1993 Mercury Sable problems
The 1993 Mercury Sable has 981 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (39%) concerns engine. Next are lighting (7%) and brakes (6%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 981 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 39% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 24 and 15
- Injuries and deaths
- 17 and 1
- Typical mileage
- 95,000 miles 32 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 2 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 1 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 5 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 3 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 5 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 5 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 4 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 5 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 32 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 95,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 75,000 miles (13 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 24 complaints mention a crash; 15 complaints mention a fire; 17 injuries reported; 1 death reported. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 80% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1993 ranks 1st most-complained-about out of 18 model years of the Mercury Sable with enough data (365 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 6 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Engine failure due to head gasket failure. Heads were damaged and coolant had damaged crank shaft and bearings. Engine had to be replaced with a rebuilt engine. Total cost is over $4800 (cdn). Contacted ford canada customer service and was told that they would not cover repair of this manufacturers defect. Engine only had 81017 km on it at time of failure (50,000 miles). This apparently is a well known defect for this engine and some models and years have been covered.
Was in a head-on collision the driver's and passenger's side air bags didn't deploy . Consumer was hit by another vehicle.
Consumer was in an accident and driver's side air bag deployed after she hit head on the steering wheel, and broke arm in 3 places.
I have a 1993 mercury sable and I have had numerous repairs done to it. My son and I were driving home last sunday from the mall at night and the headgasket blew out. We were driving in the dark with cars behind us and a huge cloud of white smoke blowing out the back end causing me to drive very slowly on the 45 and 55 mile an hour highway . People were forced to drive around me and I had no idea what was happening as I am not a mechanic. I thought my car was on fire and was panicking.
Vehicle experienced the same defect as stated in recall 97 v 019 000, but this vehicle not included in recall due to VIN.