The 1996 Ford Probe has 1 NHTSA recall campaign affecting an estimated 2,740 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 77 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the power train. Last updated July 5, 2026.
Recall campaigns
AIR BAGS96V0900001996-06-032,740 affected
Defect
THE SUPPLEMENTARY AIR BAG INFLATABLE RESTRAINT CAUTION LABEL LOCATED ON THE DRIVER SIDE SUN VISOR DOES NOT CONTAIN THE STATEMENT, "DO NOT INSTALL REARWARD FACING CHILD SEATS IN ANY FRONT PASSENGER SEAT POSITION." THIS DOES NOT COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF FMVSS NO. 208, "OCCUPANT CRASH PROTECTION."
Consequence
CONSEQUENCE OF NON-COMPLIANCE: OPERATORS COULD FAIL TO NOTICE AND HEED THE WARNING LABEL.
Remedy
A NEW CAUTION LABEL, WITH INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS, WILL BE SENT DIRECTLY TO OWNERS. OWNERS CAN INSTALL THE LABEL OR, IF THEY WISH, CAN HAVE THEIR DEALER INSTALL THE LABEL FOR THEM.
Complaints by component
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
15
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION
4
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE
4
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
3
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CATALYTIC CONVERTOR
3
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
3
1crashes1injuries
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
2
2crashes
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM
2
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL
2
SEAT BELTS:FRONT:RETRACTOR
2
Total complaints77
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“Replaced right lower control arm assembly with a new part from o'reilly autoparts store on 8/31/10 and on 11/05/10 the ball joint came completely out of the new control arm making an extremely unsafe driving condition. Defective new part, replaced it again on 11/09/10 with another new replacement…”
“Lt front spring broke & punctured the inside sidewall of the tire making it go flat. *tr”
“Automatic transmission failure. Second time. This needs to be addressed very expensive to repair. *tr”
“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?”
“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…”
“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…”
“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…”
“I have a 96 ford probe that the transmission was bad. It was an automatic . With it being an automatic it would seem that they would not go bad compared to a manual transmission. I've been reading that a lot of the mazda/ford transmission are terrible and people has had problems with the…”
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL,
FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 1996 Ford Probe as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.