I am going to start off by saying I really cannot give a fair review of the Neon as I bought it off of my dad's estate with about 210,000 km's. I can say that in the 2 years I did own it numerous things did go wrong with it. Here is a list:
Blown Head Gasket
Blown Transmission
Leaked about 2 quarts of oil per week
Water pump broke
Air Conditioner did not work
The coolant hose blew
The speedometer and fuel meters stopped working
A wheel-bearing broke.
Probably was more that I have either forgotten about or was never diagnosed on the car.
All I can say is the car did last me for 2 years, albeit with a very large repair bill. I do know that my father had sued the dealership soon after purchasing it brand new so there must have been something else wrong with the car a few years back.
All in all I really have to keep a neutral view on the car. I do not think it would be fair of me to judge it when I purchased it with such high mileage. Would I buy another one? Absolutely not! But this is very much due to the poor reviews I have read about the car in both this site and Consumer Reports.
Yeah, the early ones kind of suck.
Not sure on how many miles 210,000 kilometers is, but anywho. the speedometer is an easy fix. the leaking oil is most likely the rear main seal. head gasket=common, but repairable. coolant hose, who cares? water pumps, if they didn't get change at 100,000 miles (again not sure in kilometers) then yea it will break lol.
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