1998 Mercury Sable

This is my wife’s favorite car to drive, as long as I keep shelling out the time and the money to
keep it repaired. It is nice looking, comfortable with good handling on long trips, gets fair
highway mileage for the power, and has loads of cargo capacity.

It is my least favorite car of four vehicles that we own. Ford’s corporate philosophy seems to be
that if cheaply made plastic parts can replace machined metal engine or transmission parts for a
savings of $3.00 to $6.00 per part, per car for them, then do it, even though after the warranty
runs out, the consumer will have to pay $1100 to $1600 in labor costs to replace that cheap
plastic part with a machined metal after-market part.

In my eight years of ownership I’ve spent more than $7,400, on top of normal  maintenance, for self and dealer repairs on items that Ford Motor Company most likely saved, maybe, $250 per car by using cheap plastic parts made either in Mexico, South America, India or China. All of the electrical parts in the engine
compartment and on the body have been replaced, some twice.

The paint, as anyone who has seen a Ford or Mercury on the street knows, peels off like a scab
after two to three years, and all the plastic trim gaskets crack and separate.

I’ve had to replace the plastic headlight assemblies twice in 112,000 miles because the outer
lenses get so bad from the sun and road damage that you can’t see. All of the plastic interior
panel holders have had to be replaced several times because the panels vibrate loose after about
30,000 miles and the plastic Christmas tree type holders don’t hold well at all. The power
windows have had repeated repairs done to them.

The windshield leaks onto the passenger’s side mat and soaks it in heavy rain or car washes even
after repeated dealer and self repairs. The windows and doors are a constant source of wind noise
at any speed above 40 MPH because of a poor gasket design.

My most costly fix, based upon the cheap plastic part involved, just happened last month. The
steering column was replaced because the key wouldn’t work and the car would not start.
Between shop labor, the new parts, and the towing bill, I paid out over $800 because a $22.00
part, Ford’s list price for a $2.00 plastic part inside the steering column, failed.

The price was great and Power Toyota was honest and very helpful in getting me this car as we need a second car. They where accurate in all their discription on this car and they made the transactions easy and made me feel compfortable in making this purchase. I have had the car a month now and have not had any regrets its great on fuel (26mpg over the road and 24mpg in cities) with todays fuel prices and I travel alot for my work. The Sable has plenty of room for we have two teenagers and a grandson and we all fit into the car comfortably. I would highly recomend a Mercury Sable to anyone who is looking for and economical midsize car. Oh by the way my family are all over 5'8" to 6'2" excluding me I am 5'2" and my husband says its a comfort to drive long distance without feeling road fatique from sitting for a long drive. The car handles the roads well and is smooth riding.