1995 Dodge Neon review from North America

The brakes squeal.

The windows don't seal properly.

New tires at about 80,000.

The head gasket is leaking and will be replaced soon.

The air conditioner stopped working.

I got this car used when she was about 5 years old. The previous owners took meticulous care of it. Since I have owned it, I have tried to keep it up.

The car is very comfortable, with nice fabric and plenty of room for my purposes. It has 4 doors.

Most of the problems I have had are relatively minor, except the most recent, which I will get to in a minute. For the first year or two, the biggest complaint I had was it was loud. Not the engine, but when you drive you hear the air moving past the car.

Sometimes the lock on the rear driver's side door sticks when unlocking (power locks).

The frame-less windows are both good and bad. They make the doors lighter, but they don't always seal properly. The front passenger window sometimes sounds "windy" at high speeds, like air is coming through.

The car does not like carrying loads. I notice a slight difference in performance with a single passenger, and more than that makes the car slow to move. I am sure that some of that is the small engine.

Those were the biggest problems for a long time. The car was low-maintenance, just gas-and-go. Very reliable, which is great for a college student like myself.

I made the mistake of driving through a huge puddle one day and ended up with a rusted brake drum which had to be replaced, but that was my own fault.

I changed the tires around 80,000. I think they were the originals, but I'm not sure. The new ones are Bridgestones, and handle wonderfully.

The battery is still the original.

Sometime last year, the brakes started squeaking. They only squeak for a few minutes after the car has been moving, and then it goes away. It doesn't happen all the time, either, but mostly when it rains. Mechanics have told me nothing that could be replaced would stop the squeaking, so I just deal with it.

The air conditioner never really worked well, but I never use it anyway. At one point last summer, I did need it (I was travelling a long way with my cats, which can't stand the heat), so I had it fixed. Apparently the O-rings were no longer O-shaped. It works well now, but when it is on the car does not perform well, especially going uphill.

Just recently, I took a long trip and noticed a bubbling sound when I turned it off. The engine temperature read as normal, but there was definitely something wrong. The mechanic said there was nothing wrong. When I got home from the trip, the same thing happened. I had the coolant checked, and some other things, but the diagnosis was a leaky head gasket, which was to cost $1000. It is a slow leak, so I plan to wait a few weeks until I am employed again to get it fixed.

Despite these problems, I love my car, and plan on keeping it as long as I can keep her running. Yes, Dodge/Chrysler has some problems with this model, but my Neon doesn't seem to be too had. She is a reliable car and in very good condition. While I would not recommend the '95 Neon because it is an early model, I might suggest a newer version.