1994 Ford Probe review from North America

Passenger door panel (interior) fell off regularly

Needed rotors every time it needed brake pads

Plastic bits in the hatch area seemed to fall off at random

Hatch struts were DOA at 38000 miles

Mass air flow sensor died at 90000

Hydraulic lifters slowly started dying at 50000 warranting their replacement

Constant knocking and pinging

Leaky sunroof if parked on a slope.

I really liked the way that this car handled and engine performance was strong (with a 5-speed), but it was a terrible piece of junk after about 80000 miles.

I replaced the valve lifters, timing belt, water pump and a bunch of odds and ends myself when I removed the cylinder head. I also replaced the head gasket and cleaned up the pistons as they were caked with a horrible layer of carbon.

After I got it all back together, it still didn't run very well. 50% crappy work on my behalf, 50% junky car. I took it to a proper mechanic to correct some of my mistakes; it still didn't run very well.

I can attribute part of this car's problems to the original owner. Long after I sold this car myself, I came to find out that the car was part of a divorce settlement--the wife got the car so the husband poured a bunch of sugar into the gas tank, hence the horrible carbon buildup and the resultant pinging.

The car was also in an accident that did not appear on any records. The accident was probably responsible for all of the engine trouble as it was run underneath a parked semi trailer (peeled back the hood and wanged the top of the engine.)

When it did run well, it was fun and sporty, but it just couldn't handle the major miles I put on it in such a short period of time (72k in less than three years).