Faults:

So far I have replaced the transmission, all the gaskets (engine rebuild kit), spark plugs, wires and brake pads.

General Comments:

A lot of people look down on the Neon, but I disagree with all of them. If you know what you are doing, a Neon can be a really impressive car. I have done a lot of modifications to my 1996 Neon single overhead cam, and it now runs the 1/4 mile in 8.5 (what do you think of that Neon haters). It has 450 hp and 452 lbs of torque.

Faults:

A year ago the driver's seat developed a hole and lost padding on the upper-left of the backrest. This is where I habitually make first contact with the seat, then I slide down. At 109 k I'm not surprised, nor disappointed.

Have it in right now (2008/07/21) for the first real maintenance since I bought it. I have kept careful care of her, changing oil and lube frequently. Problems now are worn bushings on front anti-sway bar, disintegrated spring caps, badly pitted brake rotors, disk brake pads down to nothing.

General Comments:

I take good care of her, but I don't drive soft. I have great fun charging corners, with hard acceleration, and I tend to brake late and hard. She's still a lot of fun to drive medium-hard.

Gets around 26 mpg when I drive sensibly, 18-20 when I'm having fun (which is a lot).

I've had her on 3 long trips, two over 3 k round-trip, found her comfortable and reliable (BTW, I'm 6-4 & 260). I drive her all winter, in N. Utah that's quite a bit of snow, lots of salt on the roads. She gets washed (detailed) in the spring.

I'm normally not very lucky, I can't help but think some of your complaints come from abuse.

Two years ago, on a freeway, at night, raining, construction zone, I was doing 45, something came out of the night, rolled up my hood, nailed the windshield, left some impressive dents on the leading surfaces. All I know it it was large, maybe a truck tire? Body shop wanted to 'total' it, but I've had so much fun with her I anted up 2500 for repairs. Still don't regret it.

If every car I owned ran like this and lasted like this, I would die a very happy and thankful man. Unfortunately, it's too late for that already; I've had a couple real losers. This is the first car I've ever bought brand-new, got a really good deal because nobody in the state wanted a purple neon. Poor fools.

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

Well, after I totaled this car in the summer of 2006, it sat in an impound lot for just over 17 months, I paid $2,800 for it, then $1,100 in impounding fees.

I replaced the tires and dropped a new battery in it, and even after sitting through two Alaskan winters it started right up with a little bit of choking on stale gasoline, but it's been running strong since I recovered it 4 months ago!

This car is great on gas, and very light on the wallet when I do have to put 10 gallons in it to fill it!

I would recommend this Manual Transmission, 4-door, 1996 Plymouth Neon Highline, 2.0L SOHC to anyone who needs to get around and wants to get there in an orderly manner.

Faults:

My car ran great until about 5 months after having it. My timing belt and water pump went. About a month or so later I had to replace the spark plugs, wires, and coil pack (basic maintenance) Which had to be done almost a year later.

I've had to replace front end wheel barrings, strut mounts, ball joints, tyrods, CV joints, Brake line (driver side) and a wheel cylinder.

Seats are starting to wear, the safety latch on the hood seized up and my hood flew open. Mostly the dealers fault, it just needed some lube.

Radio goes out every now and then and will stay out for extended amounts of time. May be the radio itself and not the car. Its the default radio for the car though and has been replaced by another of the same make.

Also going around sharp corners at high speeds the car will make a noise which we thought were the CV joints, but it still makes it so we're not sure what it is. And the shop can't figure it out either.

Muffler got a hole in it and had to be replaced. The catalytic converter has been going bad since we got the car.

General Comments:

It's a lot of fun to drive, even with all the problems, I'm kind of sad to have to give it up. I know the ins and outs of my car now and its going to be very hard adjusting to the new sounds of a different car.

The car handles pretty well, front wheel drive it awesome!

Had a lot of oomph when we first got the car, but has lost power a lot.

Seats are fairly comfortable in the front, the back isn't too cozy.

Air vent for the windshield is in a horrible place, right in the middle so the sides of the windshield don't defrost very well.

ALL the windows fog up like crazy, its highly annoying!

Speakers in the car are horrible, they all blew out within a few months of having the car. And the music wasn't up that loud.

I paid roughly $3000 for the car, and have put well over $1500 into the car to fix it. Its not worth the hassle. I wouldn't recommend this car to anyone!

The only perk of it is that its AWESOME on gas!