1998 Plymouth Neon Highline from North America

Summary:

Buy a Honda

Faults:

When I first bought the car the head gasket went up. Then I just recently replaced it again for $700.

The power steering rack needed to be replaced after I had owned for a year.

At 78,000 miles I had to replace the fuel injector pump.

Last year the air conditioner compressor went up and would have cost $1000 to fix, which I opted against.

General Comments:

Overall, the car runs fine. It just gets annoying when every year you have a new problem that needs to be fix. I am also very disappointed at the seemingly poor construction of this car. I will be lucky if I can get one more year out of it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 10th July, 2004

29th Mar 2006, 12:03

You really shouldn't recommend a Honda, they are no better.

12th May 2006, 22:00

I disagree with the previous comment. Honda has a well-earned reputation for very reliable cars; Chrysler (in the case of the Neon) does not.

4th Jul 2006, 01:35

I have to agree with both comments. Honda Civics are definitely more reliable cars than Neons, but they are not flawless either. With Civic you can expect higher insurance rates (very high) and expensive parts. Definitely less of a headache than the Neon though.

17th Aug 2010, 14:16

It's not more expensive to insure a Honda. I've got one. I would know.

18th Aug 2010, 11:29

"With Civic you can expect higher insurance rates (very high) and expensive parts."

In the first 90,000 miles, our Honda Civic cost more in repairs than we PAID for our Dodge. We sold the Dodge at nearly a quarter of a million miles still running perfectly. The Honda was sent to the junk yard with a blown engine at 99,000 miles. No more Hondas for us... EVER.

In reply to 18th Aug 2010, 11:29

18th Aug 2010, 14:02

I owned a Dodge Neon. A '95. At 90,000 miles it was sent to the junkyard because the frame had bent under the weight of the car. The engine conked out at 90,000 miles as well, and I was going to repair it, however I got rid of the vehicle when I discovered the weak frame.

1998 Plymouth Neon Highline 2.4 from North America

Summary:

Cheap

Faults:

My head gasket blew at 53,00

Transmission went at 51,000.

General Comments:

.The car should have the sticker on it says MONEY SUCKER that's all I can say

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 4th July, 2004

1998 Plymouth Neon Expresso 2.0 DOHC from North America

Summary:

Fun car, but lots of annoyances.

Faults:

I've only had this car for a couple of weeks...

I bought the car from a used car lot, mainly because I was looking for something cheap and I fell in love with it. (Yes, only fools fall in love.)

The dealer fixed the few things I noticed wrong with it. Namely:

Sunroof seemed to be jammed and wouldn't open.

Plastic mud flaps and splash shields were all loose and flapping.

After buying the car, I noticed a few other things... which if I had been paying closer attention I should have noticed.

- Water leaks into the trunk and possibly in the frame-less windows. There is rust on the chair bolts and mold/mildew smell in the trunk.

- The air conditioning has leaked all of its refrigerant out, and didn't work at all.

- The cruise control doesn't engage.

- Muffler is blown out in about 15 different places...

- Metal exhaust 'donut' squeaks when you shift it into reverse. (This sound is awful.. if you didn't know any better you would think your transmission is hosed.)

- There is some unidentifiable flapping noise when you get up to about 30Kph... I've had mechanics say it was belts flapping, constant velovity joints, vibrating/loose fitting brake shoes, plastic parts, etc.. no one seems to be able to find it... so I just turn the radio up.

- There is some kind of growling/grinding noise that comes and goes when I'm parked or idling. It sounds like its coming from the engine compartment.. or under the front seats.. you can actually feel it too. This one, I have yet to get looked at.

General Comments:

... I've owned this car approximately 2 weeks. I've had to leave it with my mechanic twice already... and from the list of things wrong with it up there, it looks like I'll be leaving it with him at least a few more times before I've got most of the stuff fixed that I want fixed.

The frame-less windows are really kind of dumb... way too easy to get into the car without a key. I live in a major city, so I put in an alarm, with an ignition imobilizer.

I pay more per year to insure this car, than the entire purchase price, that I paid for the car in the first place. (Seriously)

All of that aside, I still love the car. It flies like snot, even with the 3 speed automatic you guys seem to all despise... and I didn't have any major complaints. So I'm going to fix the Air conditioning, and try to get the grumbling and grinding noises taken care of.. and that pesky donut...

I've heard that the newer neons, use a flexible mesh joint now instead of the steel donut to eliminate this problem... perhaps this part will fit? *shrug*

Don't buy this car without knowing what you're getting into... I spent a lot of time looking for signs of oil leaks and such, and my car seems to be fine in that regard... but the water in the passenger compartment and trunk area, I missed totally.

Good luck.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 7th June, 2004