There are 10 owner-reported brakes complaints for the 2003 Mercury Sablein NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
I OWN A 2003 MERCURY SABLE, I REPLACED THE BRAKES , AND AN ASSORTMENT OF PROBLEMS FOLLOWED. FIRST THEY BEGAN LOCKING , THEN THE CAR WOULD NOT STOP AT ALL. I REPLACED PADS.ROTORS.TIRES ,BLEED THE BREAKS ALL IN AN EFFORT TO FIND THE PROBLEM. I COULD NOT, SO THE CAR HAS BEEN SITTING ABOUT A YEAR. THEN I RECEIVED THE RECALL ON THE BREAKS , NOW EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE.
I WAS DRIVING MY CAR AND WHILE I WAS BRAKING FOR A STOP LIGHT I COULDN'T STOP. SOMETHING WAS GIVING MY CAR GAS AS I WAS TRYING TO STOP. EVER SINCE THEN WHEN I DRIVE IT MY RPM'S ARE HIGH AND MAKES A NOISE. I CALLED THE SHOP AND HAD MY IDLE AIR CONTROL VALVE REPLACED BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THE AUTOMOTIVE PLACE SAID WAS WRONG. SINCE THEN IT'S BEEN IN 3 OTHER TIMES AND HAD THE PART REPLACED JUST IN CASE IT WAS A FAULTY PART. NOW THE MECHANICS ARE BAFFLED AS AM I. I DID RESEARCH AND NOTICED THIS WAS A COMMON COMPLAINT ON THESE VEHICLES. I JUST TOOK IT IN AGAIN TODAY DECEMBER 6,2012 AND WE CAN'T FIGURE OUT THE PROBLEM. IT'S GETTING WORSE TO WHERE I CAN'T REALLY DRIVE IT BECAUSE WHEN I GO TO BRAKE IT WON'T STOP. I CAN BE AT A COMPLETE STOP AND NOT TOUCH THE GAS AND MY CAR WILL GET UP TO 45MPH WITHOUT ME EVEN TOUCHING THE GAS PEDAL. *TR
ABS ACTIVATED AFTER GOING OVER SEVERAL "BUMPS" IN A SERIES AND BRAKES APPLIED LIGHTLY. LIGHTLY BEING AS WHEN SLOWING DOWN IN TRAFFIC FOR A TRAFFIC LIGHT AND STOPPING. ABS LIGHT DID NOT COME ON. HOWEVER, ABS LIGHT HAS SUBSEQUENTLY COME ON. ABS LIGHT DOES NOT NECESSARILY COME ON AGAIN THE NEXT TIME THE VEHICLE IS STARTED. ALSO THE BRAKES CAN APPEAR TO BE FINE UNTIL THE NEXT SERIES OF "BUMPS" IS ENCOUNTERED WHEN DRIVING. *NM
WHEN STOPPING ON AN INCLINE FOR A LIGHT OR SIGN WITH FOOT ON BRAKES VEHICLE ROLLED BACKWARDS WHEN FOOT WAS TAKEN OFF THE BRAKES TO ACCELERATE. WOULD EITHER DEPRESS THE BRAKES AGAIN OR ACCELERATOR PEDAL TO KEEP VEHICLE FROM HITTING ANOTHER VEHICLE BEHIND. HAD TAKEN VEHICLE TO DEALERSHIPS BUT MECHANIC DID NOT NOTICE OR FIND ANYTHING WRONG. THIS PROBLEM HAPPENED AT LEAST 6 TIMES BEFORE.*AK
CONSUMER WAS CONCERNED THAT BRAKE PEDAL WENT TO THE FLOOR INTERMITTENTLY WHEN APPLIED. VEHICLE WAS TO DEALER ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, AND DEALER WAS UNABLE TO LOCATE THE PROBLEM. AFTERWARDS VEHICLE WAS INVOLVED IN A CRASH BECAUSE THE BRAKE PEDAL WENT TO THE FLOOR WHILE COMING ONTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC. NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED. VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER, WHOINFORMED THE CONSUMER THAT THE PROBLEM WAS THE MASTER CYLINDER. *AK
CUSTOMER IS ASKING FOR INFO ABOUT A CUSTOMER COMPLAINT**CC THE CONSUMER HAS A SIMILAR SITUATION AND WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION. *TR
PROBLEMS WITH BRAKING SYSTEM ON 2003 MERCURY SABLE STATION WAGON.*MR (NAR) *CB
DEALER INDICATED THAT PARTS WON'T BE AVAILABLE FOR 4 TO 6 WEEKS. LINCOLN MERCURY, 24400 CENTER RIDGE, WESTLAKE OH, 440-835-3700. *AK
THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE BRAKE AND ACCELERATOR PEDALS, CAUSING DRIVER TO UNINTENTIONALLY PRESS THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WHEN TRYING TO BRAKE. *AK
THE ACCELERATOR AND BRAKE PEDAL WERE TOO CLOSE TOGETHER AND CAUSED THE CONSUMER TO INADVERTENTLY DEPRESS THE GAS PEDAL. *NLM *SCC *JB
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026