1997 Dodge Neon Highline 2.0 L

Summary:

Only regrets

Faults:

Head gasket went out at 30,000 miles. It was covered under warranty, and had one of the new redesigned gaskets from Chrysler.

Head gasket went out again at 59,000 miles. Dealer denies any problems with gasket design.

Electrical problems that go away when car is turned off. Air bag light stays on occasionally, but doesn't discharge when in a collision. Ignition sticks in the start position, have to turn it on and off to get it to crank properly.

Passenger window leaks. Wind noise is really loud in that window.

Loud brakes. I haven't had to replace the brakes, except for once in 60K miles, but the brakes have a lot of noise when applied.

General Comments:

The Neon and subsequent dealer service has given me reason never to buy another Chrysler product ever again.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 29th October, 2001

1997 Dodge Neon R/T 2.0 SOHC 4-cylinder

Summary:

A high- performance car

Faults:

The only thing that has gone wrong is the transmission went out because of the way I race it. I always ram it into gear.

General Comments:

This is a really reliable car.

It is really fast for a 2.0.

And it accelerates fast.

This car also has very good gas milage for such a fast car. It does not eat gas really fast.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 27th September, 2001

1997 Dodge Neon Sport 2.0 DOHC

Summary:

Destroys imports in races, but also destroys your wallet

Faults:

I have needed to drop in a new engine due to how hard I pushed the car.

The oil light did not come on in time to warn me of low oil.

The transmission busted up on me and had to be rebuilt.

The brakes froze up and needed to be replaced.

General Comments:

This car is surprisingly quick for a little 4 cylinder. With its 133 ft.-lbs. torque and 150 HP, this car can beat any Civic or other import on the road. With a few modifications and such, you could easily have a 200HP car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 25th September, 2001

1997 Dodge Neon Highline Sedan SOHC

Summary:

My cute little bundle of huge problems

Faults:

My right tail light leaked a week after I bought the car.

I had to get the switches to the cooling fan replaced after I had already brought it in for a recall for the same thing six months earlier.

My radiator blew.

There are shorts in the car's electrical system that are causing my car not to start, because of the battery being dead.

My head gasket blew at approximately 46,000 miles. When I brought my car in for repair under the 'Goodwill Policy', the dealer tried to lie to me.

My air conditioning is leaking. Not something small either, it's the evaporator.

General Comments:

My car is very unreliable. I have to worry about whether or not my car will even start in the mornings.

In the middle of summer, I have to worry about whether my air conditioning will cost me a fortune again.

The car repairs are costing almost as much as the original purchase price. For that amount, I could have bought something a little more reliable. I feel like I have been taken for a bad ride!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 29th August, 2001

24th Feb 2004, 22:08

I have a 1996 Dodge Neon High line. I always wanted one, now that I have the car I wish I could give it back. On of the problems was the tail light started leaking 2 weeks after I drove it off the lot. The entire inside and the trunk was completely soaked for a while. Also the sensor switchwent bad the actual day I drove the car off the lot. Next thing was the valve gasket cover gave in which caused oil to leak into my spark plugs and caused a mis-fire in my spark plugs (I do replace those every 2 months). Air condition isn't very cold and the heating, well let's just say on a 10 minute drive the car heats up 2 minutes before I hit the drive way. In the winter I have to drive with the defrost on because the windows fog back up 4 seconds later. For some reason the gas mileage is extremely bad. I can use a whole tank of gas in less than 24 hours (how is that even possible I don't know). Luckily I haven't ran into the head gasket problem yet, but I'm sure I will the day I pay the car off (either that or the transmission will go one of the two). I wish they would have made the 94-97 Neons a little better because it would be a great economy car with out all those problems.I'm glad the took that into consideration when they made the 2000 neons. Aren't they the lucky buyers. Thanks for reading.