The blower motor has expired. I cannot get air conditioning, heat, or vent.
The windshield wipers stop working when I activate the turn signal.
One of the rear valves has either cracked or stuck, thus leaving me with 5 out of 6 cylinders. Minimum of $1500 required for repair or to replace engine.
The tensioner coil is loose and caused me to blow the serpentine belt. Car overheated as a result.
The back window pneumatic rods are not working properly, and the rear glass will slam shut half a minute after opening it.
There is a hard jerk in the transmission when I put the car into drive.
Other than the above recent problems, the car is extremely comfortable. It's great for travel and transport, and the standard roof rack takes light loads (like a kayak) with ease.
The GS model comes with all of the extras except for a rear windshield wiper unit.
I love the rear seats that fold down flat for extra trunk space.
Like many Ford cars, when the mileage gets over 70,000, there seems to be a host of accompanying problems. When things start to domino, it's time to trade it in.
There is a recall on your car for the transmission when yu put it in gear,check your local dealer for a reacall on that problem.
In response to the transmission recall on 1996 Mercury Sable GS Wagons, I just phoned a local Lincoln/Mercury dealer. I was told there is not any transmission recall, but a possible bulletin put out by the manufacturer in regards to the transmission. However, the Svce. Dept. rep. would not enter our VIN into the system to check on this. He said it could be a sensors or modules problem within the emissions system. I had informed him, though, with what is taking place on the ’96 Sable wagon and that the gears slipping problem that we’re currently having turned out to be a bad transmission on our 1994 Ford Taurus. We had to have the transmission rebuilt on the Taurus at 50,000 miles for $1,500! Ford Motor Company would not even meet us halfway on the cost of it because they told us we should have bought the extended warranty. From the info. on various websites, there were a number of bad transmissions in Tauruses and Sables built in the ‘90’s.
An appointment would have to be made with the Lincoln/Mercury Dealer to diagnose the problem we’re currently facing with the Sable. It lunges into gear from Park to Drive; also the transmission shudders from first to second gear, and it slips gears after the engine has had approx. of at least 20 min of highway driving to get warmed up and then comes back into highway driving, at a stop light, then the transmission slips going into first gear. (the vehicle acts as if it’s in neutral when the light turns green, then finally (after about 5 to 10 seconds) kicks into first gear with tires screeching and the vehicle lunging.)
NEVER, EVER trust a dealer to tell you about a recall. Always check them yourself at: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/
Print them out and take them in-hand to the dealer.
Note: A Comments RSS Feed 
is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site