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Hi- we are seriously considering purchasing a 97 mercury sable station wagon as our 2nd car. It is in great condition, well kept, and brand new tires. The engine sounds great, but it has 159,000 miles. The asking price is 1700$. Has anyone had any experiences with this sort of car or Mercurys in general. it does have a lot of miles, but since we can only spend around 2000$ it looks like our best option. do these cars last a long time?
thanks!
The transmission is usually the #1 problem with the Taurus/Sable. Demand that the seller have the transmission fluid and filter changed. After that's done take it for a test drive and "get down on it", if it shifts fine than it should be okay. Sometimes transmissions that are extremely worn out will start slipping after a fluid change because there is less grit in there to provide friction, that's what you want to look for.
No....No....No.....again....NO. The Taurus/Sable line, especially the older ones, are transmission nightmares. Add to that motor and tranny mount misery and you're wasting your money. The family has had three "gently driven by Pap to the VFW on Saturday" kind of Taurus/Sable cars. One inherited, one given and another we thought we got a good deal on. All three are now either bee's nest or new hubcaps. We maintained them well and don't beat vehicles up. Average tranny replacement cost is roughly two grand.
Certainly there must be some other vehicle out there, any other vehicle out there, in your price range.
Hi- we are seriously considering purchasing a 97 mercury sable station wagon as our 2nd car. It is in great condition, well kept, and brand new tires. The engine sounds great, but it has 159,000 miles. The asking price is 1700$. Has anyone had any experiences with this sort of car or Mercurys in general. it does have a lot of miles, but since we can only spend around 2000$ it looks like our best option. do these cars last a long time?
thanks!
Sadly, rheannad, "perfect" used cars are rare.
As for your Sable find . . . lots of miles but I would imagine parts and capable mechanical help should be easy to locate. This is important as any vehicle with 159k miles on the odometer will need some type of help down the road.
For roughly $2000, you could probably find a decent Mark II Toyota Camry, for example, if you want a sedan. Take a look at the cheapest "tier" of used cars recommended by Consumer Reports, or, find the buyer's guide or auto issue from a few years back, look at them for older cars with good reliability and MPG. You could definitely find a good used Honda, Toy, Nissan, etc. for 2K or less.
hi everyone,
thanks for all your advice. I think you guys are right on the money- we decided to skip the mercury and put in some extra money and get a better car. no sense in buying something that we will only have to dump more money into, right!
thanks again!
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