Owners have filed 139 complaints on the Saab 9-7X, covering 2005–2009. The system named most often is Exterior Lighting (36 reports). Worst years by volume: 2006, 2007, 2008; cleanest: 2009, 2005, 2008. 0 reports describe a crash, 11 a fire. On average the car was 6.6 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Saab 9-7X
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 139 9-7X complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Exterior Lighting 36 Read
The contact owns a 2008 saab 9-7x. After starting the vehicle, the headlights failed to function when activated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where the lamp control relay fuse was replaced on two separate occasions. In addition, there was damage to the fuse box and the head lamp driver module…
The contact owns a 2009 saab 9-7x. The contact stated that right headlight was brighter than the left one, when the headlights were on, the right headlight would point downward, making it difficult for other drivers to see the vehicle and for the contact to see oncoming vehicles. Furthermore, when the high beams were…
The contact owns a 2009 saab 9-7x. While driving approximately 40 mph, the front headlights became inoperable without warning. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated that the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 14V755000 (exterior lighting). The…
Electrical System 32 Read
My wife and I were on the drive thru line at wendys, it was raining out and I cracked the front passenger window for a litle air. A minute later we smelled something burning we werent sure where the smell was coming from until my passenger side window/lock/and heated seat switch started to emit smoke. Of course we…
Driver side window/door panel started smoking. Window and door controls do not work. The sideview mirror control rolled down the window and now the entire unit does not work. Electrical smell throughout the car
Upon entering my vehicle and starting it, I attempted to roll down the drivers side window and the window began to smoke and would not roll up or down. No trouble with it before hand
Fuel System 32 Read
On numerous occasions while driving my vehicle, it has registered half a tank to a quarter tank of fuel. While driving, with no warning, the vehicle has stalled, and later was determined to be out of gas. It has occurred at least 4 occasions in the past 6-8 months, always while I was on the highway
The first time I noticed a problem I was at the gas station. My fuel gauge indicated the vehicle was close to empty and needed gas. The vehicle has a 22-gal tank, but the pump stopped at 10 gallons. It would not take any more. I thought that was odd. I had never had any other problems with the vehicle. Since the…
Less than 100 miles after the manufacturer warranty ended, after filling the gas tank, the gauge dropped to "empty" and the gas light came on. After driving for several miles the gauge started fluctuating between full and empty, and seemed to be accurate after a while. This continued for a few weeks, but eventually…
Fuel/propulsion System 7 Read
After filling up at the gas station a few days ago, I started the car and I got the low fuel light and warning ding. I turned the car off, restarted it and it showed I had a full tank of gas. As I drove to work (less the 2 miles) the gauge quickly went back down to empty and the light/ding came on. Over the next few…
My fuel gauge read empty after I filled up my tank. After driving for a few miles my service engine soon light came on. It will spontaneously read full, then empty then partially full then near empty etc etc. In researching this topic this seems to be a well documented issue for gm and it appears in the luck of the…
Fuel gauge stopped reporting actual level of fuel in the tank about 2 years ago. Guage remains pointed at 1/4 full tank level at all times. Forced to keep track of fuel level by resetting the milage tracker at each tank fill-up. When miles reach around 250 its time to find a gas station to fill up again. Have run out…
Power Train 5 Read
The contact owns a 2009 saab 9-7x. The contact stated that while driving 70 mph, the transmission engaged into neutral independently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection and they stated that the software needed to be updated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified but provided no…
While driving the car it cuts off while in the drive gear. This happened 4 times, twice while driving on the beltway all within a 3 week period. I have e to put the car in park and wait about 2 minutes then start it up again. I was scared to drive the car after the second time stopping on the beltway, so I had the car…
When the steering wheel is near locked (virtually fully engaged in a tight radius turn) the rear differential of the vehicle and wheels begin to slip, appear as though the vehicle is on gravel and wheel hop and "crow hopping" occurs and the driver is unable to make the vehicle go forward or backward under power. My…
Suspension 5 Read
2007 saab 9-7x with several problems. Consumer would like the dealer to buy back the vehicle due to these problems. He states that the side mirror control does not work, grinding noise while turning right which was fixed previously
The compressor and/or suspension air bags for the electronically controlled air suspension system began to periodically fail to raise the rear portion of the vehicle. The problem continued to occur periodically especially when the temperature fell below 35 degrees which made me suspect whether the system was built to…
None of the drivers side front electric is working, air suspension died, no low beam
Air Bags 4 Read
Side airbags deployed randomly while driving down the road. This was not due to an accident or any type of impact. It was a random event. The vehicle is currently at the saab/volvo dealership in charlotte, nc where it was originally purchased. They are trying to figure out why this happened and the dealership is…
Side air bags exploded when we were turning and ran over a curb at about ten mph speed
The contact owns a 2006 saab 97x. The contact stated that while driving 45 mph both side curtain air bags deployed without a crash occurring. The front driver and passenger pretension on the side of the vehicle broke as well. The contact drove onto the emergency lane and saw no damage relative to a crash. The contact…
Engine 4 Read
I got a trouble code for cylinder #7 misfire. It is the lifters going out due to the afm or dod, whatever gm calls it. The system shutting down the 8 cylinder to 4 cylinders. $3000 job for something that I'm sure gm is very aware of. These 5.3s with this afm will have this problem. It's just a matter of when
The contact owns a 2007 saab 9-7x. The contact stated that the vehicle was burning oil and the consumption of oil was excessive. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis. The manufacturer had an engineer inspect the vehicle, who determined that the motor mount would need to be replaced. After the repair the…
The contact owns a 2007 saab 9-7x. While driving at 35 mph, the check engine warning light, the oil indicator light, and the "stop driving vehicle, take the vehicle to a dealer" indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer. The technician diagnosed that the engine coil needed to be replaced. The vehicle…
9-7X years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | — | 1 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | — | 5 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | — | 2 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | — | 2 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 72 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.9 |
| Worst single series | 7 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 6.6 years |
A model average of 1.9 hides a worst series at 7. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the 9-7X?
By complaint volume, 2006, 2007, 2008 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which 9-7X years are the cleanest?
2009, 2005, 2008 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Saab 9-7X have?
139 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2005–2009. Of those, 0 describe a crash and 11 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.