2009 Saab 9-3 problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Air Bags (17) · Engine (11) · Fuel/Propulsion System (4)
🧭 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
26 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 (448)
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 2025-09-09 · 13598 · Other
new vehicle monitoring programs section in ivh
Unknown Or Other 2025-08-07 · PIC5650M · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have an intermittent no crank, no start, or start stall concern with the security light coming on. technician may find diagnostic trouble codes b3055, b3060, b3935, c0750, c0755, c0760, c0765, and/o
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.
Showing the 6 most recent of 448 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2019-03-14 · Engine · 78,000 mi“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 plagu…”
2018-03-05 · Engine · 71,000 mi“misfires when cold, resulting in rough low idle speed and possible stalling after cold start.…”
2018-01-05 · Engine · 70,000 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…”
2017-12-06 · Engine · 80,000 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.…”
2017-10-13 · Fuel/Propulsion System · 80,000 mi“i have owned my 2008 saab 9-3 for about a year now and i have had an ongoing rough running issue that seems to be getting worse. when i start my car up in the morning it runs very rough. ihave gotten it diagnosed and it is misfiring dramatically like 6000 on one cylinder and 1081 on another . i have done some research and had this problem diagnosed…”
2017-06-26 · Air Bags“i was first notified of the recall in 2016, but told that the replacement parts not available. when i got the notice early this year that parts available, i called the authorized dealer several times and never got a response. on one occasion i spoke to someone who said he would call me back but never did, and who told me that my car doesn't have t…”
2017-04-20 · Air Bags“takata recall i was informed in a letter that gm is working on airbag recall for my car. it stated that in case of an accident my airbag can explode and i may die. they also said that in another letter they will specify when the replacement part is available. it has been a while and i have not heard anything back so i decided to do my own resea…”
2017-01-20 · Air Bags“takata recall - my complaint is that absolutely nothing has happened, and that the status of the recall issued approximately one year ago is: "recall incomplete. remedy not yet available". people are still dying out there because takata has not yet solved this problem. those of us who own vehicles that are under this recall can't just stop drivin…”
2017-01-19 · Air Bags“takata recall. i was notified of the recall in may 2016. there has been no follow-up or fix available to this date. this is a driver-side airbag recall. i cannot safely drive my car until this is fixed. i live in austin, texas where it is hot and humid much of the year. this is an important factor that increases the danger related to this recall.…”
2016-12-14 · Air Bags“takata recall--it's been 9 months since i was notified of the recall, and called my local dealer. but i've received no further word. i love this car, however, i am very concern, since my wife uses this car ever day to go to work. if, god forbid, someone hits the car and the air bag implodes and she is injured or dies, you will be sued. when is t…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.