Dodge Neon

Factual Questions
21

I have a '99 Jeep Cherokee. The rough ride was one of the things I liked about it. Hey, if I’m buying a truck I want it to ride like one. I have this idea that smooth-riding trucks probably don’t handle well off-road. No empirical evidence though. Besides, I liked my '48 Willys well enough. (I also put struts on my Porsche that were so stiff I could barely push the car down by standing on the bumper. Worked well at speed, but around town it was jarring.)

I did have a problem with the Jeep. When I accellerated the vents would close. They wouldn’t open back up. You know that sound when you put your hand over the hose of a vaccuum cleaner? Same sound. With the fan on it was building up a lot of back-pressure. I took it to Chrysler and they kept it for two days. They phoned me and said that there’s no “fix” for it. I called Chrysler (the headquarters) to complain. I was told that the engineers were aware of the problem but there was no fix at that time. WTF, over? When I picked the Jeep up they said they replaced a housing and that their original diagnosis was incorrect; the problem was solved. But there seems to be some sort of ventilation problem that’s lurking…

I’ve owned the Jeep for a year and there’s only one thing that bothers me about it. I’m not used to driving an automatic transmission. It shifts when I’d prefer it not to and doesn’t shift when I think it should (I’m a fairly aggressive driver). But it seems to stay in the gear it chooses.

22

edmunds.com is a web site where you can find out all about any of these models. Strange, ya all buying them without seeing how reliable they are, but anyway, on that Neon above they say:
"What about reliability, though? Well, if the surveys conducted by several independent firms
around the country are any indication, the Neon suffers from hit-and-miss quality. Edmund’s has
received mail from folks who think it’s the greatest car they’ve ever owned, and from others who
wanted to know if their problems qualified for any lemon law protection. Overall, the
impression we’ve gained is a favorable one, though we are hesitant to recommend this scrappy
compact to those who’ve traditionally driven imports with Japanese badging. "

23

One of the bands I play in uses a 1978 Dodge extended full-size van. We’ve driven it loaded with lots of equipment and seven grown men for years. No major problems. It starts good when it’s below zero, and doesn’t overheat in the summer.

Of course, it’s no Studebaker…

Sweet Basil http://www.selfrighteousbrothers.com

24

My family has owned a Plymouth wagon(don’t know what year-very old though 70’s)a Plymouth gran Fury, Eagle talon, Chrysler LHS(great car), Dodge Dakota(great truck), Plymouth Gran Voyager, Dodge Colt, Plymouth Acclaim and I currently drive a Dodge Stratus. We have also owned 3 Honda Accords which were crappy, 2 Honda Civics which were better than the Accords but still crappy, 2 Chevys that sucked, and 2 Nissans that spent more time in the shop than on the road. I am hands down a Chrysler guy.

25

Me too. My daily driver is a '68 Road Runner. Never a problem.

IMHO, Chrysler has always built the best vehicle for a given app (example: 35 years later the Hemi is still THE power engine). Problems arise when people expect the car to do things it wasn’t designed for. In this case, expecting a Neon to be reliable. It was designed to be cheap**.** It’s a (very well engineered) disposable car. It should last through the warranty period and self-destruct. It does that well.

26

For all you miss-guided Honda lovers: http://members.tripod.com/~juan_espero/

27

I was at this year’s Detroit International Auto Show with my dad and brother. Here’s my take on the different companies:

Chrysler has the best styling of any company, hands down. Now if their new German owners can only teach them a few things about building those cars :rolleyes:. As has been mentioned above, their quality is somewhat inconsistent.

Honda and Nissan: Crap. Just shove 'em off the deck of the boat before they hit our shores.

Kia: Messy liquid crap. Asia’s version of the Yugo.

Any European car: Generally the best quality, but they’re expensive and the styling hasn’t changed in 30 years. While this may not be a problem for Ferrari, someone should tell Volvo, Volkswagon, etc, to hire a design team.

GM, Ford, and Toyota have generally decent quality, although of course they have had their misses (Chevy Chevette, Ford Pinto, et al). I myself drive an '87 Chevy Celebrity that still runs decently despite having something like 200,000 miles on it.

–It was recently discovered that research causes cancer in rats.

28

I have a friend who had (he recently sold it to his ex-g/f) an '84 Honda Accord he got from his mom. It’s closing in on 400,000 miles and still going reliably.

