2003 Dodge Neon from North America - Comments

Everything.

Windshield is peeling off the car.

Dashboard is always shaking.

Very unreliable, uncomfortable, and ugly.

Has trouble starting.

Automatic Windows are not working.

I have had similar problems with dodge cars. Dodge seems to cut corners everywhere.

The Neon is one of my newer Dodge's, and it sucks as much as all of the other ones. Everyone in my family has owned a Dodge, Ford, Chrysler, or Jeep, and all of them think they are pieces of crap. All of my friends have also owned a dodge, and they thought that Dodge doesn't care about their customers.

First, the Neon. The seats are very uncomfortable, and not recommended for trips around the block, or they will become a pain. I am also very tired of the gross looks I get for driving around town in the Neon. I am really surprised at how many people look and get a weird look on their face, like I am driving naked.

The car wouldn't start at times, but other times it had no problem. Like other Dodges, it had a horrible automatic transmission. A grinding noise happens whenever the car changes gears.

I would recommend to never buy a Dodge, or to buy from any of the company's that have anything to do with Dodge.

I would however, recommend to buy from a GM dealer. I also noticed that Dodge dealers have no idea what they are talking about, and have little to no knowledge about cars. GM dealers on the other hand, know a lot about their cars, and have reasonable prices.

I would highly recommend to buy a GM vehicle.

Why would a company like GM that's facing bankruptcy and lay off's care any more about their product than any other troubled American car company? Same story across the board, only safe bet is an import brand made in America. Honda and Toyota have plants here and make an excellent product.

It doesn't sound like you know a heck of a lot about cars. I really didn't see any problem with the car in your review. The dashboard was always shaking? Oh brother, that isn't even worth whining about! You were mad because you thought it was ugly, yet for some reason you decided to buy it in the first place... Perhaps when everybody was gaping at you with mixed expressions of disgust and amusement, they were looking at you and not the car.

I've got a 2003 Dodge Neon, never had a problem with it. I don't know what or how bad you must be driving your car.. but those certainly don't sound like common problems. Btw My family all drives dodge, we have not had any issues with them. The only issue we did run into was one in which any car would recieve over an extended period of time and wear and tear on an automobile. That was covered under warranty. BTW why in the world would anyone want a GM?

To the last poster: Dodge Neons have never been reliable. Maybe a little better as time wore on... but never truly reliable.

Yeah, right, like all the bad Neon reviews here are due to lack of maintenance.

Please. The Neon is a perennial used car to avoid in Consumer Reports.

"Please. The Neon is a perennial used car to avoid in Consumer Reports."

And you actually believe what CR says? Please, CR has little crediblity, go look around and you'll see what I mean.

Agreed with the comment above CR is nothing, but crap and are brainwashed into thinking that no matter how crappy some of the Honda's (and other import companies) get (the reliability is going down in them weather you like it or not) we are gonna give them the best reliability mark possible and all the American cars no matter how good they are the poorest mark.

And to another comment about how Neon’s were never reliable. What would you say if we have a 1995 Neon with 233,000 miles and has hardly ever seen the shop? Or that we have another 1995 Neon with over 201,000 and still going strong?

I agree. Neons suck. I have a 2003 Neon and it gives me nothing but problems. It shakes and sounds like it is gonna fall apart. It overheats all the time and nobody can find the problem. Now the engine light keeps going off and on.

I have nothing good to say about Neons. It's a cheap made car, sold at a high price without thinking about human safety. I just wish I knew what they were like before I bought one.

I have had a 2003 Dodge Neon for almost 2 years now. It had 33,000 miles on it when I bought it. It now has about 72,000 miles on it.

About 4 months after I owned it, the engine light kept turning on and off, but no one can tell me why. It idles terribly.

About a year ago it decided to just not start at times. I got a new battery and a new starter. Not even 9 months later, the stupid thing is doing it again and every car shop tells me to tow it so they can find out what's wrong with it, but after it is towed it starts again.

I hate this car. I would not recommend to anyone to buy a Dodge Neon.

I've heard nothing, but bad things about Neons. And by bad things, it's not like I just hear them from everyone...it's from people who own or have owned them. My manager once owned a late 90's model, and it was so bad that she just gave it away for free. I was so close into buying a brand new one since it fell perfectly into my budget, but I've been warned about them, and I wasn't crazy about them anyway.

And about GM cars, they DO NOT suck. They have the best warranties and I'm a very proud owner of a brand new Chevy Cobalt. I've heard nothing, but compliments about them, which helped made my decision into buying one.

I am going to give both sides of this issue a little help. I am a dodge salesman at a large dealership. We have lots of neon customers that have bought new and used neons from our store. Also my wife and I personally own 2 neons. Mine is a 2002 with 122,000 miles, hers is a 2003 with 36,000 miles. My car has been the most reliable small car that I have ever owned. I had and 88 and a 98 caliver z24s. Both of the chevys were junk. the 98's transmission went out with 10,000 miles on it and I came to find out a lot of 98 z24s had this problem. As for 2003 neons there have been a lot of complaints included me about my wife's car. You do have to realize though that and redesign year is a bad year to buy a car. They are going to have bugs in them and it takes a few years to work this out. Any car manufactor has the same problem. Just like the z24 I owned. GM ended up switch to a different tranny for the 2000 model.

Hey, to the guy that wrote this review, your transmission grinding noise (assuming that you really do have an automatic)

is a normal thing with dodge front drive transmissions (4spd A604, or called 41TE) the tranny is controlled electronically by electric solenoids that buzzz and tic when shifting. try this, get a friend to shift the car from park to drive and then to reverse, while it is running of course, then stand outside the car on the front driver-side and listen for a buzzz-tick noise. this is absoulutly normal. it will make this anytime the car shifts. the reason you don't hear it at highway speeds is wind and tire noises. please look on www.alpar.com for more info on this trans. amazing good website, saved me a lot of money on trans repairs. thanks, good luck.

As the above poster said, the buzzzz-tick is a solenoid and it's normal. If transmission gears were grinding, the noise would be a LOT louder than that. And how in the heck is the windshield peeling off the car?! The windshield is a piece of glass, not a sticker!

GM is a joke. I had a Grand Am that spent more time in the shop chasing electrical gremlins than it did in my garage. We've had several others that were mediocre cars at best. On the other hand, my '92 Voyager is still running strong with 219,000 miles on it.

I have a 2003 dodge neon se. When I bought the car it had about 35,000 miles on it, and it now has about 90,000 miles, I have owned it for 3 years (THE MILES ARE HIGHWAY MILES). The only complaint I have had with this car is the transmission. It went out about 5 months ago and cost me 2,100 to get fixed, about 2 months later the shift cable went out and cost me another 200 dollars. So needless to say I was very upset about this. I could not figure out for the life of me why the transmission would go out, and the car was only 4 years old. But other than the 2 major repairs, it's a decent car, it has even survived 2 minor car accidents... I make my regular maintence appointments with a dodge dealship some ways from my house, but they have the best prices, are very friendly, and knowledgeable about the car. I would not buy another dodge neon only because of the transmission issues I have had with the car.