RoadVitals

2008 Mercury Sable Driver assistance Problems

Owner-reported complaints naming the driver-assistance system, filed with NHTSA

Data refreshed

Driver assistance reportsComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
10
Latest Mar 22, 2016
Share of all reportsThis category as a share of every owner report on file for this model year. One report can name more than one component, so the categories overlap.
16%
of 61 total
Crash or fire reportedReports in this category whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. The reporter's own answer on the NHTSA form, not a verified finding.
4
Injuries or deaths reportedTotals the submitters entered on their own reports in this category. Not verified by NHTSA and not a casualty statistic.
0

What this page shows

Reports naming forward-collision avoidance, lane keeping, back-over prevention, cruise control and related electronic driver-assistance systems. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2008 Mercury Sable submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 10 reports on file name it.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Owner reports naming driver-assistance

Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed

Driver assistance
Filed Mar 22, 2016

WHILE ON CRUISE CONTROL ON A 6 LANE DIVIDED HIGHWAY THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED FROM 72 TO 85+ MPH. BRAKES DID NOT DISENGAGE CRUISE CONTROL AND COULD NOT SLOW DOWN CAR. I HAD TO SHUT THE ENGINE OFF TO REGAIN CONTROL AND WITH FLASHERS ON I MANAGED TO GET TO THE SHOULDER OF THE ROAD AND STOP THE CAR. TRIED TO RESTART THE CAR TO ESTABLISH IF CONDITION CLEARED UP, BUT COULD NOT. HAD CAR TOWED TO FORD DEALER WHO WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE CONDITION THE FOLLOWING MORNING. THEY CHANGED THE MASS AIR SENSOR BUT SAID IT WAS UNRELATED TO THE ACCELERATION PROBLEM.

NHTSA ID
10850959
Incident
Mar 18, 2016
Mileage
75 mi
Driver assistance
Filed Nov 2, 2015
Crash reported

UNINTENDED ACCELERATION RESULTING IN AN ACCIDENT CAR REV'D ON IT'S OWN AND BOLTED FORWARD WHILE AT A FULL STOP AT A RED LIGHT AND HIT THE CAR IN FRONT OF IT . CAR WAS DRIVEN IN TWICE AND TOWED IN ONCE TO THE LOCAL FORD DEALERSHIP ,OVER THE COURSE OF THE 2 YEARS PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT ,WITH THE SAME COMPLAINT. THEY HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR. CAUSE UNKOWN. PROBLEM IS INTERMITTENT. AFTER DOING SOME ONLINE RESEARCH I'VE DISCOVERED THAT THERE HAVE BEEN SIMILAR COMPLAINTS. TRIED TO ATTACH REPAIR INVOICE AND INSURANCE CLAIM , BUT "SELECT IMAGE OR DOCUMENT LINK " BUTTON BELOW IS NOT WORKING.

NHTSA ID
10787846
Incident
Oct 17, 2015
Mileage
54,000 mi
Driver assistance
Filed May 7, 2015
Crash reported

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 MERCURY SABLE. WHILE DRIVING AT A LOW SPEED, THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED AND THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED INDEPENDENTLY. AS A RESULT, THE CONTACT CRASHED INTO A LIGHT POLE AND THE AIR BAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED AND NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED. THE FAILURE RECURRED ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO MULTIPLE DEALERS WHO WERE UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE OR REPAIR THE VEHICLE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 35,000.

NHTSA ID
10715162
Incident
Jun 15, 2012
Mileage
35,000 mi
BrakesDriver assistanceElectrical
Filed Sep 17, 2014

WE WERE STOPPED BEHIND TRAFFIC, AND AS WE SLOWLY STARTED TO PROCEED, THE CAR SURGED AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED, AND AS THE BRAKES WERE APPLIED, THEY EITHER WERE NOT WORKING OR ELSE IT WAS THE ABS COMING ON. THIS WAS A DRY, SUNNY DAY-NO MOISTURE ON THE ROAD-OF COURSE THAT WOULD NOT HAVE HAD A BEARING ON WHY THE CAR SURGED/ACCELERATED. THEN THE CAR SHUT ITSELF OFF COMPLETELY. WE THEN GOT IT STARTED AGAIN, AND NOTHING HAPPENED GETTING IT BACK THE APROXX. 4 MILES BACK TO HOME-ALL WAS NORMAL AFTER THE INCIDENT ALL THE WAY TO HOME, THOUGH IT HAS NOT BEEN DRIVEN SINCE. IT HAS BEEN REPORTED TO FORD HQ'S AND TO THE DEALERSHIP WE PURCHASED FROM. *TR

NHTSA ID
10637091
Incident
Aug 30, 2014
Mileage
108,483 mi
Driver assistanceEngine
Filed Sep 17, 2014

