From: chuck@eos.ncsu.edu (Chuck Kesler)
Subject: Re: Ford Probe - Opinions? (centered around the GT)
Organization: North Carolina State University, Project EOS
Lines: 143

In article <1993Apr20.002651.20797@sco.com> nathanp@sco.COM (Nathan) writes:
>
>"Jeremy G. Mereness" <zonker+@CMU.EDU> says:
>>
>>Can anyone offer any opinions of the Ford Probe... ala how they do in
>>the long run, repair records, reliability, mileage, etc?
>>
>>I am fixing to buy a car in the next few months aiming toward something
>>a little bigger than a typical small car and with a little more power. I
>>am considering the MX-6, Probe, Accord, Corolla, and the 240SX. 
...
>I bought a '93 Probe GT with the PEP 263A last July (now at 9500 miles)
>after debating over the Sentra SE-R/NX2000, MX6, MR-2, Stealth, Prelude, 
>and Celica.
...
>The car design is different than earlier years, so it's too early to see its
>reliability so far.  For what it's worth, my comments:
>
>My dislikes:
>Shutting door with windows up from inside rarely makes good wind seal.

Some other owners on the ford-probe@world.std.com mailing list have commented 
about this problem, but I haven't seen it happen on my 3 month old 
'93 Probe GT.  I think this may be something that Ford has corrected since 
the initial batch of cars.  Also, someone said that Ford has issued a 
service bulletin to inform dealers about how to correct this problem, so you 
may be able to get your dealer to fix it.

>Headlights have "stuck" up a few times (weather?)
>air conditioning broke ~4000 miles (pressure cycling switch)
>condensation around rear washer fluid container doesn't drain completely.

Haven't seen any of these problems, nor have I seen these mentioned on the
mailing list, so these might just be having bad luck with these.

>crammed engine; little hope for do-it-yourselfers (typical)

Definitely!

>parts somewhat more expensive than normal Ford parts
>underside plastic doesn't like sharp driveways and speedbumps (typical).
>assembly gripes: tape on radiator, screw fell out of dash, seat seams not 
>stitched properly.  Hopefully just a fluke.

No problems like these either.  I haven't been able to find any obvious 
places where they screwed up.

>Ford only gives 1 key with the car.  C'mon Ford, spend an extra few pennies!

Hmmm!  I got two keys with my car.  Something tells me you got stiffed by
your dealer on this.  (Actually, if you count the "credit card" key that 
came in the owner's binder, I got 3 keys, but since the credit card key
doesn't have any teeth cut in it yet, I guess I won't count it. :-))

>Rear hatch has no padding on corners when up.  I'm waiting for the day when
>I bash my head on the corner.
>horn buttons behind air bag in spokes and not in center (personal preference)

The latter is probably because of the air bag.  It's pretty much takes up
all the space where you'd expect to find the horn.

Speaking of the horn, I was surprised to find that the Probe comes with one
of those nice 'merican sounding horns instead of the Japanese sounding kind.
The previous Probes had Japanese horns.

>Tires fling dirt/mud onto side of car 

Yeah, not very badly, but enough to be annoying sometimes.

>My Likes:
>engine (design/valves/sounds/smoothness/power/mileage/torque) -- definitely #1
>handling (very good for FWD; understeer only at limits)
>transmission (the 5 speed is a must)
>usable instrumentation (lovely readable analog everywhere)
>Very little torque steer at full power (much better than the '90 SHO I drive)
>stability at 100+mph (high gearing though)
>low cowl (good visibility in front)
>Heated outside mirrors (nice in fog, never tested in freezing weather)
>ABS/Air bag (see above)
>rear seats fold down (I have few rear seat passengers so a trunk not important)
>No shake/rattle noises when going over bumps/potholes (still!)
>Tires: 225/55VR16 Goodyear Eagles (70% left; hoping for 30K :-)

I agree strongly with all of the above, especially about the engine.  The
interior is very, very nice too.  Very pleasing to the eye, and ergonomically
sound.

...
>I drive it to and from work
>each day on relatively smooth roads, and most noticable thing is that the
>Probe's suspension doesn't like potholes.  When you test drive one, find a 
>potholed road somewhere around town and see if the jarring you get is 
>tolerable.

Yes, this car's stiff suspension isn't for everyone.  I personally like it,
but if you find it a little harsh but otherwise like the car, I'd strongly
suggest looking into the MX-6.

>If you have 3+ passengers, by all means bring them along too.  They'll find
>that they have no room in the back and you'll find that the car rides
>differently (if that's "better" is up to you).  

The problem with the back seat is that there's no leg room.  Plenty of 
head room, though.  Shorter people fit back there without any complaints,
so long as the seat they are sitting behind is pulled forward a bit to 
give them a place to put their feet.

>Also, there's a lot of glass
>around you which I wasn't expecting; the temperature inside the car gets pretty
>hot in the summer.  My back seat passengers (now very few) complain about
>the lack of ventilation; you may want to consider that when combined with
>the heat.

The power moonroof can greatly improve the ventilation throughout the car. :-)
I really enjoy the moonroof, by the way, but then I've always been a sucker
for open air driving.  No leakage problems or anything like that...yet!

>I've heard that the exhaust system has trouble, but mine works fine.

I haven't heard about this one.  I know that some of the very early Probes
('89 and maybe '90) had problems with prematurely rusting mufflers (which
Ford will replace at no charge), but I haven't heard about anything like
this concerning the '93 Probes.

I haven't had any real trouble with this car outside of a CV joint boot
that was leaking, but the dealer took care of that promptly, and even
gave me a free rental car for the day and a half that I was without my
car.  I was quite happy with the way they handled...especially considering
that I was expecting the worst from them!

From what I've heard, it sounds like Ford/Mazda had some QC problems with 
the Probe (and probably MX-6) when they first went into production, but 
I think these problems have mostly been corrected at this point.  That's
almost always to be expected with a completely new car like this, though.

Hope this helps,

-chuck-
-- 
   Chuck Kesler                     /|<  Internet:   chuck@eos.ncsu.edu
   Unix Systems Programmer           |   US Mail:    Box 7901, NCSU Campus 
   Engineering Computer Operations   |               Raleigh, NC 27695 USA
   North Carolina State University   |   Phone:      +1 919 515 2458
