One problem related to tail light switch has been reported for the 2001 Mercury Sable. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2001 Mercury Sable based on all problems reported for the 2001 Sable.
2001 Mercury Sable VIN: (see other part of complaint) I stopped at a business put car in park got out. Upon returning the car would start but not come out of park. I found I had no tail lights. I later found also there was no cruise control. I parked the car a couple days trying to find out what was wrong with it and when I got in the car I found the battery had gone dead. I just got done researching this and found recall 01s08 and NHTSA # 01v078000 saying the recall was on a break switch due to grease compromising the switch. The description of the malfunction matches my problem exactly! upon calling the dealer that sold the vehicle they said they couldn't find a recall of this based on my VIN. Ford customer service also stated they couldn't find a recall of this based on my VIN. Well obviously the recall should have included my VIN as the same thing has happened to my car. Now with the problem of not being able to shift the vehicle properly the transmission is giving an error dash light saying that the vehicle is trying to shift and is in the wrong gear?? at 70mph there is only one gear that will run the car under 3k on the tach so it has to be in the right gear. . Maybe its trying to shift out. . Not sure have to look into this more.