The Used Car Index

2008 Saab 9-3 problems

NHTSA lists 184 complaints for the 2008 Saab 9-3, 5 of them mention a crash and 1 mention a fire. 3 complaints mention an injury, with 6 injuries and 1 deaths reported.

Data build 2026-10-08.

NHTSA lists this vehicle as SAAB 9-3.

At a glance

Complaints
184
With crash
5
With fire
1
With injury (complaints)
3
Injuries
6
Deaths
1
Recalls
2
Do not drive recalls
0
Park outside recalls
0
Recall potential units (maximum)
113,716
Investigations
2
Open investigations
1
Manufacturer communications
183

Complaints per 100k sold unavailable. No sales source is available for this record.

Where the complaints are

Top systems
SystemComplaintsShare of this vehicle's complaints
AIR BAGS7138.6%
ENGINE6635.9%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM137.1%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM116.0%
POWER TRAIN105.4%
SEAT BELTS105.4%
SUSPENSION105.4%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER42.2%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL42.2%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING31.6%
Top subsystems
SystemSubsystemComplaints
STRUCTUREBODY2
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLINGENGINE1
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGESHOOD1
POWER TRAINMANUAL TRANSMISSION1
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULICPOWER ASSIST1
SUSPENSIONFRONT1

One complaint can name several systems, so shares can add to more than 100 percent.

Model-generated complaint tags: This model year has not been tagged.

Recalls

See new recalls and investigations this week.

2 recalls.

16V063000

Date: 2016-02-03. Systems: AIR BAGS.

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.

Consequence: 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.

Remedy: 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.

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

14V318000

Date: 2014-06-12. Systems: SEAT BELTS.

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.

Consequence: 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.

Remedy: 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.

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

Investigations

2 investigations; 1 open.

EA21002

Opened: 2021-09-17. Closed: Not listed.

Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture

From 2000 through 2017, Takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("PSAN") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004L. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupt

Systems: AIR BAGS.

Linked campaign numbers: None listed.

PE08005

Opened: 2008-01-28. Closed: 2008-06-03.

REDUCED BRAKE POWER-ASSIST

SAAB AUTOMOBILE AB, A SUBSIDIARY OF GENERAL MOTORS CORP. (GM), MANUFACTURED 12,317 SUBJECT VEHICLES THROUGH FEBRUARY 15, 2008, EQUIPPED WITH THE HIGH FEATURE V6 TURBOCHARGED ENGINE IDENTIFIED BY REGULAR PRODUCTION OPTION LP9.A TANDEM VACUUM BRAKE BOOSTER ASSEMBLY PROVIDES BRAKE POWER-ASSIST.THE ENGINE IS THE PRIMARY VACUUM SOURCE TO THE BOOSTER AND ITS EFFECT IS AMPLIFIED BY A VENTURI.UNDER CERTAI

Systems: SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC.

Linked campaign numbers: None listed.

Manufacturer communications

183 manufacturer communications.

Communications by system
SystemCount
EQUIPMENT56
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING31
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM29
POWER TRAIN20
ENGINE15
UNKNOWN OR OTHER15
EQUIPMENT ADAPTIVE/MOBILITY12
WHEELS11

11023091

Date: 2025-09-09. Type: Other. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

New Vehicle Monitoring Programs Section in IVH

11021792

Date: 2025-08-07. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

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

11020816

Date: 2025-07-18. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This PI communicates the requirement to provide a pico file to receive diagnostic assistance from TAC.

11019072

Date: 2025-05-30. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

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.

11019073

Date: 2025-05-30. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

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.

11019074

Date: 2025-05-30. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

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.

11009531

Date: 2024-09-27. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ENGINE.

This service bulletin provides information for maintenance cleaning of the fuel injectors and gasoline detergent additive.

11009088

Date: 2024-09-16. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: POWER TRAIN.

This service bulletin provides information on some vehicles that may rock or move slightly forward or rearward while in Park at start up after cold soak. This condition may be accompanied by a clunk noise. This is a slight movement that is more often seen visually, rather than felt, when viewed from

11008956

Date: 2024-09-09. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This service bulletin provides information for dealers/technicians on When and How to Submit a Field Product Report (FPR) (U.S. and Canada Dealers Only).

11007208

Date: 2024-09-06. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about changing the tire and wheel size on vehicles. General Motors will only support a tire calibration for tires that have been sized, tested and designed for the vehicle in question and its applications. Technician s

Notes on this record

  • Complaints from the API and bulk file are merged and deduplicated by ODI number; the API alone misses records.
  • System and subsystem counts are numbers of distinct complaints, recalls or communications that name them. One record can name several systems, so shares across systems can add to more than 100 percent; a single share never exceeds 100 percent.
  • Recalls are counted once per campaign, investigations once per action and manufacturer communications once per NHTSA id, even when NHTSA lists several model names for the same record.
  • A sales denominator is a calendar-year proxy, not the population of vehicles still in use. Rates are copied from verified pipeline output.

Other names NHTSA uses

None listed.

Matched NHTSA models

Matched labels and complaints
NHTSA model labelComplaints
9-3184

Same model, other years

All model years | All Saab models

Other Saab models, 2008

Sources

Get this record as JSON

The free rate-limited demo needs no key.

curl "https://api.theusedcarindex.com/v1/demo/vehicle_risk?make=Saab&model=9-3&year=2008"

Paid endpoint: https://api.theusedcarindex.com/v1/vehicle_risk. MCP endpoint: https://api.theusedcarindex.com/mcp.