Any NEON owners out there?

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Trojmn said:
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.
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Breeze, eh? I own a '98 Stratus, been in the family since it was practically new. I'm rebuilding it after 265,000 hard miles. It ran when I tore into it, but it wasn't looking too good. I'm almost done :burnout:
 
2.0or 2.4? I had a balljoint go bad at 190k ish and tierod ends around that same time... Again IMO all nomal maintenance for such mileage. Much more comfortable highway cruiser but weighs 400lbs more than a neon
 
Quick question: Would a worn clutch cable cause the clutch to not engage until near the top of the pedal travel? That car I mentioned earlier was also somewhat difficult to get into reverse. I wasn't actually able to drive the car far or fast enough to check if the clutch actually slipped at all. Sorry for the hijack, but there seems to be a lot of owners posting and I could really use their input.
 
jd340 said:
Quick question: Would a worn clutch cable cause the clutch to not engage until near the top of the pedal travel? That car I mentioned earlier was also somewhat difficult to get into reverse. I wasn't actually able to drive the car far or fast enough to check if the clutch actually slipped at all. Sorry for the hijack, but there seems to be a lot of owners posting and I could really use their input.
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Ive only had hydrolic clutch neons. search/Post your question search over at neons.org because im pretty sure im thinking about this backwards... I know there is issues with age/miles and the clutch cable adjuster and that its common to shim it or use a manual adjuster to take up the slack. where that puts the release point higher/lower i cant visualize.
 
I've been thinking about doing a search over there, but the point is moot now anyway. Others expenses have popped up that have to take priority. There'll always be other ones for sale, so I'm not too broken up about it. Lol
 
Trojmn said:
2.0or 2.4? I had a balljoint go bad at 190k ish and tierod ends around that same time... Again IMO all nomal maintenance for such mileage. Much more comfortable highway cruiser but weighs 400lbs more than a neon
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Mine has the 2.4 engine.
 
i had a 98 rt neon with a stick for 138k miles. aside from 2 sets of motor mounts it was fine
 
My son sold his 2000 Neon coupe when it had about 180,000 miles to a buddy who has since put an additional 100,000 miles on it and neither had any problems other than a leaking fitting on the transmission. He had it tightened up put about a quart of trans fluid in it and he has been good to go.

Benji
 
Head gasket problems were mostly on the 1st gens ('95-'99) by '00 they had MLS gaskets from the factory. Also, the '00 has the 3-speed A-413 trans (mini 904) - no problems there.

One thing to look out for is rust/rot on the front suspension crossmember and control arms. If someone complains about sketchy handling, it's usually due to worn control arm bushings and/or poor front end alignment.

It's really not a matter if Neons are good cars or not (they are!) It matters how this one was maintained. I would be concerned with the mileage. Since you don't know how it was maintained, at this point anything could fail at any time. Also keep in mind - someone sold it for a reason...
 
my wilf drives one for work its a 99 replacey timeing belt at 150000 mil. replaced it and head gasket at 300000 its now got I don't know because speedo doesn't work any more.that was 3yr.ago.so id say its pushing 400000 or more? .I told her we will replce it wen it pays its way........haha.yes I will buy anther If I have to get on ebay to get it..........Artie
 
Most of the problems we had with the Stratus when it was a daily driver were caused by carelessness of the Grismer mechanics my dad took it too. Bolts left loose under the hood, tools, stripped out plugs, under torqued bolts, and they broke a TON of the wire harness plugs and zip tied them on. I found a nice "new" harness out of an insurance write off at the junkyard. It was a shame to part such a clean car but it is what it is. Oh and he kept taking it back for overheating problems and the dummies kept charging him for replacing thermostats...if it doesn't work after the first try there's no need to throw parts at the thing. I looked at the symptoms, when it did it and how bad and I found an electric cooling fan motor that was burned out. For $20 I replaced the entire fan shroud assembly and it makes my dad sick after he realizes the hundreds of dollars he wasted at this garage.

Needless to say, we don't go there anymore and would never recommend them. We've had far better treatment at the local dealership and Goodyear.
 
Motor mounts are 100% JUNK. Would like to kick the SOB that designed them square in the junk repeatedly.



My Mom had one with around 300,000K on it. Gave it to my brother. Think he still has it. Has had one tranny replacement and the exhaust manifold rusted and I think two sets of motor mounts out but other than that nothing but regular maintenance.


I got an 05 that has 140,000K. Replaced the motor mounts not long ago and the A/C works but is on the fritz. Only other problem has been with rats chewing on stuff but that not the cars fault.
 
O ya almost forgot the time I was going out the drive way and the clutch pedal went straight to the floor and stayed there. Was some yonkie plastic clip that broke. Looked for a replacement but could not find one. So I went to my box of Dart 4 speed parts and pulled out a C clip. FIXED!
 
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