2000 SAAB 9-3 from North America - Comments

Driving lights both broke.

Neutral safety switch quit working.

Turbo now needs replacing.

Frequent spark plug replacement.

Front engine seal leaked.

Fuel pump failed.

Purge valve circuit open.

Broken engine mount.

Something broke in the sunroof.

I used to commute 140 miles round-trip each day on mountain highways. The handling in both summer and winter is great. This is a good car when it is running properly.

The cost of repairs has been extremely high. This car left me stranded in Wyoming when the fuel pump died at 103,000 miles. Now the turbo has completely failed. The neutral safety switch failure was extremely annoying until I figured out what was going on. The check engine light is always on because I cannot locate the open in the purge valve circuit. I did replace the valve and it made no difference.

Lexan might have been a better material for the driving lights since they are inches from the pavement and the highways in Montana are covered in gravel 9 months of the year.

I get approximately 10,000 miles from a set of Bosch platinum spark plugs before the mileage and performance starts to drop off. I have run Mobil-1 in this engine from the start, and from what I can tell reading online, that has been a good move. I have had no sludge problems yet. An engine mount failed at around 75,000 miles.

Factory speakers are somewhat substandard. Cargo space is good for a car this size. The sunroof inside cover will disappear inside the headliner if I open the sunroof all the way. Something broke one summer afternoon and a piece of plastic fell on my head. I just stopped opening it all the way. Book value on this car has plummeted.

I like the car, but the quality is terrible. I wish I had bought the Subaru Impreza that was sitting next to it on the lot. If you buy a Saab of this vintage, plan to budget an extra $2,000 per year for maintenance and repairs.

Yeah,

I would like to see what you would've said about the Impreza had you commuted 140 miles per day in that!

You know you did buy the 9-3 with nearly 70,000 miles on it. Do you know how it was driven & maintained before you bought it?

I feel that Saabs (especially of this vintage) are getting an undeserved bad reputation in these reviews. I cannot argue that this is your experience with the make, however there are plenty of satisfied Saab owners out there who don't go on a site like this and vent - because they have nothing to vent about.

I've owned my Saab 9-3 for almost 3 years now, and it has been the best car I've ever owned (I've owned over 20 vehicles). It is comfortable, quiet, it handles well and has plenty of power. The gas mileage is fantastic (over 30mpg highway), and it has been extremely reliable.

It is well-engineered and assembled well.

I hope that the Swedish government steps in and saves Saab from the GM scrap-heap. Saab is a fine marque and deserves to go on building exceptional premium automobiles.