Listen, first of all, I am deeply saddened that I no longer have my suby (Sold my 02 WRX last fall when I moved to University of Michigan for college). But I need a car for the summer, and I don't want to spend 14k, because I have decided to use that to pay for my outrageous out of state tuition (42k per year). My dad found, through a friend a silver 1996 Ford Probe. It only has 50k miles, and is in good shape (its actually a friend of a friend, but the first friend is a mechanic, so we know the car is mechanically sound). I need something cheap, and fuel efficient. So if anyone knows of a car that is a better deal than this (currently priced a 3.5k, probably can get it at 3k), please let me know. Otherwise, I may be probing people this summer....
A 93 was my first car, had an auto tranny that lasted two whole months. Is it the GT V6 5spd? (the V6 is made by Mazda.)
I had a 1994 for a little while. Bought it used in '00 for $2.5k. $3.5k for a '96 seems steep unless it's a GT. They're OK. Assuming its a 4 - The mileage isn't anything spectacular compared to any other small 4--cyl from the era. The power is less than impressive. Handling is quite good if it's the SE model, dunno about the base. Mine was burning oil pretty steadily by 75k and it had been well maintained (owned by a friend before me and I know it was treated well). Biggest issue is like any car that short in todays' SUV filled roads; People just don't see you and try to drive right over you. Seriously.
do it i own a 93 626 v6 5speed it is a extreamly durable. i have 150 on mine and it still runs like a champ. ask holster about his he got rid of his but it went like two years on nothing less than full throttle. along with mine .
Well, I am in Michigan, but my dad said it was in really good shape so I bought it (Ok, he bought it with my money). Only had 50k miles, so thats why it cost 3200, right around the KBB price. I will probably resell at the end of summer for around the same, I will throw up some pics in a week when I get home.
100x worse in the Probe than the WRX. Even my Sentra is a good few inches taller than the Probe and gets seen a lot better. I swear if I still had one I'd mount a fixed antenna with a big orange triangle flag on it. It's the same thing with any car that's significantly shorter then the average. My VW was bad, even back before everyone had SUVs. I'm sure people driving Miatas feel like the roads are full of idiots (they are, but it's gotta be even more obvious in a car like that). Oh, and flip-up headlights are a serious fail. Even if they stay working, they bounce and really f'-up the light pattern (I'm picky about lighting, as some of you may have guessed).
We owned two GTs, a '93 and a '95, both 5-speeds, and both had about 75k on them when we traded them in. We managed to get high-20s/low-30s on the highway on a regular basis. Premium fuel in the GTs. For a front-driver, it handles fairly well and the ride was decent. Torque-steer wasn't too bad, at least compared to the Spec-V I owned for a while. Didn't have any trouble with either Probe and I normally wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. But.... They're known for electrical troubles (my brother has a '97 with 80k+ on it and we're also fighting an intermittent gremlin) and that engine bay does not leave much room to work on things. You might want to check out www.probetalk.com
