How reliable are Neon's ?

[miller]

So pre 98? Odd thing is this one is the cheapest, the only 2 door, stick shift, R/T (what could that be other than stripes and stickers with a little wing on the trunk), and a nice shade of blue (for some reason their mostly red down here) Oh and a sunroof. For me it would only go 4 miles a day round trip to work.

The R/T had the DOHC 150 horse motor, upgraded exhaust and stiffer suspension than its non-R/T counterparts.

[b5blue]

Well I found enough positives here to look at it and thanks all (if I counted correct 13+ and 4- or so) allpar's site has the 98 R/T as car of the month for June of 09 (I think) with something like 400,000 miles on it and going strong. But I know to be sure not to consider one that is beat from the responses here and what potential problems to focus on. My 90 New Yorker came from a good home and has served the family much much longer that I ever figured it would. It's been as tough as any Dart/Duster known, it's shaking and loose but just won't die. I wanted real world opinion and not some vague "report". I couldn't buy it tomorrow anyway I'd be using my tax return that's due soon. Anyone please feel free to pipe in as after 7 months of loosely looking for a Dart or Duster I've found they just are not cheaper cars anymore but bring strong money (rightly so). This is a Mopar or no car family and with my new job and plans for the Charger I need a backup (the Charger has done 2 years as a daily driver and can use a break for bodywork)      

[Cooter]

RUN! Fast, get away from a NEON as far as you can!

1. Head gaskets leaking
2. Dash wiring problems
3. Transmissions are junk
4. Head cracks if you look at it wrong


Those cars are Big 'ol POS Same thing with the PT Losers...

umm.... i guess my neon is crap too huh?  no offense mate, but generalizations without actually providing proof to your claims in regards to the overall effectiveness and ability of a vehicle are about as worthless as tits on a boar IMO.  especially if said opinions are based upon what you read and not what you personally experience.  if you have personal experience, state the year and the issues.  broad generalizations wont help this guy out in regards to purchasing a vehicle.

lastly, what you claim can be said for hundreds of vehicles.

"Dude" I don't "read" anything and post it...I actually get my hands dirty.. I work on Neon's Do you?......If your gonna support the Neon as a great automobile, at least "Back it up" with "personal mechanical experience"....
I work on these pieces of sh*t DAILY and I can surely tell you anybody that buys a 10 year old Neon, is looking for problems....These cars were junk and will continue to be junk....Don't believe me? go right ahead and buy one that's 10 years old and see for yourself....Yes, Some people have good luck with them, and light shines on a dog's ass every now and then but 90% of the Neon's were junk...To buy one of these cars that's 10 plus years old is just "Assinine" IMO..I offered my OPINION on the "Discussion" and that's it...Some people stand on the RR track and hear the whistle blowing, see the smoke rising, listen to the rails for the train, someone tells them the train is a comin, and they have to be hit by that train before they reallize it was the wrong thing to do....

How did Johnny Cash put it? "I hear a train a comin', it's rollin' around the bend"............

[b5blue]

Thanks for your honest opinion Cooter your warning has me contacting 2 of my best friends who have there own repair shops to see if they feel like you do.  It's a bit of a long shot as your other post stated right car-time-price 

[TeeWJay426]

I'll chime in with my personal experience. I bought a 2000 Neon almost 4 years ago for my kids to use. It had around 67K on it at the time; it is now up to almost 120K. Hasn't had any major issues other than a freaky brake problem- had one rear wheel that would lock up intermittently when parked. It took a few trips to the mechanic to get that cured, but otherwise it's been trouble free. It's the 2.0L automatic, ES package, fairly well optioned for a small car (AC, PW, moonroof, PDL, etc). It is noisy, and not much on comfort, but it has served my purposes well and my son is still driving it almost everyday.

[firefighter3931]

I just purchased a low milage 2003 Neon SX 2.0 with std trans....need an economical commuter car. Mint shape with 50K miles on the clock. 


