Faults:

Replacement of head gasket just last year due to overheating. Milling off the head required.

Paint on roof completely peeled off (this is a very sunny country all year round).

Noise in the front and rear suspension. Not a surprise considering the bad condition of the roads.

A/C unit must be repaired every 2 to 3 years (replacement of evaporator).

Water leaking into the cabin somewhere around the dashboard and trunk.

General Comments:

A very good car considering the price tag. Mine is a manual, base model, yes the one with the AM radio (very strange!). I bought this car brand new and no major bug ever happened to it. All repairs done are due to normal wear, except for the evaporator that constantly failed. I cannot understand how a fairly good car has such a cheap evaporator. I also own a Corolla 1999, and similar problems have occurred to it, except for the A/C that works like a charm.

I am still trying to fix the water leaks, which is presently my major concern.

Faults:

I have frequent problems in the mechanical part of the engine, but easy to fix. The automatic transmission has a extremely wide final ratio (2.89:1), so the car has a very poor acceleration, but good top end speed. Gas mileage is not so god, but is not bad too. Rear shocks feels too hard, but is OK! Just a few of problems, some of those (2) were expensive to repair. Mine doesn't has ABS.

General Comments:

My car is very quick when more than 3250 rpm. Celica's, Mercedes, Audi's, Corollas, Lancers, NA Eclipses, Corsa's, etc... (all with 4 cylinders engines) are very easy to pass out when 3500 and up rpm. I'll buy the manual SOHC first generation Neon to find a little more performance than this one. This car has a superb handling on any type of way or weather, it's on the level of a All Wheel Drive car. I love this car. NEON POWER!