1993 Ford Probe GT from North America - Comments

Within the 18000 miles I've driven it in the past 3 years:

Back Left Caliper leaked brake fluid quickly.

Timing Belt Tensioner became noisy.

Wires and Plugs needed changing bad.

AC out of freon.

Oil Gauge reads very low, used larger filter than recommended which rose the level considerably from the red mark, but still low.

Exhaust Leak.

Paint most likely was redone the interior has seperated in many places, but nice for year.

Leaks water when going through car wash in back hatch window.

Water pump both belts.

After repairing everything then adding intake, exhaust, spoiler, lowering just the back the car has a very annoying tick from the timing friction gear which was in the same area as the timing belt tensioner which lead me to believe the shop had something to do with it.

You feel every bump in the road, it doesn't have anything luxury about it, it is a ford, but had mazda parts so its costly to repair if you take it to domestic shops. Like everyone else says, the GT manual Probe is the best to get.

Very fun to drive, looks good even though the styling is from mid '90s faster than a good percent of other cars on the roads. Awesome car to hook up, get one if you find a good one.

It's funny to read the comments and see that I've had the same problems and the same outlook on my car. For some reason, it seems to get worse and worse. I've had the water pump put on twice, the distributor three times, three different sets of spark plugs and wires, the calipers replaced, and rewiring; I still have to take it to the shop. It used to go the full 134 mph no problem. Now it's a struggle getting it past 90 mph. And why does my fan keep spinning excessively fast? And what is that annoying ticking? It looks great on the outside, but my inside is falling apart and the latch broke. Something the shop may have done, but who knows! Overall though, I like the car. It's efficient on gas and still stylish today. The sunroof makes it all better. That and the fact that it's a stick shift.

This is an update, It is now 2008 and I was the original poster when I owned this car from 2002-2006. I sold the car for 500 after the timing belt jumped. It would have cost me more to replace the belt than to replace the engine for a used one!

I had stripped the car down to nothing other than the driver seat and dash. Engine / powersteering and alt / water pump only remained.

It was quick and got decent gas mileage. It's stock time of 15.7 before mods = same speed and power as larger v6 camaros.

The car is costly to own as I now own a honda with way more miles than the probe had and seems like it is brand new. I now recommend that you do NOT buy this car and also sell the one you have. I SHOULD HAVE KNOW THIS WHEN THE FORD DEALERSHIP SAID "WE DON'T WANT TO TOUCH THAT THING" "FORD MADE A MISTAKE WHEN MAKING PROBES!"

It cost 2700 in 2002 with 109k miles. I put 1500 into repairs.. 1800 I mean and owned it until 2006 with 139k miles on it. I also put hundreds into upgrades so it was very costly compared to the salavage 1999 honda I bought for $1000 with two bad bumpers. it has 173k and will easily last 50k+ with original drivetrain. I've also owned 6 other cars since the the probe, 4 of those being jeep brands that all reached 200k miles and were running strong!

OWNING A PROBE IS A MISTAKE IN MY CASE but the fun I had and time put into it... makes up for the trouble it gave. just have cash set aside to keep it running when the problems come and you are good to go.

Oh and the new parts to add to the list that I originally had was:

Distributor, wires/plugs TWICE, passenger shaft, alignment twice, dash split in two down the center while I was sitting in it. temperature was normal it just went POP and a straight crack appeared!? Clutch was on its way out but didn't know if it had be previously replaced.

Friction gear noise sounded like hell the whole time, drove it on a 1000 mile trip and got pull over with inspection sticker 4 years past due but before I could get it inspected it jumped timing and that's when I sold it. RIP.