NHTSA Complaint #10302316 — 2004 SAAB 9-3

THE HALOGEN HEADLIGHTS ON THE SAAB 9-3, FROM 2003 THROUGH PRESENT, DO NOT ADEQUATELY ILLUMINATE THE ROADWAY. THIS TYPE OF HEADLIGHT LAMP DESIGN IS KNOWN AS A "PROJECTOR BEAM" & IS A DIFFERENT CONCEPT THAN TRADITIONAL HEADLIGHTS. THEY'RE DESIGNED TO BETTER ILLUMINATE ROAD SIGNS & PERIPHERAL ROAD MARKERS, WHICH THEY DO, BUT AS FAR AS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF HEADLIGHTS, (TO ILLUMINATE THE ROADWAY IN FRONT OF THE VEHICLE) THEY ARE INADEQUATE & ONLY EXTEND LIGHT ABOUT 40' DOWN THE ROADWAY, WHICH IS NOT NEARLY ENOUGH TO DRIVE SAFELY AT NIGHT. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS COMPLAINT IS ONLY REGARDING THE LOWBEAM HALOGEN HEADLIGHTS, AS BOTH THE HIGHBEAMS & OPTIONAL XENON TYPE HEADLIGHTS ARE MORE THAN ADEQUATE. THE IRONY OF THIS PROBLEM IS THAT THE SAAB 9-3 IS AMONG THE VERY SAFEST CARS AVAILABLE TODAY, FROM A CRASH TEST PERSPECTIVE, BUT NIGHTTIME VISIBILITY IS A SEPARATE SAFETY RELATED ISSUE WHICH I'VE NEVER SEEN TEST RESULTS FOR. MY FAMILY HAS OWNED SAABS EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE LAST 30 YEARS & HAVEN'T HAD THIS HEADLIGHT PROBLEM UNTIL WE PURCHASED A SAAB MODEL 9-3, OF WHICH WE NOW OWN 2: AN '04 & AN '07, BOTH OF WHICH SUFFER FROM THE SAME PROBLEM. IF YOU ACCESS THE WEBSITE WWW.SAABNET.COM & SEARCH ON "DIM HEADLIGHTS", YOU'LL SEE NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS REGARDING THIS SAME ISSUE. *TR