Well, I am looking to buy my first car soon. I found a 1995 Neon Sport with Power mirrors, locks, keyless entry, 5spd, 4 door, dark tint, and MINT body for only $800 Canadian. The downside: It needs a headgasket. Which I can do myself, so that is another $50 Tops. I don't know much about Neons, so I was hoping that I could find some help here on what to look for before I buy it. What are the common problems? Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

 

changing the hg will cost you more than $50.
id highly stress on changing the head bolts (theyre a stretch design, so its not recommended to reuse them) which will cost an additional $35 US...
its recommended to change the timing belt as well, since it has to come off anyways..

then of course, the hg itself, some scotch brite pads to clean the mating surfaces, some copper gasket spray.. oil, coolant, etc...

 

Since you'll have the timing belt off and probably well past the 105k mile mark, might as well replace the water pump and tensioner assembly while you're at it. This isn't a job you'll want to do again anytime soon... particularly if the tensioner/water pump lets go, timing belt falls apart, and 16 valves become intimate with 4 pistons...

Still, great price!

Best of luck!

 

Thanks SlowAssNeon and RadarLove......I checked and the timingbelt, water pump, and tensioner pulley are all new[sm=smiley20.gif]. For some reason I didn't thin I would have to take the timing elt off. But clearly I do. I will change the head bolts SlowAssNeon, thanks for letting me in on that. I already have lots of oil/cleaning stuff, and coolant around here, so I will take that with me. It is aboput 3 hours away from my place(its in Oshawa, I'm near St. Catherines), so my plan is to go up and take a look at it, then if I like what I see, leave a deposit with him, then going back home, getting a new HG, then going back up the next weekend, with lots of coolant, then drive it to my cousins place, who lives closeby, then just changing the Gasket in their garage. Either that or buying a new HG up there.

Is there any particular problems or things to look out for when buying a used Neon?

A picture of the Neon I've been talking about! Who doesn't love a picture?


Hmmmmm just realized that its missing something. 2 Things actually.

 

yep if you buy it you better get some wiper blades.

 

wiper blades, hahahaha! Oh, you kill me Catman!
Anyway... Check for water in the car!! look under the spare tire for water or rust stains on the carpet. Also dampness or rust stains on the floor in the back seat. It may seem like not a big deal compared to HG issues... but damn it... its a pain in the butt!![sm=headbang.gif]

 

Hmmmm........its a plymouth, but I dont believe its a sport cuz it dont have the embossed hood..... However it does have the front bumper for it......... Did the sports come with alternate hoods? My 95 neon sport coupe had the DOHC and turbo hood but this car I would think should have the same features as mine... I dunno but if someone does enlighten me........

 

Its canadian if that makes any difference. I saw a picture of the back of it and it had a sport badge. But I noticed that to. Maybe it was only on the newer ones, but I thought it also said sport on the side and had different wheel covers.

Edit: Picture of sport emblem

 

The 1995 Sports were definitely available as SOHC's with or without the "power bulge" hood, doesn't matter if it's Dodge or Plymouth, U.S. or Canadian... What I do find odd is the dual tip muffler which is usually associated with the DOHC engine. Could be an aftermarket piece, but it looks stock, right down to the clamp. Wouldn't be the first DOHC engine I've seen from the factory without the power bulge hood, but it would be the first 1995 m/y I've seen like that.

It may or may not some options like rear discs, rear sway, etc. that became standard in later years. Looks like that one has the rear drums - looks like the 5-lug hubcaps that came standard on the 4-lug 14" steelies (which I have for my snow tires) that were only available on 1995 Sports, but I could be wrong...

Head gasket and tming belt are usually the biggest things to look for. Everything else is relatively minor. Just post here if anything pops up.

 

The classified ad for it did say that it has a performance muffler, so it could be aftermarket or maybe he just took the exhaust off the DOHC and put it on his car???