hey im interested in buying one, what are your opinions about it? after owning one, would you reccomend it to a another buyer? also, my friend says they are unreliable.. is this true?

hey im interested in buying one, what are your opinions about it? after owning one, would you reccomend it to a another buyer? also, my friend says they are unreliable.. is this true?

not true.
they can go till 250 - 300k on original motor if taken "proper" care of that is & i mean "proper".
yes they are safe and reliable

Ford Probes are a POS.It is a Mazda and made by Mazda.If you need work on one of them,take it to someone that works on Mazdas

Ford Probes are a POS.It is a Mazda and made by Mazda.If you need work on one of them,take it to someone that works on Mazdas

maybee you should have taken proper care of yours then.........

ignore this troll, he knows nothing and drives even a more pos honda/acura

i love mine would always recomend buying one granted if you drive them hard you will breaK it im on my 3rd tranny and 2nd motor but i wouldnt ever sell my car i highly recomend buying one they are fun to drive and reliable never had any issues beside the major ones ive listed but those were my fault by the way i drive my car

It seems to me that the Probe GT is kind of a double sided issue. I think most people that own them either love them or hate them. The very newest one now is 9 years old so they are getting on in car years. Still, in my humble opinion, they have more going for them than against them.
On the positive side they:
1. Still are one of the best looking cars out their. I was drawn to them because of their looks.
2. They handle very well. If you go to the expence of a good set of tires and providing the suspension is in good shape, they are one of the best handleing cars you will ever drive.
2a. The engine is a dream. It loves to rev, has quite a wide power band, and although it only puts out 165 hp, is peppy enough to be fun.
3. They are quite comfortable on a long trip and the heating and air conditioning work well.
4. There are still many in scrapyards so getting parts is not much of a problem.
5. You can pick up a very nice car for $5k or so cerified and etested.

On the negative side:
1. The engine compartment is quite crowded in the V6 and they are not the easiest car to work on because of lack of room (although they share this with most modern cars)
2. They are prone to failing distributors, well actually the ignitor in the distributor, and it is around $700. to replace them
3. The O2 sensors fail regularly and the back one especially is a bitch to get at. If you don't replace them, the car reverts to a rich mixture and then the Catalytic coverter gets killed trying to burn all the unused gas.
4.As they are getting older they develop their share of squeeks and rattles.

To sum up though, I hate it when I have to put another $500. into it for something, but when I look at it clean and shiney in the driveway, start it up and hear the nice exhaust note, I fall in love with it all over again. I have owned something like 80 cars, from Austin Minis to Mini Vans and the Probe GT is in my top 3 ever! Just try and get one that has been well maintained and you will be fine.
Good Luck

the distributer problem was fixed in 95

Perhaps it was improved in the later cars my friend, but many of us with post 94 cars have had to replace the distributor. Although better than the earlier models, I still think they are a little weak.

perhaps they may still be a weak but if you just install msd then its all good still better than stock and cheaper

Sorry, MSD?

Heres some basic info for you and gen. thoughts on them. You can tell what I drive as well.

93 was the first 2ng gen obviously. Had a few things I did not like, extra sensors for fan controls etc. Nothing major but as pointed out they have a Disty Problem however while the 95+ Corrected this its 20 to put in a life time HEI one and if you want another 35 to run an External MSD Coil. Much better option.

94 they elm. the above sensors, made very few changes but this is my yr of choice. I pref the Disty found in these over the others as they are easier to work with esp with the HEI mod which is a better option anyway.

95 Disty Changed and the rear tails changed. Minor changes again the disty did change here but honestly its gone back and forth on if 94 or 95 is the best yr. It depends on uses. This is the last yr for OBD-I. The easier of the two to accept aftermarket.

96-97 Were OBD-II and added Pre-cats. There was a 97 GTS model but no performance increase was seen with this model. The car had a cheaper looking dash in my option... the sim look just was horrible compaired to the earlier. OBD-II is more of a pain to work with however it is quite smart and when running right a great system.

Frankly I like the 94 yr run and have found the car to be great. I got 170k out of my last motor and it only blew because I found a raging river in the middle of BFE after 3 minutes of it raining... so I swapped motors just a few weeks ago and repainted it.

