Hey folks,
does anyone here own a Dodge Neon? We are looking at a low miles 2005 SXT for my daughter. The price is pretty good but I was wondering if anybody knew of any problems they may have had. My daughter will be using it for school and work. She totaled her other car yesterday and has to get one so she can continue school and work.
TIA,

Good cars, they are just known for leaking oil from the head!! You can go to the dodge dealer near you and get the recalls or service bulletins on that car!!

They don't do very good burnouts unless there is oil on the tire assist and engine failure seems to happen during prolonged burnouts. Ask Beau. l:)

Like Bill said the biggest problem was oil leaking at the head. I think by 05,problem pretty well solved.Also,if it is a one owner it will have the balance of the 7year 70k powertrain warranty.$150.00 transfer fee.

Kevin, I own one. Its a great commuter car. Mine has the SRT body package without the St Louis Arch on the back. 5 speed. It handles great, It will roast the tires (side step)and gets no less than 30mpg (Usually 32) as high as 37. It is acctually fun to drive, kinda like go cart. I bought mine new in 2005. $13,700 on the road. Mine has 62K trouble free miles on it. It about ready for a timing belt though. The one thing about it is. It is not a safe vehicle. You don't want to get in a wreck in it. It performed terrible in most aspects of the crash tests. But then again, most small cars are dangerous. Some friends laughed when I bought it, but I drive 60 miles a day. They weren't laughing when gas was over $4.00 a gallon.

Good info. She is logging between 50 and 100 miles a day between school and work and needs something economical.
Thanks!

Other issue (with many chryslers) is that the front brakes squeel real bad... i've seen someone come in to my brothers dealership in tears with her new neon... poor girl, it drove her nuts! investing in a really good set of pads helps the problem, and turn the stereo up... decent used car for the $$$ imo. Also make sure it has an OD tranny (or manual) i think they brought in the OD by that year... for a while they didnt have OD and were pigs on the highway compared to the sunfire/cavalier. If the miles your daughter is putting on isnt at highway speeds than its not an issue.

ak

Lol,I forgot about the brake squeal.At the factory auctions you couldn't hear yourself think when those cars came in the ring.:)

My duaghter had one that had an electrical problem that we never did figure out. The car would just die like there was no electrical power. Nothing worked, no lights, ignition, anything. Then out of the blue it would start working again. I did lots of checking and testing and replaced the battery with no luck. I took it to a repair shop that had done work for me before and after 3 days of testing, checking, and driving they couldn't figure it out either. So then I was worried about her getting stranded and getting caught in a bad situation so I talked her into trading it in on a new car.

Bought one for my duaghter to drive to school. Right after I bought it, the dash started to go dead. Found a quick fix that took about an hour to do and it's been great, good gas mileage and no other problems.

2 of my kids have them. Great cars.
Lower control arm bushings are an item at 25000 miles, timing belts at 60000 miles, a couple of door lock switches, struts if you drive on pot holes, aftermarket parts are cheap.

The only other item is the piston slap and sometimes the tubes around the spark plugs leak oil into the spark plug area.

Keep the plugs gapped properly and good fuel and they are great.

1 at 90000 miles and 1 (SRT-4) at 35000 miles.

The kids will not give them up.