2004 Dodge Neon SE review from North America

The car would shut down while I was driving it. All panel lights would come on and speedometer needle would go all the way to the right and then back. It felt like car would go from 4th or 5th gear straight down to 1st when it lost power. Also, the radio would turn itself off multiple times before the car would shut down.

Plug wires are bad at 42,000 miles.

I first time that the car shut down was about 1 month after purchase. I took it to the dealer, they kept it for over a week. When I picked it up, they told me that they could not find anything wrong.

After the 3rd time that I took it in for the same problem, the battery was replaced. The car ran fine for 3 months then it began to shut down again. I had it towed in because it wouldn't restart. the mechanic said that it started for him and again said that nothing was wrong. The car was definitely defective. It had shut down in oncoming traffic with my son in the car and I was nearly hit. At this point I prompted the service dept to replace the battery cables; this had been suggested when the battery was replaced. The cables were replaced and then I had no problems for a couple months then the car died again!!! I took it back to the dealer. Corrosion was found on battery terminal and th battery was replaced again. So there have been three batteries in this vehicle in 1.5 yrs of ownership!?!

So now, my car had been "chugging and jumping" periodically and plug wires need replacement.

This is my first "new" (used) car. I had to do my own research to find out that the car had been a rental. This has been a horrible experience especially since the dealer as well as Chrysler/ Daimler had no answers or options to solve these issues.