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Saab 9-3 Recalls

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Recall Date Problem Area Recall Text
03/01/17 General motors llc (gm) is recalling certain model year 2006-2011 saab 9-3 vehicles manufactured may 31, 2002, to february 15, 2011, 2006-2009 saab 9-5 vehicles manufactured june 7, 2005, to may 28, 2009, and 2008-2009 saturn astra vehicles manufactured april 11, 2007, to july 24, 2008. upon deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture.

In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Gm will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflator on saab 9-3 and 9-5 vehicles and will replace the driver's frontal airbag module on saturn astra vehicles, free of charge. the recall began on march 1, 2017. owners may contact saab customer service at 1-800-955-9007 or saturn customer service at 1-800-553-6000. gm's number for this recall is 28810.

Owners may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
06/13/07 On certain passenger vehicles, the fuel pump retaining tabs holding the fuel lines were damaged during production.

Over time, this could cause the fuel lines to loosen from the pump resulting in fuel leakage. if an ignition source were present, the fuel may ignite resulting in a vehicle fire.

Dealers will develop a securing bracket that will secure the fuel lines to the fuel pump even if the plastic retaining tabs should break. the recall began on june 13, 2007. this is an expansion of previous recall campaigns - see 04v557 and 06v126. owners may contact saab at 1-800-955-9007.

Saab recall no. 07052 (15018, 06033). customers may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to http://www.safercar.gov.
05/12/06 On certain passenger vehicles, the fuel pump retaining tabs holding the fuel lines were damaged during production.

Over time, this could cause the fuel lines to loosen from the pump resulting in fuel leakage. if an ignition source were present, the fuel may ignite resulting in a vehicle fire.

Dealers will develop a securing bracket that will secure the fuel lines to the fuel pump even if the plastic retaining tabs should break. the recall began on may 12, 2006. owners may contact saab at 1-800-955-9007.

Saab recall no. 06033.customers may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to http://www.safercar.gov.
03/17/06 Certain sport sedan and convertible passenger vehicles were produced with a vacuum pipe check valve for the brake booster that may fail from exposure to elevated temperatures. this could result in sudden loss of power brake assist, usually with little or no warning.

If this condition were to occur when minimum stopping distance is required, a crash could occur.

Dealers will install a new redesigned check valve. the recall began on march 17, 2006. owners should contact saab at 1-800-955-9007.

Saab recall no. 15019 (gm recall no. 05057).customers can also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236.
03/14/05 On certain passenger vehicles, the fuel pump retaining tabs holding the fuel lines were damaged during production.

Over time, this could cause the fuel lines to loosen from the pump resulting in fuel leakage. if an ignition source were present, the fuel may ignite resulting in a vehicle fire.

Dealers will develop a securing bracket that will secure the fuel lines to the fuel pump even if the plastic retaining tabs should break. the recall began on march 14, 2005. owners should contact saab at 1-800-955-9007.

Saab recall no. 15018 (gm recall no. 04101).customers can also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-dash-2-dot (1-888-327-4236).
03/03/11 Engine Saab is recalling certain model year 2010 and 2011 passenger vehicles manufactured from june 2010 through december 2010. certain fuel pumps installed as original equipment may have internal components with incorrect specifications.

The subject fuel pumps can seize causing the engine to stall which increases the risk of a crash.

Saab will notify owners and replace the defective fuel pumps free of charge. the safety recall began on march 3, 2011. owners may contact saab at 1-800-955-9007.

Saab's recall campaign number is 15029.owners may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to http://www.safercar.gov .
03/13/06 Engine Certain passenger vehicles equipped with b205/b235 4-cylinder gasoline engines and b308 6-cylinder gasoline engines may experience overheating and burnout of the isolated gated bipolar transistor (igbt) within the ignition discharge module (idm) due to increased susceptibility to electrical loads.

Overheating of the igbt occurs most often at engine start-up, but it may also occur while the engine is running. engine stalling may occur, which could result in a crash.

Dealers will inspect to see what version idm is in the vehicle and replace the idm if it is a version built prior to the introduction of qp3. an interim letter will be mailed to owners in october 2005, informing them of the condition. parts are now available and owners will be notified to bring their vehicles in to the dealers to have the idm replaced by letter dated march 13, 2006. owners may contact saab at 1-800-955-9007.

Saab recall no. 05087.customers may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to http://www.safercar.gov.
09/28/01 Suspension and Steering Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. the tie rod end retaining nuts may not have been properly tightened at the factory.

The nut could loosen and fall off resulting in a sudden reduction or loss of steering control.

All vehicles will be inspected and corrected prior to customer delivery. no owner notification will be required.

07/30/01 Electrical and Air Conditioning Vehicle description: certain passenger vehicles fail to comply with requirements of fmvss no. 208, "occupant crash protection." the air bag alert labels may not be permanently affixed as required by this standard.

These vehicles do not comply with the requirements.

Dealers will clean the sunvisor surface and apply a new air bag alert label on both sunvisors. owner notification began july 30, 2001. owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact saab at 1-800-955-9007.

Also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-dash-2-dot (1-888-327-4236).
10/06/15 Other General motors llc (gm) is recalling certain model year 2004-2011 saab 9-3 convertible vehicles manufactured july 30, 2003, to february 15, 2011. in the affected vehicles, the driver's side front seat belt retractor may break, causing the seat belt webbing not to retract.

In the event of a crash, a seat belt that has not retracted may not properly restrain the seat occupant, increasing their risk of injury.

Gm will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's seat belt retractor, free of charge. the recall began on october 6, 2015. owners may contact saab customer service at 1-800-955-9007. gm's number for this recall is 14222. note: special coverage 10086 will replace the passenger side seat belt retractor if it fails, free of charge, for the life of the vehicle.

Owners may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
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05/15/10 Other General motors is recalling certain model year 2004 saab 9-3 sedans. some of these vehicles were produced with front seat belt retractors that, over time, could fail to retract.

Using a seat belt that has not retracted, and in the event of a crash, a seat occupant may not be properly restrained increasing the risk of personal injury.

Dealers will replace the driver side retractor free of charge. if the front passenger retractor were to fail to retract, gm will replace the front passenger retractor free of charge under a special coverage that will be released for the same population for 10 years from new vehicle date of sale. the safety recall is expected to begin during july 2010. owners may contact saab at 1-800-620-7668 or at the owner center at www.gmownercenter.com. note: in june 2014, gm expanded the special coverage from 10 years to be for the lifetime of the vehicle.

Gm's recall no. e090273.owners may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to http://www.safercar.gov .
01/24/05 Other Some sport sedans were built with seat belt retractors that were damaged during the manufacturing process. if damaged, over time, the automatic tensioning system (ats) cable in the seat belt retractor could break causing the belt webbing to not retract.

In the event of a crash, a front seat occupant may receive more severe injuries.

Dealers will replace the seat belt retractor assemblies. the recall began on january 24, 2005. owners should contact saab at 1-800-955-9007.

Saab recall no. 15017. customers can also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-dash-2-dot (1-888-327-4236).
12/29/03 Other Certain passenger vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 207, "seating systems." the backrest locking mechanism on some front seats may have been installed incorrectly.

This could cause the seat back to fold forward in a frontal crash, resulting in injury to the driver and/or front seat passenger.

Dealers will inspect the vehicle's front seats to determine if they are equipped with the improperly installed component. if either or both of the seats have this component, they will be replaced. the dealer may need to order a complete new seat or seats (including matching upholstery) and the parts may take up to two to four weeks to arrive. saab will provide a rental car for the owner until the new seat(s) is (are) available and installed by the dealer. owner notification is expected to begin during february 2004. owners should contact saab at 1-800-955-9007.

Saab recall no. 15014.customers can also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-dash-2-dot (1-888-327-4236).

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Saab 9-3 Recalls

Some things are often misunderstood about recalls and technical service bulletins (TSBs). Plus a disclaimer.

  1. Recalls do not have to be issued only because something is prone to failure. NHTSA (a government agency) can only require a recall if a failure will affect safety, emissions, fuel economy, or compliance with some other regulation or law. Manufacturers can voluntarily recall cars for problems that do not affect these, though.
  2. Recalls often apply to only some cars of a specific model year, rather than all of them. You should receive a letter from the manufacturer if your car has been recalled. You can also check with the dealer, which will know which (if any) recalls pertain to your car.
  3. The primary purpose of TSBs is to inform dealers about known problems with a car and how to fix them. They are not the same as recalls. As with recalls, TSBs often only apply to some cars, not the entire model year.
  4. Dealers often will not provide a preventive repair just because a problem described in a TSB might happen to your car. They'll usually want to observe symptoms that the problem is already affecting your car.
  5. Even if there are symptoms, a manufacturer doesn't have to pick up the cost of a TSB repair if the car is out of warranty, though sometimes they do.

We provide the text of recalls and TSBs as provided by NHTSA. There can be errors in the text. If you sign up for notifications in My Garage, we will try to get these to do, but for various reasons (some beyond our control) cannot guarantee you will receive them. When in doubt about a recall or TSB, contact the dealer.