general problems of the 2009 SAAB 9-3

My 2009 SAAB 9-3 started and ran fine on the way to work, but at lunch it started for a couple seconds and shut off. The car cranks, but is audibly too free spinning. A local shop said compression in the engine was very low, and after multiple calls it seems that my car has the infamous "soft intake valves" problem that has been a widespread plague for these cars for model years 07-11. This car only has 78,000 miles on it, and has always had the oil changed with the correct gm spec oil. I would think an engine should last much longer than this.

My car has fallen victim to the soft intake valve issue. My car was parked in my driveway, it ran perfectly well the night before. I attempted to move it on christmas eve morning 12/24/2017 but it would not start. I then had it towed to my local SAAB mechanic, automotion in billerica, MA- the owner said this is a well known issue he has seen on a number of occasions; he said he saw it so many times he purchased new equipment to be prepared for the volume of customers. . Read more...

The intake valves are bad on this car and it has 100k miles on this. This is a $2000 plus job that comes out of pocket. It seems to be this is a common problem with Saabs and it appears there are several complaints on here. This needs to be recalled and paid for by gm, because they did not property build this engine if so many are failing. My car will turn over and not start in the cold weather.

Car went into "limp-home" mode. Upon mechanic inspection, failed compression test and had bad intake valves. Out-of-pocket fix, car running fine now. Kept all parts replaced, edges of valves are as sharp as a knife. Similar experience as documented by other SAAB owners at link below. . Read more...

Car began running rough upon cold start up, but would run better after a few minutes. I had the plugs replaced and problem persisted. Problem became more pronounced as weather got colder. SAAB technician suspected an intake valve problem that has been very common in these cars. A cold compression check confirmed that valves in three of the four cylinders were bad. I was quoted ~$2,500 for the repair!!!! technician said that gm is well aware of the problem but refuses to recall the vehicles to repair. They are only repairing those still under warranty.

The intake valve in the first cylinder has to be replaced at the cost of approximately $2500. This is a known issue for all Saabs (2009-2011). There is a technical bulletin released for how to fix this problem. It is obvious that vehicle workmanship is the problem and the cost of repair is being passed on to the consumer. After purchasing the vehicle in good faith with the expectation that I am purchasing a quality vehicle from gm, I am disappointed that this known issue is a problem with all Saabs manufactured by gm. The 2009-2011 Saabs all have the same issue. This is a manufacturer problem. I want to voice a complaint about the quality of the workmanship produced by gm. After the tax dollar bailout, costumers should be able to expect, at the very least, a quality product.

My SAAB has worn intake valve seats which was confirmed with a compression test. Because of this problem, my car is having trouble starting cold. According to multiple SAAB blogs, this is a very common problem and is possibly caused by defective parts.

The intake valves are worn on the engine this started around 80,000 miles and has progressively gotten worse. The car will not start on very cold days. If it does, it idles very rough and hard. Date below is an estimate of when this started.