18th Dec 2002, 14:00

I disagree with the first comment. If your car has over 100,000 miles you should not expect things to go wrong. Look at Honda, A lot of those cars on the road have way over 100,000 miles with minimal repairs. ie brakes, regular maintenance. But not head gaskets, transmissions, etc.

1st Feb 2003, 20:46

I bought a 93 Sable, and it has been nothing but problems. I just recently experienced my second head gasket blowout, and I only have 136,000 on the car. God Help me when I reach 150, if I don't bazooka the thing first.

23rd Feb 2003, 11:08

This particular car is non-defendable. I had a 3.8L Mercury Sable wagon with nothing but problems. Blown transmission at 30000 miles!! Motor mount failure several times. Blown head gasket at 100000 miles. No air con after 50000 miles. Oh yes...this car is a gem. Ford Motor Co. should embed it in lucite and put it in the Henry Ford Museum.

16th Jun 2003, 11:31

Water Pump went at 150,431 miles.

Cylinder Head Gaskets went at 151,383 miles.

First Motor Mount went at 138,973 miles, then BOTH Motor Mounts went at 151,383 miles.

First set of Sensor went at 138,129 miles, the next set at 147,338 miles, and finally the last set set at 151,671 miles.

Yep...sure looks to me like these Sables really DO begin to fall apart at around 140-150K Miles!

9th Sep 2003, 14:43

I have owned five Ford Motor products, three with automatic transmissions. All three, '92 Taurus, '94 Mercury Sable, and a '99 Mercury Sable, have had to have the transmission over hauled. One was over 100,000 miles and the others were 80,000 and the latest at 66,000 miles. I advise people not to trust the Ford Motor Company.

14th Oct 2003, 12:37

You folks were lucky to get as far as you did. My '93 Sable LS wagon just barely made it over the 50000 mile hump before the first head gasket went out... (there was another before 70000 miles) AC, Overheat, bad electrical, cruise control failure, air bag light blinking, brakes, starter, impossible to align front end, sub frame problems.. on and on. Fix one thing and another pops up. Reminds me of a kids game I used to have... Come to think of it, you were suppose to hit that with a hammer... good idea, Ford sucks.

10th Dec 2003, 07:16

I have to say that I am glad to see that I am not the only one stuck trying to survive through the ownership of one of these vehicles. I have had similar problems with my 93' Mercury Sable. At about 130,000 miles my car started stalling while at idle. Then it overheated and blew the engine. I had the engine rebuilt. There was a recall on the suspension; which I had taken care of. Then I had the struts replace and the brakes turned. Now I have a broken strut mount and I need new rear brakes. This is all withing 20,000 miles of the last repairs. I also had the same problem with the loose shield. Good luck to all of you.

12th Apr 2004, 20:44

After reading these comments about Mercury Sables I have to admit I am completely surprised. I am now on my third Sable. My first Sable, a 1995, was driven 165,000 miles and while it was still running OK, I began to notice a slight skipping in the transmission -- but I didn't replace it.

My next Sable was a 1999, which was driven 196,500 miles. I replaced the transmission once.

I currently have a new one, and it drives fine.

As with any car, people who hate the car and who've had trouble and are unhappy tend to write comments, but I assure you that there are just as many Toyotas, Hondas, Nissans, etc., that have had problems.

I made sure the oil was changed and the car kept in good running order. I also bought my cars new; nobody here has said whether or not they were the original owner -- and that's a HUGE factor. Many of the Sables/Tauruses that have had trouble are those that were purchased used by their current owners, and the cars were originally rental cars (Not previously leased, but rented).

All I know is I had great luck with Sables.

17th Jul 2004, 19:10

We have a 1997 sable GS. The pump shaft bearings on the transmission went out on it at around 45000 miles just after a trip through the West Virginia mountains. Going up those steep grades must have been too much for it. It seemed like it really strained and downshifted way too often on the inclines. It cost $950 to have the repair made, but the trans shop said we shouldn't have any more problems with it and it mow has 82000 miles. The only other annoying things with it are electrical in nature. The dome light was difficult to turn off with the door closed and the service engine soon light stays on. For the most part I like the car. They are excellent solid road cars.

3rd Nov 2004, 07:07

I have had nothing, but trouble with my 93 sable.I've had to replace the transmission then 3 months later the snap ring broke.I've had to put 2 gas pumps on on in the last 5 months.I've also had to replace the temperature sensor. I would not recommend this car to anyone.

1st Feb 2006, 17:22

I am the owner of a 93 Sable with 145000 miles on it. I have had it for a year and have had great success with it, especially for being an old car when I purchased it. My previous car was a 1990 Toyota Corolla. This car had 119,000 when I bought it. The car went through two quarts of oil every week. It was junk. The imported cars are not much better and a car like a Sable will last if it is treated right.

25th Jan 2007, 23:00

The 3.8L V6 has basically had head gasket/coolant problems since they were introduced in 1983. Why did they replace the in-line six cylinder? And why would people keep buying vehicles with the 3.8L in them?

(lack of knowledge or understanding? or thinking "*my* Taurus won't have those problems"?)

Also, why would Ford/Mercury have it as an option (or the only engine offered for the Windstar for example) for at least three of its vehicles? (ie. Sable/Taurus, Mustang, Windstar).

(note: I'm pretty sure they continued to offer the in-line six on Ford F-series trucks until the mid 90's, and I think that the 3.0L was the more popular choice for Taurus/Sable throughout the late 80's and 90's.)

Bottom line: Hindsight is always 20/20. But Ford still should have acknowledged the problem and tried to fix it or just plain not offered the 3.8L in any vehicle. But I guess it's easier said than done.

12th Feb 2007, 17:01

I must be a lucky one. I own a mercury sable and have had very few problems, just a few leaks. I bought it with about 120,000 miles and it has about 183,000 now. Never had really any engine or transmission problems. It does tend to overheat in the summer when it gets over 90 degrees, but nothing serious yet. I guess I better sell it while it still runs OK.