First... hello to everyone!!!
I first and foremost do NOT intend to offend anyone by my statements. This is from my own actual encounter with the "beloved neon"

I have (as for right now) a 2004 Neon RT. I (we) bought this as a family car mainly for our newborn son....
Let me tell you this much, have you ever tried to put an 18 pound baby in his car carrier in a neon? Or tried to take him out? I remember my salesman saying that "this is the car for parents!", yeah, whatever!

Power... come on, yes it is an RT, but really, who are we kidding? I have people in Hyundia's passing me. Sad.

Warranty, the whole entire car would shake when the brakes were hit (12,500). Guess what? Not covered!!!! I shelled out $210 for that one!!! Going into reverse? HMMMM? Do you have a couple of minutes? It'd take forever!!!! And finally, try to start it. well, it turn and run, for about 3 secs., guess what? Cant find nothin wrong!!!

Today is the final day. I had it towed ( it wouldnt start at all). I cant wait to here there excuses 2morrow. It should be good. By the way, if you just bought one, or thinking of selling your old one, you may as well just throw your money out the window. I paid 16 for mine w/ warranty, and guess what, its only worth $8000, Hmmmm, so do you want another one now?

I will keep you all posted

 

neons are what they are....... and what do you expect for the price.... as far as my neon. i have a 04 sxt... son to have r/t power and beyond.... i love it.only biggest issue i had was the radiator cap went bad.. even made engine over heat b4 i noticed it.... but besides that.. the car is paid off. and no warrant.. the 6month old owner pretty much payed it off with some settlement money.. then past it my way....my come up.. but as far as im concerned... no ones out tryin to buy a neon thinkin it has the reliability of a benz.... ma neon is a neon.. small,quick,and cheap like hondas. but better 0-60..and to be better all around. except hondas have more aftermarket reach......one think i learned is that... your car is what you make of it...

 

I just bought my first Neon last month. My local dealer had leftover 05's at killer prices. Mine had a sticker of $17,885 and I paid $11,999 for it. THAT is the reason I bought it. 12K for a 0 mile car that's loaded ( SXT, auto, sunroof, sport pkg ... ) I've only put 2,500 miles on it, but so far I like it.

I'm a die-hard Chevy man ( i've got a 525 hp BB 68' Chevelle and a 350 hp SB 70' C-10 pickup ). I don't care what brand of car you buy, your always going to find someone who has a horror story. I just couldn't pass up the deal I got, and I hope I don't regret it.

 

With an auto transmisson and your mods, RT power??? LOL. You're going to need a little more work than that.

crdnls: I've never had a problem out of my Neon. Hopefully you get everything straight.

 

.. what you mean have a lil more work to do..... i have alot more work to do..lol.. was just stating that..soon!!!! mispelled it with "son"... but soon. after magnum head swap(hopefully P&P right off the bat)..aem cam gear...crane 14 i guess now.. since everyone tells me it would be a better choice for me then the crane 12.....valves.. springs...maybe also head deck to about .030 or .035.. not sure too much about decking...what would u recommend....?? n e thing helps.. thanx..... but yeah. im def shooting to build up my sxt all motor to it's fullest potential b4 ne boost......

 

I have a 2000 neon. The only money I've put into it, is for toy stuff that I have added to it.

 

Well lets start off at the beginning shall we...when it comes to the 18lb kid and his carrier dont you think perhaps you should've tried putting all that stuff in the Neon before you bought it? With that said the Neon is a small car and i would never describe it as a "family sedan" or "a car for parents"(unless those parents are buying the neon for their kids to drive), so you got screwed by the dealer on that one but thats what happens when you dont check things out before hand...

When it comes to power, yes in my opinion it is underpowered...but seriously, what car isnt underpowered...its not an SRT-4 its a lil 2.0L engine with 137whp...its faster than most cars in its class (Civic, Rio, Sprectra, Cavalier, Cobalt, etc) and its faster than the behemoth 4 door family sedans(Taurus, Impala, Grand Prix non S/C, etc...)...so i dont know what you were expecting from a little four banger but thats what a test drive is for...

As for th brakes well thats just something that can happen and its usually always b/c they were flawed in some way...now the warranty is like any other factory warranty you get from any other car company, some things ae covered, some things arent...lifes a bitch, what else can I say?? lol.

All in all it sounds like you got a lemon from all the troubles you've been having...**** like this happens for all car companies, makes, and models...that why theres a "Lemon Law"...and the trade-in on these cars do suck *** but few cars hold there value for trade-in apart from Honda...

Anyway, we're all sorry you had a poor experience with your Neon, but take our word for it, not all Neons are like that and they are in fact very nice cars to own...just not if your hauling a kid around in it...lol.

 

I was just saying u have a little more work to do to get Neon RT power. If you do the mods you're planning on, you'll be pretty serious.

03neonRT: Well said; that's why u test drive a car. + The 2.0L Neon is not a 2.0L $30K Evo.

 

haha wow i never knew the evos were 2L...anyways i actually have the 04 R/T and could not be happier...the underpowered neon can be easily fixed with some modification...but with a kid you probably were looking for more in the stock parts. i found my neon at carmax with 6,000 on it and bought it for 12,000....but then again i did my research...and had 4 R/T's bought out from under me(literally i was on the way to buy the 3rd one and they called my phone and said someone just bought it)[:@]....anyways sorry you had a bad experience and good luck with your car buying experience in the future...hopefully you will be twice as careful next time you purchase a car...


personal opinion...i would have never recomended this car for your new family but maybe thats just me not wanting to drive the same car as someone with a kid in the back seat lol

 

What a deal. I wish I would have gotten a deal like that.