Looking at buying a Ford Probe?
 

I'm looking at getting a new, at least to me car this summer. My girlfriend is currently working on a 1990 Mustang 5.0 to get it awe-worthy. I like what she's doing, and want to do something similar, but not another mustang. I was thinking about looking into a mid 90's probe, and wondered if anyone had any advice or thoughts about them?

If you want to do something similar, I wouldn't reccomend doing it to a 4-cylinder FWD car. That's my 2 cents.

I'm looking at the 95-97 Ford Probe GTs, they have a V-6.

Get a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry. Both have V6's.

You will regret buying a Ford, unless you have a lot of money to spare for parts, maintenance, repairs etc.

I really don't want to rice out a car. If I was gonna get anotehr 4 cylinder, I'd go VW. I really want to do something with muscle.

If you're looking for something with muscle, a Probe probably isn't the best choice. I would suggest a late 80's turbo Thunderbird or sho taurus if you're looking for something fast but different. However, if you're deadset on a Probe, I know they can be supercharged if they have a 3.0. Aside from that there isn't much I know about probes, but I wish you luck in whatever you decided to do.here's that supercharged probe. There is also quite a bit more info on the 3.0 in the links section.

Probes handles great but due to their FWD nature, giving it massive power isn't a great idea and insane torque steer will result. They are good cars and were definetly better than the V6 mustangs of the same time.

my friend is a ford technician.

he sees alot of probes in there, and he says they arent fun to work on either.

personally, If you're hell bent on a cheap 6 cylinder car, look into some of the old 280z cars or supras.

I really do want a Ford. The late 80's T-Birds do look really nice, I might look into getting one of them instead.

If you're looking for a car to do some performance work on, you would be much happier w/ a tbird or a cougar than you would be with a probe. Parts are going to be much more readily available, and reliability wise you'll be much better off also. The probe isn't a bad car, it's just not designed to handle much more power than it already has, and the aftermarket parts that are available are much more expensive.

Since you're looking into the T-Birds, here is a link to a guy that does a hell of a job with his turbo mustang. It has the same motor as the turbo T-Birds would, and several of the biggest mods he performs are just parts off a T-Bird. Also, from what I've heard, they move pretty good stock too.

This is a much better option.

I don't know if money is an issue with you but have you considered the classic lines from the 60s & 70s? It sounds like you are interested in working on the car so there may be a lot of "labor of love" projects around.
Man, just thinking about restoring a GTO or 67' "Stang" gets me going. Check your local classifieds or craigslist for project cars etc. I bet you could find some ggod deals.

Thunderbird wouldn't be too bad either. Better than the Probe or Taurus or Focus for sure (in my opinion).

My dad's GF had one about five years ago, it was good BUT what I do know about it was that the sunroof leaked badly.

They are OK, but if you're looking to spend that kind of money, get a 90-94 Eclipse/Talon/Laser. With the 4g63t engine and AWD. Better bang for the buck, and better looks IMO.

But, I am bias. However, the 4g63t is a time tested bulletproof engine.

The probes aren't bad, but you will have to dump some serious money into making it a performer. The turbo thunderbirds are great, really quick, actually a well built engine, takes ALOT of fox body parts.

Ah an actual DSM car, around here they fetch a pretty penny and if you buy one they usually had the living shit beat out of them. They are good cars no doubt. There is a guy that bought kinda of a junker one, did $700 in custom mods and it can keep up with vettes and does awesome at the dragstrip.

If it's not a 'stang, I'd stay away from American cars. Especially mid-90's... especially Ford's... and ESPECIALLY Probe's (I speak from experience).

The turbo ones go like stink. No turbo = more show than go.

As someone who has been related to TWO Probe owners (brother and parents). They suck.

Period.

Both cars had engine, transmission and other problems. Plus the mechanics HATED working on them. Ten pounds of shit in a five pound bag.

I would go with something -- anything -- else.

Just my family's experience.

Busstop Boy.

I own a 1993 Ford Probe. It ran just fine for about a year, then turned into a piece of shit. I believe in the past few weeks I have put over $1000 into it... or my dad has. heh.
Anyway, we have already had to replace the distributor, MAF, and PCM. We were lucky to find a PCM online for around $80. The dealership found only one for around $3250. This was more than what we even paid for my car two years ago.

My dad found a few articles online where people had a lot of complaints about the MAF and PCM in ford probes. I do not recommend buying one. I am about to smash mine into tiny little pieces and run over it with my dad's magnum. :lol: