Two problems related to engine stall have been reported for the 2008 SAAB 9-3. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2008 SAAB 9-3 based on all problems reported for the 2008 9-3.
I was driving at 55 miles per hour on the lodge freeway in metro detroit, I was in the left lane and there is no emergency lane on the left, and my engine turned off on itself (scary!). As we are aware, brakes pretty much stop working when the engine is off and I was driving with 55 mph with many vehicles around me. I managed to pull over to the right without getting hit. When I stopped, I tried to start the car, it would start for 5 seconds and it will stall and I had about 10 gallons of gasoline in the tank. I had to get the vehicles towed to my house. Next day I started reading the blogs online to figure out how it is possible for the engine to stall like that without any warnings, especially one is going at highway speed. It turned same thing happened to a lot of SAAB owners as well - engine stalled without any warnings when they were driving. I hooked up the vehicles to a diagnostic computer and it showed that the crankshaft sensor stopped working. If there are other SAAB owners with the same problems, we should do something to prevent any injuries - happy to discuss it with anybody.
Hard/rough start especially in cold temperatures. Mechanic said #4 cylinder is misfiring. Confirmed to be low compression due to prematurely worn intake valves. #1 cylinder/intake valve is not far behind #4. Became a serious problem when engine stalls when sitting in traffic. Also vehicle engine has stalled/shut off while driving at low speeds, for example, in parking lots, redlights, 4 way stops.