After speaking with my buddy Jeff who works as the lead tech at a local Dodge dealer he convinced me to purchase something newer than 2000. The earlier versions had/have head gasket isues and he's serviced well over 100 of those over the years. There is also an issue with the radiators letting go...specificly the auto trans cooler that ruptures and floods the cooling system with trans fluid. That of course leads to trans failure. The transmisions themselves are reliable...the radiator is the problem. He did say that if i found one withan auto trans...swap the rad out ASAP to avoid potential issues. I wanted a std trans anyway so it was a non issue for me. 

I like the look and feel of the car and it's roomy enough inside for me. I'm gonna luv the increased fuel economy....it'll be twice as good as my ram 1500 and save me a bunch in fuel costs. More cash for race goodies. 

My 



Ron

[b5blue]

I'm in your camp Ron, I just got off the phone with Steve. This one being a stick won't have that issue but he said check the rad. as they only last so long. He also mentioned the dash problem is they loose ground, just run new isolated grounds and your good from there experience. I got to call this guy and see if he is willing to wait for his money awhile to even be in the game first.   

[451-74Charger]

RUN! Fast, get away from a NEON as far as you can!

1. Head gaskets leaking
2. Dash wiring problems
3. Transmissions are junk
4. Head cracks if you look at it wrong


Those cars are Big 'ol POS Same thing with the PT Losers...

I had a 98 Neon and it was fine.
There was a TSB on the head Gasket $100 co-pay when it fails (and it will) had 3
Also sunroof motor uses plastic assembly and will bend/strip on 2nd or 3rd use on a cold day
Window motor fail, tracks shift and windows wont line up
Trunks fill with water due to rear light gasket...

I could go on and on and on
BUT... For what youd pay for a good used on (I just sold mine last yr for 1500) you cant beat them.

If its for a younger person, the Insurance is MORE than a Transam due to the high number of youngsters wrecking them.

[b5blue]

Good point about insurance better check on that. 

[Aero426]

"Dude" I don't "read" anything and post it...I actually get my hands dirty.. I work on Neon's Do you?......If your gonna support the Neon as a great automobile, at least "Back it up" with "personal mechanical experience"....
I work on these pieces of sh*t DAILY and I can surely tell you anybody that buys a 10 year old Neon, is looking for problems....These cars were junk and will continue to be junk....Don't believe me? go right ahead and buy one that's 10 years old and see for yourself....Yes, Some people have good luck with them, and light shines on a dog's ass every now and then but 90% of the Neon's were junk...To buy one of these cars that's 10 plus years old is just "Assinine" IMO..I offered my OPINION on the "Discussion" and that's it...Some people stand on the RR track and hear the whistle blowing, see the smoke rising, listen to the rails for the train, someone tells them the train is a comin, and they have to be hit by that train before they reallize it was the wrong thing to do....

How did Johnny Cash put it? "I hear a train a comin', it's rollin' around the bend"............

Cooter, we all know Neons have had their issues.   But just for the sake of discussion,  what particular ten year old car would you recommend?   It's gotta be in clean shape, get good mileage, at a max $2000 price point (like the Neon).

[gtx6970]

for there intended market Neons are and were a good car.
I've owned 2,,,had a 95 sohc with 150000 miles on it when I sold it. and the new owner still drives it daily with over 200000 miles on it, it's never let her down one time.

I sold a 2001 this past spring with 120K on it . the girl that owns it absolutely loves it. I bought it needed the trans re-built from a broken radiator trans cooler filled the trans with engine coolant. I paid $500 for it and put about $800 into it. But I probably fixed that things that the average wouldn't have fixed. I sold it for $2400 to the 1st person that looked at it

IMO find one thats been maintained and drive it. A 2000 or 2001 are not hard to find in the $2000 range

and btw , I've worked on hundreds of them ( dodge dealer tech)
IMO they are good cars for a secondary driver, aka teenager- or find a 2.0 dohc with a stick for  just a fine little car to toss around on a dreary day

[Cooter]

"Dude" I don't "read" anything and post it...I actually get my hands dirty.. I work on Neon's Do you?......If your gonna support the Neon as a great automobile, at least "Back it up" with "personal mechanical experience"....
I work on these pieces of sh*t DAILY and I can surely tell you anybody that buys a 10 year old Neon, is looking for problems....These cars were junk and will continue to be junk....Don't believe me? go right ahead and buy one that's 10 years old and see for yourself....Yes, Some people have good luck with them, and light shines on a dog's ass every now and then but 90% of the Neon's were junk...To buy one of these cars that's 10 plus years old is just "Assinine" IMO..I offered my OPINION on the "Discussion" and that's it...Some people stand on the RR track and hear the whistle blowing, see the smoke rising, listen to the rails for the train, someone tells them the train is a comin, and they have to be hit by that train before they reallize it was the wrong thing to do....

