My 2000 Mercury Sable left rear coil spring broke, and damaged my strut also. I was very lucky as the tire was not damaged. I had to rush the car to monroe to fix it asap. Cost me $800. I would like Ford to recall this part and pay owners who have already fixed it on their own expense. I believe ODI has a open case on this PE05-054. The spring was broken when the dealer sold me to car, but never informed me. When I called them the general manager wanted me to show him but I was not going to drive 30 miles and put my life and others at risk. Very disappointed with nick mayer Lincoln Mercury.

- Glastonbury, CT, USA

: the contact stated while driving 35 mph the driver smelled smoke. Upon turning into the driveway at 2 mph the driver's side rear tire blew out. After putting the spare tire on the vehicle was driven to an independent tire shop where it was determined the rear springs punctured the tire after it fractured. The contact was advised by a company representative that there was a recall for the front springs fracturing, but there was nothing for the rear springs. They replaced the rear coil springs at the consumer's expense. Updated 05/30/06.

- Pittsburgh, PA, USA

: the contact stated while traveling between 10-45 mph, there was a dragging noise coming from the rear end. The vehicle was taken to the dealership where it was determined the passenger side rear coil spring fractured. This caused an eighth of an inch groove in the tire. The manufacturer was alerted.

- Lancaster, NY, USA

After coming to a stop at an intersection, I proceeded to make a left turn. While completing the turn, I heard a loud thump in the rear of the car. I immediately stopped and examined the outside of the car and noticed that the rear wheel wells were nearly rubbing on the tires. Both rear coil springs had broken at the first coil. After 3 days at the dealership, the springs were replaced at my expense. At the break, the entire cross-sectional area of one spring and one quarter of the cross-sectional area of the other are rusted. I have the springs.

- Greenfield, IN, USA

I am the owner of a 2000 Sable sedan VIN [xxx]. on April 7, 2006 the left rear strut spring broke while backing out of my garage. ( a 2" difference in height between the garage floor and the driveway) my inspection revealed a rubbing noise caused by the broken spring coil gouging into the tire!! fortunately the vehicle was only driven about 100 ft and the tire was only slightly scraped. Imagine what could have happened on the highway!! the vehicle was repaired at hines park Lincoln Mercury on 4/10/06 at a cost of $413.38. I believe a customer reimbursement action should be the minimum and a recall of the affected springs might be appropriate. Updated 07/16/2012 information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Livonia, MI, USA

: the contact stated while traveling 50 mph, the vehicle was swerving to the left. The dealership determined the passenger side rear coil spring broke.

- Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Car was in with my mechanic for yearly safety/emissions inspection. My mechanic found that a rear coil spring was broken and needed to be replaced for vehicle to pass inspection.

- New Woodstock, NY, USA

Left rear suspension spring broke while driving. Taking out the struts, left rear tire, and disabling the auto. Auto was undriveable and had to be towed to Ford dealership for repairs. Both rear springs, struts, and tire had to be replaced. Dealer repairing was causeway Ford, Lincoln Mercury in manahawkin New Jersey.

- Barnegat, NJ, USA

Put car in reverse and heard a loud bang. Thought that hit something, but when looking didn't see anything wrong. Then started hearing a noise in rear passenger side wheel. Drove car to service department, and they showed her the broken coil and the inside of tire that had been gouged out down to the steel belt. Had to have the coil replaced on both wheels because the other side was about to snap also. Had to buy a new tire to replace the ruined one.

- Hopewel, NJ, USA

On 12/15/2005, I was driving my two kids to school in my 2000 Mercury Sable when my left rear tire (only 5 months old) blew out. I swerved and came to rest on a grassy median. My kids and I were pretty shaken up but I managed to compose myself to get out and change the tire. As cars drove relatively close to me, I managed to get the spare on and noticed that my tire had a groove carved on the inside with a deep puncture. I searched to see what had caused this and noticed that the coil spring was broken the sharp broken edge protruded out. Luckily this did not interfere with the small spare tire. I have called my dealer (reedman/toll) and they told me there was no recall on the rear springs and that it would be a few days before they could get the parts to make the repair. I am currently shopping around to get the best price (so far $505 to replace both rear springs) I have just researched the NHTSA site and was appalled to see the number of similar complaints that have been filed and Ford's unwillingness to correct the problem at their cost. Will it take a death or two before a recall will be made to correct this" I noticed that a formal NHTSA investigation was underway as of October 2005 on the rear coil spring fractures based on 131 complaints but have not been able to find the outcome of study. Is it ongoing or has a conclusion been reached" I will save my old parts.

- Levittown, PA, USA

The contact stated the vehicle was shaking and making a noise. She took the vehicle in to a mechanic, who determined that the rear coil spring fractured. The vehicle should not be driven until the repairs were made.. she had not had the repairs made yet.

- Dayton, OH, USA

Noise in rear, worse when turning right and braking. Problem was identified to be broken rear coil springs and they were replaced. It appears under investigation # peo5054 that a number complaints have been reported with this same problem on the 2000 Mercury Sable. We would like reimbursement of our $374.28 repair bill for replacement of this defective part and labor incurred repair date 1/7/05.

