9-3's warranty about to run out!

Chipping is not usually a warranty item. Flaking would be, but chipping is generally the result of tailgating other people. It's possible that something like a thin primer coat contributes to it, but it's not usually the issue.

Warranty item. Common issue. Make sure you tell them that it is intermittent so that if they don't see it, they will still replace the SID.

Warranty item. Not common at your mileage/age. The wiper motor needs to be replaced. Make sure they know it's intermittent.

Warranty item. Never heard of it before.

Warranty item. Again, unusual.

Bob

Well, here's what they did/didn't do:

1. Paint chips: Sold us touch-up paint
2. Missing line in SID(Radio): Replaced the SID, but with the original SID, and not the new style SID with more buttons/features (I knew someone who got his replaced from the older style to the newer one under Waranty)
3. Headlight wiper not parking: They, and I quote- "Reset" the headlight wipers... hmmm- but it seems to work now
4. AM radio not working: They re-grounded the Antenna, seems to be fine now
5. Door Moulding: They said that it was caused by the car hitting something, and they didn't fix it... hmmm - It doesn't appear to have hit anything (maybe a really bad pot hole)... now they did something so its half coming off and worse than before... Super glue anyone? ;-) Thats all for now

Expected.

Not the greatest, but they fulfilled their warranty.

I don't buy that - there's nothing to reset. I suspect that they set the position of the wiper arm itself and maybe checked the connections. Perhaps you had a dirty connection on the full time power lead. Keep an eye on it, if it starts acting up again be sure to go back with your slip in hand. I think warranty work is re-warrented for at least 30, maybe 90 days.

A new motor is $200 at the dealer, $129 at eeuroparts.com. You don't want to buy one if you don't have to.

I suspect that they are right. This is not a normal occurrence. Go to an autoparts store and get some "3M Auto Trim Adhesive". You need a store that sells Body Shop supplies. Don't use superglue.

Bob

While you're in the warranty mode you might also want to have them check:

1) if you have the manual climate control, that the heater box has been replaced/repaired since new. The controls stiffen as time goes on and the plastic actuator breaks, rendering your airflow control useless. My dealer did not replace the entire heater box however, In the Saab club newsetter, Nines, they detail this as being inherant with all 9-3's 1999 through 2002. 2) If you've not seen "Service Theft Alarm" on the SID, you soon will. Tell your dealer you have been seeing the warning intermitently. This warning is due to a drained back up battery in the siren unit, which cannot be replaced on its own; the entire siren assembly needs to be replaced and costs about $300.00 ! Mine started to issue the warning at about 130,000 Kilometres (sorry, not sure of the conversion, but I'm sure it's close to your 50,000 miles) 3) The ignition cassette (red, long plastic thing on top of engine) will certainly go on you (car won't start) sooner than later. I was unable to notice any symtoms until it was too late. This part cost me close to $400.00 Canadian, but is available, I found out later, on e-bay and Europarts.com for about $160.00 US. You might want to buy one for "jsut in case" purposes. That's my two cents worth. If you want more information, I have owned my car since new and have had very few problems with it. A great car that will run forever if you take care of it. Mike Morten

Actually, that's eeuroparts.com (notice the "ee"). The price, last I checked, was $239 shipped. They are excellent for other parts too.

If you have over 50K miles on your DI cassette, you should carry one in the trunk. You will need it sooner or later and you don't get many miles of warning.

Bob

Did mine a few weeks ago - procedure is just as described by Mike and takes no more than 5 minutes using the SAAB toolkit. Obviously take the keys out of the ignition when you do this - if you're feeling particulary diligent disconnect the battery.

One precaution that may be worth taking: if the new DI cardtridge has been stored on its side or upside down, allow it to stand for ~15 minutes after fitting it but before starting the car to allow the oil in the coils to settle.

I recall reading somewhere that the transformer oil used in the coils is rather viscous. I don't know how careful you have to be in that regard and this advice may apply only to the older cartridges with individually replaceable coils. Either way, a 15 minute wait is cheap insurance against burning out the coils in a new DI cassette.

A common failure for the newer DI cassettes is a in an intermediate

400 volt step-up stage, whereas the older cassettes tended to suffer more from burnt out individual HT coils.

AndyH '94 9000 CDE

I think the only thing Saab gives you are some Torx drivers.

BTW - if you have a NG900 or 9~3 with 50K+ miles, you should carry a spare upper idler pulley and a spare serpentine belt. Or, just replace them at 50K and keep the old ones as a spare in case of emergency. It's another easy repair that you can do yourself - and another component that is known to fail. Cost of the pulley & belt is < $75 at the stealer.

Bob

Dealer mechanics have boat payments you know ;-)

-Chris (who definately stole that from Click and Clack, the hosts of Car Talk)

'99 9-3 '94 900SE V6 '87 9000S

He, he, he, that's just the parts :-). The dealer charges another few bucks to install them. BTW - the parts guy has a boat and a vacation home too, always check

first. Bob