1998 Mercury Sable LS Premium from North America - Comments

My own opinion on oil changes is that it needs to be changed every 3,000 miles. I even change it that often using Mobil 1 synthetic oil, or I change it every 2,000 miles with regular oil in city and short trip driving. I've heard the higher mileage recommendations as well: 5,000 miles, 7,500 miles, etc. Humbug! Changing oil is the smallest maintenance cost you can incur, and it gives you the greatest benefit. Even for synthetic oil with a filter, the cost is only $35, so if you change it every 6 months, what are you out? The people who tell you to wait until 10,000 miles to change oil want you to have to buy a new car. Cars are marketed toward the original owners, who are assumed will only keep the car for 4-5 years. So if it lasts 50,000 miles with no problems, then the people who are laying out the big money on new cars are happy, and that's what the companies care about. You certainly won't hurt anything by changing oil more frequently, and it can only help.

Regarding transmission fluid changes, I'm a little perplexed on this. For cars of the 1970's and 1980's, you never used to have to change it, only check it once in a while. Maybe the designs were simpler and more durable, because the only time you would bother to change the fluid and filter on those cars was if you bought one that was 15 years old and it had 100,000 miles on it, and even at that changing the fluid and filter was just a general good idea whether it needed it or not, like if the fluid had turned orange. But now, the automatic transmissions seem to be more fragile, less durable. If you really need to change trans. fluid and filter every 30,000 miles in order to ensure no problems, then that is a real drop in durability compared to previous decades. My parents happen to have a 1997 Mercury Sable, and although they have never changed the trans. fluid, they have not had problems even with 130,000 miles. However, as an older couple, they drive the car pretty gently. Maybe you just have to baby these cars, and if you get rough with them, go to the "severe use maintenance schedule" of changing things much more often. Your owner's manual has two tables, one for regularly scheduled maintenance, and one for heavy duty use maintenance.

I've always been partial to Japanese autos, but my 1998 Mercury Sable has performed wonderfully throughout it's 150,000 miles. Aside from regular repairs (starter, battery, etc.), my car has held up great. Until now. Simultaneously it seems a leak in the vacuum manifold developed and in the same week, the transmission started slipping. In the course of the week, my car went from great to undriveable. Replacing the transmission costs $1500-$2000. Is it worth it to fix? I think so!

I have a 1998 Mercury Sable with 119,000 miles. The next day after I bought it the problems started to appear. Day #2 the transmission is kicking at red lights and when going uphill.

Then about a week later I was backing out of a parking lot and I heard a loud "snap" and I realize I have no power steering. I do not drive the car very much just to work and back, but the transmission problem seems like it is getting worse. When you are going uphill it will start to kick at lower RPM's (2000 and under) when you accelerate a little more the kicking goes away. Someone post a comment and tell me if its too late, and what should I do. I don't want a 3,000 dollar yard ornament

To the poster on November 21, you may have just a minor maintenance issue. I wrote the comment on May 14, and at that time, my parents' Mercury Sable was driving fun. By June, with about 145,000 miles on it, the transmission was beginning to "slam" when you put it in gear, and have difficulty shifting smoothly. It was acting like their old Pontiac 6000 right before the transmission locked. The solution was simply to change the transmission filter and replace the fluid, and then it started shifting just fine again, and the "slamming" and "jerking" went away. Routine maintenance. As for your power steering, I wish you could tell us more, but have you checked the fluid level in the pump? With the engine cold, unscrew the filler cap with attached dipstick and check the "full when cold" line. If you use the "full when hot" line, the engine should be running at operating temperature, idling in park or neutral. Check the owners manual to see if you should add "power steering fluid" or "automatic transmission fluid". Some power steering pumps use ATF. Neither of your problems sound like reasons to junk the car.

None of the negative comments on the Sable surprise me. I was just freed from my nightmare last week when my 1999 LS Sedan was totalled in an accident.

I spent nearly $1000 prior to the accident because of an issue surround the steering box, tie rods and ball joints.

I am through with American cars. I had a Chevy Lumina once and that should have given me a hint on how inferior American cars are to their Japanese counterparts!

My 1998 Sable's transmission began to leak at approximately 160,000km. I had the seal between the torque converter and the transmission replaced, which fixed the leak for about 2 months. I'm not sure whether or not this was the fault of the garage or the transmission, but I ended up selling the car because of this fault.

Asides from this transmission issue, which could have been in part due to the way I drove the car, I had no complaints. The Sable is what it is; a comfortable and powerful sedan.

Hi, I have a 98 mercury sable, and when the car is cold, I will start it, and when I put it into gear and let off the brake and push the gas, it will like, rev for a second without moving, then it slams or jerks into gear. I have no idea whats wrong, it only does it when the car is cold!

21:55, you need to have the transmission fluid and filter changed. DO NOT GET A FLUSH! The transmission fluid has gotten dirty, and the filter is clogged with debris, so when it's cold, the fluid won't circulate. This is routine maintenance, and shouldn't be that expensive to have done.