25th May 2006, 23:04
Author back, nearing 212K right now and just hit the first major set of problems.
1.) The tranny has been acting up and shifting mildly rough. The fluid was low, and the addition of fluid seemed to help. The side pan gasket area is leaking, so I'll have to have that replaced.
2.) Cylinder 4 is starting to misfire, even with new plugs and wires. It seems like the fuel injector is going bad.
Other than that, it runs great. Just switched to synthetic oil and put a new intake on it, and the mileage has jumped up a bit. Not sure exactly what, but it's noticably better.
8th Jun 2006, 00:48
Author back again. Thermostat went and of course, blew the head gasket. I junked the car and bought a little sports car. I guess I jinxed myself with this review.
9th Feb 2009, 10:57
I have a Mercury Sable 1998. It has got 170K miles on it. I like to keep the car for another 30K miles.
What Maintenance plan should be good for me at this point.
-Kiran.
25th Aug 2011, 23:27
I have a 1999 Sable with 95,000 miles. I would like to keep it for another 3 years without having to replace the engine. Would switching to synthetic oil help with that?
26th Aug 2011, 14:08
Don't you have an owner's manual?
Keep up with regular oil changes and transmission services. Change the battery when it gets weak and fix the brakes when needed, the tires when worn, the coolant when it is old, the air filter when it's dirty, and empty the ash tray when it's full.
If you do that, you can go 200000 miles, unless you are an abusive driver. And no, you don't need to go synthetic.
6th May 2006, 22:25
I wrote the review, and here in Las Vegas, you almost NEED to change your air filter every 8 or 9K. Besides, it's only $6, so it's not a big deal. I figure that you can't OVER maintain a car.