- Holland, MI, USA

Fractured left rear coil spring rupturing left rear tire resulting in rapid air loss.

- Pine Hill, NJ, USA

I have a 2000 Mercury Sable with 45,500 miles. I took the car in to a tire store for new tires when the mechanic found a broken coil spring on the rear suspension and the broken coil end was rubbing against the tire. They said the tire was probably minutes away from failure and there was a groove worn where it was rubbing. I know there was an issue with the front coil springs breaking because I had the so called Ford fix completed which ment installing a shield to prevent the spring from blowing out the front tires. Now it seems there is a problem with the rear springs having the same failure mode. This could be a serious problem at freeway speeds.

- Canton, MI, USA

Re: campaign #04V332000 (Ford recall #04517 front coil springs were noted as defective, shields installed. One spring on front broke 4 months later and both front were replaced. The next week one rear spring broke. I was told this was not covered by the recall. What exactly is the difference between the front and rear springs, both are obviously defective. Why is only the front covered? manufacturer customer service rep. Did not prvide any real answer to my problem. I want the rear springs considered ass part of this recall.

- Merrimack, NH, USA

The problem began on 6/16/05. In February there was a recall on the coil springs, and it was repaired. It was the front coil springs. As owner was entering the vehicle, she noticed that there was a pop, then upon entering the garage a rubbing feeling coming from the right rear tire, and was making a growling sound. Upon inspection the tire had shredded due to the coil spring busting. The car will be taken to the dealer to be repaired at owner's expense. Dealer replaced both front springs and sway bar links and replaced two rear tires.

- Kirville, NY, USA

Consumer owns a 2000 Mercury Sable and is asking that the recall for front coil spring failures be expanded to included the front and rear coil springs. The rear coil spring in the consuemr's vehicle broke.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

Rear coil spring failure (fracture) causing blow-out of rear driver-side tire. Temporary loss of control of vehicle. Existing recall for front coil spring failure, this occured on the rear. Both rear springs and cut tire replaced at owners expense.

- Stockbridge, MI, USA

I took by vehicle to a tire retailer to have all four tires replaced. When the mechanic removed the wheels he found the left rear coil spring had fractured in the first active coil above the lower spring seat. The fractured end of the coil spring remained captured in the lower coil spring seat so that there is no contact (yet) between the tire and the fractured coil spring. The nature of the fracture is such that corrosion is deemed the source of failure. The service center manager referred me to by local vehicle dealership. In fact, the service manager told me mine was the "third coil spring failure in the past month" that he'd seen on 2000 Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable, one of them from his own fleet! I understand there is an existing recall campaign, manufacturer recall number 04V332000, describing defective front coil springs for this vehicle. The failure mode described in the recall and in NHTSA investigation PE 04-044 is the same mode of failure described in this complaint for the rear coil springs. To the best of my knowledge though, there has not yet been any recall issued to address the defective rear coil spings of this vehicle. As I write this I am attempting to arrange a service appointment with my Lincoln-Mercury dealer to have the all the car's coil springs replaced, hopefully under warranty. At the very least I recommend NHTSA re-open investigation PE 04-044 and examine rear coil spring failure for the same vehicles (1999-2000 Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable). Consequences for rear coil spring failure are the same as for front coil spring failure, described in recall 04V332000: "tire may rupture resulting in a rapid air loss, which could result in a crash." Don't hesitate to contact me should you need additional information.

- Randolph, NJ, USA

(1) I own a Mercury Sable, 4 dr. Sedan [xxx] with approximately 35,550 miles on it. Last week, 06/03/05) with no obvious causation (I.e. did not run over a huge pothole or rock/curb), I began to hear a rubbing noise from the rear wheel - it sounded a bit like a brake shoe dragging or a tree branch stuck in the well rubbing the tire. On immediate roadside inspection, I could not see any obvious problem. (2) later when I removed the wheel I determined that the rear coil spring had broken or slipped down over the lower retaining cup and a sharp end of the coil was protruding out from under the retaining cup and it was cutting a neat groove in the sidewall of my tire. The tire had not yet lost pressure but would have in a very few miles with potentially disastrous consequences. (3) I contacted the customer service line for Ford Motor Co. On 06/06/05 and 06/07/05 and spoke to a representative and a supervisor and they required that I have the car inspected by a dealership which I did. After having the dealership verify the problem (fractured right rear coil spring) they refused to offer me any assistance in the repairs and would say only that the recall (2000 Mercury Sable gs NHTSA recall id number: 04V332000 recall date: Jul 15, 2004 component: Suspension:front:springs:coil springs) covered only the front springs and that the vehicle is unsafe to operate without repairs. I am taking the vehicle to my local technician for replacement of both springs with non-Ford Motor Company, after market parts. I will have them retain the old parts and will be pleased to make these available to you for inspection. Updated 07/27/2012 information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Media, PA, USA