9-3 Reliability?

Good morning,

This problem is still happening.
My 1997 ® 900 Convertible failed its MOT on Monday due to Bulkhead crack.
First I knew of the problem - until then I'd thought Saab's were basically well designed.
Now here I am on this thread!

My dealer (Southampton Saab) also look after my 9-3 sportwagon and used to look after my 9-5 estate and my classic 900 saloon.
They put in a "Special consideration request" which was turned down flat because the car is so old.
The car has done under 100,000 miles
Its only lasted this long because I do low miles, drive it gently and it has always been Saab serviced.

Did some web searching.
Got on to VOSA
Found myself talking to the man who actually did the test drives on the steering rack / bulkhead problem all those years ago.
He told me it is not a recall issue because even with catastrophic failure the car can safely be brought to a halt at the side of the road from 80 miles per hour. I accept his view.
However he agreed with me that Saab morally have a duty to repair this design fault when it arises.

There is no evidence that my car was ever checked when it was young enough to be done for free.
Saab have not kept their side of the deal with VOSA.

I am facing a £1000 bill to get my car back on the road.
Saab's customer service team treated me like a second rate Nova driver.
With the support of my dealer I am going to kick off massively about this.

Saab are trying to launch the new 9-5 "with GM parts" Hmmmm.
A good reputation is hard to build.
A damaged one in the current market could be fatal.
I wonder whether Koenigsegg know how Saab UK treat their customer base?
They will soon.

Any ideas on who I should contact? I have the time and the persistence....

Have just received this (pretty fast) reply from Saab City;

Have received a response to the ‘SCR’

SAAB GB will contribute 100% on the parts for the bulkhead repair & 50% on the labour

This would bring the cost for the repair down to £373.75 inclusive of VAT

Regards,

I'm a little surprised they came straight back with this offer, considering some of the previous horror stories from people about having to fight for more money off.

I'm tempted to push for a higher discount, (100% would be nice!). Do people think this would be worth going for or a brick wall?

Also does anyone know if the official Saab repair includes adding the strengthening components to the bulkhead? If not then i'm tempted to ask them if they can transfer this offer to my local Saab specialist, whose bulkhead repair kit adds the extra bracing. (I think this would be a non-starter but worth asking!)

Any opinions greatly appreciated...

Just bought a 9-3 2001 TiD and recently noticed a groaning noise when going from lock to lock and thought i would check out the forum for advice...and found this thread EEKKKKKK!!!!

I am now waiting for St. Davids Saab in Exeter to get back to me ref raising the SCR. Wish me luck [/b]

Click to expand...

Hi there
I am a really p---ed off owner of a 98 900 xs. This s my 6th Saab, my 1st 'GM' and my very last Saab. We bought the car as a stop-gap and I'm in a position in the next few weeks to start looking for a 3-4 year old estate with a fair bit of poke. Until last weekend my choice was very obvious..
The 900 is a 2 owner, FSH car - so its no nail. I already disliked it - apologies to those I might offend but its nothing like the Saabs Ive been used to - my other half loves Saabs and feels the same way.
During the awful weather the early morning creaks on the speed humps have got a lot worse. People do occasionally stop to look round! Like I've said the car woud appear to be in good nick, flew through the last MoT ( its condition commented on - all the bits that supposedly needed doing have been done-the tester mentioned all of this - I've known the guy for years.. ) but in the 5months I've tolerated it - I'ver always sensed something is wrong - quite apart from all the GM900 shortcomings , I do feel like I've bought an old escort. Its [expletive deleted].

Id put it down to an engine mount and a straightforward DIY-able job. Saw the various posts for bulkhead speration and I did the checks with the steeering wheel and watched the pedals move this afto. It is quite alarming. The scuttleshake ( it is a 5 door ) is quite pronounced. The 'plasticky' creak does subside as the car warms up - as described on prev pages on this thread.

VOSA's response to it all really sets my mind at rest - http://dft.gov.uk/vosa/repository/08%20126.pdf - Apperantly the car is safe to drive! Phew! Cant wait to tell the kids!! the bulkhead isnt an integral part of the cars structure then. I wonder if my insurers would view this in the same manner?

Car is shod with the 16inch talledega alloys, but has been lowered. I wonder now why the previous owner replaced every bush, drop links, etc...

Car will be disposed of in an appopriate manner - I certainly wouldnt pass the car on to an unsuspecting buyer and be able to sleep at night. Im looking for a T5. Im sorry but I do think Saab's passing is a shame but certainly not before time-I'm probably in big trouble now...

Hi there

I have just had my car checked by Cambridge Saab and My Bulkhead is cracked and been advised this would cost £575 all in to get fixed

I have just Emailed Saab for an answer to see if this could be done on the extended warranty

Anyone had any success story's

thanks

Chris

Just got the bad news about the buklhead in my V-reg 9-3. I used to love that car, squeaks from the front end and all, but this forum has been a bit of a revelation.

Having trawled through all 16 pages of this thread, I still (surprisingly) have a few of questions that I'd like to have answered before I either a) lash out £600 on the bulkhead repair or b) go buy something else for £1k minus whatever I get for the 9-3 in its current condition.

First, I'm wondering how permanent the repair is. I got 100k on the clock at the moment and would at least hope to get another 60-70k out of it, being a low-mileage drive (7k p/a typical).

Secondly, are there two ends to this bulkhead thing, i.e. if you get the right-hand side fixed, is there a left-hand side that could go at some point?

Thirdly, I'm wondering if the change of ownership is going to make any difference to Saab's (un)willingness to pay out. I don't think my chances are that good of getting any kind of discount on the repair because the 'official' service history on mine ran out at around 50k but an answer might prove useful to other forum users I guess.

Lastly, breaking coil springs are, I understand, a bit of an issue, but are they as big/widespread a problem as the bulkhead separation issue?

I would dearly love to hang on to my lovely 9-3 but the good money after bad argument prevails and any coments/opinions would be gratefully received.

@ChrisS: what email address did you use?


"Saab owners tend to be interesting people" - Jeremy Clarkson

My experience with Saab was far better than with my local dealership. They stumped up 80% of the cost without checking service history and in spite of several owners. Mine is an R reg GM900 with about 75k on the clock a couple of years ago. My advice is not to rely on your dealer (unless you are sure they are working hard for you - in the end I didn't trust them to do the repair as they couldn't even see the problem!). Be persistent with Saab and by all means quote my example. I believe the problem affects only the driver's side and there is a Saab specified repair as it is a known issue. Certainly no problems with mine and the repair is doing the trick. Can't advise on springs though but low profile tyres/saab convertible/speed bumps are a recipe for trouble (I changed mine back to standard spec.I also bought a stiffening rail for the front end which has improved handling. The 8 point one is meant to transform the car but I couldn't afford it.
Best of luck
Andy

Just to add to this thread...
I've had my 9-3 SE TiD about 4 weeks! I always join a forum for cars I'm about to buy, to getthe lowdown, but didn't have time to do it with one, so I just went ahead and got it.
I thought the steering was a bit vague, but just put it down to the cars age and mileage, although it's done less than 100k and is 9 years old.
This forum alerted me to the bulkhead problem and when i tried the test and could see the pedals moving from side to side I e-mailed Saab GB first to test the water.
They suggested I that I have the car checked by a dealer first, so I booked it in with Squire Furneux Saab in Welwyn Garden City, who were brilliant.
I'm the 3rd owner of my car with FSSH, so Saab GB contributed 100% of the parts cost and 75% of the labour, meaning the job cost me £166.
So don't settle for any less. Saab GB and the dealers are well aware of the problem, so don't be fobbed off!