Other fuel system problem on the 2001 Mercury Sable
Only 2 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When other fuel system problem gets reported
There are 4 reports of other fuel system problem on the 2001 Mercury Sable, 2 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 90,000 miles. It is the 21st most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 44,600 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $300–$2,200 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 5 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2003, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 95,000 miles.
By volume the 2000 carries the most reports, with 8; the 2001 has 4. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
My wife purchased a 2001 mercury sable ls on 1/31/01,I drove the auto for 2 days, when I put the auto in gear the gas pedal reacted as though the pedal was pushed to the floor board. I called port motors and told them about the situation and told them I refused to drive the auto. The next day they came and towed the auto away. When I went to the dealer they gave me another auto,for which I still have the old VIN #. After driving the new auto they gave I began having the same problems. Over the past 8 years the accelerator problem has occurred about 9 or 10 times. When I put the car in gear I always make sure my foot is always on the brake as I fear the auto will accelerate as though the pedal goes to the floor,my wife refuses to drive this auto and I will not let anyone drive as I don't know when this racing will occur. I have reported this to ford motor but got know positive response, I also reported this to national safety board and they gave me a complaint #. *tr
While driving the sable at approximately 25 mi. Per hr.(clear road,dry conditions)in congested traffic conditions. Going through a set of traffic lights,luckily the light had just turned green,,the vehicle suddenly surged up to 3000 RPM. Fortunately,going through the lights, my foot was near the brake pedal. When I heard and felt the acceleration ,I immediately hit the brake and kept my right foot on it as the vehicle continued to push forward with full brakes applied. Luckily the vehicle was under the brakes control,while still revvvving, I put the vehicle into neutral and pulled over,tuned ignition off. The front disc brakes were smoking. Opened hood,noticed nothing unusual, this is the only report of this incident.will seek immediate cure today. This is my 66 y.o. Girl friend car.she is now horrified to use it! November 5,2015.
Also reported on the 2001 Mercury Sable
Strut, shock or spring failure
Other suspension problem
Other speed control problem
Other brake problem
Other electrical problem
Cruise control failure
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 4 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 4 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other fuel system problem happen on the 2001 Mercury Sable?
Across 2 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 45,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other fuel system problem on the 2001 Mercury Sable?
4 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.0 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed