Any NEON owners out there?

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I had a 1998 Neon and I loved that car. No major work needed, went through front brakes kinda quick, but I was hard on that car. I sold it in 2009 for $1000. No wrencks and garage kept, 110k miles. The AC crapped out at about 85k.
 
My wife had a 02 sxt 5-speed that she drove for about 6 years.
It averaged 34 mpg.
That car ate tie rod ends for some reason, like every year had to replace them.
The clutch went out one time because the slave cylinder would not release all the way, the slave cylinder is only available from chrysler, and it comes as a sealed unit no bleediing.
And the final issue before I got rid of it was the steering column broke, it has a piece of plastic that connects the key to the ignition switch which is part of the column.
The whole column had to be changed.
Never had any motor problems.
 
Get out! Get out while you still can!
...and don't look back!
(Remember what happen to Lott's wife!)
 
. The one we had died at 150k jumped time kissed a piston . it was a 2000 . I sent it to be made into an ice box .
 
lol... I've had three. One new. terrible cars. uncomfortable, under powered, noisy, FWD, rattle traps. Required far too much attention to keep them running efficiently.
We purchased one for my wife when they first were introduced, with the Little "Hi" about the advertisement picture. Honestly, I couldn't get rid of that car quickly enough.

My son purchased a used on, that was honestly in pretty good shape, I got tired of working on it. When we got rid of that abortion, my neighbor, came to me for a favor. He'd lost his job, and needed to get out of the car loan on his wife's neon. I paid off the loan for him and took the car. We had it for a year. Although it handled pretty well, it was a noisy ride. It amplified every bump, every road surface joint and irregularity it ran over. Radio knobs came off, window regulators broke, A/C stopped working at 40K miles. Twice returned to the dealership for trans work, and a few other things.

The car just nickle and dimed me to death. Not to mention the inconveniences, having to spend time either fixing these "minor problems", or bringing it back to the shop and arranging a ride home and then back to the shop to pick it up when they claimed they fixed it.

Three out of three were no good experiences. I don't doubt that there are some people who have gotten good service out of them. I also don't doubt that some people perceive they gotten good service, because they don't mind the inconveniences of dealing with minor or even major issues.

One of my son's buddies from his car club had a neon that he was always wrenching back to health. On average, I'll bet he spent 3 weekends a month at our place working on that car. If you asked him about it, he always said "It's a great car"!

Well, that might be, but a car that I have to work on or spend money on, beyond scheduled maintenance, just to keep on the road, isn't "a great car", it's a lemon, in my opinion. When you have that same experience with 3 out of 3 Neons, Sorry, I'm not going for a fourth, and I'm certainly not advising anyone else to invest in one either.

Like I said, I'm going by MY experience with them, what others have experienced, is not withstanding in my recommendations, and comments.

Personally I will not even consider a Neon, nor will I recommend one to anyone. IMO, not a good car, nor a good choice.
 
Frankie said:
lol... I've had three. One new. terrible cars. uncomfortable, under powered, noisy, FWD, rattle traps. Required far too much attention to keep them running efficiently.
We purchased one for my wife when they first were introduced, with the Little "Hi" about the advertisement picture. Honestly, I couldn't get rid of that car quickly enough.

My son purchased a used on, that was honestly in pretty good shape, I got tired of working on it. When we got rid of that abortion, my neighbor, came to me for a favor. He'd lost his job, and needed to get out of the car loan on his wife's neon. I paid off the loan for him and took the car. We had it for a year. Although it handled pretty well, it was a noisy ride. It amplified every bump, every road surface joint and irregularity it ran over. Radio knobs came off, window regulators broke, A/C stopped working at 40K miles. Twice returned to the dealership for trans work, and a few other things.

The car just nickle and dimed me to death. Not to mention the inconveniences, having to spend time either fixing these "minor problems", or bringing it back to the shop and arranging a ride home and then back to the shop to pick it up when they claimed they fixed it.

Three out of three were no good experiences. I don't doubt that there are some people who have gotten good service out of them. I also don't doubt that some people perceive they gotten good service, because they don't mind the inconveniences of dealing with minor or even major issues.

One of my son's buddies from his car club had a neon that he was always wrenching back to health. On average, I'll bet he spent 3 weekends a month at our place working on that car. If you asked him about it, he always said "It's a great car"!

Well, that might be, but a car that I have to work on or spend money on, beyond scheduled maintenance, just to keep on the road, isn't "a great car", it's a lemon, in my opinion. When you have that same experience with 3 out of 3 Neons, Sorry, I'm not going for a fourth, and I'm certainly not advising anyone else to invest in one either.

Like I said, I'm going by MY experience with them, what others have experienced, is not withstanding in my recommendations, and comments.

Personally I will not even consider a Neon, nor will I recommend one to anyone. IMO, not a good car, nor a good choice.
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"Hi".... :hello2:
 
Frankie said:
We purchased one for my wife when they first were introduced, with the Little "Hi" about the advertisement picture. Honestly, I couldn't get rid of that car quickly enough.
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Maybe you misinterpreted the ad.... "Hi" meant "high"... As in you had to be high to like the car....

Now here's something we hope you all enjoy.... (Rocky & Bullwinkle)...

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The factory head gasket is a known problem on the Neons. The Felpro (revised design) gasket takes care of the problem.