THERE WERE TWO SEPARATE INCIDENTS WITH THIS SAME VEHICLE. INCIDENT #1 WITH FIRST DRIVER: AT ABOUT 5 MPH, THE GAS PEDAL WAS PRESSED SIGNIFICANTLY DOWN. THE GAS PEDAL THEN STUCK DOWN IN THAT POSITION AND THE CAR STARTED TO QUICKLY ACCELERATE. AFTER A QUICK TAP ON THE GAS PEDAL, THE GAS PEDAL STARTED TO OPERATE NORMALLY. AT NO POINT WAS THE CRUISE CONTROL ON. WE TOOK OUR CAR IN TO THE LOCAL FORD DEALER. THEY INSPECTED THE CAR BUT DIDN'T FIND ANY PROBLEMS. INCIDENT #2 WITH SECOND DRIVER: A COUPLE OF MONTHS LATER (ESTIMATED MILEAGE 38,000), WE WERE DRIVING AT ABOUT 45 MPH AND I PRESSED THE PEDAL DOWN ALMOST ALL THE WAY. THE GAS PEDAL STUCK AGAIN AND THE CAR STARTED TO ACCELERATE QUICKLY TO ABOUT 65 MPH. I AM NOT SURE WHETHER CRUISE CONTROL WAS ON OR NOT. I SHIFTED OUT OF DRIVE INTO NEUTRAL WHILE THE ENGINE WAS AT HIGH RPM. AFTER AGGRESSIVELY STOMPING ON THE CAR PEDAL, THE GAS PEDAL STARTED WORKING AGAIN NORMALLY. I SHIFTED BACK INTO DRIVE AND THE CAR THEN DROVE NORMALLY. THE FIRST DRIVER WAS IN THE CAR WHEN THIS HAPPENED. BOTH DRIVERS HAVE ABOUT 35 YEARS OF DRIVING EXPERIENCE. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE INVESTIGATED! IN OUR CASE, NO ONE WAS INJURED BUT WITH LESS EXPERIENCED DRIVERS IT COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH DIFFERENT. *TR

NHTSA ID
10636970
Incident
Jul 1, 2014
Mileage
36,000 mi
Driver assistanceEngineFuel system+1 more
Filed May 23, 2013

ACCELERATOR STOPPED RESPONDING AND VEHICLE STALLED SHORTLY AFTER. *TR

NHTSA ID
10513359
Incident
May 8, 2013
Mileage
50,420 mi
Driver assistance
Filed Jul 1, 2011

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 MERCURY SABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL BECAME STUCK WHEN IT WAS DEPRESSED TO THE FLOOR. IN ORDER TO RELEASE THE PEDAL, THE CONTACT HAD TO SHIFT THE VEHICLE INTO NEUTRAL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER WHERE THEY WERE UNABLE TO DUPLICATE OR DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 108,000.

NHTSA ID
10410169
Incident
Jun 29, 2011
Mileage
108,000 mi
Driver assistanceElectrical
Filed May 3, 2010
Crash reported

2008 MERCURY SABLE AWD HAD AN ELECTRICAL ISSUE[MELT DOWN] THAT REQUIRED REPLACEMENT OF THE MAIN ELECTRICAL HARNESS. THEN IN SEPTEMBER OF 2008 A SUDDEN ACCELERATION PROBLEM CAUSED IT TO JUMP A CONCRETE PARKING LOT BARRIER AND TRAVEL DOWN INTO A DRAINAGE BASIN--40 FEET. $9000+ DAMAGE. REPEATED ATTEMPTS TO FORD HAS FALLEN IN DEAF EARS. UPDATED 05/12/10 *BF UPDATED IVOQ 05/17/10.*JB

NHTSA ID
10328594
Incident
Sep 28, 2008
Mileage
31,998 mi
Driver assistance
Filed Apr 15, 2010
Crash reported

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 MERCURY SABLE. WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATE SPEEDS OF 3 MPH, THE VEHICLE ABNORMALLY ACCELERATED WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT DEPRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL BUT THE BRAKES WOULD NOT ENGAGE. THE VEHICLE PROCEEDED TO CRASH INTO TWO OTHER VEHICLES. THE POLICE ARRIVED TO THE SCENE AND A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED ACCORDINGLY. THERE WERE NO INJURIES TO ANY OF THE VEHICLE OCCUPANTS. THE CONTACT CONFIRMED THE FAILURE HAD OCCURRED AT LEAST THREE TIMES PRIOR TO THE CRASH. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 8,000. UPDATED 05/19/10. *LJ

NHTSA ID
10325861
Incident
Apr 11, 2010
Mileage
8,000 mi
Driver assistance
Filed Nov 25, 2009

ON A 2008 MERCURY SABLE, ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS WHEN THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL HAS BEEN FULLY OR NEAR FULLY DEPRESSED, IT HAS BECOME CAUGHT UNDER THE DRIVER'S FLOOR MAT, CAUSING THE ENGINE TO CONTINUE TO RACE EVEN WHEN ALL PRESSURE HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL. *TR

NHTSA ID
10293524
Incident
Nov 16, 2009
Mileage
44,980 mi

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Other components reported on this vehicle

Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own

Elsewhere on this vehicle

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .