Comments: 1-15, 16
My first transmission went out at 46,000 miles. I have to have 4 transmissions put in before they found one that worked. These were new transmissions by the way. Warranty was expired. $2,500.00. The other 3 transmissions they warrantied.
I had to have 4 censors replaced in the past 9 years. Only one of them were still under warranty. $1,100.00.
I had my brakes replaced 3 times because all they ever did was squeak. $75.00. The other 2 they warrantied.
My hatch like most everyone else. It no longer stays open.
Had to have work done on the valve body.
$857.00.
Tires wear fast. Spent $1200.00 on new ones and they don't even hold air do to the alloy rims.
I have replaced the distributer.
My headlights burn out faster than any car I have ever had.
It is a royal pain to change the blinker bulb. Said forget it and took it in.
I had to have the fuel pump replaced. $375.00.
Remember everything that has happened to this car starting going out at 46,000 miles and only one sensor was still under warranty.
My equalizer lights come on only when they feel like it. Good thing I learned how to use it before this started happening.
I had to replace the belt and pulley. NO one in the area had the parts except Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts Store.
No Ford dealership has half the parts in stock. So I started going to a regular Joe Mechanic with the exception of the transmission. No mechanic would touch it because it was not a manual transmission. I wanted manual, but they were hard to come by.
Motor power sunroof started going to crap in 1999.
Car has been making a jingling noise underneath for years. Have no clue what it is. But if it doesn't break don't fix it.
This is just a partial list of what I can remember.
I would never own another Probe as long as I live.
The car handles awesome at high speeds.
Has a lot of power at low and high end speeds.
Leather interior is still like new.
Really good speakers and stereo system.
Your first tranny went at 46000 miles, the car has now (2003) 73000 miles, you are not the original owner...
So, the car has been driven on average 8100 miles a year and more like 3000 miles a year by you (if we assume that the tranny went as soon as you bought it). How did you manage to have all these repairs? How did wear out the tires? With a 3000 mile a year mileage, how many light bulbs did you replace in the 9 years?
Mazda 626, Mx6 and Probe GT share the same engine. How on earth did you have problems finding a belt for it when every mechanic I've ever visited had one in stock or a phone call away? (bad harmonic balancer ate 4 belts on mine)
I was not aware that mechanics no longer fix automatic transmissions - I'll have to remember that...
You have spent $1200 for a set of 195/55/16 tires...
You have replaced brake pads 3 times because of the noise coming from the retaining clip...
I have a business proposal for you.
There's enough stuff on the internet about Probe GTs and their automatic transmissions that anyone who's spending money on replacing them should smack themself in the head and keep their mouth shut because they shouldn't have bought the thing in the first place without doing a little research. There's a reason the auto Probes are on average $2000 less than 5spd ones, they are garbage. And they are nothing like a domestic transmission so small garages will not look at them. I don't know why you'd have problems finding any other parts though. I had a 93GT, and I live in a small city in the middle of Saskatchewan Canada. I had no problem getting the distributor, both axels, valve cover gasket, O2 sensor, and muffler replaced at a local mechanic. But if you're going to take it to a dealership, for the love of god don't take it to ford. In a ford mechanic's 30 year career, he might work on 5 Probe Gt's. Mazda mechanics work on that powertrain almost daily, and will have parts on hand. And yes, probes do have the same powertrain as the 626 and MX-6, and in addition to that, MX-6's are almost identical in every other mechanical aspect (suspension, brakes, etc.) The Probe is a great car to own if you want something that looks great, performs great, and is cheap. You just have to do your homework. Stay away from the Auto tranny, I don't care how cheap the car is. It's junk both performance wise and in reliability. And if you can, go 1995 and up. 1993 and 1994 had a lot of common problems including distributor, O2 sensor, both axels, rear brake calipers, both valve cover gaskets, etc. which were revised and fixed in 1995. Oh, and you might as well have flushed the money you spend on your valve work. I'm guessing you had some lifter noise, which if you would have researched, is a common problem and has absolutely no effect on performance, and will not worsen or cause anymore damage with time. It'll say anywhere that it's not worth replacing.
I have a 95 PGT auto transmission and it runs like a dream. No problem with the tranny. I changed the fluid in the tranny every 15 - 20 k miles.
Auto tranny probes aren't crap. If you feed it crap it will more than likely turn to crap.
A car like the probe requires the owner to be very familiar with the workings of a car.
Why I don't disagree with you, I find it ridiculous that a mass market car like the Probe should require any special automotive knowledge. After all, this is not a Ferrari or Lamborghini.
It just proves that Ford does not know how to build cars. The Probe was great to drive, but if it requires a PhD to run it then it's not worth it for the price.
I have a '94 Probe with an auto Tran and it runs fine. My sunroof motor went out, but the car runs great. I don't see why people have so many problems with them.
