l am thinking of buying a 1999 sable

l had a 96 great car, bad transmissions if not taken care of properly, 99 is supposedly have a water pump issue, check into it, and as always check the CARFAX, Otherwise its a very good car, pretty decent in winter as well, and insurance is quite cheap comparitively, Good Luck

**EDIT**
As long as you take care of the transmission, it wo not break, this means annual transmission service $75-120- !!ON ANY CAR YOU BUY!!

From my experience at the auto parts store and the tranny shop l worked at they seem to be pretty reliable. The only problems l am aware of is transmission. The tranny shop l worked at took in more sable/taurus trannys than any other. The rebuild cost would range from$2300-$2900. Then least seen vehicle was the Pontiac Grand Prix. l the 5 years l worked there we took in only 1. And l now own 1 just because of that.

Overall, very dependable. According to the link below, the only problem spot on the '99 Sable is a minor problem with the heater core.

The early models had tranny problems not 99.They are a good dependable car.That why ford is bringing it back in name only to replace the 500 that,s not a big seller.The Taurus was

that would be ok if the car has very low miles & make shure the trans doesnt slip cause mercurey.s has a serioues problem with mercurey sable transmissions & other trans too in other models like the taures they have trans problems too so make shure the trans doesnt jerk as u put it in to drive or reverse & make shure theres no noise comen from the engine & take the oil fill cap off while the engine is running & see if theres any smoke & u should be able to see the smoke it will seam like steam but it is smoke resadue that means the oil is getten past the rings & the vehicale is usen oil & check the pipe to make shure theres no black resadue inthe pipe cause if there is then it is more then likely burning oil so really check it out before u buy it & if u really want to be shure its a good car take it to a pro mechanic that has been in buiness for over 13 yrs & know the mercurey sables & have him do a compression check & a spark check & a break check & engine check & so on that way u wont get taken for a ride like some of my friends did cause they didnt listen to me l hope this helps thanks.....

99 is early in the bubble looking ones. The tranny issues were fixed. Check which engine. Both r reliable, but the Duratec is a much better engine (24 valve instead of 12).

The water pump is junk. Never think that a little overheating is ok-it cant be pushed if it gets hot as the cooling system is quite weak.

When ur water pump goes bad there is a way to use the water pump from the Contour (2.5 V6 Duratec) in its place. It is a much better part, but requires some modification.

WARNING dont get one MERCURY is a brand of car for old people.Once you get up in the BUICK brand then you are really old.