2005 SAAB 9-3 Linear from North America - Comments

Had many problems for the beginning

Lots of interior noise, widows rattling, creaping suspension, overall terrible craftmanship and quality.

Button's coating peeling.

Cheap sound on radio.

Terrible value retention, lost most of its value in a short time.

Expensive parts, most mechanics unfamiliar with these cars.

Dealer's own mechanic admitted that these cars are not made like the older models.

And many other short comings!!

This is really a bad car. Drives great, but is cheaply made. It creeps and windows rattle a lot, making it a real disappointment. I was so disappointed with this car I finally gave up after two years. I took a huge loss, but traded in for a Honda Accord. The Saab are really no-longer the same cars they wore. What a shame! Avoid this cars at all cost, avoid them like the plague.

You may have had many quality glitches with this car, but I can't believe that you only rate the performance at 2/10. If nothing else, the 9-3 is a lively performer.

Feel the pain on the loss you took on selling. Been there, done that and can empathise and sympathise with your plight.

Is it such a loss if you're not the one selling the car at a huge loss but buying it used? I just bought an '05 for $13,800. It originally sold for just under $30K.

I bought my second and last Saab. I consistently had problems with the balancing of the tires. For over a month now, Saab has had my car JUST TO BALANCE THE TIRES!! So finally (because I wouldn't accept less) they replaced all of the tires for no charge. But this isn't the first experience with this type of situation.. I bought my first Saab from Carmax and returned the car because it was shaking pretty badly at 70mph or so... and that was a 9-3 Aero. Now, I'm driving a 9-3 Arc Conv, just like my car and it also shakes!! Why would Saab sell a car/convertible that shakes all the time? Has anyone else experienced this?

The shaking at high speed might be from a or multiple out of shape rims so to speak, the same can happen with tires. And of course it could be just balancing or alignment.

I had an Eclipse that did that, changed all the tires and was fine. Same on my friends Jeep. So it may be tires or the rims. If you hit lots of pot holes, it would more likely be the rims, especially if they're alloys.

I too have got a 2005 Saab 9-3 2.0 Turbo Linear. At Carmax I paid $13989. The car had 38000 miles.

After reading this, I'm glad I added the extended warranty.

I have not experienced any of the problems of shaking at high speeds (I have had it up to 100 mph), nor have I had rattling windows, but I have not driven it on rough roads yet.

In fact I love this car. It's my first Saab. I have only driven American cars in the past... Not as roomy as the 03 Chevy Malibu I traded in, but the performance of this Saab compared is like comparing a Chevy Cavalier to a Corvette / the Saab's down side to me is I don't like the fact that you have to manually unlock the door after turning car off. Nor the cheap cup holder. Your soda sweats and drips water on to the leather seats or the passenger seated there... but overall I'm glad I gave Saab a chance...

Charlotte, North Carolina USA.