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View Full Version : dodge neons. are they worth anything?



UPSIDE-DOWN-FACE
01-22-2006, 07:53 PM
my g/f is looking for a new car. she kinda wants a shadow (wich i would rather have) or a neon. she really wants a neon. now i work on these cars a lot in my job and have yet to see one still in good, even half @ss mechanical shape. out of all the years and drivetrain, wich are worthless and wich are good daily drivers?

10G OMNI
01-22-2006, 10:28 PM
Been allright to me,i drive one for a winter beater and my wife drives one to work.
The engine is not that bad as some say,there are no good years of model 95-99 is first gen and 2000 is the new one.
For what you could pick one up for its well worth the money,there good on gas/insurance and there cheap to fix.

UPSIDE-DOWN-FACE
01-22-2006, 10:47 PM
what years did the 2.4 dohc come in? are they better than the 2.0? are the blocks the same?

Garret
01-22-2006, 11:14 PM
No 2.4s in any of the neons, only the 2.4 Turbo in the SRT4

fleckster
01-22-2006, 11:52 PM
No 2.4s in any of the neons, only the 2.4 Turbo in the SRT4

True but a 2.4L is a relatively easy swap and makes for much more bottom end torque and a quicker ride even without the turbo! :thumb:

Aries_Turbo
01-23-2006, 04:43 PM
hmmmm wierd. many of my personal friends have them with few issues.... my GF has a 98 DOHC auto with 100+k miles on it that runs and drives great. only thing it needs right now is a inner tie rod end. If I were to get one for myself (which i might do sometime) id replace the outer tierod ends with the older cast ones with the grease fitting on them.

turbododgepirate (heath) has one with 130+k miles I think. ask him. he has raced his and cranked on it for many miles.

id love a first gen acr.

Brian

steve
01-23-2006, 08:42 PM
I've had a 95, 99, 96 and 2002.. they have all been really decent cars. I'd say 99 or newer, or just make sure its got the MLS style headgasket.

The 95 & 96, both had almost 100k on them, and they still ran great, and got 35+ mpg. The difference between the SOHC and DOHC is slight.. (my 99 was a DOHC) especially for a daily driver. Personal preference is a SOHC, less things to go wrong - better valve train and timing belt tensioners.

Just sold my 2002 today, and got $4150 out of it with 63k on it. I think it was a fair price for the car, but you could probably pickup a real decent 99 first gen for under $2500, and a 2000 or 2001 second gen for under $3500.

Good luck!
Steve

fleckster
01-24-2006, 04:12 AM
My '98 R/T still has the original non-MLS headgasket. No problems to report and I have beaten on it pretty hard on the street and on the strip.

91DSX
01-24-2006, 02:05 PM
I really enjoy driving my recently purchased 2002 Neon R/T, it handles like a go-kart and has awesome gearing, plus bolt-ons are plentiful.

TurbododgePirate
01-27-2006, 01:08 PM
hmmmm wierd. many of my personal friends have them with few issues.... my GF has a 98 DOHC auto with 100+k miles on it that runs and drives great. only thing it needs right now is a inner tie rod end. If I were to get one for myself (which i might do sometime) id replace the outer tierod ends with the older cast ones with the grease fitting on them.

turbododgepirate (heath) has one with 130+k miles I think. ask him. he has raced his and cranked on it for many miles.

id love a first gen acr.

Brian


Yup raced a 1999 Neon RT for 4 years SCCA autocross. BEAT it. 60 K miles we replaced the water pump and timing belt when the HG started to go.

Recently it started ticking on startup. The first gen valvetrain had common problems breaking under race conditions... I think mine just may need replaced. It can be easily upgraded to PT cruiser valvetrain. Either that or at 130+K Miles, the clutch is beginning to give up the ghost. Either way, it has been an absolutely awesome car.

Common first gen problems: five speed front motor mounts tear (Get a filled one, or a insert, I did, 6 years no problems) Headgasket (Common, get a MLS headgasket) 5 speed shifter bushings get soft (Get $20 booger bushings... better than new) Water will get between the seal on the doors and freeze in the winter you hear wind whistling, Rear seals around the tail lights go bad adn you get a wet spare tire well.

