2006 Saab 9-3 problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Air Bags (76) · Service Brakes, Hydraulic (14) · Seat Belts (14)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Saab 9-3 model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
93 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (3)
Air Bags:frontal:driver Side:inflator Module 2016-02-03 · campaign 16V063000 · 113,716 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2006-2011 Saab 9-3 vehicles manufactured May 31, 2002, to February 15, 2011, 2006-2009 Saab 9-5 vehicles manufactured June 7, 2005, to May 28, 2009, and 2008-2009 Saturn Astra vehicles manufactured April 11, 2007, to July 24, 2008. Upon deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture.
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflator on Saab 9-3 and 9-5 vehicles and will replace the driver's frontal airbag module on Saturn Astra vehicles, free of charge. The recall began on March 1, 2017. Owners may contact Saab customer service at 1-800-955-9007 or Saturn customer service at 1-800-553-6000. GM's number for this recall is 28810.
Seat Belts:front:retractor 2014-06-12 · campaign 14V318000 · 28,789 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2004-2011 Saab 9-3 Convertible vehicles manufactured July 30, 2003, to February 15, 2011. In the affected vehicles, the driver's side front seat belt retractor may break, causing the seat belt webbing not to retract.
Risk: In the event of a crash, a seat belt that has not retracted may not properly restrain the seat occupant, increasing their risk of injury.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's seat belt retractor, free of charge. The recall began on October 6, 2015. Owners may contact Saab customer service at 1-800-955-9007. GM's number for this recall is 14222. Note: Special Coverage 10086 will replace the passenger side seat belt retractor if it fails, free of charge, for the life of the vehicle.
Fuel System, Gasoline:delivery:fuel Pump 2011-02-28 · campaign 11E009000 · 4,887 vehicles
Defect: TI AUTOMOTIVE IS RECALLING CERTAIN FUEL PUMPS, PART NUMBERS TU456 AND TU303, SOLD UNDER VARIOUS BRAND NAMES AS AFTERMARKET AND REPLACEMENT EQUIPMENT FOR THE MOTOR VEHICLES LISTED ABOVE. THE DEFECTIVE FUEL PUMP MAY SEIZE, STOPPING THE FUEL FLOW TO THE ENGINE CREATING A STALLING CONDITION.
Risk: A VEHICLE CRASH COULD OCCUR SHOULD THE ENGINE STALL WHILE IN USE.
Fix: TI AUTOMOTIVE WILL NOTIFY OWNERS OF RECORD AND WILL REPLACE ANY DEFECTIVE FUEL PUMP WITH A NEW OR REWORKED FUEL PUMP FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON FEBRUARY 22, 2011. OWNERS MAY CONTACT TI AUTOMOTIVE AT 1-866-867-3759 OR LOG ON TO WWW.RECALLRESPONSE.COM.
Service bulletins (146)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Unknown Or Other 2025-07-18 · PIP5601C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this pi communicates the requirement to provide a pico file to receive diagnostic assistance from tac.
Unknown Or Other 2025-05-30 · PIT5074R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about the use of j-35616-64b and mini 50 terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads.
Unknown Or Other 2025-05-30 · PIT5074R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about the use of j-35616-64b and mini 50 terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads.
Unknown Or Other 2025-05-30 · PIT5074R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about the use of j-35616-64b and mini 50 terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads.
Unknown Or Other 2024-09-09 · 02-00-89-002X · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this service bulletin provides information for dealers/technicians on when and how to submit a field product report (fpr) (u.s. and canada dealers only).
Unknown Or Other 2024-09-06 · PIT3271P · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about changing the tire and wheel size on vehicles. general motors will only support a tire calibration for tires that have been sized, tested and designed for the vehicle in question and its applications. technician s
Showing the 6 most recent of 146 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2025-08-06 · Fuel System, Gasoline · 160,000 mi“the contact owns a 2006 saab 9-3. the contact stated that while the vehicle was parked and shut off, the contact attempted to start the vehicle, and the vehicle failed to start. the contact also noticed a fuel odor coming from the vehicle. there was no warning light illuminated. the vehicle was towed to the residence. the dealer was not contacted. …”
2021-10-01 · Air Bags“warning message that airbag is not working. loud hissing sound immediately in front of dashboard, as if air is escaping. we cannot drive the car for fear of the airbag inflating. we are going to have to towed to a repair shop to be fixed and will keep all paperwork. …”
2020-02-12 · Vehicle Speed Control“ecu issues, loss power when driving.…”
2019-11-30 · Air Bags“i have been trying to find a dealership to fix my recall but general motors stated they do not fix it. i am receiving calls and letters every other week. who will fix this issue ??? i am located in the wilkes barre pa 18705 area. please advise thank you…”
2019-11-09 · Vehicle Speed Control · 3 mi“when i used my cruise control sometimes it engages and does not engage. it did this for over a month. when i first bought the car, i did my research on it and it said that it has a steering fluid loss problem, because the quality is poor. i am curious to why there has not been a recall on it yet.…”
2019-04-22 · Steering · 109,000 mi“takata recall. the steering pump is leaking and i took my car to gm and they refused to work on my 2006 saab 9-3. the steering leaking is safety issue, and if i lose control of my steering..i can end up hurting myself. please take this into consideration and make gm fix my steering pump!…”
2019-03-06 · Engine · 120,000 mi“tl* the contact owns a 2006 saab 9-3. while operating the vehicle, the check engine indicator illuminated and the temperature gauge malfunctioned. the vehicle was taken to an unknown dealer who replaced the fuel cap, but the failure continued. the manufacturer was notified of the failure and did not assist. the failure mileage was 120,000. the vin …”
2019-02-16 · Fuel/Propulsion System · 130,000 mi“takata recall, i took my 06 saab 93 aero into bellevue washington cadillac dealership to get my air bag recall fixed, after i hot the recalled airbag replaced they reset my ecm and now my airbag light is on intermittently and drains my battery dead over night! i have called bellevue cadillac and they refuse to do anything about the damage they did …”
2019-01-30 · Service Brakes · 160,000 mi“vehicle stalls while in drive there is internal fuel issue causing engine to misfire and potential damage…”
2019-01-03 · Seat Belts“hello, i have been renting this car out for awhile....i have been unable to rent it out because of the recall, however, i repaired this issue months ago and the dealer that repaired the problem has submitted proof to you twice but still no one has updated this to your website and this is severely effecting my car rental business. please advise?…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.