Like anything else "quality" is subjective. I like cars that i can commute 33k miles a year on (68miles one way) that never let me down other than regular maintenance. Get 35MPG+ have a an availability of parts. Other people think quality is a fancy interior but then pay for expensive dumb *** repairs. For that i'll forgive the door panel that broke around the handle pull/screw socket that i had to fix with a shim.
I just replaced a radiator a couple months ago. Is it because its a POS or that its 10yrs old and never been apart or had the bug guts washed out and corroded the corners? What about that bearing at 140Kmiles. What a PILE eh? and those 10yr old rubber bushings that failed... IMO normal stuff and beats a car payment.
03 SXT now has 191K miles and a flog it regularly at 15+ AutoX per year on the weekends 100MILES from home. Also rebuilt a SRT this year to play in Autox RTF class.
EDIT: To by my 03 Neon I sold a 2000 Breeze with the SAME 2.0 SOHC and 4spd ATX at 287K miles. Bought it with 107K miles....Again just normal maintenance, nothing more major than a couple timingbelts waterpumps etc.... Also a very good car, just too heavy for Autox.
There are things to look out for when buying used but it really is an easy car to work on. Namely its a entry level car that likely has been drivin buy a kid at some point. ALL chrysler 4cyl got MLS head gaskets ~98 or so.
