2008 Mercury Sable problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Steering (12) · Vehicle Speed Control (10) · Power Train (8)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Mercury Sable model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
53 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (1)
Air Bags:frontal 2016-04-26 · campaign 16V247000 · 695 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2009-2012 Ford Flex, 2008 and 2010-2012 Ford Taurus, 2008-2009 Ford Taurus X, 2008 Mercury Sable, 2009 and 2011 Lincoln MKS vehicles. The driver frontal air bag may improperly inflate during second-stage deployment in the event of a high speed crash. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
Risk: An improperly inflated air bag increases the risk of injury in the event of a crash.
Fix: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the driver's frontal air bag module, as necessary, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on June 13, 2016. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 16C06.
Service bulletins (14)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Structure 2020-07-13 · TSB 20-2233 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this article supersedes tsb 19-2026 to update the vehicle model years affected. some 2000 and newer ford/lincoln/mercury vehicles equipped with aluminum body panels may exhibit corrosion concerns appearing as bubbled and/or peeling paint with or without accompanying white dust. panel replacement is
Equipment:appliance:air Conditioner 2019-07-02 · SSM 48070 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2009-2017 expedition/navigator, 2009-2014 f-150/mustang, 2008-2009 sable, 2008-2019 taurus/flex/mkt, 2013-2019 police interceptor sedan/utility, and 2011-2019 explorer vehicles may exhibit inoperative or intermittent hvac blower motor function at various fan speed settings. this may be due to a
Equipment:appliance:air Conditioner 2019-02-07 · SSM 47797 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2009-2017 expedition/navigator, 2009-2014 f-150/mustang, 2008-2009 sable, 2008-2019 taurus/flex/mkt, 2013-2019 police interceptor sedan/utility, and 2011-2019 explorer vehicles may exhibit inoperative or intermittent hvac blower motor function at various fan speed settings. this may be due to a
Equipment:appliance:air Conditioner 2019-02-07 · SSM 47797 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2009-2017 expedition/navigator, 2009-2014 f-150/mustang, 2008-2009 sable, 2008-2019 taurus/flex/mkt, 2013-2019 police interceptor sedan/utility, and 2011-2019 explorer vehicles may exhibit inoperative or intermittent hvac blower motor function at various fan speed settings. this may be due to a
Equipment:electrical 2018-01-10 · SSM 47009 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
the accessory (wireless) keyless entry keypad can only be used with vehicles that are factory built with remote keyless entry (rke). the master code for the accessory (wireless) keyless entry keypad can be retrieved from fmcdealer - parts and service - parts product line information - keys/entry dev
Equipment:electrical 2018-01-10 · SSM 47009 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
the accessory (wireless) keyless entry keypad can only be used with vehicles that are factory built with remote keyless entry (rke). the master code for the accessory (wireless) keyless entry keypad can be retrieved from fmcdealer - parts and service - parts product line information - keys/entry dev
Showing the 6 most recent of 14 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2025-11-24 · Air Bags · 64,241 mi · 💥 crash“the contact owns a 2008 mercury sable. while the contact's son was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was involved in a crash. the contact's son was the only occupant in the vehicle during the crash. the contact stated that none of the air bags deployed. the contact stated that there were two impacts to the vehicle during the crash. the f…”
2023-04-17 · Power Train“on april 12 i exited my drive onto the 55 mph highway in front of my house when suddenly the car began to shudder. i jammed the gas to get up to speed to prevent oncoming cars from hitting me which made the problem much worse. it was violently shuddering and wouldn’t accelerate. i took my foot off the gas which stopped the shaking. i gassed it slow…”
2022-04-25 · Unknown Or Other“not sure, but it sounds like the springs. the air condition makes a stumping noise when i turn it on.…”
2021-08-12 · Service Brakes · 160,000 mi · 💥 crash“the contact owns a 2008 mercury sable. the contact stated their daughter was driving at 55 mph, when the driver was approaching an intersection at a red light the driver depressed on the brake pedal and the brake pedal went straight to the floor and the vehicle could not stop causing the vehicle to hit the vehicle in front of them in the rear. the …”
2021-01-23 · Seats · 104,000 mi“the passenger heated seats are not working and making short circuit affecting the while car electric sometimes, a lot of reviews online stating that this happens due to overload on the ground wire in the module plug which toasts and make the short in the circuit , i just bough the car , the previous owners did not use this feature.…”
2021-01-14 · Suspension · 158,000 mi“tl* the contact owns a 2008 mercury sable. the contact stated that while inspecting the vehicle doing basic maintenance, the contact noticed that the driver's side rear spring was fractured and the rear sub frame bolts failed causing the subframe to drop. the vehicle was towed to the toycen ford (1000 chippewa crossing blvd, chippewa falls, wi 5472…”
2021-01-02 · Unknown Or Other“got my car inspected on 12/3/20. was told my car has a recall.…”
2018-11-14 · Steering · 43,000 mi“tl* the contact owns a 2008 mercury sable. while driving in reverse, the steering wheel seized without warning. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the power steering pump failed and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. the vehicle was later taken to hennessy ford lincol…”
2018-02-18 · Steering · 57,590 mi“steering froze up and could not turn to left / was hard to steer and then when trying to turn left could not do it, had to make right hand turns. took it to the ford dealer i bought the car from (2015) they said there was no recalls and had to replace the steering gear/ cost ,me $600.00 there were no complaints on the car fax of trouble. .bought t…”
2016-08-23 · Power Train · 85,000 mi“tl* the contact owns a 2008 mercury sable. while driving approximately 60 mph, the engine, throttle, wrench, and air bag indicators remained illuminated simultaneously. the vehicle was pulled over to the side of the road and the engine was turned off. the vehicle was restarted and the gear shifter was placed in reverse, and the contact heard a loud…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.