Originally, 2 days prior, car felt like I was dragging something underneath. Got out and looked around car, didn't see anything. Left car for 2 days, then started to head to work. Was going only about 20mph when smoke poured out from under my car. A moment later my front passenger side tire blew. Had a friend come to help me change to the spare. He drove the car about 2 minutes back to my house and as soon as he parked it, he took the spare off because we heard a weird popping noise when he was jacking the car back up. Looked and the coil spring on the passenger side had broken and rubbed so violently against the tire that it had torn a 10-14" long hole in the tire and had burnt a ring around the inside of the tire. Thankfully I had 2 friends to replace the whole unit. I also was able to take my Goodyear tire back to sam's and they prorated my tire (had less than 6,000 miles on them!!) and replaced it. Time will tell if the other one will go out but NHTSA needs to look at this problem. If I had been going faster, I most certainly would have been in a very bad accident. I am very thankful I had friends who were able to change the whole coil spring for me. But if this were to happen while traveling at a high rate of speed, the end result could be catastrophic.

- Summersville, WV, USA

2003 Mercury Sable. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle front spring broke and slashed tire which caused an immediate flat tire.

- Little Falls, MN, USA

The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Sable. The contact stated while driving approximately 25 mph, a loud noise emitted outside of the vehicle. The contact inspected the vehicle and noticed that the rear passenger side tire exploded due to a fractured coil spring. The vehicle was towed to a private mechanic where it was diagnosed that both front clock springs, the coil springs, and the stabilizer spring bar needed to be replaced. The contact also stated that the failure occurred on the front driver's side several months later. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The approximate failure and current mileage were 91,000.

- Fredonia, PA, USA

The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Sable. The contact stated that while traveling approximately 10 mph, the passenger side front coil spring failed and punctured the tire, causing a blow out. The vehicle was taken to a private dealer where it was determined that the coil spring had failed. The vehicle was repaired. The contact also stated that the failure occurred on the front driver's side several months later. The manufacturer was not contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was 154,000. The current mileage was 156,000. The VIN was not available.

- Randolph, ME, USA

Front coil spring failed while vehicle was parked in the driveway, coil spring broke in two places and punctured the front tire (spring went through the tire sidewall). If this happened while vehicle was in motion, the car would have steered sharply to the right and gone off the road. Our 2000 Sable had a recall for this problem but the 2003 Sable did not. Searching the web, spring failure and puncture of a front tire has occurred numerous times.

- Nahant, MA, USA

The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Sable. The contact stated that while driving approximately 10 mph, a loud noise emitted outside of the vehicle. The contact inspected the vehicle and noticed that the front driver's side tire exploded due to the fractured coil spring. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where it was diagnosed that both front coil springs, the driver side tire, and sway bar needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 100,000.

- Bloomington, IN, USA

The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Sable. The contact stated that after shifting into drive, a loud noise emitted outside of the vehicle. The contact inspected the vehicle and noticed that the front passenger's side tire exploded due to the fractured coil spring. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where both front coil springs were replaced. Also, the front passenger's side tire was replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 72,000.

- Braintree, MA, USA

Backing up less than 5 mph--all at once heard a pop, the car stopped moving and whooshing air. Got out of car-- driver side front tire was flat. Upon further investigation, the spring had broken and punctured the tire. Luckily, it happened at home-- not when my student driver was driving at 55 mph or more. Over 2,400 cases reported as of June 30, 2011-- yet, no one has died or been seriously injured yet-- so no recall. If I had been on the road-- it would have been serious. The spring wedged into the tire and stopped the movement of the car-- no way would I have been able to steer and get the car off the road. I hope they reopen this investigation.

- Oregon, IL, USA

Left front coil spring broke, cutting and ruining tire.

- Port Allegany, PA, USA

Right front coil spring fractured spontaneously while vehicle parked in garage.

- Oostburg, WI, USA

The left front spring failed and punctured the tire as the car was being backed out of a garage. According to NHTSA campaign id #04V332000, a protective device was to be installed to prevent the tire from being punctured because of spring fracture and the warranty was extended on the spring. The manufacturer refuses to fix my vehicle because it was manufactured after the latest date applied to the recall as noted above. Since, the failure is the same as explained in the recall description; I claim the manufacturer is obligated to cover the repairs based on past history. Plus, the "fix" was not installed on my vehicle at the time of manufacture therefore exposing the tire to the catastrophic failure of being punctured by the broken spring.

- Brunswick, OH, USA