2004 MERCURY SABLE — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 51 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL (13 complaints · 25.5%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 3
  • Fires 0
  • Injuries 3
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2003 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL appears in 13 of 51 owner complaints (25.5%) in this vehicle snapshot. VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 13 complaints, 25.5% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 13 · 25.5% POWER TRAIN: 9 complaints, 17.7% of reports POWER TRAIN 9 · 17.7% · 1 crash reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 7 complaints, 13.7% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 7 · 13.7% SERVICE BRAKES: 6 complaints, 11.8% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 6 · 11.8% SEAT BELTS: 3 complaints, 5.9% of reports SEAT BELTS 3 · 5.9% · 1 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 2 complaints, 3.9% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 2 · 3.9% FUEL SYSTEM: 2 complaints, 3.9% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 2 · 3.9% AIR BAGS: 1 complaints, 2.0% of reports AIR BAGS 1 · 2.0% ENGINE: 1 complaints, 2.0% of reports ENGINE 1 · 2.0% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 21 complaints, 41.2% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 21 · 41.2% · 3 crash reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 13 25.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 9 17.7% 1 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 7 13.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 6 11.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 3 5.9% 1 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 2 3.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 2 3.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 1 2.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 1 2.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 21 41.2% 3 crashes · 0 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jul 2004; the first recall shown was reported in Jul 2004. 2004-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2011-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2012-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2012-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2014-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2015-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2015-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jul 2004 Apr 2020 Recall campaign 04V330000 ◆ Recall campaign 04V330000 Recall campaign 16E026000 ◆ Recall campaign 16E026000 Investigation DP06005 ● Investigation DP06005 Investigation PE12005 ● Investigation PE12005
  • Campaign 16E026000 was reported 3,823 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2004-Q3 Owner reports 2
2004-Q4 Owner reports 1
2005-Q1 Owner reports 1
2005-Q2 Owner reports 2
2005-Q4 Owner reports 2
2006-Q1 Owner reports 1
2006-Q3 Owner reports 1
2007-Q3 Owner reports 1
2008-Q1 Owner reports 2
2009-Q1 Owner reports 1
2010-Q3 Owner reports 1
2011-Q1 Owner reports 2
2011-Q4 Owner reports 1
2012-Q1 Owner reports 3
2012-Q2 Owner reports 4
2012-Q4 Owner reports 2
2013-Q1 Owner reports 2
2013-Q3 Owner reports 2
2013-Q4 Owner reports 2
2014-Q2 Owner reports 1
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2014-Q4 Owner reports 4
2015-Q1 Owner reports 2
2015-Q2 Owner reports 2
2016-Q1 Owner reports 2
2016-Q2 Owner reports 1
2016-Q4 Owner reports 1
2017-Q4 Owner reports 1
2018-Q2 Owner reports 1
2018-Q3 Owner reports 1
2020-Q2 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 04V330000
Recall campaign 1 16E026000
Defect investigation 1 DP06005
Defect investigation 1 PE12005
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (2)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 04V330000

    Report date
    Component:
    SEATS
    Consequence:
    THE SEAT MAY NOT PERFORM AS INTENDED DURING A CRASH WHICH COULD INCREASE THE RISK OF INJURY.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE UPPER SUPPORT ASSEMBLY ON THE POWER SEATS. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JULY 20, 2004. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT FORD AT 1-800-392-3673.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 16E026000

    Report date
    Component:
    SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
    Consequence:
    A damaged or broken brake disc may reduce a vehicle's braking power, increasing the risk of a crash.
    Remedy:
    Bosch will instruct the owners how to have the affected brake pads replaced, free of charge. The recall began on May 26, 2016. Owners may contact Bosch customer service at 1-888-715-3616.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 51 complaints · page 1 of 3

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources