Handling and speed

Some engine vibration and slow takeoff.

Very well built car. Works very well in the snow

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None

This car is sporty. The best thing about it is the handling. Very tight and the steering is responsive. The power is good, too, though my car is an automatic, so that cancels it out. I also love the fact that there are a lot of aftermarket parts available for the Neons. The interior is relatively roomy (4-door).

On the 95-99 models, the frameless windows don't seal well and there is wind noise on the highway. Also, my Neon has a few rattles in the interior. The road noise is also noticable, but not too bad. The 3-speed automatic transmission isn't much fun.

I bought this car because it was inexpensive and worth more then I payed for it ($4000). It had 60K on it when I bought it and I have put a good 15K on it since. I have no regrets. Soon after I got the car, I had to replace the headgasket on it. The Dodge dealer did it for free, and I didn't even buy it from them. Kudos to them. This car has been reliable for me. I would necessarily recommend the first generation models to most people. They tend to require consistent maintenance and are unforgiving when not given that. Most people don't want to maintain their cars very often, so I would look at another model if that is you.

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'82 Toyota Celica GT - This neon is much quieter, has better acceleration, cleaner, more stlylish, more modern (of course), better milage, just better overall.

Small
fairly roomy
inexpensive
nice rims
comfortable

Cheap looking interior
brakes- rear drum is poor
sound system/cd changer
looks to be rust prone
gets dirty fast
remote keyless entry kinda nice but kinda sucks
doesnt start quickly (like a honda)
rear view is poor

I think that this is a decent car for a cheap model. Not impressive yet not as bad as a KIA it seems to have very weak engine mounts and the future reliability is questionable. The stereo is okay, but distorts easily and the CD changer is in a dumb place and takes forever to change cds. This car is also prone to door jam rust in the future.

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KIA
CHEV
HONDA
VW
ford
nissan

It's got pep, Beauty, and Pazzazzzzzz! Options a good, and so is the warrenty if you know what to look for.

Options are a little pricey. Engine is a little lound over 65 mph.

I love the car I've been driving it for a while now and I must say it's just fantastic. Dodge was nice enough for fix a ding in my car door for free. I bought it new and runs like a champ. It's only got 17000 but lemme tell you about why I love it so much. AC is as cold as the damn arctic circle, heater is like a blow torch, gas milage is great. Switches gears with ease, Although the engine may get a little loud after 65 miles an hour it doesn't bother me to much since the average driver doesn't go over that speed.
any questions just give me a email at Stoafer@Home.com

Acceleration, Top Speed, Number of after market parts

HEAD GASKET!!! Save a head ache and get a copper head gasket. DON'T USE OEM. Lifter & Rockers (DOHC) Again go aftermarket. Needs a factory radar detector!

95 Sport Coupe DOHC, very fast stock. Only gets better with after market parts. All factory Neon head gaskets will go sometime before 120,000. Get the 5spd!!! The Automatic is weak. If you want a 25+ mpg, 11 sec. street legal car look no further.

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Stock-Stock will beat 95% of sport coupes on the market Civic-SI, 2000 Celica, Focus ZX-3, Integra(not Type-R)

I like the a/c (cools off fast), I like the 4 door sporty look, great on gas from what I'm used to, I like the shape of the car and the window shapes, handles turns great, nice steady ride (I can drink coffee and not spill any), roomy back seat for my children (fits car seat great), windshield wipers work good, glove compartment big, neutral interior which I like, big dashboard, comfy seats & I like the mirrors on both sides of the sun visors (so girly!!).

Blind spots while driving (front left side by the windshield & back left side by back window)- have to turn around to look when switching lanes, ash trays low to floor (actually the whole console low), driver seat sits up high (you would think that it would be a little lower), I've had the car less than a week and the front wheels tick, enigine is loud on freeway, takes a bit to get up to speed (but when it does it's nice sailing), front and back window (also rear view mirror) small (deep) but small, when you put headlights on in the daytime (for rain, fog, etc) the lights for the radio go so dim you can see it, no truck release form inside the car (unless I haven't found it yet), back seats don't latch when they are upright- if something's in the trunk it can push the seats forward & when the steering wheel is in the position I like it covers up the mph.

This car is very trendy. I think now a days the price you pay for a car that loses value as soon as you drive it off the lot should just come standard with alot more things. Who has cassettes anymore besides my kids Raffi tape? Having 4 doors with no power locks and windows suck! I overall like the car alot, for what I was looking for right now it fit well with my budget, family, etc. I have problems with my front wheels ticking (only after having the car 1 week). So far no other major problems but I don't expect too many with a new car. The only thing that annoys me is the dealership where I purchased the car from, you think if I spend money whether it's a $13,000 Neon of $50,000 BMW you would at least give me enough gas to get home (they left me on empty- lucky to make it 2 miles down the road), they left me with no floor mats, no windshield wiper fluid, no paint pen to fix a scratch, these might be little things but they add up & it is just courtesy for dealerships to extend some graditude for buying from them.... they were just a bunch of idiots looking for a sale!!! They almost turned me off to buy a Dodge Neon, trying to get me to buy a Ford Taurus (NOT!!!) I would recommend this car to someone after they researched if it was right for them.

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I had a Pontiac Grand Prix (which I would recommend to anyone, pricier though) Neon's definately compare to Chevy Cavalier almost identical except Neon's look better!

Drives like a go-cart. Turns quick, accelerates fast.
Am told to expect 38mpg on freeway for normal models, though I get much less.
Cheap to repair. "Main" parts of car - like manual tranny and engine block - are bulletproof and will last forever.
Has traveled midwest salt roads with no rusting yet (wash often!).
Oh, and I happen to like the factory sound system - actually has a good spectrum, compared to your normal _boom_ and *tinkle* aftermarket crud. Good for standard pop stations as well as discernable English from talk radio.

Dealership is a ship of fools. God they suck. And avoid the automatic transmission like the plague. This should be true of any car purchased from an Amercican brand, but especially from Chrysler. My high school minivan went through a new $1500 tranny every 60,000 miles. Friend's Die-nasty was exactly the same. Co-worker's used LeBaron is having the same issue. Another friend's Ford Taurus was stuck in the mud, spun tires, and needed a new tranny the next day. Buy manual and all you'll haveto worry about is $500 clutch replacements every 90,000 mi.

Bought the '98 Model ACR at the end of the production year. Factory had stopped shipping for the year, so the dealer (after much pushing on my behalf) finally located one on a lot in Kentucky.

I paid extra in shipping fees, and the car was DRIVEN up, not towed - which meant someone else put the first 500 miles, highway, on the car. If you read up on how to break your car in, the first 750 mi. you should be avoiding 3000 rpm. With the low gearing on the ACR tranny, 3000 rpm hits at 50, so it's likely the initial break in (likely spent above 70mph) is what caused a blown headgasket - just repaired it two days ago for $750 cheap - at 65,000 mi. Though the mechanic also mentioned that '95 to '99 Neons have a headgasket problem that is fixed when replaced with the '00 revised headgasket.

The other thing the mechanic mentioned is that after my car had but a half-quart of oil left when I turned her in for repair, that the pistons were NOT scored blue as expected, and that valves and the head area had very little carbon build up. I've been getting oil changes every 3,000 miles, and I run 92 octane whenever possible (check your owner's manual - the DOHC engines, no longer produced, recommend 92 octane). The mechanic (not a dealership mechanic) says that well maintained Neons will go 200,000 mi. before a rebuild, and my car is well on the way. Considering I drive like a bat out of hell and the engine has been taking it without trouble, this is good news. Keep this in mind when purchasing!

Tidbits -
1) The sales dork seemed to think I wouldn't like the car after the first couple of months because of the deficiencies of having a "real" racecar - 18mpg highway, sortof loud all the time, stiff ride. The car is not intolerably loud (though the ACR is pulled off the factory line prior to insertion of sound deadening material), and I've long since gotten used to the ride - which is much worse in the rear seats than the front. But the car is fun as all get out. Car and Driver said the R/T model (a toned down ACR) drove like a go-cart, and that is certainly an apt description. After four years of ownership (I'm 27 now), I WANT to have this car for another ten. It is that fun to drive. As for long-distance driving, the wife can get a better mpg/quieter vehicle to serve that purpose.

