All generations and engines together · 7,078 MOT tests in the 2025 data
Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 7,078 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
The 1.9 diesel needs its timing belt, tensioner, waterpump and auxiliary belt changed as a set, and owners who skip it are gambling: the waterpump can seize and take the belt with it, wrecking the engine. The same diesel is known for inlet manifold swirl flaps breaking up and getting ingested, plus EGR valves clogging and choking the DPF, both of which bring on a yellow engine light and a limp or smoky drive. Belt/pump work is due around every 5 years or 60,000 miles; a snapped belt job runs into four figures, an EGR valve replacement is more like £300-400.
On 1.9 diesel automatics, the transmission fluid heat exchanger sits in the radiator, and when it fails it lets engine coolant mix into the automatic transmission fluid. The result is contaminated ATF and a gearbox that can shift roughly or fail outright, with owners often finding out only once the damage is done. Replacing the heat exchanger is a moderate job, but a transmission that's already been run on coolant-contaminated fluid can mean a very expensive rebuild.
The steering column's electronic control module (CIM) houses the steering angle sensor, and when it fails it takes the ESP/traction control system down with it, which is enough to fail an MOT on its own. It's a repeatedly reported electrical fault across the range rather than something Saab (or GM, post-2010) ever issued a recall for. Watch for a permanently lit ESP or steering warning light; module replacement plus recoding isn't cheap, typically several hundred pounds at a specialist.
On the B207 2.0-litre turbo petrol, the plastic balance chain tensioner slipper is the part specialists point to first when a car develops a rattle from the timing cover, especially on cars that have had extended oil change intervals or the wrong oil grade. Left alone it can let the chain jump or shed debris into the sump. A cold start rattle that fades as revs rise is the classic tell; a full chain, guides and tensioner kit is a proper job, more than a day's labour plus parts.
The 9-3 Convertible's folding roof relies on a hydraulic pump, ram and several micro-switches, and any one of them playing up can leave the roof stuck half open, half closed, or refusing to move at all. Owners report leaks from the hydraulic lines and pump wear as the roof ages, alongside sensor faults that stop the system completing its cycle. A full diagnosis and repair varies hugely depending on which part has failed, from a simple switch to a pump replacement running into four figures.
Owners have long complained about creaks and knocks from the rear suspension bushes, and about how hard genuine replacement bushes are to source once the car is older. The measured MOT data backs this up: suspension is the standout fault category for the 9-3, with claims data putting it well above other mechanical systems on this model. It's rarely a big single bill, more a steady trickle of bush and mount replacements as the car ages past 60-80k miles.
Built from the two sections above.
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