2010-2012 Saab 9-3: service, repair, parts and reliability

[nordwulf]

Please share your experiences with repairs and service for your Saab 9-3 that was made and sold after Spyker took ownership of Saab. These are cars that are not covered under the previous GM warranty. I think it will be helpful for potential new and existing owners to determine if buying one of these Saabs new or used is a reasonable safe choice for the near future.

Talk about:

• experiences at (former) Saab dealers, other brand dealers or independent garages
• availability and prices of parts, parts from other makes (Opel, Buick)
• warranty coverage and acceptance of aftermarket warranties
• experience with diagnostics (i.e. Tech II)
• experience with repairing and servicing yourself
• reliability of your 2010-2011 Saab 9-3

Feel free to add any additional information you think is important for potential Saab 9-3 owners.

[Dave T]

My car doesn't quite fit the criteria as it is a 2005 9-3 (Linear, 2.0t).

• experiences at (former) Saab dealers, other brand dealers or independent garages
  
  Saab of Bellevue (near Seattle) and Scanwest Autosport (Seattle) have been able to work on my car without part shortages. I did try to buy a spare key fob, which the dealer did not have but I bought one from a UK dealer. Since then, key fobs have been somewhat available in the U.S. and at a lower price than what I paid to the UK dealer. One disclaimer, though, in the past three years, I have not needed much work, just some door trim work and a missing screw at Saab of Bellevue and rear brakes at Scanwest Autosport.
  
• availability and prices of parts, parts from other makes (Opel, Buick)
  I am making a list of GM parts. It seems that many engine parts, like the crank position sensor and the radiator drain plug, can be sourced from GM and are common to GM cars. The front seat belts are Saab specific as are some trim parts. I did find and stockpile an aftermarket shark fin dummy antenna but they may become hard to find because of the limited market.
  
• warranty coverage and acceptance of aftermarket warranties
  I had one thing fixed under a Saab (Spyker ownership) warranty but this was done before Saab Cars North America (SCNA) filed for bankruptcy and Saab sold to NEVS. This was done as goodwill as my warranty already expired. I did respond to an offer from Saab Cars North America for a free inspection and one year of free towing. When SCNA filed for bankruptcy, the towing coverage was prematurely discontinued. Anyway, if it wasn't discontinued, it would have expired this month anyway. I never did need any towing.
  
• experience with diagnostics (i.e. Tech II)
  none
  
• experience with repairing and servicing yourself
  I do all the routine maintenance myself except the upcoming serpentine belt I'll probably have it done for me because I don't have a long tensioner tool. No problems with finding parts, like various filters.
  
• reliability of your 2010-2011 Saab 9-3
  Note: a 2005 9-3, not a 2010-2011
  Unforeseen paid repairs of the car since it was new in 2005: A missing screw, not very expensive. Amazing!
  Expected paid repairs of the car:
  rear brake pads and discs
  battery changed at 5 years to avoid being stranded
  key fob rubber became worn and replaced
  several sets of tires, none with premature wear, one set retired about 3 months earlier than planned due to a unfixable puncture, another set of snow tires given away early before they were worn
  windshield wipers and headlight bulbs
  Unforeseen free or warrantied repairs of the car: a few
  door trim
  manual transmission shifter knob popped off in hot weather, dealer put epoxy on it
  heater knob a little sticky, dealer replaced it under warranty
  driver's seat belt retracted very slowly and incompletely, dealer replaced it
  brake fluid vacuum valve, no problem but dealer replaced it as a recall
  front emblem blue layer came off, dealer replaced it under warranty
  crack in windshield fixed free under insurance coverage

[Dave T]

Possible costs if there was no warranty

door trim - many would not repair this. If repaired, figure $200 for the part, $200 for labor, $400 total
manual transmission shifter knob popped off in hot weather, dealer put epoxy it. Easy do it yourself or would it cost $50?
heater knob a little sticky, dealer replaced it under warranty - many would not repair this. If repaired, $300???
driver's seat belt retracted very slowly and incompletely, dealer replaced it - part $90. Guess for labor $300???
brake fluid vacuum valve, no problem but dealer replaced it as a recall - not recalled for the 2010-2011 model year
front emblem blue layer came off, dealer replaced it under warranty - some may buy a vinyl emblem sticker on ebay. Guess for repair $150???
crack in windshield fixed free under insurance coverage

[CarbonFlash]

Well I pretty much am game here.

I bought my '09 SS Aero XWD in Aug. 2010 under Spyker. No GM warranty and was a Spyker sale, something I wanted but now sorta regret.

Car has 58,000 mi. on and has been real good up until recently. Just had a bad XM receiver when it was about 5 months old.

At 46,000 mi., about 4 months ago, the dealer told me my rear load leveling shocks were shot and leaking--$650 each, ouch. Another dealer told me that it's normal to leak slightly and they were fine.
Recently my XWD has been making grinding/pinching noise at slow speeds when turning. I also had a bad coil pack so replaced those with new plugs as well. ECU was disconnected thus the Haldex XWD computer as well and now it's fine--go figure.

I've had no issues with parts or service. I should add though I live in Chicago and 3 or 4 dealers are still full service Saab shops. Parts have been ok but I usually source my own to save money. For instance the coil pack are now over $500 from Saab but I think that is a mistake. Rock Auto has them for $49.
If I didn't live in such a big Saab area it wouldn't be as nice.

This is my third 9-3 in 8 years--I'm pretty loyal but not as crazy as Wulfer

[Yarvis]

So far I'm still enjoying the car. Not very happy though that I have had a couple of hiccups the last 2 months or so. I went back to selling dealer who still touts themselves as a registered SAAB repair center but who now sells Fiat. Had a check engine light and said dealer charged me $58 to use Tech 2 to tell me one of the two oxygen sensors MIGHT need to be replaced if the check engine light comes back on after they cleared it. I'm pretty sure they knew it was going to come back on that's why they left a quote of $350 on the receipt to repair. This is an item that most likely would have been covered under warranty since my 2010 9-3 XWD is just shy of 32k. Of course no warranty on an almost 40k car (not worth anything close to this now) has always been a HUGE issue for me and my wife. Found an indy dealer near me who advertises on his web site they are experts on SAAB repair. Decided to use them and was quoted $190 to replace the Bosch oxygen sensor. Job completed in about an hour or so. Showed me and gave me old part and compared the two prior to install, I was happy. Next issue was the replacement of 2 front sway bar links. Replaced the OEM with Meyhle HD units. Upgraded and heavy duty, best $43 bucks spent. Was getting a clunking noise when driving over rough roads and heard it initially while turning into my driveway. Found a regular mechanic near me whom I shamed into doing this 4 nut replacement (which took all of 20 mins) for $25. Good deal there! But I feel this should have been covered under warranty. Wait!!! There is NO warranty. Forgot to mention that when we brought the car in for diagnosing, they found that the driver side low beam headlight had blown. They were "willing" to give us a break here, $30 for labor if we bought the $50 bulb from them, NO THANKS! Went to Auto Zone and bought the same exact Sylvannia bulb for $15 and replaced it in my driveway in less than 15 mins. Lastly my rear brake pads were replaced and I hate to admit this, but a so called "Swedish" car expert beat me up a little bit here, definitely over charged me for rear brake pads by $40-50. He didn't use Akneboro or another well known pad, used Textar and they are not as expensive as the others. He got me a little, won't be using him again. Was introduced to a very nice young man who has his own shop and he quoted me $65 for labor plus the pads from wherever i choose. Looks like I'll be using him from now on for these type of repairs. I seriously have thought of trading her in, but I really do like the 9-3 and not looking to get bonked over the head if I did trade it in.