2005 Saab 9-3
This year drew an ordinary 95 complaints for a Saab 9-3 — the model's median is 86. What they were about is the unusual part: 25.3% of them mention seat, against 6.7% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 95 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 86 |
| Involving a crash | 4 |
| Involving a fire | 2 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| EPA combined | 22 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- seat — 25.3% of this year's complaints, against 6.7% across the model's other years (3.8×).
- belt — 26.3% of this year's complaints, against 8.2% across the model's other years (3.2×). Owners wrote it as: belt, seat belt, side seat, belts.
- convertible — 22.1% of this year's complaints, against 4.9% across the model's other years (4.5×). Owners wrote it as: convertible, out car, arc, slack.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
NHTSA 14V318000 WAS A RECALL FOR SEAT BELTS THAT FAILS TO RETRACT. WHEN I GET INTO MY CAR AND PULL IT OUT TO FASTEN IT OFTEN REMAINS SLACK. THAT EVENT CAUSED ME TO DO RESEARCH AND FIND THE RECALL. BUT IT DID NOT EXTEND TO MY CAR WHICH HAS THE EXACT SAME PROBLE…
THE RETRACTOR FOR THE DRIVER SIDE SEAT BELT IN MY 2005 SAAB 9-3 AERO CONVERTIBLE BROKE. THIS DEFECT IS ALREADY SUBJECT OF A RECALL BY GM. I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER, BUT DID NOT RECEIVE NOTICE OF THIS RECALL. I HAVE CONTACTED GM, THE LOCAL DEALER, AND PARTS DISTR…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 14V318000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 11E009000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 05V236000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
How this was worked out
Every year of the Saab 9-3 was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2005 Saab 9-3? What happened to yours?
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