How did Johnny Cash put it? "I hear a train a comin', it's rollin' around the bend"............

Cooter, we all know Neons have had their issues.   But just for the sake of discussion,  what particular ten year old car would you recommend?   It's gotta be in clean shape, get good mileage, at a max $2000 price point (like the Neon).

You are asking the wrong person about which car to buy for $2000.00 as coming from a Tech's point of view, there are none..I was simply trying to keep someone from making a mistake....I have to offer an opinion based on the fact that not all people who are into classic cars can actually repair/work on them...I made this mistake on another site, so My opinion is offered as for the ones who don't/didn't want a huge repair cost....I see trying to help someone out of this type situation  was an unfortunate mistake here..Won't happen again....Folks come in the shop all the time asking this very question: "What's the best car to buy today?"
I tell them, well let me first translate what your asking if I may?"
"What's the best car to buy today that I can get 400K miles out of it, pass it down to my teenager and Trust him/her with it, then re-sell it for three times what I paid for it?" Not saying this is your idea, but you would be surprized at how many laugh when I say this as that is EXACTLY what they were thinking......

There is only one answer..........None of 'em....Tis' true, they all have their problems, but when you see ALOT of the Neon/PT Cruisers with head gasket problems, you tend to be a little bias'd towards those type cars as cars not to buy, or recommend...I have NO PROBLEM buying a POS Neon and letting my kid drive it as I can repair it myself, but for someone that can't I feel like I should try and steer them clear of that type thing...I see now that I shouldn't even try because for every nay, there's another that says go for it...All I can do is wish you luck....

[b5blue]

Thanks for not beating around the bush Cooter. Your comments are appreciated by me. They lead to me making calls to my front line mechanics who know my skills and situation. After discussing the pros and cons generally they mentioned what you pointed out without knowing your remarks. Wiring, Head gaskets, radiators and such are all warnings I now know to look for now and flag. My concern is do they fail repeatedly, do you re-repair the same cars over and over for the same problem? Trust me I bought a Vega when I was a kid, I blew the motor, tranny, and axle in that order. I upgraded every repair and the friend that bought it beat the beans out of it. It held up fine till Ricky put it in a ditch at 40mph 2 years later. Know here I will always consider and respect anyone's opinion. Don't think for 1 minute I would not be digging hard on exactly the details you took time to explain and warn me of. I would not touch any non American car and that would raise many uproars from people who like them, but I have my own reasons and respect theirs. In mentioning Neons some of my friends brought up PT Cruisers as (other than an early batch of bad harnesses) a car they just do not see come in for repair so for what ever reason down here they don't see what you experience where you are.( I did warn them that you saw lots of failures where you are)     

[RD]

"Dude" I don't "read" anything and post it...I actually get my hands dirty.. I work on Neon's Do you?

yes I do, see signature, see my first post in this thread

......If your gonna support the Neon as a great automobile, at least "Back it up" with "personal mechanical experience"....

I did, again see my first post.

I work on these pieces of sh*t DAILY and I can surely tell you anybody that buys a 10 year old Neon, is looking for problems....These cars were junk and will continue to be junk....Don't believe me? go right ahead and buy one that's 10 years old and see for yourself

Mine is 12 years old

....Yes, Some people have good luck with them, and light shines on a dog's ass every now and then but 90% of the Neon's were junk...To buy one of these cars that's 10 plus years old is just "Assinine" IMO..I offered my OPINION on the "Discussion" and that's it...Some people stand on the RR track and hear the whistle blowing, see the smoke rising, listen to the rails for the train, someone tells them the train is a comin, and they have to be hit by that train before they reallize it was the wrong thing to do....

How did Johnny Cash put it? "I hear a train a comin', it's rollin' around the bend"............

so when did your train hit you?  Seriously, you missed my entire point.  If you HAVE all this experience, then say you do, tell us why you dislike the car, just dont say you "hate it" and expect us / we / me or anyone to take your claim seriously.  90% of all neons are not junk, they cant be, and without any derivative proof stating otherwise, you are not in a position to say that 90% of them are.  Have you worked on the entire 90% of all the neons out there? I think not.

anywho, this leads me back to my original point.  If you are going to say something positive or negative about a car, then back it up with personal experience, like:

"I had to change this and this and this in all a matter of X months" or "it cost me this much $$$ for that stupid part and I did it" or " I have worked on 90% of all the neons ever produced and can tell you as a tech, I have had to replace these vital components over and over and they are just no good cars"

But please, spare me with the holier than thou rhetoric of I know what I am doing because I say so stuff... show me something more, or your opinion is nothing but a fantasy to me.

[moparstuart]

great little economy cars ,  we sell cavaliers and grand ams and escorts used and they all sell but the neons hold up alittle better in my used car experience .

[b5blue]

I put a call in and found it has a bad front axle bearing (they have the parts but uncle was in surgery and he was going to replace it, the owner is 31 and sadly lost his job).

[TylerCharger69]

The head gasket issue.....Number one...The original head gasket is a piece of crap....Number two.....As you're looking at the engine from the front,  the head bolt at the top right....well...that's the usual place for head gasket failure....Why?... Because the head bolt actually bottoms out before reaching proper torque value (older models), meaning torque wrench says it's proper, but in all actuality its not.  So actual torque between bolt and head is next to nothing.  Ive replaced 4 gaskets in 4 different Neons  and it was all the same thing, same area.  Learned the cause from Allpar.  The new bolt kit, which with an aluminum head is required to replace them, does not have the shorter bolt and needs to be slightly cut down and re-threaded.  Transmissions...well....If the car isnt driven like a Nascar piece, they are okay.  Tranny and motor mounts are notorious also for those particular models, thus leading to strut, and cv shaft failure.  Water pumps are a weak link too.  So...if your lucky enough to have a Neon that hasnt blown the gasket yet.....change out that bolt, and keep tabs on your mounts!!!

[b5blue]

More good info! Thanks! 

[bull]

My wife had a 99 Neon when we met.  Head gaskets are the main issue with Neons and she had to have hers replaced.  Watch out for transmission issues too.  This is my personal opinion, but I would avoid the Neon.  But, I avoid all Chrysler built stuff (except Jeep) from the mid 70's to present.

That might be a bit extreme. You avoid ALL Chrysler stuff from mid 70s to present? I've owned or currently own a 1985 Ram 1/2 ton pickup (great), a 1989 Dakota (pretty good), a 1994 Chrysler T&C (not so good), a 1994 Dakota (great) and a 2003 Durango (great). You can't write them all off.

[b5blue]

I spoke with the owner today but I'm concerned now here's what's up: he bought it from a guy in Tampa who put a correct rebuilt engine (DOHC) new fans and rad. with a "cold air intake" and Mopar performance chip. One front bearing is bad, they have the part, A/C not cold, drivers window (electric) runs up and down but won't stay up. He swears it "Hauls Ass" and "Runs Great".   My fear is someone has raced the crap out of it.   Also I found some claiming tires are 200.00 each! I'm going to look tomorrow.  

[bill440rt]

Can't say I'm exactly a "mechanic", but my '01 PT Cruiser (same platform as the Neon) has turned out to be a GREAT car. Other than some routine maintenance and a timing belt (at around 90K) it's been a great lil' beater. I've put about 20K on it since I've owned it. It already had a new rad & a battery in it when I got it so no problems there, either. If I had to do it again, I'd definitely buy another one. A very versatile second car.

