2009 SAAB 9-3 XWD 2.0 turbo from North America

Summary:

Nice car, but watch out for the worn out valves

Faults:

The car developed an issue where it would be very difficult to start in temperatures around 0 °C; below 0 °C it was pretty much impossible to get it started. Big issue living in Canada. On the warm engine there was no starting issues. Using the engine block heater and leaving the car plugged allowed the car to start up in any temperature, even as low as -25 °C. After a lot of investigating and swapping out various sensors to figure out why it wouldn't start, I determined that it was caused by worn out intake valves and therefore the car had very low engine compression in cold temperatures and would not start. The repair is a complex one and not cheap, so I had to get rid of the car.

The leather on the seats was cracking. The driver's seat leather ripped.

Front coil spring broke.

Almost no rust on the car (it was rust protected at Krown).

Other minor issues that came with normal wear and use of the car.

General Comments:

I did enjoy the car. It drove really well, was fairly comfortable, and for the most part had been pretty reliable. The driver's seating position was good and allowed me to drive for long periods without major fatigue. The interior did contain some plastic bits which scratched easily and squeaked and rattled from time to time. It had a 6 disk CD changer and Bose speakers which sounded alright, but not the best. The all-wheel drive system worked great and I never had any issues in snowy or icy conditions. The car was fairly low to the ground so it did scrape against the uncleared snow.

In the city it averaged around 13 L/100 km; on the highway it was around 9 L /100 km.

I wanted to keep the car, but unfortunately the valve issue was too troublesome for me.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 23rd January, 2018

2009 SAAB 9-3 Touring 2.0 turbo from North America

Summary:

Smart and sporty executive sedan

Faults:

This car has not gone back to the dealer for anything other than the 1st scheduled service (which the SAAB owners' plan in the US pays for!)

General Comments:

I cannot believe the combination of great acceleration (I have the 6sp manual) and fuel mileage! Faster highway passing than my V8 Infiniti and 30MPG.

Sound system speakers can rattle the door-map pockets, which is stupid.

Love the interior and exterior design more now that I own the car. You don't appreciate it until you really study it... definitely Scandinavian simplicity.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 2nd January, 2010

21st Jan 2010, 23:16

Sounds like a great ride. Figures GM would get rid of the brand. They can't seem to make any good decisions!