I own a 94 probe gt. I bought it three years ago just to have fun at the track on the weekends. I thought I'd break the engine in a couple months. Although I had a nitrous kit and did 15's 1/4 mile the engine still running strong and no problems at all. Never though this could turn into my daily driver. I've parked my Dakota R/T and my Eclipse and now drive the probe. Only thing that I've replaced so far is the battery and the usual tune up. By the way this car has already over 150k and can still go up to 150mph with no problems. 4 Cylinder cars with turbo have trouble keeping up.
I had a Ford Probe for 4 months. It was a 93 gt with 5spd, almost every option. The problem as I see it is this. It was designed by Porsche built by Mazda has a Mitsubishi distributor Which if you think about it brings in chrysler which is/was owned by Mercedes, then you buy it at a Ford dealership. The first week I had mine the distributor took a dump. Replaced it with a $250 rebuilt, the glue put on the coil didn't keep the water out. Which is how I learned to remove blow dry the inside and put it back on in almost any position in about ten minutes. I still loved that car. The seats were great. Still got beat by an automatic Saturn SL2 with 2 very big chicks in it. In the end the car stalled mid-turn and got T-boned by a Subaru. I cut the passenger door off to get the Stereo and wiring harnesses.
I bought my probe 94 about 5 years ago at 94,000 km. I now have 132,000 on the clock.Love the car. Had no trouble at all except water pump a few years back, Replaced cam belt at same time.Au$890.00. Electric aerial, Replaced with aftermarket brand real cheap! Now I think I
need calipers redone, (making a grabbing noise when I brake hard. Otherwise very happy.Still same tyres from when I bought car. Drives beautifully! Wayne, Adelaide,Australia.
I have a '96 5spd and other than tires and 1 bad sensor, I have had zero problems. This is by far the most reliable car I have ever owned. Fun, cheap to drive, what more could you ask for at 21k miles for $12,5, now 75k??
I've owned a 94 ford probe for 5 years now and while its had its own small problems everything could be easily fixed if you know how. there is a forum called probetalk that has a lot of helpful information about repairs on it. remember O2 sensors fail on all cars after time, brakes squeak on many also. I was lucky enough to purchase a manual so I haven't had the transmission problems but I have heard many times they can be resolved with an external transmission cooler.
Hi, I have a 1995 Ford Probe SE 5 speed. It's fun as heck to drive, and by far the best 4 cyl I have ever owned, and that's not many, as I like my V8's.
Got the car about 4 months ago for 100. Was going to scrap it when scrap cars where bringing 12 and more, but for some reason I could not do it.
In the 4 months I have owned it I have put NGK spark plugs in it. The week after I started driving it, it started running like crap. Problem solved.
Replaced driver window due to neighborhood trash wanting my GPS (buy the way, they just took the GPS and left me the car charger and suction cup - was that not nice of them?), and now I have to replace the drivers side fender because some guy decided that he was special and he don't have to stop at the stop sign, instead he drives through it looking at the little kids.
But other than that, the car is great, a lot better than the 96 Pontiac Sunfire GT automatic piece of crap I had prior to this car, but I have always been a sucker for a Ford.
This car is easy to work on. I've had mine for 200,000 miles and the only things I've had to replace were the CV shafts and timing belt (which I did just cause I didn't want it to go out). I've worked on them for my friends and they're very simple to work on in my opinion.. don't forget these are Mazda engines :)
200,000 miles would equate to 440,000 kilometres. That's great mileage in anybody's language!! I currently drive a 1989 Mitsubishi Lancer which has also proven itself a very reliable car, but I am contemplating a 1997 5 speed GT Probe.
Love the way these cars look. Haven't made up mind if I like the rear spoiler though as I tend to think it ruins the clean lines of the car. Seems the 97 model comes standard with the spoiler. What year is your car?
Be interested to know how many other people have wrung high mileages from their Probes.
I JUST bought a 94 Probe GT.
I paid 500 bucks, and the cars got 314,000 kms.
It honestly runs better than my 05 Dodge SX 2.0.
I love this car.
And I hate American cars?
How ironic.
I bought a 94 for $800. A little exhaust work, ball joint and a tie rod, which I did myself.
I have owned every type of car going. I drive 1500 KM a week and I go through cars fast, so I found it better buy cheap and often works for me. This Probe is awesome on gas, drives good and looks good. They all have problems and most cars today have many issues.
I have had Cavaliers, the last two, and while they worked well, they had head gasket and fuel pump problems.
My Ford Mustang had head gasket problems.
My Dodge Daytona was fast and looked good, but trannys were an issue.
My Mazda MX3 was absolutely amazing aside from brakes and tires.
They all have problems and issues and brakes, tires, lights and sensors are all basic maintenance.