B5, good luck to you with whatever car you find. I'm sure you'll make the right decision when the time comes. Too many kids today are driving BRAND-NEW BMW's, Acura's, etc. I learned to drive on my mom's '86 Horizon, and a fixer-upper '71 Satellite. Taught me a lot about cars...

[b5blue]

THANKS much Bill....I was telling my neighbor and she is checking with her sister.....seems sis my have a very cherry Windstar cheap also? I really don't want a car that's been beat on no matter how fast it can go. (I didn't tell Mike that I have a 440 much less a six-pack) I also found a 2001 purple PT that's cherry for 2500 but that is cutting into Charger cash.

[Smokey Bear]

Most everything posted here is anecdotal, really. Even the best cars ever made will have failures and someone will have a story about it, and even the worst cars will have successes. There is probably a Yugo out there with a half-million miles on it and a satisfied customer.

The real story is told by compiling as much data as possible because that is going to give you the most accurate picture as to what the odds will be for the car you intend to buy. The actual data from thousands of Neon owners as collected and analyzed by Consumer Reports magazine tells an undeniable story: The early Neons had numerous problems and were rated amongst the worst cars of their period by an aggregate of people who actually owned them. These were real people who experienced the inconvenience and cost of repairs that were found to happen at a higher rate compared to other vehicles. I didnt make this stuff up, it's not based on limited personal experience, and it's pretty much the definitive answer to how history has judged these cars no matter what anyone here says.

If you want to play against the odds and buy a Neon, I hope it works out for you.

Homey made is point, his 95 was shit, he had to deal with it.. of course HE BROUGHT IN HIS PERSONAL EXPERIENCE TO BACK IT UP (obviously he didnt read about it).

Actually I did read about it, which was part of the point. Unfortunately I did not read about it until after I had been screwed. B5 has the opportunity to read the historical data on these cars and make an informed decision apart from all the anecdotes here. If he does, I would think that he would be inclined to pass unless he is feeling lucky, because as was stated before, the aggregate data says that these  cars "were shit".

[1969chargerrtse]

A guy up the road from me has a bunch of them in his driveway.  He told me they were great little cars.

[chargerboy69]

My wife had a 99 Neon when we met.  Head gaskets are the main issue with Neons and she had to have hers replaced.  Watch out for transmission issues too.  This is my personal opinion, but I would avoid the Neon.  But, I avoid all Chrysler built stuff (except Jeep) from the mid 70's to present.

That might be a bit extreme. You avoid ALL Chrysler stuff from mid 70s to present? I've owned or currently own a 1985 Ram 1/2 ton pickup (great), a 1989 Dakota (pretty good), a 1994 Chrysler T&C (not so good), a 1994 Dakota (great) and a 2003 Durango (great). You can't write them all off.

Maybe it is Bull, but I have had my fair share of Chrysler products, so it is not like I never gave them a chance.  I have had a three Daytonas, a Dakota, a Neon, two Chrysler Town and Countrys and a Talon.  I would not recommend any of them.  Both Town and Countrys, Talon and the Neon needed transmissions.  The A/C system took a sh!t on one of the Town and Countrys( which I bought new) within the first 100 miles.  And the Neon was plagued with problems.

Then I have several friends with Chryslers products too.  One friend has had nothing but trouble with his PT Cruiser.  Another buddy has a 2006 Ram Cummins dually.  He has had to replace the transmission and the front end already in his truck, not to mention several other little things which have gone wrong with it.  Then his son has a 1998 Ram 1500, and has had to put two transmissions in his, and have the front end re-built.

We do have a Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited which my wife drives, and she just loves it.  And I have had four Jeeps myself, which were all trouble free.  You can not beat the Jeep 4.0L.  I now drive GM.  I have owned a older 2 door GMC Yukon SLT for about ten years now and love it as much as the day I bought her.  She has about 250,000 miles on her and still runs and looks great.  I also have a eight year old GMC 3500 Crew Cab Long Bed 4X4 SLT with a 454.  I love this d@mn truck.  She just turned 150,000 miles and is still pulling anything I throw at him.  There is no way I am trading my GMC trucks in for a problem plagued Ram. Unless it is another Jeep, Chrysler will not be getting my business anytime soon.