1996 Ford Probe Transmission and drivetrain Problems
- Complaints
- 17about this part
- Share
- 33%of 52 total for the year
- Median mileage
- 89,584miles
- Trend
- StableComplaints filed in the last 3 full calendar years are within 25% of the 3 years before.
NHTSA recorded 17 complaints about the transmission and drivetrain of the 1996 Ford Probe, 33% of the 52 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 89,584 miles.
Example complaints
Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.
“I was driving down the road and as soon as I got up to speed past 30 miles per hour it kicked into to gear really hard and I could feel the transmission barely slipping into gear..and had to have the water pump flushed it was over heating thought it was the thermostat but it was checked and fine so I had to replace the water pump...was missing a motor mount on one side and the other was corrodded.. …”
NHTSA complaint #10164357, filed 2006-08, 89,584 miles“I own a 96 Ford Probe with a cd4e transmission with only 66000 miles on it. A few days my transmission started to act up. It would rev high then shift into 2nd gear, when atempting to shift into 3rd gear, it just wouldn't. This causes my car to only go a blistering speed of 45mph?!? This transmission , the cd4e, is produced by mazda and is also in the 626. I search the web to see if anyone had the same problems and now I want to get rid of my car I fell in love with 4 years ago. There are thousands of people with the same transmission problems from 94-to 99. …”
NHTSA complaint #10100635, filed 2004-11, 66,700 miles“1996 Ford Probe transmission problems ( same as mazda 626 transmission . Its been rebuilt 2 times already and now needs a 3rd , only 120000 miles and all that!!! Costs thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars!!!”
NHTSA complaint #10143504, filed 2005-11, 79,000 miles“1996 Ford Probe se auto transmission failure,same as mazda 626 all of these cars have the same problem that cost thousands to fix,check the internet,why hasn't there been a recall?”
NHTSA complaint #10173787, filed 2006-11, 106,000 miles“My o/d light started flashing, I took it in and paid $300 to flush the transmission. . About 2 weeks later the light came on again, I took it back, they charged $65 more and told me the torque convertor and solenoids were bad. Need to replace whole transmission at about $3000. Happened on my 95 Ford Probe se also at 62000 miles right before I got in a wreck with it and traded it on this one.”
NHTSA complaint #747829, filed 2001-07Transmission and drivetrain: other model years
Other parts of the 1996 Ford Probe
13 complaintsElectrical system
4 complaintsSeat belts
4 complaintsSteering
4 complaintsSuspension
3 complaintsVehicle speed control
3 complaintsAir bags
2 complaintsBrakes
2 complaintsEquipment
2 complaintsExterior lighting
2 complaintsLatches, locks and linkages
2 complaintsBody and structure
2 complaints
← All problems reported for the 1996 Ford Probe
About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 30, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.
To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology