Faults:

We knew it wasn't a good sign, when at 22,000 miles the rear brake pads wore out, and not the front. Apparently this is normal!

All four dealer supplied tyres were terrible, and had worn out before 20,000 miles.

On Christmas day, the water pump failed, and resulted in us having to refill the coolant tank every 10 minutes at the side of the road to get home. Saab Ireland refused to cover this, as it was originally English registered. After we pointed out how ridiculous this was, and after 2 months of phone calls, they said they would do this, but they would knock a year off the 3 year warranty, as it had been exported. They also said they wouldn't do the work until we had paid our local garage to prove what the problem was. €80 down the drain. We questioned their business practices of course. They had to do the timing belt as well, once they took out the water pump.

About two months later, while my mom was on the M50, it lost power steering, lights etc, and almost all power, and went into limp home mode. About every warning message came up, including brake failure. After this happening a number of times over the week, the computer finally displayed battery not charging. Obviously the alternator. We then discovered before we called Saab, that on their previous receipt for the water pump, it said the alternator needed replacing. Their reply was "your last service was three months late, so your warranty on such items is void". It had been off the road with the failed water pump at that time.

We then discovered, when we tried to put a new battery in just to drive it home, that the ECU had failed, as the car wouldn't start, and the ECU light just stayed on.

The interior was so cheap, and fell apart quickly. The plastic around the tailgate fell apart, leaving bare metal. On the exterior, the black plastic went even more blue than my 17 year old BMW, and when washed, it didn't shine as well either. Just cheap all round.

Shortly after we sold it, the new owner admitted to changing the front brake pads, two tyres again, and that the diesel injectors were leaking badly, and all had to be changed.

The car had 27,000 miles when we sold it as a non runner. I didn't think this was possible on a car less than three years old.

General Comments:

It drove great when it worked, although it spent more time off the road, as it was such an ordeal to get it fixed each time.

The suspension was good, and not too stiff and not soft either.

The steering was a little light and numb.

Brakes were very sharp.

Performance wise it was great on the motorway due to the sixth gear, but a bit slow around town because of the very evident turbo lag, which I found a bit annoying.

As for economy, it was mixed. If you were driving around town, it would get about 30-32mpg, but if you stayed below 2000rpm and kept the turbo off, you could get over 60mpg. This is far easier said than done.

On the motorway I found it was ~40mpg +-5mpg, depending on hills at 120km/h, unless you stuck at 100km/h when it would get over 50mpg easily. The economy was quite hard to judge, and obviously the turbo caused this.

The general build quality was just appalling. We've never had so many problems in such short a time period on a new (1 year old when bought) car.

The interior looked nice, but was made from such cheap materials that squeaked and rattled from day 1.

Compared to the other car we had at the time (1993 BMW 316 Touring), the interior had no rattles, the tailgate was still together, and everything but the alternator and timing belt were original in the engine (expected at that age). No comparison whatsoever.

We sold it with the failed alternator and ECU as we didn't have the money to get it fixed. We got less than a third of what we bought it for used 2 years later.

Never again.

Faults:

KEEP IN MIND: Within the first 5 months of purchase, ALL of these things occurred.

Right headlight leveling was off. I had it fixed 3 times before they realized it was the bulb; it was warped and caused it to aim wrong, had nothing to do with the system.

Coolant warning kept coming on every 3 weeks or so, and after 4 visits and them telling me it's fixed when it's not, it turned out they tested the oil, and found coolant in the engine. They did immediately give me a rental, and they had my car for 2 1/2 months, replacing my engine, which was primarily because of the wait on a new block being shipped from Sweden (I was informed by a REP for Saab USA that there was a "known design flaw in the blocks of the 2007 9-3", which may require the engine to be replaced. That explains why the 2007 is the only year that they gave a 5 year 100,000 mile warranty on the drive train...)

Also had one of my fog lamps was getting moisture inside, which it shouldn't, and they quickly replaced both just in case.

The edge of the driver's seat is wearing now... Not badly, but it's starting. I am however very picky about any car I've owned, and I take very good care and keep them in showroom condition. So every little thing will annoy me.. LOL.

I also noticed that the seal around the sun roof is weathered, which I assume is normal, and I get that annoying rubbing / jerking motion when I open it up all the way to vent, like rubber on metal?? I simply applied some Vaseline to the areas and seals, and it quit.

General Comments:

In all honesty, I knew nothing about SAAB, and had never really thought about one, however at the beginning of last year, I started looking around for a newer used vehicle, and stumbled upon this car and fell in love with it.

It was a perfect fit in every respect; it's stylish, fully, I mean fully loaded, more so than most any other car would be, including the navigation system and cornering headlights etc...

The BOSE sound system is by far the best I have ever had in a vehicle.

It handles so well and is very fast, love the turbo when needed on the freeway to pass in a hurry.

I was fortunate enough I think that at time of purchase, all dealerships were hurting, and I got a great deal without even trying. I got way more than my car was worth as a trade in, and they dropped the price of the Saab from $24,000 DOWN TO $18,500 on a car barely 2 years old, and it was originally $46,000 NEW. I can't complain about that.

NOW: there is the matter of all these little things that have gone wrong, and the engine had to be replaced. I hope this is not a sign of things to expect for the next couple of years. I do love the car, but knowing this and the fact that the future of Saab is uncertain, I would question whether to ever buy another one.

Faults:

Brakes went at 20000 miles. 90 percent of the time the car was driven on the highway. I was told this is normal; a lot of the times they last 16000. I see future repair cost through the roof if this is normal

General Comments:

Liked the handling of car.

Seats were very comfortable.

Faults:

Nothing whatsoever has gone wrong. Have had the car a year and it is still like new.

General Comments:

The performance is very quick, hardly any turbo lag. The interior is nice, although a little chintzy inside. It is just a very pretty, yet simple entry level luxury car that you don't see too often.

Complaints: The brakes are too grabby! They are either all the way on or all the way off, there is not a whole lot of "in between."

Faults:

Not one single thing.

General Comments:

This is the best car SAAB builds.

The car is quick, handles great, and has super fuel mileage.

Not a single squeak or rattle in the body or interior.