Neon is a great car

My 2000 Neon has been in the family for 130,000 miles. We bought the loss leader/ stripped down 2000 Neon manual transmission, no air conditioner new because it was cheap. That little car taught four people (including myself) to drive a manual.

It has been 130,000 miles, most of which have been hard city driving and the engine and transmission are still going strong. I just returned from a weekend in the countryside where I took it up hills that were slowing down SUVs at 54 in 5th gear, no problem. Took it down country dirt roads in Maine in April, no problem. Accidently ran it over some frost heaves so huge they put scratches on my bumpers and hit the underside, no problem. This car is great- it has gone through EVERYTHING with me. The manual handles great in snow (the automatic, which my grandmother drives is not so good).

Dodge Neon is great for a commuter vehicle, quite reliable (more on that later), but what about FUN? With a 1.8 engine, the Neon is surprisingly zippy (especially without an air-conditioner). The stripped-down model is has relatively good pick-up, and is quite fast. This is mainly because the car is light. The good thing is, although the Neon is light, it doesn't feel like it's being blown around on the highway. Still, I would like a little more power.

My Neon has been very reliable as in it has never, in 9 years and 130,000 miles, stranded me. It has required a few repairs (CV joint, clutch, alternator) most of which came at around 100,000 miles. The engine and transmission are still rock solid. I think this is because it has always had regular oil changes (I'm replacing my Neon and test-drove some other Neons of the same year but with less miles, but the engines were losing compression.) The body of the car is slowly starting to give out (CV joint went, wheel bearings are going to follow). Still, I would give the Neon a A for reliability- give it half a chance and it will take care of you. Also, it is cheap to fix when something does go wrong. Just take it to your own mechanic- we took ours to the dealership twice for oil changes and it came back with a stripped oil pan both times. This has never happened with our mechanic or with Jiffy-Lube.

With it said that I totally recommend the Neon as a reliable, rock-solid little car, I do want to alert potential buyers to some problems I have had. They all fall into the category of annoying but minor stuff.
1. emergency brake is worse than useless. This may be a fault of my particular Neon, since I have never heard of another like this, but my emergency brake was replaced twice before I gave up on it because every time I put it on, it dropped nuts and bolts into the transmission, which went from being a cheap repair to being an expensive repair. I just leave it in gear when I park it. The only annoying thing about this is I have to shut it off every time I get out of the car so it won't roll off and kill someone.
2. dome light got stuck on at about 80,000 miles. I just ripped the light out of the ceiling and now have no dome light, but I don't care.
3. car always has been a little bit hard to get into reverse- sometimes it takes two tries. Apparently this is a common Neon fault.
4. the seal around the truck went and so the trunk leaks. This is the one thing about my Neon that really drives me insane. I can just imagine that water rusting the body from the inside out.
5. i think the problem is with the roads in my area, not the car, but the struts broke and after replacement they broke again. I've left them broken for at least 40,000 miles, and the car still runs fine. As I said, I thinks the problem is the roads, not the car.
6. It's a pretty comfy car, but this is where the cheapness shows. Any driving more than 5-6 hours and it becomes a bit of a pain in the butt (literally).

All in all, the Neon is a good car. I have been very happy with mine-I would buy another one if I could find a used one that has been taken care of. That said, it isn't a Volvo. It needs repairs once in a while. The big thing with Neons is to give them their oil changes every 3,000 miles. Do that, and it will never let you down.

My last word is- if you're thinking of buying a Neon, buy the stripped down, manual version. They handle better, are more fun to drive, and are much better on gas. I am shocked by how much different the automatic Neons are from the manual.