Tl* the contact owned a 2003 mercury sable. While driving 35 MPH, another vehicle collided with the contact's vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy and the seat belt did not lock, which forced the contact to strike the steering wheel during the crash. The contact sustained a concussion, back, and neck injuries that required medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to the contact's home and then towed to a junk yard. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 100,000.
Mercury Sable seat belt problems
67 of the 4,888 owner complaints about the Mercury Sable describe seat belt won't latch or retract, most of them for the 2001 model year.
- owner complaints
- 67
- worst model year
- 2001
- typical mileage
- 83,000
Is there a fix? There are 5 recalls for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
What owners say
The driver side, three point seat belt assembly comes unlatched while the vehicle is in motion. This is even after the belt tongue is in place, you hear a click from the latch closing and locking and the belt has been pulled on to test the connection. I took it to the dealership today and the attendant said that the seat belt latch was likely not working due to normal wear and tear. The vehicle is 10 years old and has less than 200,000 miles and is very much still drivable. The dealership tried to charge the vehicle owner over $300.00 for the repair and will not repair without payment. The seat belts should be guaranteed to work properly over the life of the vehicle. This is not an expensive fix as very few people drive their cars over 120,000 miles as is.
The drivers seat belt does not latch (lock) properly. The belt has on numerous occasions became unfastened when driving. The drivers belt also does not retract after use.
Tl* the contact owns a 1999 mercury sable. The contact stated that the passenger seat belt does not retract or properly secure the passenger. The manufacturer stated that the VIN was not included in (the federal safety agency campaign id number: 99v250000 seat belts: front: anchorage); the vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 125,000. The current mileage was not available.
I own a 2001 mercury sable. At approximately 70,000 the driver's seat belt began to retract sporadically. At about 75,000 miles the seatbelt no longer retracted at all. The seatbelt still locks when pressure is put on it, but I am concerned about its safety.
Tl* the contact owns a 2001 mercury sable. While examining the front passenger side seat belt, the contact noticed that the seat belt would no longer retract back to its original position. The vehicle had not been taken to the dealer and no repairs had been performed. The failure mileage was 60,000 and the current mileage was 87,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Tl*the contact owns a 1996 mercury sable. The contact stated that while sitting on the passenger seat, he was involved in an accident. He mentioned that although he was properly wearing his seat belt and the airbag deployed, it failed to protect him. He mentioned that his head and right hand hit into the windshield and shattered it. He also suffered a concussion and injuries to his knees. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 166,000. Updated 06/01/11*lj updated 06/13/11
The seat belt retraction systems in almost all vehicles will fail to retract the seat belt after a few years of use. The seat belts then hang out the car or truck door and get smashed when the door is closed. The seat belt eventually gets frayed and loses some of it's ability to properly restrain when needed. The retraction spring weakens and no longer retracts the seat belt.
Tl* the contact owns a 1999 mercury sable. The contact stated that while attempting to operate the vehicle she noticed the front passenger side seat belt was stuck in the anchorage and would not pull out or retract. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed the vehicle was not included in the recall associated with the federal safety agency campaign id number: 99v250000 (seat belts: front: anchorage). The vehicle was not serviced for the failure. The failure and current mileages were 98,000. Updated 10/27/10.
Tl*the contact owns a 2000 mercury sable. The contact stated that the seat belt in his vehicle locks up and will not pull out. He purchased another seat belt assembly retractor and had it replaced by a mechanic, but the failure is recurring. The ford manufacturer stated that there were no recalls regarding the seat belt retractor. The failure mileage was 154,000.
Related recalls
Seat belts: front: buckle assembly
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: passenger cars. The seat belt buckle tongue may not fully eject from the buckle assembly when the release button is pushed slowly. This condition could also result in a partial latch of the tongue in the buckle.
- Risk
- In the event of a vehicle crash, the vehicle occupant may not be properly restrained, possibly resulting in personal injury or death.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the driver and right front passenger seat belt buckles. Owner notification began may 4, 2001. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact ford at 1‑800‑392‑3673.
Recall number 01V144000 · Recall details
Seat belts: front: anchorage
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. The child safety seat anchor latch (iso-fix anchor) fasteners do not have adequate residual torque. The anchors are secured to the floor pan with a reinforcement plate that has two studs that extend upward through the floor pan and the iso-fix anchor. The sealer on the floor pan could cause a soft joint and, even if the nuts are properly torqued, road vibrations could cause the nut to work its way completely off the stud.
- Risk
- The anchor may not hold the child safety seat in position during an accident, increasing the risk of injury to the occupant of the child safety seat.
- Remedy
- Dealers will remove and re-install the bracket nut using a torque retention material (red loctite). Owner notification began september 11, 2000. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact ford at 1‑800‑392‑3673.
Recall number 00V240000 · Recall details
Seat belts: front: anchorage
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. The seat belt retractor may have a pin shaft in the switchable elr/alr mechanism that is incorrectly formed. In some circumstances, the switching mechanism could become nonfunctional, preventing the seat belt webbing from being extracted from the retractor. It is also possible that malfunction of the mechanism could prevent the belt from being switched into the alr mode. The elr mechanism is not affected by this condition.
- Risk
- If the mechanism malfunctions and does not allow the webbing to be extracted, the lap and shoulder belt could not be worn by a vehicle occupant. In the event that the mechanism does not allow the alr mode to be engaged, the operator may be unable to properly install a child seat in that seating position.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect the lap and shoulder belt assemblies. Assemblies with julian date codes of 200 through 223 are suspect and will be replaced.
Recall number 99V250000 · Recall details
Seat belts: front: anchorage
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: passenger vehicles equipped with manual seat tracks. The front seat belt buckle attaching stud may have been improperly heat treated. This heat treatment may have resulted in cracks developing in the stud.
- Risk
- If the stud is cracked, in the event of a vehicle crash, the occupant may not be properly restrained, increasing the risk of personal injury.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the seat belt buckle mounting bracket and stud assembly.
Recall number 98V198000 · Recall details
Seat belts: front: buckle assembly
- What is wrong
- The rigid mounted safety belt buckles are defective in three ways. First, a fastened safety belt buckle will not unlatch when the release button is depressed. This results from interference between the buckle ejector finger and the buckle tongue window. The second defect is the safety belt buckle may not latch. The third possible defect is that the tongue may be retained by the buckle, but it may not be latched sufficiently to provide occupant protection.
- Risk
- An insufficiently latched or unlatched safety beltincreases the risk of injury to seat occupants in the event of a sudden stop oraccident. If the safety belt buckle will not unlatch, it will not allow theoccupant to get out of the vehicle in an emergency situation.
- Remedy
- Ford will replace the rigid mounted safety belt buckles with end release safety belt buckles designed to prevent latch problems.
Recall number 92V113000 · Recall details
Questions about the Mercury Sable seat belt
Which Mercury Sable years have seat belt won't latch or retract problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2001 (10 complaints), 1997 (9 complaints) and 1999 (9 complaints).
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