2001 Mercury Sable Problems

What owners report

Complaints about this model year center on the rear coil springs: owners frequently report a broken rear spring, a sagging rear end, or a spring end rubbing or puncturing a rear tire, often found during routine service rather than at the moment of failure. A second, smaller cluster describes unintended acceleration or a throttle that does not return to idle, which owners frequently link to the cruise-control cable. Remaining complaints are spread across brakes, airbags, electrical faults and engine/cooling issues.

1. 1
   Suspension

   Broken rear coil springs, sometimes damaging tires

   • 196 complaints (46%)
   • median 71,000 mi at 6.6 yrs old (168 state mileage)
   • 1 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • owner-quoted repair $641 (median of 32 quotes)
   • filed 2004–2020

   Owners describe hearing a bang, grinding or scraping noise and later finding a piece of coil spring on the ground, a rear end sitting noticeably low, or a broken spring end that has cut into or punctured a rear tire. Many were told at routine service that both rear springs had failed even though they had noticed no change in how the car drove. Dealers generally replaced both rear springs, and several owners were told the front-spring recall did not cover the rear springs. Reported from roughly 30,000 to 120,000 miles, with many between about 45,000 and 90,000 miles; often discovered during routine maintenance or after a tire problem.

   Recall 04V3320004 related service bulletins

   What to check: Have a rear spring inspection done with the car on a lift, looking for cracked or missing spring sections and rubbing marks on the inner sidewall of the rear tires. Ask whether the front springs were replaced under recall 04V332000 and whether the rear springs have ever been replaced.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “On may 17 2005, when entering my 2001 Mercury Sable I heard a sharp cracking noise. Upon close inspection the drivers side quarter panel was lowered over the tire. I was luckily I was just a few miles from john lance ford of westlake ohio. The service writer knew exactly what was wrong, the strut spring had broken and was within 1/16 of the side wall of my tire. Had this event occurred at speed I probably wouldn't be here today. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10139095, filed 2005-10, 76,247 miles

   “On sep 6, 2007, my 2001 Mercury Sable at 56,640 miles was determined to have broken rear springs. My local ford dealer replaced rear springs, struts, sway bar links, and upper strut mounts. This seems similar to problems that you have previously investigated.”

   NHTSA complaint #10202141, filed 2007-09, 56,640 miles
2. 2
   Vehicle speed control

   Unintended acceleration / throttle not returning to idle

   • 84 complaints (20%)
   • median 82,000 mi at 9.0 yrs old (51 state mileage)
   • 16 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2001–2022

   Owners report the engine revving or the car accelerating without their foot on the pedal, sometimes after hard acceleration such as merging, and staying at speed until they brake hard, shift to neutral or shut the engine off. In several cases a shop or tow driver traced it to the cruise-control cable being detached or out of its retainer, or to a broken piece of plastic sitting on the throttle. Some complaints note the vehicle had not been repaired. Reported from very low mileage up to about 215,000 miles, with several between roughly 60,000 and 112,000 miles; often triggered by firm acceleration.

   1 related service bulletin

   What to check: Ask whether the throttle and cruise-control cable routing and retainer have been inspected, and check that the accelerator pedal returns freely and fully when released. Have the cable inspected during a pre-purchase check.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “I haven't had this car vary lone and I was driving close to my home in witch I live in the tn. Smoky mountains. The roads are curvy I had just pulled out from a tee intersection and a car came fast up behind me so I stepped on it and that is when the throttle stuck so I kicked it fast and hard and it freed up. If this had been in a different situation I may have wrecked the car. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10927412, filed 2016-11, 154,600 miles

   “My wife purchased a 2001 Mercury Sable ls on 1/31/01,I drove the auto for 2 days, when I put the auto in gear the gas pedal reacted as though the pedal was pushed to the floor board. I called port motors and told them about the situation and told them I refused to drive the auto. The next day they came and towed the auto away. When I went to the dealer they gave me another auto,for which I still have the old VIN #. After driving the new auto they gave I began having the same problems. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10315965, filed 2010-03, 200 miles
3. 3
   Engine cooling

   Check engine light and engine misfire or stalling

   • 38 complaints (9%)
   • median 53,800 mi at 5.6 yrs old (29 state mileage)
   • 3 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2001–2019

   Owners describe the check engine light coming on intermittently and then staying on, sometimes with the car failing to accelerate, losing power, or shutting off and restarting after a few minutes. Diagnoses reported by owners include a misfire on one cylinder, sensor faults, and in one case main bearing failure requiring engine replacement. Reported from about 33,000 to 56,000 miles in the sampled complaints.

   2 related service bulletins

   What to check: Scan for stored trouble codes and check whether the check engine light has come on recently; ask about oil change records and any oil pan gasket leaks.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “No real signs of distress until the main bearings failed. At 33,000 miles, proof of service and oil changes covering the first 29,000 miles. Vehicle developed a bad knock. Had it towed to a ford dealership for inspection. Told me that the main bearings on the cam went bad. One ford dealership tells me ford will help with the cost of total engine replacement, unfortunately, not the dealership the car is at.”

   NHTSA complaint #10162405, filed 2006-07, 33,019 miles

   “Driving our 2001 Sable one day the check engine light came on when we were stopped at a red light. As the light turned green I accelerated and the car did not move according to the pressure I was putting on the gas pedal. The light stopped flashing and the car ran fine. This would happen from time to time and it got to a point were I took the unit to a Mercury dealership to have it checked out and they stated it had a mis-fire on the number 4 cylinder and they would have to replace the cylinder head at a cost of 2k one head only. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10188826, filed 2007-04, 55,807 miles

Buying note. Give the rear suspension a close look on a lift, since rear spring failures appear often in owner reports and are separate from the front-spring recall. Also confirm the front-spring recall and pedal recall work was completed and that the throttle cable and brakes behave normally on a test drive.

Summary written with AI from a sample of 60 NHTSA complaints for this model year (picked at random, with complaints that state a mileage and recent ones taken first), then checked automatically against the source records. Where a problem shows a complaint count, every complaint for this model year was matched with fixed keyword rules (written with AI and tested against the sample), and the mileage, age and repair figures are calculated from those complaints; owners' figures are as stated, not verified. Other counts refer to the sample. The excerpts come from NHTSA's public complaint records and are unverified; capitalisation is normalised, NHTSA staff notes are removed, and shortened text ends with “…”. Something wrong? Request a correction.