I don't know about the electrical problems but as far as the tranny I am pretty sure is it the same one that came in my old Escort ZX2 and it sucks. It is a half mazda half ford built piece of shit. It was used in the escort, focus, mazda protege, and some kia thing. Don't know what exactly makes it suck but it does. Premature shifting, slow shifting, blah blah blah. I had mine rebuilt under warranty with 27k miles on it. Then at 51k it went out again and they replaced it under warranty. Sold the car at 77k so I wouldn't have to deal with it again.