The only other issue I ever saw with the Neons, was the stupid Aluminum/Plastic radiator, they like to blow the transmission cooler ports clean out of the lower plastic tank. If that doesn't happen, the tanks crack and leak. Either way it's a horrible design (but I see this frequently on all makes/models with those dumb alum/plastic radiators)


My dad bought a '96 Neon about 6-7 years ago for $50 that needed the head gasket replaced. We replaced the head gasket, and never had a problem with the car after that.

I worked on a lot of Neons at the shop, the only time they ever came in was for Basic Maintenance (Tune up, oil change, etc), The Head Gasket (never had one come back for a head gasket after going with the Felpro gasket), or the Radiator (but like I said, I see that all the time, not just Neons)
 
74Dusted said:
The factory head gasket is a known problem on the Neons. The Felpro (revised design) gasket takes care of the problem.

The only other issue I ever saw with the Neons, was the stupid Aluminum/Plastic radiator, they like to blow the transmission cooler ports clean out of the lower plastic tank. If that doesn't happen, the tanks crack and leak. Either way it's a horrible design (but I see this frequently on all makes/models with those dumb alum/plastic radiators)


My dad bought a '96 Neon about 6-7 years ago for $50 that needed the head gasket replaced. We replaced the head gasket, and never had a problem with the car after that.

I worked on a lot of Neons at the shop, the only time they ever came in was for Basic Maintenance (Tune up, oil change, etc), The Head Gasket (never had one come back for a head gasket after going with the Felpro gasket), or the Radiator (but like I said, I see that all the time, not just Neons)
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What type of gasket is the Fel-pro design? Composite or steel?
 
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.
 
I had a 98 coupe 5spd, could not kill it and I beat the hell out of it. Everyday for 12 years, ac died at 75k so i ripped everything off. Brakes, spark plugs, and a radiator is all I ever replaced. Factory clutch til the day it died.

Only reason I stopped driving it was becuase i got rearended. I got a 2000 for cheap to replace it but its half the car. Seems decent so far but def not as good at the 98
 
I looked at a 98 Sport this afternoon. 174k kilometers on it. Needs one rear strut mount ($70), a windshield ($150installed), and definitely needs a clutch. I can get it for $500, but how much is a new clutch gonna run me, installed? It wasn't plated, so I could only take it up the street and back really, but the clutch doesn't engage until almost the top pedal travel. Purrs like a kitten otherwise, but the clutch replacement is scaring me off.
 
I bought an aluminum flywheel and clutch for mine for about 400 bucks, if your able to you can easily put it in with a buddies help. The clutches are really simple but kinda expensive to put in.


Frankie, ya it was bad. I'm still messed up from it with my back slipped a disk. The seat broke and the only reason I was not seriously hurt was because I'm big and was able to prepare for the hit otherwise I probably would have broken my back.
 
Thanks for the tips ILLDUSTER! That's a helluva hit your car took, glad you're ok. The one I at is also purple. O.O That doesn't sound too bad on the clutch, may go for it.
 
jd340 said:
I looked at a 98 Sport this afternoon. 174k kilometers on it. Needs one rear strut mount ($70), a windshield ($150installed), and definitely needs a clutch. I can get it for $500, but how much is a new clutch gonna run me, installed? It wasn't plated, so I could only take it up the street and back really, but the clutch doesn't engage until almost the top pedal travel. Purrs like a kitten otherwise, but the clutch replacement is scaring me off.
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You can have the trans out and on the ground in 2hrs if you are going slow. Its really not that big of a deal. I would recommend a quality stock replacement modular clutch and put your saved money in other maintenance parts. Modular clutches bolt onto a flexplate and include the flywheel in one unit. LuK from rock auto is $150. Be sure to do the rear main seal while your there for $6 amd the trans output seals for a couple bucks each.

REAR strut mount shouldn't be $70. I bought Moogs for the SRT for $23 each from Rockauto.
 
Remember, I'm in Canada, EVERYTHING costs more here. ;) That was the price his wife quoted him, she works at Partsource. My friend gets the jobber discount at Carquest, so I can do better on the strut mount. Believe it or not, I've had half a dozen stick cars in the last 22 years, but have never had to change one. Must be doing something right. Lol. Thanks for the tips!
 
I say my Neon is a good car, but it does seem a bit high-maintenance. Mine still has lower miles on it, so reading this thread now I'm worried what post-100k will bring. lol.

I think Neons do handle very well, but they have to be kept in check or the handling goes to crap easily. Very sensitive to the road but from what I've experienced (have extensively driven other small cars like Cavalier, Mazda 323 and Sentra) and none were luxury rides that handle bumps well. Same goes for brakes. They make the discs/drums so small that pads wear out and rotors need turned or replaced constantly. That seemed especially true on the Sentra, but at the time new rotors were like $12 each.
 
I've had my 98 Neon for 13 years, 252,000 miles so far and still gets 38-39 mpg on the highway. At 230k it finally needed a head gasket and about a month later it got new brakes all the way around.
Maintenance is the key with Neons, especially keeping up with timing belt and fluid changes.



Edit: After reading this thread again, I think I must have the only decent Neon to come out of Belvedere.
 
Both of mine were built in Belvedere. The 98 was great but it was a simple car no power accessories, just s 5pd and the DOHC engine. The 2000 was an early run built on Monday car and a POS, should have known never by a first year Chrysler product early..but wife loved it. Should have walked away when the lights and wipers didn't work when we test drove it.
 
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