Faults:

There was something wrong with the idle one time, but my mechanic replaced a leaking hose and that fixed it.

One rear power window quit working, but I have not bothered with fixing it.

Other than that, it has been totally reliable and has never let me down or stranded me. The car has been inexpensive to own, and maintenance has also been cheap.

General Comments:

The Sable is kind of a mundane human transportation pod, but as such I have been satisfied with it. The car is comfortable and quiet, and being a wagon it can carry a lot of stuff. Although not a race car, the Duratec V6 has more than ample power for every day getting around. I am upset that Ford stopped making these smaller wagons.

Faults:

Transmission rebuild - at 44,000 miles???

Engine misfire - required major tune up. At 44,400 miles???

General Comments:

Beware of transmission problems with this generation of Taurus and Sable! We found our 2002 Sable LS Premium with only 44000 miles on the odometer. Really clean and fair price.

Five days after purchase, the transmission warning light flashed. Turns out it had a bad torque converter and pump shaft, which we since find out is a very common issue with these cars, and Ford refused to recall. $1600 to repair, and for an additional $400, might as well go for a complete rebuild. Fortunately the seller agreed to pitch in half of the cost (he claims to not have been previously aware of the problem).

A week later the engine began to misfire badly. Mechanic recommended a major tune up and replaced the coil. That took care of the problem.

Since the above two problems right out of the gate, the car has been great. On the good side, the 3.0 Duratec has ample power. The car is quiet, smooth and comfortable. Gas mileage not too bad for a full-size. And wow, what a stereo! (Mach Premium Sound system)

Here's hoping our initial bad experience was an isolated one.

Faults:

Left sway bar link is bad at 60000 miles.

Brake pads had been replaced at 50000 miles.

Alignment problem at 62000 miles.

Other than the above, no major problems.

General Comments:

3.0Lt V6 Vulcan engine is very reliable.

AX4N transmission is very smooth and reliable with regular ATF change (every 30000 miles).

Comfortable to ride.

Low maintenance cost.

Strongly recommend the 2002 Mercury Sable GS.

Faults:

Front suspension parts failed, repaired under factory warranty. No other problems.

General Comments:

This car has been excellent so far. It is the LS wagon with all the the options available.

Faults:

Radio would make static once in awhile.

General Comments:

This car is very quick and the engine is super strong.

The A/C is excellent.

This car is very reliable and it has been for the 2 years that I have owned it.

Faults:

After an unintentional power slide, both front tires had to be replaced. 215/60R16 is a pretty rare size, so it wasn't cheap.

There's a suspicious rattle coming from the vicinity of the AC compressor (unconfirmed), possibly the result of the above-mentioned incident.

Apparently the fuel filter needs to be replaced, but, like the tires, it's a rare part, therefore expensive.

General Comments:

So far this car has been very reliable.

I sometimes make it do things it's not really made to do-- being an old-people car, it's not really meant to take corners at 30mph or rev to 5000+ before shifting-- but it does it anyway.

Decent mileage even when running the air.

I've left more than one ricer at the light in this car, and was even able to kind of keep up with a Buick Roadmaster (big honkin' V8), so there's no question of its abilities-- 155 horsepower, 160 foot-pounds torque... Very quick.