Most popular Dodge Neon for sale

We bought our 2003 in early 2004 Neon as a program car, with 18,000 miles on it. It has over 131,000 miles on it now. It's driven every day in city traffic, and has been on a few cross-country trips each year. Throughout the last three years, it has been dependable, and relatively low ownership cost.

Our Neon has the four-cylinder engine and automatic transmission. We got 30 MPG pretty much every tank, city or highway, air conditioning or not. Lately, with the blends, we're seeing around 28.8 MPG. We've done no major work on the engine since new, just an oil change every 3000 miles, air filter when needed, and a transmission oil change at 85,000 miles. Note there: BE SURE you use the Chrysler-recommended additives when you replace the fluid, they are CRITICAL to the smooth operation of the transmission. We've had the car in once for a noise in the engine. They kept the car for almost a week, never figured out the noise, and it went away. We hear it now and again, but it goes away as the car warms up.

The A/C blows cold, and has had no service. The power windows and locks have required no service. The cruise control is effective, though we have always had a beef with Chrysler Corp for putting the controls under the steering wheel, and operation of them is against our GM habits. You have to turn Cruise on every time you start the car, and minor speed adjustments of 1 MPH are difficult to make.

Lights and wipers are controlled by stalks on the steering column. Again, they are a bit strange for a GM driver, but they work. Power disc brakes are effective, and we've replaced the pads once. The rear drums are noisy, even after replacing the shoes, Sometimes the squawking is embarrassing!

The rear seat folds down for access to the trunk space, and we've benefited from that feature on a few occasions. Our cloth seats are comfortable, if a bit tight for our oversize frame. However, we've made several long trips in the car, and it rides well enough. We're tired after ten hours behind the wheel, but that's life, right? The interior components are wearing well, no significant shredding, wearing, cracks, broken pieces, etc, and that's good for this level of car.

The AM/FM/CD system is serviceable. We would not call it a top-quality sound system; you'd have to spend some upgrade bucks to go there. Again, for our purposes, it serves well, and everything still works.

Our biggest beef has been wheels and tires. Our car has the optional aluminum wheels, with a 60-series tire mounted. Buying this tire was at $100 a pop, a bit expensive for an economy car. The rear end was out of alignment, and ate up two tires before the problem was diagnosed. We finally switched to a more-standard 65-series tire, and now new shoes are a reasonable $60/tire. Who needs a hot-looking, pricey performance tire on an econobox?

In all, the Neon is a reasonable economy car, with a reasonable price. Unexpected service has been negligible, and cost of ownership is low. If you don't mind the spartan look and feel, a Neon can provide a lot of miles of trouble-free ownership. Hopefully, we can add a 140K-mile update to this review in a couple of years.

UPDATE 6/2007: now 100K plus. We replaced the timing belt as preventative maintenance, cost $400, peace of mind is priceless, as it's an 80K replacement item. Still going strong!

UPDATE 10/2008: 122K plus. New battery, otherwise FINE!

Background: This was our first new car purchase. We owned the Neon for 2 years and put approximately 50,000 miles on the odometer before trading up.

Performance: The 2.0L inline four cylinder engine was smooth and relatively powerful for its day at 131 HP. With only 2491 lbs of curb weight to motivate, the car would move out with some authority if you pushed it, and the five speed transmission was very smooth and easy to shift. We averaged in the high 20s around town and lower to mid 30s on the highway.

Reliability: We never had any problems with our Neon, which looking back, must have been a fluke, as these weren't the most reliable of cars. Periodic problems on this vehicle are failures of the Engine Head Gasket, the Oxygen Sensors, the Vehicle Speed Sensor, and the Spark Plug Wires. Make sure to have one thoroughly checked out if you're thinking of picking one up on the market now.

Comfort: Relative to other 2-door coupes of the time, the Neon was sufficiently comfortable and refined on the roadway. Road noise was high but tolerable if making a long trip. It doesn't get very comfortable at $12,000 brand new, but we had no complaints in this department.

Quality and Craftsmanship: Like I said, we never had a problem or failure, but the quality left something to be desired. The body panels had uneven gaps, and the interior was very chintzy. Ours held together, so I won't fault Chrysler too much here. If owning for the long-term or buying one now with a ton of miles on the odometer, expect your fair share of annoyances and naggling issues in this regard.

Overall: A moderately refined little coupe with a smooth, powerful engine and average build quality. Low price was a huge selling point, and the styling was original for its day, but this is subjective, I know. I would be leary of buying one used now, but if you can find one with low miles and a history of routine maintenance, it could be a bargain buy.

After research of complaints filed on various years of Neons, I picked an 2001, with the standard 2.0 liter, auto trans, not the HO engine. Ours did need some brake work, plus changing out the rear/large bushings in the lower control arms, which take a beating on bad/rough roads. It is surprisingly comfortable and plenty of power for its size, and great to go to work,run errands, great gas milage, fun to drive.