NHTSA Complaint #10014184 — 2003 SAAB 9-3

I PURCHASED A 2003 SAAB 9-3 LINEAR W/ LAUNCH PACKAGE (STEEL GREY) APPROXIMATELY 2 MONTHS AGO. FOUR DAYS AFTER MY PURCHASE I WAS DRIVING USING THE STEPTRONIC SHIFTING AND THE CAR LOST POWER. WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON AND THE DASH SAID TO PULL OVER AND CONTACT SAAB. WHEN I ATTEMPTED TO ACCELERATE AND PULL OVER, A SEVERE GRINDING NOISE WAS HEARD AND FELT UNDER MY RIGHT FOOT. I CALLED ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE AND THEY BROUGHT IT BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP. AFTER SEVERAL DAYS THE DEALERSHIP SAID THEY SAW A COMPUTER EVENT "WHEEL SPEED MISMATCH" BUT WAS NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED OR HOW THIS WAS CAUSED. THEY SAID WHEN THE CAR DETECTS A PROBLEM IT DISABLES PORTIONS OF THE ENGINE AND COMPUTERS AND ONLY ALLOWS YOU TO GO APPROX 20 MPH TO MAKE A SAFE STOP. THE DEALERSHIP CALLED THIS "LIMP HOME MODE" THEY SAID IT WAS SIMILAR TO A WINDOWS "SAFE MODE". AS YOU COULD IMAGINE I WAS ANGRY BUT UNDERSTAND SOMETIMES UNEXPLAINABLE THINGS HAPPEN. NOW LESS THAN 2 MONTHS LATER IT HAPPENED AGAIN. THIS TIME THOUGH I WAS ON THE FREEWAY IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC. AFTER NEARLY GETTING INTO AN ACCIDENT I MANAGED TO CALL SAAB ROADSIDE AND AGAIN THEY HAD TO TOW ME. ALL OF THE SYMPTOMS WERE THE SAME AND EVEN THE GRINDING.. I SIT HERE WITH A LOANER WAITING FOR INFO ON THE CAUSE. I WAS WONDERING IF ANYONE ELSE HERE HAS EXPERIENCED ANYTHING SIMILAR? OR HAS ANYONE HERE HEARD OF ANYTHING LIKE THIS WITH THE SAAB? ANY INFORMATION OR INSIGHT WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.*JB