Faults:

Noisy CV joints and driveshafts.

Brakes all round.

Drivers seat leather looked awful.

Electrical gremlins, too many to list.

Usual wear and tear plus servicing.

General Comments:

You know the old phrase "Don't meet your heroes" well it might apply here. Not a car to get excited about, but when I was a kid growing up in the 1990's the Probe always looked a nice car to me, so I decided one day I would have one.

That day came in 2010 when I found this P registered 1996 24V Probe in dark blue (best colour and engine) in the Auto Trader ads. After a bit of haggling I got it for a good price and drove it home, safely checked out by my mechanic friend.

Planned to keep it as a second car, but ended up using it more than I thought. I put about 50,000 miles on it the 8 years I had it. Was too expensive to run as a regular car, 26 miles per gallon is just not practical. There was a smaller 2.0 4 cylinder engine that could manage 30 miles per gallon or a little more, but was slow and not really what you buy a car like this for.

The 2.5 V6 sounds great, but not quite as fast as you would expect. It was fun to drive though - the sound from the V6 was tremendous, and the handling was very tight. As per title of review, the car is almost as good as it could have been - there is a sporty car here, just not quite good enough to take on the likes of the Honda Prelude, VW Corrado, etc.

Interior wise it had the usual electrics and 1990's feel all round; I hated the steering wheel though, was ugly looking and ruined an otherwise decent interior. Vision all round was good, mostly glass everywhere. Outside this car split opinion - some hated it, but I loved the American look, though this car was not popular in the UK, and the Ford Capri had just gone out of fashion. Original 24V alloy wheels are gorgeous, avoid the 3 spoke on lesser models, they were pretty ugly.

In the end this car became too expensive to run, and with over 130K miles at about 20 years old I decided to scrap it a couple of years ago. But I enjoyed most of my time with it and I am glad I finally got round to getting one. Their value seems to go up and down these days, generally they do not hold value well, but I would say to anyone thinking about getting one, do not pay too much and find a nice looked after one to keep for summer fun.

Faults:

Water pump replaced.

Usual scuffed driver's seat.

General Comments:

Lovely growly V6 engine, giving out some serious power. Acceleration is 0-60 in about 8 seconds, which is pretty acceptable for this car, as it is rather heavy.

Looks fantastic, totally stands out in the car park from all the other boring boring BMWs, Mercs etc etc yawn! For a car that is 10 years old, it certainly still holds its own on styling and performance.

Inside is a little but plasticy, but still modern looking, with the swooping dashboard.

Only downside is that it is a high maintenance car, you will need to put the time in looking after it. Do not rely on garages to know anything about it.