2006 Saab 9-3: brake failure

Filed Jul 3, 2010 · Brakes · 53,000 miles · FL

Brake vacuum pipe check valve broke apart, resulting in a loss of braking power and check engine fault. Car was not drivable after incident.

Filed Nov 24, 2009 · Brakes · 32,500 miles · TN

Intermittent brake failure. More noticeable at cold starts pulling out forward or backward. Brake pedal goes to the floor with very little braking power. Very dangerous to drive and we parked the car and contacted the dealer. They have now had the car for 4 weeks and are waiting on a part from the factory. This is a very dangerous situation on this car and could very easily result in an accident with injuries or death. I am a male and it was all I could do to get the car stopped on at least 2 occasions. I had to use the emergency brake on one occasion to avoid a collision. This car has 32,000 miles on it. The dealer said the problem was a vacuum line on the brake booster but the replacement must come from saab. I am not sure if this will resolve the problem or not.

Filed Aug 7, 2009 · Brakes · 40,000 miles · IL

Similar issue to the federal safety agency defect investigation # pe08005. Loss of brake power assist after a cold start up and reversing. The vehicle is very hard to stop, requiring high pedal pressure, until the car has warmed up for ~30 seconds. This has occurred numerous times over the past 6 months. It is more prominent after sitting for several days. Also while driving on the road, when a bump is hit while brakes are applied, brakes make a metal-on-metal grinding sound and the braking action does not work until additional pressure is applied. This also happened when braking on slippery road conditions such as snow or rain. This caused a near accident when my car did not stop for another 10 feet than intended and entered an intersection on a red light.

Filed Jul 26, 2009 · Brakes · 51,000 miles · GA

Loss of brake power assist after a cold start up. The vehicle is very hard to stop, requiring high pedal pressure, until the car has warmed up for ~30 seconds. This has occurred numerous times over the past 6 months.

Filed May 1, 2008 · Brakes · 15,000 miles · NC

Loss of brake power assist after a cold start up. The vehicle is very hard to stop, requiring high pedal pressure, until the car has warmed up for ~30 seconds. This has occurred numerous times over the past 6 months. The car has been left with 2 different dealers on several occasions, to allow them to observe and diagnose the problem. They have never been able to duplicate it. I have given the dealers info about the current the federal safety agency investigation (pe08005) pertaining to this same complaint for this model car from several other sources, and noted that earlier models of this car were recalled for a (possibly) similar defect.

Filed Feb 8, 2008 · Brakes · 18,000 miles · IL

Intermittent loss of brake power assist on cold start, giving very hard pedal. Recovers with several pumps of brake pedal, or several seconds of idle time. Began about mid-june, 2007, and was reported to dealer. Behavior is not consistent, and may vary with weather conditions. Barely avoided a low-speed accident in a parking deck first time it happened. Car taken to dealer specifically to identify / repair problem on 11-7-07. Dealer response has been positive, but unable to locate specific problem. Dealer found that other saab 9-3 aero (v6) models exhibited similar characteristic, including brand new 08. Further pursuit with saab got negative response, as dealer was unable to find the problem, and reported the car "normal" in that it behaved as other similar models on cold start. I then reported to a saab owner website, and responses from others LED to coverage of current the federal safety agency investigation pe08005.

Filed Nov 29, 2007 · Brakes · 15,383 miles · CO · crash

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 saab 9-3. The contact discovered that his brakes failed shortly after starting the vehicle when he placed the vehicle in reverse to back out of his parking space. When the transmission is shifted from park into reverse or drive before the engine has been warmed up, the brakes do not work to slow the vehicle and the brake pedal feels rock hard. To stop the vehicle the contact shifted the transmission into park. Brake function appeared to return to normal after the engine warmed up. This failure has occurred on four separate occasions. At 15,383, the contact struck another vehicle when the brakes failed while reversing out of a parking space. The crash occurred at low-speed approximately 2mph and no one was injured. The contact's vehicle was scratched but there was no apparent damage to the other vehicle. Dealer replaced electric vacuum pump multiple times under warranty. Contact claims faulty vacuum check valve caused brake booster to leak and electric vacuum pump to run too long and burn out. The contact pursued remedy under lemon law and the vehicle was repurchased by saab on january 7, 2008.