They are a lot of fun and while they start @ 165 go grab a 1998+ V6 out of a mazda 626 and have some real fun. Combine that with megasquirt, some cams and ur exhaust work and you will have more then enough fun playing with ppl. For the price compaired to newer cars, you can have a lot of fun and even with a lot of mods, never top the 5700 range with the car purchase included.

Many mod to the KLZE J-Spec. I do not like the heads but the Compression is better.... but if you boost I say either A-Spec is a better option esp the 98+ with the lighter crank. Match that with some Millena S Rods and top that with the solid lifters found in those heads and you will be one happy camper.

The mazda 626 Sway Bar for the rear is a cheap and nice upgrade, others all the way up to the Addco 22mm are avail. so you have options there. Susp. Mods are also there just as easily.

They are a very fun car that has a growing aftermarket but they are not very overly seen modded correctly (Even incorrectly is not seen very often).

ProbeTalk and ProbeEnthusiast is a great place to grab some info.

Good Luck!! And if you do get one, use ProbeTalk for parts! That 700.00 Disty is 60 or less on PT.

the addco 22mm rear sway causes the rear of the car to tripod under hard turning use the 98+ 626 rear sway its a 16mm still better than our small12mm stocker

There is also a 19mm one. I went from stock to extreme. I use the 626 sway bar on my GT.

But the option is yours. I know of a few ppl running the Addco who love it. As I said I run the 626 sway bar, 43.00 at Mazda.

So, how much HP does the 98+ 626 have?

93 was the first 2ng gen obviously. Had a few things I did not like, extra sensors for fan controls etc. Nothing major but as pointed out they have a Disty Problem however while the 95+ Corrected this its 20 to put in a life time HEI one and if you want another 35 to run an External MSD Coil. Much better option.

94 they elm. the above sensors, made very few changes but this is my yr of choice. I pref the Disty found in these over the others as they are easier to work with esp with the HEI mod which is a better option anyway.

95 Disty Changed and the rear tails changed. Minor changes again the disty did change here but honestly its gone back and forth on if 94 or 95 is the best yr. It depends on uses. This is the last yr for OBD-I. The easier of the two to accept aftermarket.

96-97 Were OBD-II and added Pre-cats. There was a 97 GTS model but no performance increase was seen with this model. The car had a cheaper looking dash in my option... the sim look just was horrible compaired to the earlier. OBD-II is more of a pain to work with however it is quite smart and when running right a great system.

Frankly I like the 94 yr run and have found the car to be great. I got 170k out of my last motor and it only blew because I found a raging river in the middle of BFE after 3 minutes of it raining... so I swapped motors just a few weeks ago and repainted it.

They are a lot of fun and while they start @ 165 go grab a 1998+ V6 out of a mazda 626 and have some real fun. Combine that with megasquirt, some cams and ur exhaust work and you will have more then enough fun playing with ppl. For the price compaired to newer cars, you can have a lot of fun and even with a lot of mods, never top the 5700 range with the car purchase included.

Many mod to the KLZE J-Spec. I do not like the heads but the Compression is better.... but if you boost I say either A-Spec is a better option esp the 98+ with the lighter crank. Match that with some Millena S Rods and top that with the solid lifters found in those heads and you will be one happy camper.

The mazda 626 Sway Bar for the rear is a cheap and nice upgrade, others all the way up to the Addco 22mm are avail. so you have options there. Susp. Mods are also there just as easily.

They are a very fun car that has a growing aftermarket but they are not very overly seen modded correctly (Even incorrectly is not seen very often).

ProbeTalk and ProbeEnthusiast is a great place to grab some info.

Good Luck!! And if you do get one, use ProbeTalk for parts! That 700.00 Disty is 60 or less on PT.[/QUOTE]

I am not sure but a quick google shows Consumer reports sais 170hp. Remember though it did not have the cams or intake the ZE does which was also a big part of the ZE's gain. It does not have the retainer problem however.

So basically with ZE cams and IM you would see over 180hp I am sure (This is not whp) With the cams i am running and my IM... I would like to see this motor in my setup to see if I can break 215whp. Not sure if it would or not. I will know where it stands with a DE here at the Dyno meet.

with full ze swap and all my extra parts im at about 170 whp not to sure cause the tuning on my car is a lil shizzled up right now