Fairly good price, excellent sound system (when it works),Quick zip, good gas mileage

Owned 2 of these cars. My 95 was totaled in a flood after 2 years, and Unfortunately, I got a 97 to replace it. The 97 transmission went out after 25000 miles. Also, leaked oil at only 15000. Fuel gauge stuck at 1/4 tank ( left wife stranded on side of road). Air conditioner problems with both the 95 and 97 models. { Would only cool as if the vent was on, not the air conditioner.} Cheap looking styrafoam visible under steering wheel.

Wouldn't recommend this car to anyone, except for maybe a teenager who can do without a car every once in a while (various repairs not mentioned above). Recommend the extended warranty. That was the main reason we got rid of ours, it had 32000 and the warranty was running out. I believe we payed around $12000 for each of our neons, which wasnt bad, only if if would last past the warranty period.

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00 honda accord

Best handling small car in the US market, period! Zippy engine, happy to rev up to redline, if somewhat noisy in doing it. Understated looks, nobody likes being beaten by a 4-door sedan. Good stereo system!

Loud engine (hey I'm a performance guy doesn't bother me), Hit and miss quaility control with the 1st Gen models before '97, windows rattle at freeway speeds, high ride height because of the Koni struts and soft motor mounts.

$13,800 before finance charges. It was bought brand new. It was a leftover from late '98 model year. Car was built in June '98. Neons suffer from hit and miss quality control, so some people will buy a Neon with problems and swear off american cars for the near future. Others will get trouble free Neon and will enjoy it for many miles to come. I'm one of those trouble free owners....
My '95 had 112,000 and had seen about 60lbs. of nitrous oxide injection. It ran like a clock and wasn't afraid to take it anywhere. I've gotten over 400 miles on one tank of fuel (Stockton to North Hollywood, avg speed 70, total distance traveled 428 miles). Loved that car and so I bought another one. Only this time I got the competition model. I dare anybody to find a compact sporty type car that handles better than a ACR or R/T Neon does. You won't and if you do, you'll spend far more than the Neon cost. With both Neons, they have been back to the dealer ONE TIME. The '95 had a bad A/C compressor, which was replaced under warranty (TSB) and the '98 for clunk coming from the clutch pedal (lubed clutch cable..) I drive the '98 all the time and anywhere I need to go. Neons are fairly easy to work on, when a problem does happen, parts are cheap and theres is alot of good info available on the internet. To those having problems... They seem pretty minor to me, and you could have fixed them yourself. If you're not good with your hands, then go buy a Toyota. On top that it's easy to be one of the herd (ie: Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, etc) I wanted to be different. Plus I liked the Neon when it first came out.

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'95 Dodge Neon base sedan

Excellent price: 0% down, 0% financing. Excellent fuel economy. Rides quite smoothly. Low wind noise on the freeway. Motor runs quite smooth and produces a acceptable amount of power (150hp). Stock stereo is ok, 8 speakers are great, but I suggest replacing the head unit.

Poor transmission (5 speed manual), it has been in the shop 7 times in 4 months for unscheduled services. Clutch "clunks" when in reverse, and does not disengage properly. Chrysler cannot find a problem but this is not normal. Defrost sucks alot of power from motor, don't try to pass on freeway with it on! Poor seats, the headrests are adjustable but are not designed with safety or comfort in mind. Quite alot of engine noise at freeway speeds. 2 door model has some pretty bad blind spots due to the distorted view thru the rear curved windows. After three months, the car is beginning to creak and rattle over bumps. Stock all season tires are quite poor in snow, and transmit alot of road noise in the dry. Exhaust system (heat shield around CAT converter) rattles at engine startup and until engine reaches normal operating temperature. Engine surges between 2000 - 3000 RPM occasionally after running for an hour or more. Steering wheel shakes at 110Km/h, even after the dealer has balanced and aligned the wheels twice.

After 5 months of owning this vehicle, I am very dissatisfied. It has been in for 7 unscheduled services to the dealer in that time. I do not drive the car particularly hard, and is mainly used for freeway driving. Yet it rattles and shakes more and has had more problems than my 10 year old VW Jetta! The only reason I decided to lease a new vehicle (original price of $18,000 CDN)was for the supposed "peace of mind" of a rust protection warranty and a new vehicle. My 10yr old VW Jetta with 200,000Km was not going to survive a move to Eastern Canada and their salty winter roads. Chrysler has not responded to my complaints nor have they apologized for the rude behavior of their service manager who refuses to correct my transmission problems as described above. Once the lease expires on this poor excuse of a vehicle, my first order of business is to walk directly to a European car dealership and order a new vehicle. At least they know how to build a car designed for driving and recognize that a happy customer is a repeat customer. Don't buy a Neon!

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1990 VW Jetta (a far better vehicle than the Neon, even if it is 10 years older)

-Great shifter (5spd)
-Good handling, suspension.
-Sufficient power.
-Classy looking interior plastics and fabrics
-Excellent standard stereo, casette is standard, 4 disc in-dash changer is a no cost option right now as well.
-Great finance and lease rates (0% 48 month purchase, 1.9% 48 month lease through Chrysler)

-Power windows for front doors only (cranks in rear)
-Very noisy at high speeds
-Even with the new door style, still kinda wind noisy...
-Kind of pricey when you start loading up the options.
-No standard ABS or traction control
-CD changer WAY too low on dash, better than the trunk I guess.
15 inch tires have a rare, non standard size, 185/60/15. Found out when trying to get some winter/ice tires that only Goodyear makes tires in this size, none of them being winters... had to go with 14 inch rims and 185/65's... grr.
Ugly and a PITA.

