The front left coil spring on our 2003 mercury sable broke and shredded the tire. Luckily this happened at 0-30 MPH, or it could have been catastrophic. The 2003 mercury sable has 72,000 miles.
2003 Mercury Sable suspension complaints
Page 3 of 3: complaints 41 to 47 of 47, newest first, as owners wrote them.
My wife was backing out of our driveway when there was a popping noise and then a blowout on the left front tire.I was standing next to the mv at the time. The coil spring broke/shattered and a piece of it went thru the side wall of the tire putting a 6-8" gash in the tire. We have the pieces of the spring. Ford refused to reimburse us for the repair which was made at a ford dealer(northampton ford ). The vehicle had 50577 miles. In researching this on the internet I find that since 1999 they have had recalls and repair programs for this problem on various models but apparently they do not acknowledge it in the 2003 sable. Fortunatley she was not driving down the highway when this happened. I found two sites on the internet that had many reports/complaints of this in various ford vehicles. The following week my 82 yoa mother who drives a 2003 ford focus thought she had a soft tire, went to her local dealership and was told both front coil springs were broken. These repairs were covered and reimbursed by ford. I spoke with several mechanics and was advised that this is a common problem in ford vehicles.I was advised by a mechanic that the aftermarket manufacturers do not make replacement struts for the 2003 sable. All of this indicates to me that ford has a problem with the design and or manufacture of their coil springs which covers several years of vehicles. Had my wife been on the highway she probably would likely have lost control and had a very serious accident. Finding a broken coil spring after an accident like that you would probably not be able to prove that it (the broken spring which caused the blowout) was not caused by the accident. I am not aware of any other manufacturer having similar problems. I believe that the safety of the public is in jeopardy. Our vehicle is used exclusively by my wife a school administrator- no teen agers driving it who would be emulating the dukes of hazhard.
I recently had a tire blow out on my vehicle. Upon removing the tire it was discovered that the right front spring snapped, which had ruptured the tire. I was able to get the car to a local shop to replace the spring and tire at my expense, with a used spring to keep the cost down. I contacted ford ,and ford advised they would not cover any expenses related to this. The carwas a 2003 mercury sable with low miles on it. Also , contacted my dealer , and the dealer agreed that this type of damage should not have occurred , yet could not rectify the problem since ford has not recalled it for springs. I believe there was a fault in the springs ,and was fearful this may happen to the remaining springs on this car. Ford's advice to me was to have the remaining springs examined, at my own expense, as they reminded me that therewas no recall for faulty springs. I have retained the damaged spring as I was convinced there was an issue that was not being addressed. In my opinion, it was a matter of safety. A car's springs should not break, especially when it wa sa relatively new vehicle. This has been the second costly repair I have made to this vehicle, I previously had to replace the right front sway bar . Also, should not have broken and again not a covered expense.
Dt*: the contact stated while approaching the vehicle in the driveway, the front left tire was noticed to be flat. The vehicle was taken to the tire dealer where it was determined the left front coil spring fractured which punctured the tire. There is a the federal safety agency recall, # 04v332000, regarding the front coil springs. The VIN was not included in the recall. The dealer and manufacturer have been alerted.
Springs in front end shocks broke. One at a time.
Mercury sable 2003 front coil spring broke. Will have repaired at mercury dealer and will keep failed part. This is the same recall we had on our 1999 mercury sable 2 years after we paid to have its coil springs fixed. This seems to be an on going problem with mercury sables as well as the ford taurus.
Dt: the contact stated had a problem with the right side rear of the car bottoming out when he hitting a bump or pothole. The right rear tire rubs the fender well. Took the vehicle to the dealer four times to try to have this repaired. Nothing has been done to correct the problem. Now, the contact thinks that the vehicle may have been tampered with before he took ownership of the car.
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