1986 Mercury Sable TV Commercial

Exactly! I bought a 89 Sable in 2004 with 53,000 documented miles. It needed a tranny which would cost me over $2500 from Ford. At least it didn't have the 3.8L.

I'm sorry to hear that. Had Ford actually put QUALITY into these cars, they would have and still would be THE best car on the road. Unfortunately, Ford made them total lemons, so typically after people bought them and realized what junk they were, word spread and few people were repeat buyers to the Taurus/Sable. Sad cause I really like them, but would never own one.

fyi-the slip into reverse thing was on my montego years ago,and on a borrowed Maverick-checked the fluid(trans)and closed the hood and it took off across the parking lot-i ran around and jumped in and slammed on the brakes!!at least on my sable the lever is crisp after the 2500 rebuild-as i said only problem is electrical every 1.5 years...

120k miles is about the longest I typically hear Taurus transmissions lasting on average. They typically fail around 60-100k and are in excess of $2k to replace. No thanks! At least the Vulcan motor seems to be good. Don't get me started on the 3.8L!

well,pbb,mine was $2500,the ones a few years later had a computer on the trans,with a wiring harness run by a hot exh.manifold-said harness gets as hard as a baseball bat overthe years-but my brother bought the car for me,and i was expecting the breakdown-6 mi from home-day before drove to solvang-200 mi or so one way-the rebuilt one wouldn't go into overdrive,so out and in again!!

and my other merc(i belong to the intl.merc.owners club,btw-IMOA)the sable's ancestor-69 montego w 351 and FMX auto-rebuilt that at 200000-it worked in fwd,but no rev.-currently 385000 mi-$600 to fix that one..

a little cyberclarification here-the sable is a 1986 model(mfd april 06)-bought it from a friend who bought it from his grandfather-the montego has the larger differential(split was 250/302 and 351-on up-ist car i was in march 1962-both of their ancestors-61 comet(when born,ride home from hospital)

I currently own a '97 Tracer wagon and I love it! Efficient and practical. Fits me perfectly. Electronically controlled automatic seem to have a shorter lifespan than hydraulic automatics, which basically don't exist in cars anymore. My '92 Plymouth Acclaim (comparable in price/size to the Tempo) with a hydraulic 3-speed auto lasted over 180k miles. Would have lasted over 200k has the car not beeen totalled. Was a great car!

and,yes, don't get ME started on the 3.8 either-btw-2 times i've been had by that old ford auto.'slips into reverse'thing

this in response to palebeachbum;as usual it posted in the wrong place('one'referring to transaxle)