1997 Mercury Sable: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 326 complaints
326
Total Complaints
72,000mi
Median Mileage
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
Top Issue
14
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

54,000 25th Percentile
72,000 Median Mileage
94,996 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
31
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
19
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE
15
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
10
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
8
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:COOLING SYSTEM
8
INTERIOR LIGHTING
7
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:ACCELERATOR PEDAL
6
TIRES
6
SEAT BELTS:FRONT:RETRACTOR
6

Severity Assessment

14
Crashes
7
Fires
13
Injuries
0
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"VIBRATION AT SPEEDS ABOVE 65MPH."
"WINDSHIELD WIPER BLADES SMEARS, CAUSING POOR VISIBILITY."
"TIRES OUT OF BALANCE."

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28