2004 Mercury Sable problems
The 2004 Mercury Sable has 75 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (20%) concerns cruise control. Next are brakes (16%) and drivetrain & axles (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 75 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Cruise control 20% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 5 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 6 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 80,000 miles 62 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 | 8 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 8 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 8 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 8 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 11 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 3 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 5 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 5 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 5 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 62 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 80,000 miles. For cruise control specifically, the median reported mileage is about 82,000 miles (15 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 5 complaints mention a crash; 6 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2004 ranks 16th most-complained-about out of 18 model years of the Mercury Sable with enough data (21 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
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.
Side impact on a 2004 sable. No airbags deployed. Driver sustained severe injuries including scapula fracture and pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum and subcuaneous air tracking, along with head wounds/lacerations. Patient required icu and multiple ct scans along with x-rays. Passenger airbag also did not deploy causing injury to passenger from seat belt and bounce-back from hitting the door secondary to airbag failure to deploy.
Dt*: the contact stated while driving 35 MPH the vehicle was hit from behind. When the vehicle was hit, the driver seat fell backwards and bent to the left side. The occupant was wearing a seatbelt and was injured receiving compression fractures in the spine. The vehicle was towed to a local body shop which determined the vehicle was totaled.
My mercury sable 2004 began accelerating on its own. The first time I was cruising at 35MPH and had trouble stopping at a stop sign. Braking caused a vibration the rpm's were not going down. Driving further I noted the car would accelerate by itself. Tapping the the gas pedal quickly sometimes caused the rpm's to go back to normal. I took the vehicle to a local garage and had the throttle (cables, etc) checked. All were reported ok. The issue has happened off and on but yesterday (11/28/12) was the worst.
While driving and I go over 50 MPH my car will speed up which cause the throttle cable to come apart an d the engine or transmission speeds up.