[Mobius 1]

I was reading this thread which shows the right and wrong ignition coils for the car I have and where to get them. I purchased an Intermotor coil from Advance Auto a few weeks ago and received the correct one with the embossed Saab and Mitsubishi on the side, but when I purchased another one yesterday from the same store it came in a different box (still said Intermotor tho) and had no markings on it; no part number or anything. The cashier informed me that it was an aftermarket part, but I returned it anyway just to be safe (didn't install it). My question is, since the above thread doesn't discuss aftermarket coils and only shows the difference between real and knock-offs, would an aftermarket ignition coil be okay to use or should I look for another store with the proper coils?


EDIT: Additionally the referenced thread says that Airtex Wells is a known good brand of ignition coil to purchase on rockauto, but they don't seem to carry that anymore, at least not for my car (`06 9-3 2.0t SS) and none of the images for any of the coils available show whether or not it has the proper embossed markings. Is there another brand I can get from rockauto that's trustworthy?

 

[Diggs]

No. Try another advance auto that has a coil in stock.

 

[Mobius 1]

No. Try another advance auto that has a coil in stock.

Ok thank you.

 

[Silver SAAB]

I wouldn't have trusted it either. Wouldn't put it past someone to swap out a fake coil and try to return it.

I noticed Autozone's Duralast coil's have the Saab/Mitsubishi stamp on them too. If you need one today and you have an AutoZone near by, maybe try them. Obviously take it out of the box and look before you buy.


Save $10 coupon good until 7/28: https://www.autozone.com/cdn/images/B2C/US/media/FY19/P11/LightBox/SAVE10-M.pdf

 

[Mobius 1]

I wouldn't have trusted it either. Wouldn't put it past someone to swap out a fake coil and try to return it.

I noticed Autozone's Duralast coil's have the Saab/Mitsubishi stamp on them too. If you need one today and you have an AutoZone near by, maybe try them. Obviously take it out of the box and look before you buy.


Save $10 coupon good until 7/28: https://www.autozone.com/cdn/images/B2C/US/media/FY19/P11/LightBox/SAVE10-M.pdf

Yeah, I'm on their website right now looking at the coils. There are a few near me but I usually prefer Advance Auto when possible. Thank you for the coupon, I could only find ones that are eligible when you ship to home and not for in-store pick up. I was going to order online and take advantage of free next day shipping (as well as 20% off for ship-to-home orders only) but I'd rather not deal with the hassle of having to return it when I can just go there and see it before I buy it.

 

[Diggs]

Yup those should be good too.

 

[Klunky Chris]

I recently posted that I 'store picked up' an incorrect coil from Advance with a big return hassle due to online ordering.

Drove 1/8 mile down the road to Autozone and the coil they had in stock was correct.

IMO you definitely need to look at it before buying. If in stock call and ask them to look before driving over. When online/picking up IMMEDIATELY tell them you want to visually confirm it before picking it up. Advance processed my pickup WHILE I was looking at it, then told me they couldn't return it "because of the system". Had to drive it back a day later and convince the store manager.
See... NO returns on ignition parts...

 

[Mobius 1]

Yup those should be good too.

Yeah, I picked one up earlier and it had the corrected markings. The only feature different from the ones currently in my car was a Duralast sticker on the top of it.

I recently posted that I 'store picked up' an incorrect coil from Advance with a big return hassle due to online ordering.

Drove 1/8 mile down the road to Autozone and the coil they had in stock was correct.

IMO you definitely need to look at it before buying. If in stock call and ask them to look before driving over. When online/picking up IMMEDIATELY tell them you want to visually confirm it before picking it up. Advance processed my pickup WHILE I was looking at it, then told me they couldn't return it "because of the system". Had to drive it back a day later and convince the store manager.
See... NO returns on ignition parts...

I ordered online and did store pickup from Advance Auto as well so I could take advantage of a 22% off coupon. I visually inspected in when picking it up and realized immediately it wasn't what I wanted and had the same issue; I had to come back because the order needed time to process and complete. I went back the same day, maybe 5 hours later, and was able to return it after I explained what happened. The person I dealt with while picking it up was there, but didn't process my return, someone else did with no issues. While browsing AutoZone's site I learned that ignition coils can be returned (unused) there for store credit only so I went over to buy it and inspected it before paying. The cashier actually took it out and handed it to me to check without me having to ask or do it myself.

 

[MaxFubar]

Quality and Price

Are they any good, and what's the cost? I'm needing one by the end of the month, cause my chinese one is going out after 2 years.

Thanks

 

[Nordic-Machine]

Are they any good, and what's the cost? I'm needing one by the end of the month, cause my chinese one is going out after 2 years.

Thanks

I'm surprised that the chinese one lasted that long. Did the car run without any misfire?

 

[Jitters]

I too attempted to install aftermarket coils before I was made aware that they would not work. I then bought a set of the correct coils from Autozone and have had no problems since.

 

[MaxFubar]

Worked for a while

I'm surprised that the chinese one lasted that long. Did the car run without any misfire?

I put it on when I first got the car in 2017, and the car ran fine after that and new plugs, new fuel pump, up to about a few months ago i noticed my gas mileage went down 3 mpg's and couldn't figure out what was the problem, cause the car seemed to run just fine, until here recently it started cutting out at high speeds when accelerating. It almost died the other day I was coming home from short trip out of town, but started running alright again after a while, but when I parked it I checked it out with my obd2 meter and showed a P1304 missfire on cylinder 4, so the $60 chinese DIC did fairly well for a few years, but I'm getting the real m'coy this time with the SEM OEM DIC to put on it next week, and new plugs to, and we'll see how she runs after that. Them chinese one's are good for emergency spares I reckon.

 

[ET160]

Just buy used.

 

[Milo123]

I didn't read any of the answers to your question but will give you my immediate experience. My wife's 2004 Saab 9-3 aero was giving the common coil failure signs, so I started researching the issue. First I started with buying used original Saab coils. This was a hit and miss as you don't know if you are getting 100% working ones or some that failed or are about to fail. The issue reappeared a few month later and was narrowed down to one of the replaced coils.


My next step was to buy a complete set of aftermarket coils from Amazon and they made the car run even worse. Returned them.


On to Autozone OEM type replacement coils. I re-installed the two original working coils and replaced the two faulty coils with the Autozone coils. This fixed the issue for a short while, but when my daughter drove the car to San Diego, it came back limping with emergency mode on due to misfiring on the two cylinders with the AZ coils.


Enough is enough! I then bought two original Saab coils from Eeuroparts complete with Saab logo and Saab sticker price, and never looked back. It fixed the problem immediately and has been going strong ever since. Forget "used", forget aftermarket, forget OEM, forget trying to save money on this critical part - go Saab original and eat the price, in the long run it will save you time and money. Never going cheap coils again.


That's my rant and I'm sticking to it.

 

[Nordic-Machine]

Just buy used.

I wouldn't recommend used coils. It may fix the problem on a car with a stock map but not on one with a remap.

 

[aerojon]

Are they any good, and what's the cost? I'm needing one by the end of the month, cause my chinese one is going out after 2 years.

Thanks

you've got a 9-5,9-3 MY03 onwards doesn't have a DIC has individual coils..