My starter 2002 mercury sable
 

Now this car has had this problem for awhile now but both starter and flywheel have been replaced and it still seems the starter does not want to catch. When it misses you hear a loud WHEEEEEEEEEEEE sound and the car does not start. My friend told me it could be that the starter is pushed too far a certain way and most of the teeth are just mussing the flywheel all together. He also told me to put bushings on them so I called my local auto shop and was informed that putting bushings on a Ford product and impossible (The mechanic said they were only adaptable to GMC products). Now he is saying I can use washers which I don't want to do because it doesn't seem too safe.

If anyone can help me with this it would be greatly appreciated. Again both flywheel and starter are maybe a year old and there are no teeth missing from the flywheel *I checked at my work when I was under the car*.

check the cables to make sure they are making good contact at the battery and the starter. It might be having a low voltage problem and just not throwing out all the way. You could have also gotten a starter (especially if it was rebuilt) that was not properly (re)built and the throw out gear is catching on the shaft. taking the starter off and greasing the shaft may help, but if there's a notch in it, you'll continue to have the problem.

You can try some starter shims.