This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The brakes on the car are just terrible. I bought the car in 2002, it was a 1995 Neon Dodge(best I could buy back then). But in less than a year since I've had the car I've had to have the air conditioner fixed one time, the paint is basically peeling off by itself, but the worst part are the brakes, I've had them changed three times in less than eight months. Once I almost got in car accident because they failed on me. Since I bought it in a small local dealer shop much could not be done, but I am looking foward to getting a better car with better safety features.
The car leaks water from somewhere. When it rains the backseat floor fills up with water. There are no water trails running down from the windows so I don't know where the leak is coming from. The air conditioning has finally died completely - it has been smelling musty for quite some time. The windows roll down by themselves. If you go over a bumpy road or just drive for any length of time the windows start creeping down. After every drive I have to go around the car and make sure the windows are rolled up tight.
Chipping paints on the trunk, sides and top of the car. Went to larson Dodge in Tacoma Washington to show them the chipping paint and was told I would be contacted by the rep from Chrysler to see what could be done about it. I never received a call and my vehicle continued to chip down to bare metal.
While driving 60 mph oil light came on. Dealer inspected vehicle, and determined cam seal had failed, causing most of engine oil to leak. Cam seal was replaced, also, a cam seal retainer was installed. Shortly after this repair, head gasket started leaking, and engine was knocking.
- Elma, NY, USA
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The engine light often comes on without a cause. It is so costly to check without an fix that I am thinking about not having it check anymore. The head gasket is a major problem on these cars. I do not have the money to fix it at this time. I am waiting for a call from Dodge to see if they will help. This should be replaced at their cost. Too many people have had this problem. The rotor and calipers problem was scary. I was applying my brakes when a crunch was heard. It became hard to keep control of the car. The camshaft seal came out of the head. I had to purchase a new one. I find it interesting that a lot of Neon owners are having the same problems. I wish Dodge would pull their share of the cost so trust could be restablished. Thank you for your time, robyn knouff.
Oil light comes on, leaving huge puddles of oil when stopped. Also, vehicle leaves a trail of oil when driving, and vehicle smokes a lot. Contacted dealer, and dealer stated there was not a recall on this problem.
2 weeks prior to reported incident vehicle had a coolant leak. Garage found that the coolant resevoir had split and replaced it. On the 9th March my wife drove the car and dropped a college of to pick up his car at a garage. When she restarted the vehicle and proceeded to drive it she noticed that the engine did not sound right. Shortly after the car started to wobble, the engine check light came on and the temperture gauge started to climb higher. She arrived home, I rang the garage, told them of the symptoms and was told to bring the car in. On starting it up I noticed a lot of blue grey smoke come out of the exhaust. The vehicle drove with no problems to the garage. Subsequent inspection of the engine showed a coolant leak, when the head gasket was taken off there were 2 cracks on the engine block. The estimated cost of a temporary repair is $1000, but there is no guarantee how long the repair would last. The only other option was a new engine which is out of the question. I cannot understand how this problem could occur with only 76K on the clock. The vehicle was purchased used with 45K on the clock in September 1997. Since then it has been serviced according to the manufacturers instruction, with an oil and filter change every 3 months.
My 95 Dodge Neon (color-iris) has paint flaking off in many areas. There is no hail damage or previose wrecks, there seems to be no reason for this. I have seen two other Neons around that have the same problem. I realize the car is five years old but never have a seen a car have paint just falling off like it is on mine. No safety defect mentione din summary.
I have been informed that this is a common problem with this car and they do nothing about it yet they don not wish to fix it. No safety defect mentioned in summary.
Head gasket will cost $600 to repair. Had enough problems with this car in the 16 months I have owned it. It is apparent by all the complaints that somthing should be done. So why hasn't it?
As I was driving my 1995 Neon home from work, I noticed that the oil light came on. I became concerned and pulled into the nearest service station which was less that 1/2 mile away. I asked the service tech to look at the car and he said that there was an oil leak. He suggested that I have the oil changed and see if there were any loose fittings from my previous oil change a few weeks earlier. The oil was changed and the car started only to continue to leak oil again. I was told not to drive it and had it towed to my dealership the following day. The dealership diagnosed that the cam seal/plug had cracked off and caused damage to the engine. As a result, I would need a new short block installed in my 5yr old car at a price of $3500. I feel that the cam seal/plug is defective and that is why it cracked off. I have spoken to other people in the auto industry/repair industry and it is a known problem with the Neon car. I cannot imagine that I should be held to pay for the replacement of the engine when I did everything I was supposed to do by stopping the car immediately. I spoke to Chrysler directly and within minutes of contacting the dealer, they (Chrysler) agreed to pay half of the repair only if I had the service done at a Dodge dealership. I appreciated this gesture but I am still looking at paying $1700 out of pocket for the damage. I feel that Chrysler is aware of the problem with this defective part. I have read complaints on your website and would greatly appreciate a phone call to see if I can get any help in resolving this issue. As you can imagine, I am extremely upset at this point. I have contacted my dealer and wrote a letter to the general manager. I did receive a call from the svc mgr, who will admit no fault. At this point I am waiting to hear from the svc mgr with a firm repair price but as of yet, he has not returned by call. I feel that I am being unfairly treated and being penalized because I did not buy the extended warranty.
This was the 2nd time the same problem has been repaired, the first time was on 2/21/95. At this time the transmission was also rebuilt, another problem is the engine check light staying on. This was also repaired on 12/27/94, and I am haveing the same problem again.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Los Angeles, CA, USA