1997 Plymouth Neon 4-Dr Sedan 2.0L from North America


Nice, roomy economical with mechanical problems


Trunk was always wet (first noticed at 35000 km), which produced a damp smell.

Rear passenger seat floormats were constantly wet (first noticed at 41000 km).

Oil & transmission fluids were leaking (64000 km).

Car was sluggish and choking (ignition coil & wires replaced at 73000 km).

Head gasket blown at 75000 km, which resulted in $950 in repairs (which the Chrysler dealership blamed on me for 'neglecting' the car).

Motor oil and coolant were mixing (first noticed at 81500 km), resulted in $800 repairs.

Oil light came on constantly, especially when making turns or going down hill (reason being: there was no oil in the engine because it was leaking once again).

After 90000 km, (3 separate occasions) the thermostat melted (yes, that's right... melted)... I was fortunate this happened in the winter time, as I noticed on those subzero days that my temperature gauge would never rise at all).

The car was regularly serviced (oil changes every 5000 km or 3 months), (transmission fluid changed every 2 years or 50,000 km etc., yet I encountered all these problems. A cousin of mine works as a mechanic at a Dodge dealership, and he told me that Chrysler is very bad with transmissions, head gaskets and oil leaks...

Pretty much saying to avoid Chrysler. I mean don't get me wrong, some of the issues mentioned above are a result of wear and tear, but others (oil mixing with coolant, head gasket blowing, etc.) obviously are not.

There were some positives about this car; fuel consumption was pretty good, acceleration was good and seating was comfortable. That was about it...

General Comments:

I first got this car when I was 18 years old (first car) and I regret that decision.

I also owned a 1996 Plymouth Neon, and that car was even worse (engine sounded like a diesel-engine truck).

Although the car is comfortable, there were too many mechanical problems with the car.

Now I know why when I went to the Chrysler dealership to purchase this car; there were so many of them in the lot.

At that time (1998, 1999) people bought Honda Civics because of their reputation for fuel efficiency and reliability. To this day, Honda Civics are still around and whereabouts are the Neons??? Long gone in the history books. I should have just gone with one of those Honda Civic SI's... they're more stylish and reliable.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 8th October, 2008

1997 Plymouth Neon 2.0 4l SOHC from North America


Neon - Disposable Car


Leaked oil since we got it. About 1 quart per week.

Always overheated. A whole host of electrical problems.

The fan was directly connected with a cable from the fans to the inside fuse box and we had to jiggle it to get them to run.

And the problems began.

Speedometer was insane and the odometer wouldn't climb with the mileage, shows 120k but it has about 180k.


Timing belt broke.

Oil would leak at a rate of about a gallon a week.

Signals stopped working at about 160k miles.

Reverse lights stopped working.

Fuel pump blew.

New fuel pump installed and the fuse blows every 5 minutes. (still unfixed)

General Comments:

We bought it 2 years ago and it did the job. Always, it only overheated due to the crappy fan wiring which was done by an uncertified mechanic.

Awesome gas mileage except on the recent days.

Had about 180k miles I bet. I'm glad it's gotten us around to where it has. It was definitely worth the 1000 dollars we bought it for.

It's cheap, it runs slow, and it's ugly.

But it's a car.

Don't expect it to go past 200k miles.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 28th June, 2008

9th Mar 2009, 11:14

I have been using this car again since January. It still has a ton of electrical problems including signals that make all of the cars lights blink. It got hit in the front and the hood looks like a crunchy taco. The radiator is bent a little but the car is still intact (impressive). After a month of driving it the fuses no longer blow and I love this car. The fuel gauge doesn't work but that isn't a problem since I make up for it by filling it up often. It gets >30 mpg's.

Performance-wise, It's a jumper, it will get up to 40 very quickly. But it will take ages to even get to 80. It's perfect for me and I'm very happy with this car.