Preliminary Evaluation · Closed
FRONT SUSPENSION COIL SPRING FRACTURE
Manufacturer: SAAB CARS USA, INC.
What NHTSA is examining
On august 28, 2008, the office of defects investigation (odi) opened a preliminary evaluation (pe08-051) to investigate alleged front suspension coil spring fractures in certain model year (my) 2003-2004 saab 9-3 vehicles sold or registered in salt belt states.(note: for purposes of this investigation, the salt belt includes connecticut, delaware, the district of columbia, illinois, indiana, iowa, maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, missouri, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, west virginia and wisconsin).subsequent analysis of data provided by general motors corp. (gm) has led the agency to expand the scope of this investigation to include all my 2003-2006 saab 9-3 vehicles sold or registered in salt belt states. To date, odi is aware of 53 non-duplicative complaints and/or field reports that allege coil spring fracture in the subject vehicles, including 23 alleging the fractured spring damaged a tire, with 16 of those involving a tire puncture.analysis of warranty data provided by gm identified 1,218 claims paid to repair subject vehicles that experienced the alleged defect, of which 138 vehicles also suffered damage to the adjacent tire and of those, 79 vehicles experienced a tire puncture.odi is not aware of any crashes or injuries related to the alleged defect. Gm made several design changes to the coil springs and/or mcpherson strut assemblies used in the subject vehicles in an apparent effort to address the…
Vehicles under investigation
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation records, updated daily. An investigation is not a determination that a defect exists; many probes close without a recall.