For many years I never had a problem pushing the center pin down a tad, and pulling them out...always reusable. Well, somewhere around 2007 or so, if you tried that, the plastic was so brittle it would actually a brand new car. Talked to one of our customers who was in plastics about it. He explained the various chemicals in the plastic came in drums, and cost certain amounts, some more expensive than others. So, in cost cutting, the parts were brittle because a more expensive chemical was reduced in favor of a cheaper chemical. In short, parts supplier cost cutting, often due to GM lowest bidder pressure.

[saxmaniac]

I'm in the UK and I've owned both the petrol and diesel 2.0tid. Wrecked the petrol one last year - a shame but, hey, I survived! Service the diesel one myself and changed the starter motor last weekend. The biggest problem I had was when the powered steering dropped out shortly after buying it. It took weeks to figure out it was an 80amp fuse blown in a sneaky fuse box behind the battery (continuity test). Overall, I love this car. It's a black soft-top.