1997 Dodge Neon from North America - Comments

Oil leak in head gasket. Had to refill oil weekly. Thousands to repair, and apparently happens to ALL Neons around 70000 miles.

Transmission has always been jerky. Now transmission takes 1-2 seconds to engage an getting worse.

Check engine light always on. Is set off by the slightest sputter.

Engine is very noisy. Pick-up has deteriorated and it accelerates slower than it used to.

Advertised 40 mpg, actually gets only 20 mpg.

Tires blowing constantly. Alignment continues to get off track, even after fixed.

AC causes engine to shudder and squeal.

Breaks squeal, especially when wet.

Turning causes belts to squeal.

This is a terrible car. It looks good, but it's falling apart all over the place. Dodge/Chrysler knows about the head gasket oil leaks, but won't do anything about it.

Never buy this car. I'm never buying a Dodge or Chrysler again.

You got a bad one...I've got all these problems, but

the oil leak never got serious enough to fix.

At 102,000 miles, I've got good acceleration and gas mileage, but because I have the DOHC engine, I must burn premium.

And I mean 93 Octane. I'm tempted to put airplane fuel

into this car to silence the knocking once and for all!

The water leaks are the most serious problem... into the

interior of the car, ruining the speakers.

This car is no worse than my old Jetta, really.

The A/C dying at 95K is a typical Chrysler trick.

Probably won't buy another one. But see if you can get

a better mechanic to fix your acceleration/mileage problems.

That will pay for itself. My car runs well... despite its spectacular and almost comical failings.

I just bought a 97 Dodge Neon (DOHC) and my check engine light was on all the time when the car was on. I looked in the engine and the previous owner never changed the air filter or the spark plugs and the spark plug wires began to arc and miss fire. The trans needed to be rebuilt and I needed some new bulbs. I bought some American Products Company spark plug wires and put them on, new bulbs and took the trans in to get rebuilt. The head gasket had been replaced at 71,254 by the previous owner.

I have no idea what you people are talking about. I guess I got the pick of the litter when it comes to Neons.

My 1997 Neon Sport has 169 000 km on it and pretty much the only trouble I have had with it is the windows whistling--no water "pouring" into the interior and a few other minor repairs. Nothing like what it described in this review.

My sister also drives a '95 Neon and has only had to make minor repairs on it.

This car is amazing--cheap as hell, looks good, reliable, comfortable, quick, I could go on!

So I would just like to say that not ALL Neons are the pieces of junk that are described here---mine is great!

Never personally owned one of these pieces of @#%$ however a good friend did. His had all the problems stated above and electrical problems to boot. Needless to say it was his last Dodge.

I just wouldn't recommend getting turned off to domestic products because of this. Both Ford and Chevy have good products, especially their trucks. However Dodge has always be synonymous with lemons. I've owned 1 in my lifetime and if you think Neon are lemons... Let's put it this way, it would be easier to tell you what didn't go wrong with my 1994 Dodge 600, the tires.

Good Luck. Oh yeah don't forget to "take life by the horns."

It's funny, it seems that everyone who writes negative comments about the Neons always complain about repair costs for very, very simple things.

I mean, seriously guys, how hard is it to change a head gasket? Not very hard, just make sure you got all the parts you need from an after-market outlet first (never, ever buy from the dealership unless you have a warranty that depends on it), pull the valve cover, remove the timing belt cover, remove the timing belt, detach the intake and exhaust manifolds from the head, remove the head bolts, pull the head out, and replace the gasket.

While you're at it you might as well replace the timing belt, so get a new one of those before hand. With the new head gasket in place, put the head back on (using new head bolts of course), re-attach the intake and exhaust manifolds (installing new gaskets for them as well), put on the new timing belt, check the timing, put on the new valve cover gasket, and replace the valve cover and timing belt cover.

Total time on a Neon for anyone with half a brain: approx 4 hours. Stop complaininging about servicing costs and put in the effort to care for your car yourself.

If you can't perform simple service procedures of your vehicle, you shouldn't be allowed to have one. I don't expect people to be rebuilding trannies or balancing engines in their backyards, but at least put in the effort for the simple stuff. When I see people taking their vehicles to the dealership the get a headlight replaced, it lets me know that there is something seriously wrong with this country.

I bought a dodge neon r/t 98 as my first car, biggest mistake of my life! My head gasket was finished, so I changed it. The motor was over heating so I fixed it, and at only 138 000 km the motor was finished, so I got another one at the scrap yard and changed it, one with only 78 000 km. The power steering doesn't work any more along with the sunroof. My car is presently at the garage, I have to change the starter. My first experience of buying a car has been horrible, this is probably the worst car ever built.