2) Repairs thus far: $700 headgasket at 65,000 mi., $300 brake pads and rotors at 65,000 mi., $150 coolant flush and oil cycling at 55,000 mi., a warranty-covered shock problem at 30,000, and a $250 door-seal issue for most of it's life (replaced at 40,000 mi. and doing a bit better). So out of pocket in repairs has been about $1500 so far. Repairs (don't go to the dealership, find a good shade-tree mechanic instead) are dirt cheap thanks to availability of parts (300,000 Neons produced each year) and the cars are easy to fix, so less man-hours to repair.

3) Like every other car brand out there, the dealer does NOT want to fess up to warranty work. Took me three months to get two shocks replaced (the factory installed Koni's were a-leaking). Then the idiots replaced all four after complaining about the cost. Every experience with the dealer since purchase has been a problem of them NOT listening. I recommend you find a good side mechanic who listens to you. When they ask you simple things like "what's it sound like and where's it come from", you know you've hit the right person.

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Better than Cavalier (who buys that p.o.s. anyways?), comparable to the Focus. The 2000 model Neon is louder but quicker (same mpg - don't look at EPA, look at driver reviews) than the Focus. Wife will be getting the Focus if complaints about reliability for the car improve.
Have driven Toyota Carolla and GM Prizm (same factory, same car), and they are much nicer for long distance travel. Safe, too. Spendy though.
Honda doesn't even rank for me. I used to be an insurance agent, and Honda justifiably has the worst insurance rates. Damned things drive nice 'cause they are light, which is why they are deathtraps. Neon and Focus get side impact beams (huge, i've seen them. Coupe Neon got three beams, Four door gets two). Honda doesn't get nuthin'. It's your life, go ahead and throw it away if you want to.

Drives so easy, very comfortable (and I'm 6'1", this is very important to me), and I can just stretch out, lay back and drive.

The visibility thing, the thing should have a CD player standard, and it probably ought to have power locks, at least.

So far, I've had it for 4 days. I like the overall experience of slipping into this weird black hole/alternate dimension of a car. The car stays cooler than the last car I had, and it drives like a dream. There is a visibility problem: there are weird blind spots, and backing up and parking has been rather strange, but then, I've never cared about how well someone can park, anyway. Furthermore, if someone hits me, it's still under warranty, and I've got comprehensive.

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I haven't had a car this nice. I had a 1976 Lincoln Continental Mark V (the one in the Alanis Morissette 'Ironic' video, but in cream)...drives like a leaky waterbed. I had a Geo Prizm (exploded on trade in...the deal was done, and I got more for trade than what I paid for it). I had a Ford Aspire (Aspire to...what???). I'm fed up with Chevy and Ford crap.

RELIABILITY
LOOKS
FUN TO DRIVE/POWER/HANDLING

LIKE ANY CAR, A POTENTIAL DEATH TRAP WITHOUT ABS (GOT IN ACCIDENT)
CRAP FOR RESALE VALUE

Been EXTREMELY reliable. Looks HOT in Silver with extra cost factory wheels and limo-tinted windows. I'm 6'4" and have a sunroof, but still have comfortable seating. 3-Speed stick is crazy stupid mistake by Dodge. Got stick and this car HAULS MUCH ASS! Major hustle, if you are a stellar driver like me. Last car was 95 Ford Probe GT with stick, and this car would have mad things interseting in a race. Plus it has more room inside. Only problem in 16000 miles has been the sunroof shade had to be replaced. That's IT! If it had A LEXUS badge on it and anything more than putrid resale, I'd keep it FOREVER!

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FOCUS
ECHO

Acceleration (that is when the head gasket and transmission are working properly).

Transmission does not last (look for a rebuild every 2 or 3 years).
Head gasket (should have been a recall) is faulty or does not last.
Very easy to break into due to the high amount of flex in the windows and lack of steel frame at top of door.
Noisey.

This car is a piece of junk! With the money that you will spend on repairs, you could have bought a Honda Accord instead. Everyone i have ever met that owned a Neon had the same recurring problems as I have had and which are outlined under Weaknesses. Every time I have had the car serviced I have heard the comment that the particular problem (ie. head gasket, transmission, service engine soon light) is very common with the Neon.

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Hyundai Excel which is equally crappy!