30th Aug 2004, 05:42

I am so very upset with my purchase of my 2002 Dodge Neon SXT. I have had to put it in the shop 5 times within the past 2 months and the dealer has told me that they don't know what is wrong with it. Imagine that. I had to replace the throttle body at 50,000 miles and the car still idles low when you are at a stop and when I have my clutch in it will idle high at around 1500 RPMs or 2000 RPMs. My warranty runs out at 70,000 miles and they tell me that what is wrong with my car is not covered under my warranty. Needless to say I am very unhappy with my purchase and will never buy another one.

9th Nov 2004, 18:34

I bought my 2002 Neon new. I have had similar problems. The car surges, it jerks and clunks at stops. The dealer states that it is operating at normal readings when put on the diagnostic machine. I had a 1998 Neon, that my daughter still has and it runs much better then 2002.

I also had the vehicle stop dead when it was less than six months old, and had to have a part replaced.

They have replaced my rotors within the first three months of owning the car, they were warped.

The rims of the tires have rusted, and causes the tire's seal to break.

The service department is not willing to fix it.

18th Nov 2004, 21:16

I have experienced that same jerking when coming to a stop. My dealer also told me that it was normal. It just don't seem to normal to me!

25th Mar 2005, 11:47

I just bought a 2002 neon, my trunk leaks!!! It floods the entire floor board of my car. My car also jerks. I owned a 95 neon, that in 5 years only broke down once, it was the head gasket that had already been recalled! Dodge should have left everything under the hood the way it was when they designed the newer models.

30th Mar 2005, 07:39

I am so happy to see that there are people who are having the same problems as me. I bought my 2002 neon in 2003. I have put it in the shop two time, and I may have to put it in for a third time because of the transmission. I am thinking of trading it in before that has to happen though. This car is definitely not something I would like to own long term. It has also caused me to look down on dodge... this car is horrible!

25th Oct 2005, 20:53

I bought a 'dodge neon 2002' with low mileage and it ran OK for about a year then all kinds of things started going wrong. its been in the shop 3 times in the last 7 months. the engine light keeps going on. I was told its the catalystic. the car runs lean. Its has now begun making a little rattling noise that I noticed others have commented on. and I was disappointedly "happy" to read that mine is not the only one with a leaking trunk that results in the back seating area of the car to get wet!!! at first, I was very happy with the car. it was affordable, and I thought its looked pretty good compared to what some other cars look like lately. but now... i think I may get rid of it.

17th Dec 2005, 19:39

I completely agree. My 2002 dodge neon es was bought used with 16,000 miles on it. It did alright for about the first year or so, however the engine noise was always pretty loud and clunky sounding. At 35,000 miles the electrical system malfunctioned and the battery completely died and needed replaced. Ever since then I've noticed little things going wrong with the car even though we always due required and schedule maintnance on it. The engine noise seems to have just gotten louder. There is a prominent jerking and clunking whenever you accelerate and brake. The car currently has 45,000 miles on it and just died on the interstate yesterday leaving me and my infant stranded for a few hours. It is sitting right now out of commission due to transmission failure. This car was definatly a bad decision to purchase, whenever it gets in running condition again I'm selling it and will never buy another dodge neon.

24th Feb 2006, 10:18

This car just proves the old adage of garbage in, garbage out.

Yes, it drives great, but it's based on a car that is deeply flawed and has horrible reliability.

Let's hope the Caliber ups the ante as far as quality, although given it's an American car I sincerely doubt it.

22nd May 2006, 17:35

Bought 02'LE neon model brand new for wife, It all started with the brakes... then we got the surging problem... then we needed 4 control arm bushings... passenger strut...radio got replaced suddenly died... Now I think there is a problem in the steering box because, when going slow over rough road like 5 k /hr a terrible clunking is resonating out of it, an you can feel it through the pedels... An this car has been babied.

I will never buy another dodge product again!

Jesse

Alberta Canada.

23rd May 2006, 12:33

"Let's hope the Caliber ups the ante as far as quality"

Judging by early reviews, editors don't even like the Caliber when she's running.

23rd May 2006, 20:31

We have a 95 Neon and it has that same problem with the clunking... but its at speeds of over 20mph while taking a sharp turn. but I know what it is and its the CV-joints are bad... not normal for a car with over 200,000 on the factory joints.

1st Jun 2006, 06:44

MY piece of crap 2000 neon also has been in the shop 3 times in a month!!! Is jerks while accelerating from a stop or not giving gas to giving gas does anyone know why it jerks? Is the fuel injection going to go bad? chowlicous@yahoo.com.

1st Jun 2006, 10:21

Well is it a manual transmission Neon? cause if your don't know how to properly drive a 5-speed then it can and will jerk when you shift gears... trust me i know while learning how to drive my 5-speed Neon it used to jerk every which way until the clutch got worked it and now its fine really smooth.