Faults:

Replaced transmission at 175,000. Other than that, fantastic car.

General Comments:

I have 243,000 and still going strong. My son just had a major accident with it. Air bags deployed and broke windshield, but car only had a few breaks in the bumper. Guard rail was smashed in 4 ft. Cut out the airbags and drove the car away. Mileage is 24 on the 80% highway and 20% city with this station wagon. Definitely would get another one.

Faults:

Camshaft position drive and sensor at 57,000.

Upper O2 sensors at 64,000.

General Comments:

7 years old when we bought it with 39K on odometer. Not what we wanted originally (it's a Wagon), but the price was good and we were in desperate need.

We have driven this car 40K miles over the past 2 1/2 years. It's not an exciting or fun car, but we are still very pleased with it. We don't like trucks or SUV's, so the Wagon is great for our frequent trips to the home improvement store.

The Ford 3.0 V-6 is a super engine and gets decent gas mileage (had same experience with a Taurus we owned previously).

Comfortable interior and upholstery has held up well for age and mileage. A/C is ice cold.

The only repairs are noted above - the rest is regular maintenance. We service it regularly and keep the fluids fresh which I believe is the key. I do worry about the fwd transaxle as they are not known for longevity. This car's a keeper so would replace a trans if needed.

If you're looking for performance and excitement, this car is not for you. If you are looking for a comfortable "every-man's" car, the Sable/Taurus is a great choice.

Faults:

When I 1st bought my 97 Mercury Sable at 27,000 miles on 1st sign of cool weather the mice eat the wires under the hood. I don't know if the mechanic at dealers had food on his hands or because the car sits so low to the ground. Only time that it happened and I had never had a car that wires were chewed on it before.

The water pump went come spring and the a/c soon followed. They finally found out there had been a leak?only way to fix problem is to replace the entire a/c so I have been without an a/c most time I have owned the car.

So at 137.000 miles just had the turn signals replaced last month and today the power steering pump because it is made out of cheap plastic.

General Comments:

This car has overall been a very good car.

Smooth ride, but seems average gas wise.

The windows always seems to have mechanical problems.

Now at 137,000 miles its the window locks.

Transmission and motor still works.

Had to change the pvc valve, but not the belt yet.

The rubber seals around the windows seem to be going bad at this point..

Faults:

Transmission started "kicking" above 3000 RPMs.

Mysteriously stalls at idle, i. e when stopped at a red light I have to shift into neutral.

Faulty seals around tail lights allow for water to creep inside.

Power seats sometimes do not work.

Burns oil.

Power windows broke about every 5,000 miles. Cheap, but annoying repair.

Abysmal gas mileage.

General Comments:

I owned this car for about 5 years. The man I bought it from was in his seventies and only put 15,000 miles on it in 4 years. He took extremely good care of this car which I continued to do after I purchased it. I owned Hondas previously, but wanted something more comfortable for my daily 2 hour commute.

This car was horrible. Even though I took care of it with regular oil changes and changing the timing belt, water pump, etc. it was a disaster. The most high maintenence car I've ever owned. It handled poorly, got abysmal gas mileage and in retrospect, was not even that comfortable. I also did not care for the computerized climate control; it made it very difficult to maintain a comfortable atmosphere.

On the bright side, it was relatively quick for such a heavy car.