Looking into buying a 2004 Neon sxt. I love the car but it's not currently running. I want to know what it will cost to put this thing back on the road (and make it SAFE to drive) so I can figure out if it is a good investment or not. It's got a bent axle which is the main problem but from that, I would assume, stems more problems such as replacing the tie rod ends, u joint, ball joints, brakes and rotors...? Am I in the ballpark here? Can anybody give me an idea of what I'll be putting into this thing to get it running?

Aside from that it has new struts in the front, new radiator, all new suspension in the back, a sway bar, and a cold air intake. Previous owner took pretty good care of it till he bent the **** out of the axle by hitting a curb(?) full syntheticoil regularly changed, K&N air filter, blah blah blah...

I would appreciate any ideas/opinions/words of wisdom/advice y'all can share with me. When in doubt, I find a forum... be nice people, it's not my fault I'm mechanically retarded.

 

U know... if a car doesn't run, it is worthless. If you send it to an Public Auction, you get like $500 max. It really come down to how much doe he want for the car.

If the car hit a curb, and have sub-frame damage, you can pick up a used subframe and have it installed for few hundred buck.
Regarding that it doesn't run... you just need to figure out why it doesn't run the first place.

The Dodge Neon is a fairly nice beater if you can get it running. But these car really don't hold much value. So unless it is a killer deal, it probably not worth the headache for someone who doesn't know too much about cars.

 

Thanks for the feedback, but perhaps I wasn't clear enough. The engine runs fine, the only thing keeping it off the road is the axle (and whatever else it may have screwed up when it hit the curb), does that change your opinion at all or do you still think it's a lemon?

 

I think he tried to slide his car on snow. He ended up hit the side curb bad.
We young guys do that all the time.

New strut is not new anymore if it was installed to the car before that happened.

The control arm is very likely to be bent.
The frame could be bent.
The drive axle will need to be replaced.
If aftermarket rim => it's bent (My stock rim did not bent).
New alignment is needed after they replaced everything.

The shop charged me $600 something (parts + labors) for whats I listed above.

A few other things you may need to replace them are: tie rod ends, wheel studs, and wheel bearing.

You don't need new brake caliper, and brake rotor, but you need to check for fluid leak, and cracks. (The brake is very important. You should practice using the emergency brake, in case the main brake failed).

 

This guy know how much it cost him to fix the car.
He decided to sell it instead.

You should buy this car only if you got a good deal.
Otherwise you will have to send the car to the car junkyard. They pay you less than $500.

Do you have experiences with buying used cars?

 

I would ask the guy if you can bring the car to a shop and get a quote of EVERYTHING that is wrong with car before buying.

Have a professional look at it for you.

 

so, how much he wants for it? and how many miles on the car?
If the price is cheap enough, even if you throw in $1500 repair and still comes out ahead, and go for it. Worst thing that can happen is you need a Subframe. And Junk yard would give you a Used Subframe with A LOT of stuff still attached.
If he hit a curb that's bad enought to bent an axle, I am going to say the damage is far more severe than that. Probably need a Rim as well.

 

Yeah, the axle is designed to be able to move in and out, he probably bent a few other things if he smacked something hard enough to bend a CV.

Never seen an actual CV axle bent yet, would be kinda interesting.