Jodster

My brother is looking at one of these. I know they're not particularly quick but he likes the look, you don't see many of them around, and they're very cheap for a clean example with fsh. They're based on the Mazda MX6 which are supposed to be reliable and well built. Anyone got any experience of?

Thanks in advance.

gregjd

Used to have one as a company car when they first came out. I had the base model but the 20V version was the one to have. Pretty nasty inside but drove pretty well. Still look good in silver or black IMHO (mine was a hideous turquoise colour!) but need better wheels than the standard ones. Worth a look as they are no doubt cheap as chips these days..

I managed to put mine into a ditch but I think this was down to my spirited driving in my younger days rather than anything being fundamentally wrong with the handling

apples24

iTrader: (1)

v6 and leather is a must have, watch for sticking rear calipers and faulty immobiliser (car cuts out) very robust cars but are prone to a few niggly electrical faults, ive owned several v6's and there the sort of car were ya either lovem or hate em, cambelts are a right git to do and listen for noises around the pullys ie bearings.

red_dog104

Read that the best place for one is the local skip!!! Second hand they are crap. I was thinking of getting one and did a load of research. Decided against it in the end due to all the bad press id read.

magnet

insurance is silly for what your get too

STi-Frenchie

Had one and it ran very well indeed, never had a single problem with it.

Not a lot of power under the hood in the 16V 2.0 litre version, and about 170bhp for the 24V 2.5 litre version. but it served well enough - it's one of those cars which has a sluggish but smooth acceleration and just keeps on accelerating. Huge boot, economical on fuel too. No room in the back for anyone over 4ft tall.

RoShamBo

iTrader: (1)

Ran a V6 for.....3 months !
Sorry mate - hated it. I call it a "nearly" car - nearly good handling - nearly good acceleration - etc etc.
I actually had mine Superchiped which made s0d all difference to the performance !
Pop up headlights were cool though.
The V6 was very smooth & revved freely but not that powerful
They did a chameleon paint finish which was quite cool though.
An alternative was the Mazda MX6 (I think) essentially the same car with a different body on it - & apparantly a much better drive.

Dont let all this put you off - get your brother to drive one - he might love it....its just my opinion.
It didn't help that I took out a UK Scooby soon after buying it & traded it in on the spot.

They are actually now pretty good value seeing as prices are through the floor - esp in V6 form loads of kit for not much ££

Ro.

chrisp

I had a 1996 2.5 V6 24V job in electric blue, leather and air con is a must. Great engine staright out of an MX-6 described at silky smoothe when it came out and thats was pretty accurate.

Main problems with the probe :

Cost of parts eg.

Mazda wanted £200 for a battery and Ford wanted £130
Tyres were 170 for the OE pilot SXs

Its a 2+2 at best and cramped inside and more of a GT than a back road car. IMHO I loved mine but I thinking back I would have been better off with an ST24 Mondeo.

chrisp

Funnily I traded mine for a UK scoob. I had it two years list price ws 22,500 and I got 8,000 part ex and it had 10K on the clock. Good job I didnt pay list .

Stuart Taylor

I ran one for 2 years. It was very reliable and had no problems. I agree with most of the comments above about performance and handling. Very good value for money though.
There is a known problem with the distributor on the V6. If it goes wrong its very expensive. I think its around £600 but dont quote me. Do a search on the web and it might give you some more info. Also changing the clutch is very difficult and expensive.

Stuart

SL2

Gareth Cheeseman

what would scooby do

My mate had the v6 and he hated it, dodgy handling, motor was sweet but needed more power. He had shed loads of ECU problems and also had permanent grief with the rear calipers (as already mentioned).

I drove it and it felt the same as a honda prelude - i.e. no idea what the front wheels where doing in a corner.

DuggE4

A Ford Probe...?, I wouldn't touch it with yours!

:O)

STi-Frenchie

Oh, almost forgot.

I don't suppose you get much in the way of snow in Surrey but the Probe really sucks on snow. Anything more than a snowflake hits the road and it slides all over the place. You would think with front wheel drive on the Probe that there wouldn't be a problem - think again - it's a disaster on the white stuff.

apples24

iTrader: (1)

what you also have to remember is you could post the same question and hear horror stories about any car, comes down to what you want at the end of the day, and i dare say theres a lot more horror storries with scoobs and cossies than any other!!!

any specific car requires expensive maintenance, if he wants one fair play to him, had a black one once with 17" chrome allys, looked the bolloks, should imagine would sound great with a zorst and filter, although i do say parts are a little rare and not as commonly available

moomin

A mate had one and loved it to bits. I drove it and can’t say I liked it that much (maybe I'd read one too many bad reviews and was brainwashed) but I'd agree that it's a car you either love or hate. I fall into the latter category

If you want to put him off there is a metallic Salmon Pink one I see in Basingstoke every so often. It's really.......er......nice.

marty_t3

If he likes the look of the probe then he'll like the look of the S13 200sx. Tell him to look at the Nissan instead. A much better car for the same money.

47 NAT

There a really good car to be used as
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a boat anchor

Nath

Clarebabes

I had an M reg 16V for about 6 months last year. Was OK, was the most powerful car I had ever driven at the time - don't laugh, so I thought it was OK. Only trouble was that it was nigh on impossible to seat 4 people in it, even though I know that's not necessary the idea..... Had problems with getting a 3 yr old in the back too, the front seat had to be right forward for back leg room.

I used to call it the reverse TARDIS. Huge on the outside, tiny on the inside. I wouldn't have minded the 2.5l one, would have been better, but out of my price range at the time.

Jodster

There's a dealer near me selling a MY94 L Reg, 16v, 68k miles with all bills and mots, for 1900 squids. Thought it was a good price so we'll have a look and a drive but will continue to research. He's not set on it, just seeing what's around.

Thanks for all the views, I'll let him know.