Any questions, feel free to ask. They're obd2 and you can read the codes just like the turbo dodges with the same key sequence. ~~Heath

shadow88
01-27-2006, 01:17 PM
^ i agree with the things that go bad on them. I bought mine for $800 can. and it's cost me $400 to get tit on the raod. It's been an awesome daily driver getting 37 mpg in sub zero temperatures. 95 sohc, 5 speed 4 door.

The super nice thing about them is they have a terrible reputation and , thus, a low resale value. I'd say buy one (any year) and drive it into the ground. I have a buddy with 380,000 kms on his dohc 97 auto, and it's still kickin' strong.

JohnnyLightning86
01-27-2006, 01:50 PM
I have a friend at work that has a 98 model and it has about 200K miles on it. He bought it cheap several years ago and says it has been one of the best cars he has ever owned. It is his work car and he drives it over 60 miles a day. Gets great gas mileage and everything still works on it.

This is not unlike the stories I have heard about Omni's and Horizons. I had several friends that drove these cars to over 300K miles with nothing more than normal maintenance expense. My 89 Omni had over 150K on it when I sold it and it ran great. Drove it for 3 years and only thing I had to do it out of normal maintenance was replace the radiator.

I had very good service out of my FWD Mopars. Never understood why they had such a bad reputation when all I ever experienced was excellent service out of all of them. After owning 5 of them, all of which were driven anywhere from 100K miles to 200K miles, I don't think it was just luck.

Aries_Turbo
01-28-2006, 01:26 AM
its prolly cause you maintain them. FWD Dodges were cheap so people thought they were throwaway cars so they treated them as such.

Brian


I had very good service out of my FWD Mopars. Never understood why they had such a bad reputation when all I ever experienced was excellent service out of all of them. After owning 5 of them, all of which were driven anywhere from 100K miles to 200K miles, I don't think it was just luck.

unluckyty
01-28-2006, 02:11 AM
We had an 96 (sohc, 2 door, 5 speed),purchased new, put over 200,000 miles. Only item needed replaced was HG and regular maint. items.

Was a great car and got over 40 mpg on highway.

Greg

contraption22
01-28-2006, 10:57 AM
I wouldnt hesitate to recommend a Neon to anybody... just like any car, it largely depends on how it's maintained. But if you know the car's history. go for it.

UPSIDE-DOWN-FACE
01-28-2006, 02:57 PM
i fi could find one with a well maintained history i would go for it. but thats not always easy.

dodgeshadowchik
01-28-2006, 11:27 PM
i currently have a 1999 neon r/t. it has about 135,000 miles on it and runs great! it gives them svt contours a hard time... but i guess that doesn't say too much. ;) putting the ford part aside, that puts the car in the low 15-sec range.

what i like most about the neons is the amount of crap you can get for them. :thumb: mine has a mopar performace header, m.p computer, mopar short throw shifter, lowering springs, and borla exhaust. and one of those silly cold water intakes. (hehe!)

i wouldn't pass up on a good neon if you come across one. you'll love it! :)

Captain Chaos
01-28-2006, 11:41 PM
My 2000 was almost flawless. It got a power steering pump and a rack under warranty(the rack had an internal rattle, possible tie rod) I sprayed it with 50 and 75 shots of N2O. It endured 2 N2O backfires, one of which destroyed the plastic intake. Still ran fine. I always used Mobil 1 in it though. i traded it in with 105,000 trouble free miles on it. I'm on my second and my daughters will probably be driving them when "its time".

J&G_BlueGLH
02-22-2006, 02:09 PM
I have a 2000 Dodge Neon ES i drive everday. It was my bfs first car when we were in high school, and then he traded it in at his work to get a new Dakota, which now he has a Ram. But anyways, i have it now and have owned it for 2 years and love the thing. Its great and never has done me any wrong. They dont hold their value, but they are nice cars that get good gas mileage. I love my Neon and wouldnt trade it for anything right now. Well except to maybe drive my GLH once the weather is nicer! hehehe

turbo xtc
08-15-2006, 02:16 AM
i'm looking for a first gen neon i'm currently putting pieces together to super-charge one so i guess if i can find one cheap anyone let me know running or not preferbly not-running