Thinking of buying a neon

[rallye72]

As my rusty truck my soon depart off to chevy heaven I need to get a car I can drive year round. I like the neons but never played with one. Are there any certain years or models to avoid? Manual or auto tranny? Any quirks that I should know prior to purchase? Friend had a 96 with 250,000 troublefree miles before it went to the boneyard,(plowed into a ditch and destroyed the front end) Thanks

[Dick]

The early Neons, I believe around '95, had head gasket problems. They also had windows like a hardtop, without frames. Those tended to loosen and leak air. Newer ones have sedan doors, much more stable.

The speedometer drives were known to quit and were expensive to fix.

I think if you stay with the newer ones, you will be happy. Most bugs have been worked out.

Try neons.org for some good info.

[Stoga]

The early stick models, 96 and earlier, had a pin that would sometimes slip in the differential. Once it went far enough, it would destroy the case and spit the guts out on the ground. I know cause thats what happened to the original one in my 96 Breeze! 4 banger Breeze-Stratus share a lot of Neon drivetrain.
Later transaxles have a retainer for this pin, mostly eliminating this problem.
Most of the ones that were going to break, have broken and been repaired by now anyway.

One complaint I've heard about automatic Neons is the lack of an overdrive. I dont know for sure if this was ever updated on later models or not.
The automatics are definetly considered inferior in performance to the sticks, however if the cars main use is an intown grocery beater, that may not be a problem.
They're pretty good little cars by most accounts, even the problems on the earlier models can be dealt with, if you're prepared.

[a100dude]

Originally Posted by Stoga

One complaint I've heard about automatic Neons is the lack of an overdrive. I dont know for sure if this was ever updated on later models or not.

2002 was the first year for a 4 speed automatic

[nhdriver]

I bought a '97 neon sohc/auto trans. The car is quite peppy and the auto trans does hold it back but generally I'am pleased & it will get 35mpg if I don't beat on it too hard. I have had a few 2.2 cars a Shadow & a Sundance and the neon is definately quicker.

[bjoehandley]

Aren't the 3 speed in the Neon and later "K-Car" 3 speed transmission based off the same design? Have they improved the 4 speed auto too? I know those had a BIG failure problem in V-6 Mini Vans, Shadow/Sundance/Duster, Lebaron Coupe/Convertable, and Acclaim/Spirit/Lebaron LS.

[BDS 871 Cuda]

Picked up a 97 with 99k on it. Somebody got to close to the yellow post at McDonalds and crunched the fender and front passenger door. They had put a new hood, fender, and door on it but didn't paint it. I bought it for $500 and bought some black paint and painted it myself.
It could use a tilt steering wheel, cruse control, and O/D. I was told I could get $1500 for it, but I bought it for a beat around car.

[Stoga]

Originally Posted by bjoehandley

Have they improved the 4 speed auto too? I know those had a BIG failure problem in V-6 Mini Vans, .....

The problem with the early Neons as well as the minivans was a pin would get loose in the differential, then BOOM! The actual automatic transmission part of the transaxle would still be ok, as long as normal maintenance like fluid and filters were done.
The K-cars never seemed as sensitve to this as the later models, but they too could be broken with abuse or neglect.
I have 120K on my 2000 GC now, so I'm not too worried about it. If it was going to go, it would have went by now.
You should probably be worried about any automatic in a used car, they rarely get serviced unless you have a concientous former owner, and those are kind of rare. I think the sticks have the bigger problem cause the differential takes a lot harder shock when you dump that clutch pedal.
Especially if you drive like some of us here do, I'm sure!!

[bjoehandley]

Wondered about that Stoga, I had an '88 Shadow ES turbo with an A-413 and beat on it pretty hard (actually killed the motor but the trans survived.)

I asked a mechanic I know through work about the trans problem and was told that they never opened the old case and just put a new trans in the van, and there for thought that the A-604 was just a junk trans (he drives a Chevy and Kia) I also work with somebody who has just bought a 3.0l V-6/A-604 trans, he was wondering if there was a way to fix that problem if it ever happened to his? Sorry about getting off topic on this.

[Stoga]

If you've ever pulled an axle on any RWD vehicle that has a cover on the rear, you'll be familiar with this part. This doesnt apply to Banjo type 8 3/4s, Ford 8 or 9 inch or any axle that has a removeable carrier from the front .

The pin that shears in the FWD trannys serves the same function as the pin you remove to get the clips off the axle in Carrier Tube type axles like the 7 ¼, 8 ¼, 9 ¼, and 9 ¾ (Dana 60).
2 things tend to break this pin, either abuse or lubrication failure.
When the pin either seizes or fails when the clutch is dumped, then snaps, the pieces immediately falls into the gears, and bad things happen after that!!
The problem with the earlier FWD Mopar transaxles was this pin wasn't retained with a bolt like on the RWD axles, it was press fit into place.
Things would be ok for awhile, and if the vehicle is driven EASY, it may never have a problem. But, you start stressing or neglecting the axle, and that pin would eventually move out of place then fail.
The newer FWD transaxles have a retainer of some sort that prevents this pin from coming out of place, and some performance type transaxles have Hi Po differential like a Quaife or something similar.
It's kind of like a Sure Grip for FWD!
I'm just surprised the K based cars didnt have more problems than they did, but I do happen to have a 81 4 speed K wagon in the driveway with an exploded tranny. This one got abused in the parking lot of a bike bar, I leave what was done to it to your imagination!!!
Motor still runs tho

[nhdriver]

The 3 speed auto in the Neon is the same one used in the K-cars & Sundance /Shadow although they beefed it up for the Neon's. The one in my Neon shifts better then any of the older ones I have owned.

[rallye72]

I'm not planning on fixing one up, just need a dependable work car that is good on gas and good in the snow. My truck is good in the snow but bad on gas. 10MPG. I also can't justify replacing the front suspension and rear springs on an old chevy with a tweeked frame, so off to the bone yard she may go.

[TK]

neons are cool, the diff pin comes loose, but thats already covered, just tack it in like i do my dana's, and you'll be good (neon fix too)
the only other thing? run the reccomended oil in them, if you run a thicker oil, and start it in the cold, the cam plug on the back of the motor pops out.

[flight704]

I have owned 4 of them. 2 brandnew and 2 used ones with as many as 165,000 miles (still getting 33mpg at that point also)
I never had to do anything other than routine maintanence.

Stuff you need to pay attention to from pther people i have talked to. Zero clearance motor so change the timing belt when they recomend. cam sensor gasket leaks=easy fix 5 bucks and 4 screws. and the 2nd 02 sensor , the one from behind the cat goes bad // dealer only item at 130 bucks. It will still run with it bad but you lose some fuel economy.

I would highly recomend one of these . I prefer the 5 spd ones myself. all small displacement cars with autos just feel lame to me.

anyways good luck