Problems · by component
2005 Mercury Sable power train problems
26 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2005 Mercury Sable cite power train, 31% of all 83 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
26
31% of all complaints
Crashes
0
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
What owners say about the power train
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“AFTER LEAVING A STOP, THE CAR WAS ABLE TO MOVE, THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE CAR WOULD NOT CHANGE GEARS AND STAYED IN A NUETRAL POSITION. AFTER SAFELY PARKING THE CAR, IT WILL NOT SHIFT INTO DRIVE OR REVERSE. LOOKING ONLINE I SEE NUMEROUS CONSUMER WITH THE SAME ISSUE AND THE COST IS MORE THAN THE CAR IS WORTH, BUT IS A KNOWN ISSUE THAT THE MANUFACTURER WILL NOT TAKE THE BLAME ON.”
“I DRIVED IT ON HIGHWAY AND SUDDENLY THERE WAS NOISE AND RMP PASSED 4000 BUT NO ACCELERATED. I MANAGED TO STOPPED ON SHOULDER, AND RESTARTED THE CAR, ENGINE RUN OK, AND CAR WASN'T MOVING, EITHER FORWARD OR BACKWARD. I COULD BE HIT BY OTHER CARS IF I DIDN'T MANAGE TO SHOULDER. I SEARCHED ONLINE AND I FOUND OUT A LOT OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT MERCURY SABLE'S TRANSMISSION ISSUES. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS AND PEOPLE MAY GET KILLED BECAUSE OF SUDDEN TRANSMISSION FAILURE WITHOUT ANY WARNING. MY CAR HAS ABOUT 88700 MILES ON IT.”
“WHEN ENTERING THE CAR AFTER A BASKETBALL GAME I STARTED THE VEHICLE AND TRIED TO GO INTO REVERSE BUT THE CAR REMAINED IN NEUTRAL AS IT WOULD NOT SHIFT INTO GEAR. PRIOR TO THIS I HAD NEVER NOTICED ANY ISSUES WITH THE TRANSMISSION. I WAS TOLD BY OUR MECHANIC THE TORQUE CONVERTER HAD GIVEN OUT AND NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. AFTER DOING EXTENSIVE RESEARCH I FOUND THERE ARE HUNDREDS IF NOT THOUSANDS OF OTHER MERCURY SABLE OWNERS THAT HAVE EXPERIENCED THE EXACT SAME ISSUE WITH THEIR TRANSMISSION. FORD RECALLED THE SAME PART ON OTHER SIMILAR MAKE AND MODELS VEHICLES. THIS NEEDS TO BE RECALLED OF MERCURY SABLES AS WELL.”
“TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 MERCURY SABLE. WHILE DRIVING 20 MPH, THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO SUDDENLY DECREASE IN SPEED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE REACTED AS IF IT WERE IN NEUTRAL. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED NOR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 92,000.”
“PURCHASE VEHICLE USED IN JUNE OF 2015, ONE REPAIR AFTER ANOTHER. OWNED 1YR AND HERE ARE REPAIRS THAT WE HAVE HAD TO DO: DRAIN PLUG REPLACED, TRANS FILTER, ADDITIVE & FLUID, RE-BUILT TRANSMISSION, FLUID, REPLACE REAR BRAKE SHOES, REPLACE VALVE COVER GASKET, OIL PAN GASKET, EGR SENSOR. COST INCURRED $3,275.20 WAY MORE THAN ANY CAR SHOULD HAVE IN ONE YEAR! ANYBODY GOING TO REIMBURSE THESE EXPENSES?”
“WHILE TRAVELING DOWN THE INTERSTATE 90 HIGHWAY SOUTHBOUND ON 10 JUNE, 2016 THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY AND WITHOUT WARNING LOST FORWARD MOTION POWER AND THE RPM LEVEL OF THE CAR SHOT UP SUDDENLY. THE VEHICLE ROLLED TO A STOP ON THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY WHILE STILL RUNNING, BUT THERE WAS NO VEHICLE MOVEMENT PROVIDED IN ANY OF THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION GEARS, INCLUDING REVERSE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A LOCAL REPAIR SHOP IN SPOONER, WI WHERE A REPAIR BILL ESTIMATE OF $3-$4K WAS PROVIDED.....REBUILD CURRENT OR REPLACE WITH REMANUFACTURED.”
Showing 6 of 26 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 10, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.