In no particular order:

I used to have an '84 and an '88 Chevy (Suzuki) Sprint (and Sprint Metro). Amazingly “peppy” and maneuverable as long as there aren’t any hills. I’d consider them “disposable” though after about 150,000.

'77 1/2 Porsche 924. Actually a pretty good car. Not as bad as people would have you believe. But the Audi engine started going downhill after 100,000 miles.

One '66 and two '77 MGBs (the '66 my mom bought new). Fun little cars. Usually two were running at any given time. (Know why the Brits drink romm-temperature beer? Their refigerators are made by Lucas! ;))

Porsche 911SC. Really fun. But expensive to maintain, and forget carrying anything in it. When I had to take 3 girls to the Hollywood Sign for a photo shoot in it I decided to get something more practical.

'99 Jeep Cherokee. Except for the vent problem mentioned earlier and wishing I’d bought the more familiar (to me) manual transmission, so far so good. A mechanic who works on them told me the engine and drive train are excellent, but “little” (cosmetic) things go wrong. I talked to owners and they like them. I see a lot of older models on the road.

Honda CX-500. The Bike That Wouldn’t Die.

'94 Yamaha XJ-600 Seca II. Perfect for L.A. freeways (small, light, quick, 53+ MPG, fairly fast), but there’s a design flaw in the engine that makes it prone to an oil leak. Although I’ve ridden it from L.A. to Lake Havasu, Las Vegas and San Francisco, it’s better-suited for trips less than 100 miles. 60-some thousand miles on it since I bought it new, and still going.

There are others, but I think I’ll stop there.

Neons and the like were designed for people without a lot of money who want to buy a new car. The idea is that they’ll get a better product when they can afford it. Often you get what you pay for.

29

I just went to the page posted by Regurgitator. It’s a rant about why Hondas are crap compared to Amurrikin cars.

I don’t have a Honda, but I’ve been in and have driven a few of them. They’re not designed for racing. (Although there are several clubs that do. The Asian community in particular seems to like stripping the interiors and adding low-profile tires and NOX systems.)

This girl I… um, “met”… in New Orleans had a '92 or '93 Honda Civic hatchback. We drove to see some mutual friends in North Carolina, about 800 miles away. The car was rock-solid at 100 MPH and the engine didn’t complain at all.

I’ve already mentioned the reliability of my friend’s '84 Honda.

My Honda motorcycle just kept going… and going… and going…

The Honda was designed to accellerate well, handle well, last a long time, and do it reliably. It accomplishes its mission admirably. No, it won’t beat my old 3.0 litre 911SC, in accelleration, top-speed or handling. But that’s not what it was meant to do.

Know the performance envelope of your vehicle. If your desires exceed the envelope, buy something else.

30

Oh? In that case that must mean that you have owned and extensively driven Hondas and Nissans in the past as well as Chevy’s and Dodge’s? (Hah! To be charitable, I won’t even mention Fords!)

Oh? You haven’t? Well I have, and from someone who actually has something to base their opinion on, you sir are just spouting unfounded nonsense.

I mean really, if you want to pick on imports, Honda and Nissan are far from your easiest targets.

Since you probably can’t afford it, maybe you can lease a clue!!! :stuck_out_tongue:

31

re-HAH! I missed that part of your post the first time! I’d love to know your definition of “runs decently”!

I bought an '88 Celebrity at auction because the price was right and I needed transporation at the time. I only had it for about a month and a half, before getting my HONDA CRX. I almost felt guilty after giving it to my mother and seeing all the problems she subsequently had with it.

My sister had another Chevy Celebrity given to her by her boyfriend, P.O.S., enough said.

Yes there’s more…

My close friend’s girlfriend had a Celebrity, when she passed away, my friend gave it to his little brother for his first car. He promptly blew the engine, and this was on a six-cylinder! But I will grant that first cars don’t usually last long.

Except of course, if you’re referring to MY first car! (heheheheheh) Yup, you guessed it, a NISSAN MAXIMA!!! The exploits of that car were legendary in my neighborhood. I sure tried like hell to beat it up, but no matter what I did, it kept on tickin’. I sold that car at 260,000 miles and the engine was still going strong, it only needed new wheel bearings and brakes and at the time I preferred to spend the money on a down payment for a new car.
{/Japanese automobile superiority rant-mode off}