Really like this car. Test drove almost every car in this class and narrowed it down to the Neon and the Focus.

The Focus is slower, but the drivetrain felt more refined. The engine was smoother and quieter.

Liked the Focus alot, but find that only black 4 door Focuses with the SE alloys look good and they were in short supply. Almost any Y2K Neon looks good.

Couldn't get pwr sunroof with the Focus either.

Love the cassette/cd combo, not available on the Focus.

The interior of the Neon LX looks much more luxe as well.

And, the Neon was alot cheaper, Chrysler dealers seem to have a glut of them and are ready for haggling. The finance rates don't hurt either.

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95 Dodge Neon

The car is fast handles extreamly well for the price range, have not had any problems and have 23,000 on it, Great gas mileage at 350 miles on 11 gal. with the ac on.

The car is loud and draws to much attention at the stop lights.

The car is good and it can whip up on alot of cars stock. It is easy to drive and for some reason people always want to race me at the street lights. This is one of the most solid feeling compact car and I would not trade it for anything.

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toyota corrola, Chevy Metro.

good price for someone looking for a car with a decent monthly payment.

I have had this car a year and already had a tune up at 21000 miles(it was due at 30000). Two months ago I took it to the shop to have it aligned and it took four tries and 2 weeks to do. Just recently I took it to the shop for and exhaust sound and a knocking noise and found out the air filter duct was never hooked up properly and I have a cracked exhaust manifold. If you are thinking of buying this car I would recommed the extended 7 year 75000 mile warranty. That is the only thing that saved me from paying for these repairs.

Overall ok car for the money. You get what you pay for. I wish I would have thought longer and shopped around before buying my first new car. I am just waiting to get it out of the shop(2 days later than promised) so I can trade it in and buy one that will go longer than 7 months before needing work other than regular maintenance.

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none

better than average ride. better than expected engine. Styling is much better. 3 cup holders!!!!

Still too small for golf clubs and 2 suitcases. Too cute for any car lover

It was a good car, but meant for the weak at heart. Ideally built for and suited towards 16 year old girls. good car for the dollar.

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Escourt, New Beetle

Good on gas, looks nice, light and handles well from the factory. Easy to work on too.

They made it easy to work on because they knew you would be working on it every weekend. Cheaply made, and it shows. Not a racer, but it'll go when it needs too, and revs too(7250rpm fuel cutoff)

Well, I've been driving it now for just over 3 years now, and it keeps going. It just turned 80,000 miles, still gets the same gas milage as it did when I bought it. Here's what I've had done to it and recalls: air bag computer replaced(recall), front strut mounts replaced(recall), steering knuckle replaced because they said a hard underbody impact would cause me to lose control at any speed(recall), *cylinder head gasket* which was a bitch to replace myself(had to due to money problems), exhaust manifold because the stud broke off and warped the manifold(done myself of course), both front wheel bearings(mechanic at the shop told me they were crap, and sure enough they turned out to be crap, also replaced myself). I think that's it, except for all the things for car accidents but those don't count. All in all, it's a good car. I've driven it through the woods and on the beach, and milage wise it circled the earth three times and keeps on ticken. Also, the engine has gotten extremely loud, exhaust rattles around too around the rear. Sounds like poop, dented all over the place, seen better days, but I still love it for some stupid reason. My parents offered me a new F-150 truck to go to college with, and I said yes. Then after about a month, I drove the Neon again, and sure enough, I drove the Neon ever since then and still do. Gotta love it! 4 flaming Dodge Neon's for my car, 5 for the love, minus one for quality.

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VW Beetle(god i loved that car)

I had a '98 Neon for thirty months and only replace one wiper blade. I was ver satisfied with it and foolishly chose another one. A 2000

I don't know where to start. At 268ks I had the steering wheel replace as the covering was torn. Then there was a recall for a brake defect. I am now playing with a creaking and groaning and squealing front end.. Last week they told me it was the control arm 4 days later the car was repaired of course parts had to be ordered. This week it is the left tie rod to be replaced but of course parts to be ordered hopefully only 2 days. Oh did I mention this car has 2183K's only! The dealerships (2) both suck They do not give service I require a car for my job but there are no courtesy cars so I must rent. But as they say I could drive it but then how would it ever get repaired?

The dealerships do not help the consumer they are only a interuption in their day,and Chrysler says thank you for the mon;ey but don't bother us with any problem. You bought it you fix it!

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The horse and buggy has more dependability

Nice pickup for a 4 banger, roomy, cute loking, nice stereo, comfortable seats, quiet interior, very good handling. Very fun to drive, handles great in the snow, very predictable in turns.

Engine compartment too cramped, can't see the the front of the car to judge how much space you have left when maneuvering in tight spaces, trunk deck too high to judge when backing up, crappy Good-For-A-Year tires, junky speakers(who uses papercone speakers anymore???), dashboard way too long(why did DC move the windshield forward 3"???), cheap looking carbonfiber lookalike dashpanels.

Most bang for the buck! Handles nicely, very manuverable in tight spaces, good performance, good gas mileage. Great for the first time buyer as well as a great commuter car. Fun car to drive!

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1995 Plymouth Neon Highline