Other visibility problem on the 2003 Mercury Sable
Only 6 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 visibility problem gets reported
There are 7 reports of other visibility problem on the 2003 Mercury Sable, 6 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 75,000 miles. It is the 15th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 24,900 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 $150–$1,400 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 6 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2003, at a median of 25,000 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 135,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 carries the most reports, with 13; the 2003 has 7. 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.
I recently purchased a 2003 mercury sable ls and prior to leaving the dealership in philadelphia I noticed the front windshield did not have the factory tint glass which was stated on the window sticker and windshield as having tinted glass. I returned to the dealership and spoke with the sales person,sales manager & service manager and after comparing other sables of 2003 in the lot, all stated in the front windshield as having the tint but some did not appear as having the darker band running across the top of the front windshield. No one could address this as to why some did or did not other than they were different supply vendors ford used that day. It appears that whomever ford supplier are at this point has a process error in the manufacturing application of the tint process since ford dealership management could not answer or willing to find out the answers to the problem. *nlm
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 mercury sable. The contact stated that the windows fogged up and the defogger failed to activate. The driving visibility was reduced as a result. Prior to the defogger failing the contact noticed water on the driver's side floor. The vehicle was still having this failure, and vehicle has not yet been inspected by the dealer. There was recall # 03v087000 concerning visibility:windshield, but the contacts vehicle was not included. The current mileage is 42,000, and failure mileage was 40,500. *ak the consumer stated the fan motor caused by consistent water intrusion into the vent. The consumer provided a copy of the repair invoice and receipt. Updated 07/06/07 *tr
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 mercury sable. When it rained, the windshield leaked water above the driver side top corner. The repair shop stated that the windshield was very loose and improperly sealed. The windshield was replaced. The manufacturer stated that the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign id number 03v087000 (visibility: windshield). The current and failure mileages were 32,000. Updated 3/4/08 *cn
Also reported on the 2003 Mercury Sable
Strut, shock or spring failure
Blower motor or climate control failure
Other speed control problem
Other engine problem
Other body or interior problem
Complete transmission failure
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 7 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 7 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 visibility problem happen on the 2003 Mercury Sable?
Across 6 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 25,000 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 visibility problem on the 2003 Mercury Sable?
7 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