2005 Saab 9-3: tire blowout or tread separation

Filed Feb 24, 2012 · Suspension · 77,000 miles · MI

A few weeks ago, I began to notice a clunking sound near front driver's side tire when going over bumps in the road. Upon investigation this week, I could see that the coil spring was broken right through the metal. I had never hears of anything like that. Mileage is approximately 77,000. Drove it to the mechanic, who confirmed that there is a broken spring. They informed me that, although the part is not expensive, there are none available, that this is a known defect, and the part is on a national backorder! I never rec'd any sort of notification from saab about this. The mechanic also said that I was incredibly lucky that the break didn't happen on the freeway, that it could have taken out the brand new front tire. I have a young daughter and I volunteer to drive other school kids on a weekly basis--this could have been catastrophic. Until a new spring is found, I was told not to drive the car, that it could blow out the tire at any time. There is no eta on the new part. Even though saab is bankrupt, there's a local dealer still in business, so I'm the wait list for the part with them as well. In the meantime, I'm stuck.

Filed Apr 5, 2011 · Suspension · 53,000 miles · NY

Since I bought my car (new) in june '05 I have complained of a "crunching noise" in the front suspension every time the weather turned cold. I was told the problems varied from ball bearings to the sway bar, to just dirt build up. Each time the dealer made some "repair" to get me out the door. The problem continued. Now, april '11 I have a broken spring in the front passenger side. I have been told that I have to pay the dealer to diagnose the problem before they will consider fixing it under any special circumstance free of charge. I have sourced some parts for it and am considering having it fixed by myself, rather than go to the dealer who brushed me off for 5 years. Thankfully I was just pulling out of my parking spot when I heard the grinding noise from the front passenger side and I was not traveling at a high rate of speed when this happened. The spring broke downward and was very near the tire. There could have been a serious tire blowout on the highway had I not been so lucky.

Filed Mar 6, 2011 · Suspension · 55,662 miles · NH

2005 saab 9-3 driver's side front strut spring just broke. No warning, drove yesterday and car was fine, went to back out of garage and a terrible grinding, scraping noise occurred. Discovered the spring broke and rubbing against tire. Luckily this did not occur while driving at normal speeds. Seems like it could have caused tire blow out and possibly an accident.

Filed Dec 7, 2009 · Suspension · 44,500 miles · MA

My 2005 saab 93 44,500 miles. While driving to work on a six lane divided highway (i495) in the right travel lane the right front coil spring broke and shred the tire causing a blow out. The driver had never before experienced a tire blow out and was startled and jerked the steering wheel to the left in a moment of panic and the car began to slide sideways while scrubbing off speed. The car remained mostly in the right travel lane. There wasn't much traffic on the road at 5am and the car did not hit any other vehicles or objects. The driver regained control of the vehicle and pulled off the right shoulder of the road and got out of the vehicle to examine the damage. The right front tire was flat so the driver jacked the car up and removed the tire. Immediately apparent was the broken coil spring. The driver did not want to spend the money for a tow truck. Instead, the driver decided to install the temporary space saver spare tire and limp the car home by driving on the shoulder for about 10 minutes at 30mph with the hazard warning lights flashing. The car was parked in the driveway and another vehicle was driven to work. Later a mechanic was hired to repair the vehicle where it was parked in the owner's driveway. Both front coil springs and the damaged tire were replaced at a total cost of approximately $600.

Filed Feb 27, 2009 · Suspension · 48,000 miles · ME

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 saab 9-3. The contact stated that the front passenger side coil spring failed. While driving 45 MPH, she heard a noise as her front passenger side tire blew out. The vehicle was pulled to the side of the road and towed to a repair shop. The manufacturer has not been notified. The contact called her insurance company. The failure mileage was 48,000.