Neon power windows: how long till they break?
#1
12-08-2005, 05:26 PM
Neon power windows: how long till they break?
Hey all,
Proud new owner of an '05 Dodge Neon SXT here. I only have about 350 miles on the clock so far, but I really like this car, and I expect I'll keep her for a long time.
I do have one question though, and it's about power windows. I've never really been a huge fan of power windows, and I guess that's from childhood experience. Back in the '80s, the 'rents shuttled us kidsaround in first an '86 Plymouth Voyager, and later a '90. I went off to college in '95, and the rents traded the '90 in for a brand spanking new '96. ALL of these Chrysler minivans had power windows, and they ALL busted before long, sometimes under warranty, but at least once or twice out of warranty. Repairs would take days, costed $300+ per window when out of warranty, and even one day was a long time for a family vehicle to be out of commission, so the 'rents did the oldest, lamest, cheapest thing in the book: sealed the power windows with clear packaging tape so they wouldn't slide down down the track into the door, as they often did when they broke.
Yeah, I had a tortured childhood.
Anyway, when buying first two cars I owned (they were GM cars: a Chevy cavalier, and a Pontiac Grand Am) I stayed away from power windows, because I could just see myself two, three years down the road, driving along with taped-up windows.
Well, now after six years of driving with crank-down windows, and largely fed up with GM in general, I figured I'd get this brand new SXT seeing as Neon does seem to have a lot of favorable reviews and awesome userbase, and I even chose to take my chances with power front windows. But of course as irony would have it, as I'm driving my brand spankin' new Neon home I end up at a stop light next to... you guessed it... a 2000'ish Dodge Grand Caravan... with taped up windows. [&:]
Wow, that was a long story! But anyway, the point is, I was wondering if anyone has real world experience on whether the power windows are a problem on these Neons. If so, about when should I expect to start shopping for deals on clear packaging tape?
And about how much did it cost to actually fix the window(s)?
Proud new owner of an '05 Dodge Neon SXT here. I only have about 350 miles on the clock so far, but I really like this car, and I expect I'll keep her for a long time.
I do have one question though, and it's about power windows. I've never really been a huge fan of power windows, and I guess that's from childhood experience. Back in the '80s, the 'rents shuttled us kidsaround in first an '86 Plymouth Voyager, and later a '90. I went off to college in '95, and the rents traded the '90 in for a brand spanking new '96. ALL of these Chrysler minivans had power windows, and they ALL busted before long, sometimes under warranty, but at least once or twice out of warranty. Repairs would take days, costed $300+ per window when out of warranty, and even one day was a long time for a family vehicle to be out of commission, so the 'rents did the oldest, lamest, cheapest thing in the book: sealed the power windows with clear packaging tape so they wouldn't slide down down the track into the door, as they often did when they broke.
Yeah, I had a tortured childhood.
Anyway, when buying first two cars I owned (they were GM cars: a Chevy cavalier, and a Pontiac Grand Am) I stayed away from power windows, because I could just see myself two, three years down the road, driving along with taped-up windows.
Well, now after six years of driving with crank-down windows, and largely fed up with GM in general, I figured I'd get this brand new SXT seeing as Neon does seem to have a lot of favorable reviews and awesome userbase, and I even chose to take my chances with power front windows. But of course as irony would have it, as I'm driving my brand spankin' new Neon home I end up at a stop light next to... you guessed it... a 2000'ish Dodge Grand Caravan... with taped up windows. [&:]
Wow, that was a long story! But anyway, the point is, I was wondering if anyone has real world experience on whether the power windows are a problem on these Neons. If so, about when should I expect to start shopping for deals on clear packaging tape?
And about how much did it cost to actually fix the window(s)?
#3
12-09-2005, 04:39 PM
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RE: Neon power windows: how long till they break?
I havent heard of too many issues with the neons either... mainly just the durangos from a couple of years ago. Chrysler even changed the design of the motor and even the position it was mounted in to counteract a continued problem after replacement. Changing out the motor/regulator assembly is far easier than one would expect, nothing more than pulling the door panel off and removing usually about 4 bolt/nuts for the regulator and 3 for the motor, easy out and then back in. Cost is somewhere around $75 - $125 bucks depending on the model of Chrysler Corp vehicle you have. And then there is always the junkyard...
#4
12-10-2005, 01:49 PM