Faults:

My 2004 Dodge Neon has been really reliable up until a month ago, when the transmission cooler failed as I was driving home from work at 11:00pm at night. I had to have it towed to the dealer, and it cost me $1100 to repair. I needed a new radiator, and the engine's cooling system and transmission had to be flushed out several times, most of the bill was labor.

The drive train is still under warranty, however the problem was the radiator, which is no longer under warranty. I was really ticked off because I never heard of a radiator failing at only 55K miles (6 years old).

I complained to the dealer, and they told me to contact Chrysler and complain as they can no longer do it on behalf of the customer. So I called Chrysler's Customer Assistance Center (800-992-1997 & choose complaint option.) Long story short, they are going to pay for most of the bill (except for $300), which is great, because technically they don't have to this, since it is no longer under warranty.

Control arm bushings needed replacement after only 35000 miles. The dealer got Chrysler to replace them under warranty, even though the warranty for this expired a couple months previous.

Front brake rotors needed replacement early on, which didn't make any sense with the low miles and the fact that they were never cut. I've heard complaints from others that these rotors wear out quickly.

There is one other issue I've had with the car since it was new; every now and then, but not very often, it shifts hard between 2nd and 3rd. I told the dealer about it once, but they couldn't reproduce the problem. I'm worried about the transmission failing after the 7-year warranty expires, which could be a huge expense if it needed to be replaced.

General Comments:

It sounds to me like there should be a recall for this radiator problem, and I'm sure Chrysler knows this, and is taking the much cheaper option of paying off the few people who complain, rather than have to replace all the Neon radiators out there.

Faults:

The air bags did not deploy when it rear ended another vehicle.

General Comments:

The acceleration was great!

Not too big and not too small. I found it to be very comfortable.

The handling was great.

The car was very reliable. With regular maintenance, the car never left me in a sticky situation.

Maybe is was just me but I could get anything in this car!

Even though it was a 4 cylinder and I had the base model, it was still fun to drive. Definitely a great beginners car; however, it sets the bar very high.

It finally died when it was sideswiped and the axle was messed up. I bought Dodge's Neon replacement, the Caliber. BIG mistake, by the way. I would give anything to have my Neon back!

Faults:

Only one issue with the timing sensor on the cam at 90k miles.

General Comments:

Bought for my daughter to use in college, she was very hard on the car and it never missed a beat. It got great mileage (36 hwy) and was very smooth.

Visibility to the rear is hampered with the spoiler, but other than that, it's a great little car.

Faults:

All sensors have gone out several times.

The front suspension is completely shot.

The CV axles are bad.

The transmission is stuck in 2nd gear the majority of the time, and when the car does shift into 3rd, it will randomly down shift while driving steadily.

This all happened shortly after the 50,000 mile mark, and it now has 62,000 miles on it.

General Comments:

This car is the absolute WORST investment I have EVER made. I have put more than 5,000 dollars into it since the 50,000 mile mark, and it would take another 2500 dollars to fix the transmission.