2001 Dodge Neon SE from North America - Comments

After having it a month, my radiator blew.

I have had problems with oil leaks continuously~very expensive!

I had to buy new brake pads and rotors already~ $300

My windshield wiper tore apart and began to flap in the wind at me as if to mock me!

Someone bumped into my rear bumper and it cracked all the way down-some nice plastic my car is made out of :)

I am a recent college graduate and was all excited to get a new car. Yet I should have bought this car when I was getting student loans because I could used them to pay for my continuous car repairs.

I am really disappointed with my purchase and realize why the dealers wanted it off their lot so bad.

Definitely a cute car, but it is a huge investment. Pay an extra $2,000 and buy something else. You'd save that much on repairs.

Only fellow neon owners really understand my woes! Good luck with your lemon! I'll be trading mine in ASAP.

As you see from most other Neon reviews, Neon's from 2001 and newer are excellent buys. My wife and I went to a lot of dealers and since their job is to get cars off of their lot regardless of whether they are crappy or not, not only did we not let them talk over us, we disregarded everything they said and inspected the cars thoroughly. When you Then we would go online and see what other people had to say about their cars and what kinds of problems those specific model of cars had.

Like the Ford Taurus and the problem it has with the oil going into the Cooling system for instance. There was no way we were going to buy a Taurus because of this specific reason. Or the old Neon. Neons 1999 and under have the worst reviews and when you sit in the car it literally feels like a disposable car, like any Kia does. Ride in a KIA and you'd swear you saw your hubcaps rolling down the road in your rear view mirror, that's how much it feels as if though the car is built just to fall right apart.

I don't understand what this guy took into consideration when he bought his Neon because Radiators don't just blow. You have to be really abusive toward a car for something like this to happen. Or the car has to have this flaw coming off of the assembly line, like the Taurus previously mentioned. But if you read other reviews, obviously it's not one of this cars characteristics, thus his car must have been really abused for it to have had such a problem. There is no way you can buy a car and have the radiator blow a month later, unless you are clueless. All you have to do is pop the hood, look around and most importantly: SMELL THE ENGINE! If it smells fishy, or greasy or like gasoline, truly take that into consideration. Look for wet spots on the engine. There should be none! The engine should look clean and beautiful. Make sure the engine doesn't shake too much. It's just common sense things. If it looks like it's going to explode under the hood, the most natural instinct would be to run, right?

How is it possible for anyone to buy brakes and rotors after just one month of use? This is impossible for any new car. If he bought this car used, there is especially no reason for him to use the braking system as judgment of the cars quality.

My wife and I bought our 2001 Dodge Neon used for $5900 September of 2002 and although it is considered a mid-low end car, we love it. The first thing my wife and I agreed on after we decided to buy a used car was that if not just the brakes, possibly the entire braking system would probably have to be replaced so we took that in consideration when we went to look for a car.

Sure enough, two months later it was the first thing that we replaced for around $250. Other than that, we have had no problems with the car. The cars engine gets a little bit loud when going speeds above and around 55, but at $5900, this is a non-issue. Power windows work, power locks, Radio, the trunk button in the glove compartment...It's a great car for the money!

So if you feel like you are a bit insecure about a car, but you feel it is the right one for you, don't hesitate to ask the dealer if you can take it into a mechanic of YOUR choosing so they can do an inspection on it. It may cost you $60-100, but it's better than buying a $6000 surprise bucket.

Oh yea and most importantly: Please consider that you might have to replace the wipers, maybe even the wiper fluid!

Have fun with whatever you choose!!

Just a suggestion, pick up a copy of consumer reports. I would never by a DODGE, owned one and will never own another. But don't take my word for it, look it up.

I purchased a new 2002 Neon with automatic transmission. It seems to be good, but it has problem with running the AC at stop lights. The car starts to run rough at low speeds when the AC is on. The dealer checkout the car and swears that everything has checked out OK.

The first reviewer said, "As you see from most other Neon reviews, Neon's from 2001 and newer are excellent buys."

Nearly half of the consumer reviews (15 to 19) on this site are very negative. I would recommend being more specific on the types of reviews to which you're referring -- I suspect it's the reviews from magazines and consumer groups that drive the car new for a few thousand miles and no more.

If a radiator fails at 30,000 miles, there's something wrong with the manufacture of the radiator. What abuse are thinking would cause a radiator to fail at 30k?

All comments considered, it sounds like you have about a fifty-fifty chance of getting a semi-reliable 2001 Neon.

I think it's a better idea to spend a little extra money, and get a more reliable car. We bought our 2001 neon for about 6K and it seems like we have spent just as much or maybe more on repairs. And whenever we take it to the dealership, they come up with a new solution for the same problem. A lot of the problems had to do with jerking on acceleration, shaking like crazy when it was in idle (such as when we were at stoplights it always seemed as if the car could die any second), it jerks when you put it into reverse, and it doesn't drive very well when you have the AC on, somehow the transmission fluid was burnt on a couple different occasions (we had the transmission fluid flushed between these occasions). And these problems have occurred despite us being very meticulous when it comes to taking care of the car.