Ahhhh a place for a NEON thread.
 

Hey now you guys can't yell at me, so I'll tell you why I like these cars.

They handle GREAT. Go to an autocross, and you'll see some ACRs kickin' some ass. In road and track, they took a stock ACR, threw some sticky hoosier race tires on it, adjust the konis to full firm, and pulled over 1 G on the skidpad! NUTS! And they're peppy: 1/4 mile in about 15.5-16.5 depending on the engine, 17 seconds for an automatic (blech). And for some reason, I'm not sure what it is in the suspension, but they're just FUN to drive.

I'm sure some of you have driven a rental one before, and yeah, those probably sucked.... but as SVX owners, you must know that it's all in how a car is taken care of. Now is when some of you will say "Oh just go sell your SVX and buy a neon (cough UNCAMITSKI cough)".

NO WAY.

I like the SVX way better than I did my neon... in some ways. I love how luxurious, comfy, exotic, and excentric the SVX is. LOVE IT. What I miss is the cheapness of parts, simple construction, and go-kart like handling. What I don't miss is one of the cheapest interiors known to man (beaten only by the chevy cavalier) that's a total rattle trap. Blech. Plus.... neons don't get ANY respect, as most of you show them... but they deserve more.

CR reports says they're unreliable, but that's BS. They had a headgasket problem from 95-97, and in mid 97 it was FIXED. They updated the headgasket and biggidy bam, no more head gasket problems.

Anyway, here's some pics of my old one, it was a 97 Coupe, SOHC, polished aluminum strut bars, KYB GR2 struts, DOHC muffler (less back pressure), 16" tsw Trophies, Yokohama A550Vs (same tires that I have on my SVX :D)

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...a/fd540dc4.jpg
http://members.aol.com/cash68/booyah.jpg
http://members.aol.com/cash68/windshield.jpg
http://members.aol.com/cash68/fogs.jpg

I'm hell bent on getting another coupe someday, gutting it, putting on sticky tires, then dropping in a 2.4 liter 4 banger from a stratus since it basically bolts right in. With a few bolt ons it'll have close to 200hp with about 230 ft lbs of torque, all in an extremely rigid chassis that weighs about 2100-2200 lbs.

FUN FUN FUN! :D

But yeah, they suck ass for daily driving.... well... the gas mileage is good...but other htan that... blech.

- Rob

PS: Any questions just ask

hahaha :D

Mike

Re: Ahhhh a place for a NEON thread.
 

Oh just go sell your SVX and buy a neon!!! :D ;) :rolleyes:

I am with Mike on this one LOL.

Rob do you feel better now?:p

i will admit i have seen neons that had the right things done and acctualy looked ok....but to me yours looked stock. Ahh well ill stick with the NX as my cheap little 4banger:D

I actually like those new srt-4's. I think they have amazing performace for the price.

Rob your neon doesnt look too bad. If i had that for a first car in 5 speed I think it would have been fun.

But now I have the SVX as my first car and I'm spoiled. :p

Re: Ahhhh a place for a NEON thread.
 

Rob,

Glad that you used URLs and not attachments. That number on Neon pic could make the server unreliable.


:D :D :D

Rob - I'm no big fan of Neons, but then again I've never really looked into them as anything more than a "disposable" type econo-box along the lines of a Geo Prizm. :D But I've never driven one and you have made a very good case for them for cheap, reliable speed and handling thrills, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. You'll get no arguments from me. :)

Hey your black one didn't look bad at all. Tastefully modded IMHO. Just some modest appearance mods in just the right places and no extra BS.

Neon - not...SVX - yes!
 

Had a 95 one with 2LDOHC, 5 speed and high mileage (sold at 90k).
I have to testify that the engine is reliable, no issues whatsoever, sounded like new, no hesitations - it just run perfectly. 5 speed was the best 5 speed I ever had - excellent feel, quick, significantly better than the subies 5 speeds.
The car was quick, at least without passengers.
It was also rather rattle free.

This is all good things. Now the crappy things:
1. Front wheels hop if you try to take off too agressively. Wheels, body and engine all hop. Presumably can be fixed with a stiffer engine mount, but would cause much more engine vibration passed to the steering wheel.
2. Way too much engine noise even in 5th gear
3. Wind noise through the frameless windows. User manual says it is "normal" and cannot be adjusted.
4. Optimistic fuel gauge showed 1/3 of tank full when I run out of gas completely. Same problem as with Audi, but unlike Audi Chrysler never issued a recall. Cheap parts - not any cheaper than the Subie.
5. Rear brake cylinder started leaking (on 3 year old car) - found out that one of my rear wheels does not brake because linings of the drum got soaked in brake fluid.
6. Lost a bolt from front brake caliper during driving. Have to admit the system is fail proof - I would not have lost brakes even if all bolts fell out.
7. Temp sensor for a/c went bad, destroyed a/c compressor as the result. Apparently there is no safety valves built into compressor or a/c system (Subaru has couple).
8. Paint started peeling off from primer (on 3 year old car). Apparently a defective paint or a violation of the technology. Known problem, Chrysler is known to pay 50% even after warranty expired, but I did not know that at the time.
9. Headlight switch developed an annoying buzzing rattle. Cheap parts - at $80 for the switch I don't think so.
10. Headlight lenses go yellow and foggy in no time.

11. Car gets no respect from the driving public - everybody assumes it is a rental, gutless and people tend to cut in front much more often.

Neon
 

Here's the stats for the Neon my friend owned.

Bought new in 97 for about 15k
2000 miles front suspension had a bolt break.
2350 miles pass seat adjust broke.
4500 miles A/C stopped working.
14500 miles needed new front pads
19000 miles A/C, yet again!
22500 new tires for it.
23000 sunroof stopped working of course in the open position
24500 miles needed new pads up front again
33000 miles A/C didn't work after the winter.

June of 00 Traded car in got a whole $3000 for it (it took me quite a bit to get that much out of it for her too), not a scratch, dent, ding, chip on it. Interior was spotless.

Since then the girl has put 48k onto her Sentra. Has done NOTHING TO IT! Oh yeah, it was $500 more than the Neon was 3 years before.

If I wanted that many issues with a "new" car I'd go buy myself a 30+ year old Lotus Europa to kick Neon but at the track.

Originally posted by gl1674

This is all good things. Now the crappy things:
1. Front wheels hop if you try to take off too agressively. Wheels, body and engine all hop. Presumably can be fixed with a stiffer engine mount, but would cause much more engine vibration passed to the steering wheel.
2. Way too much engine noise even in 5th gear

1. This is true. I had this problem, and there is SO much wheel hop that I wrecked my 'exhaust donut', the little gasket between the manifold and cat. Before fixing that donut, I installed Rex Inserts in my Front Motor Mount... it stiffened up the engine (so there is less movement), made my shifter more precise, and it did add a bit of NVH to the cabin.... but it was GOOD NVH. Sounded more 'performance' oriented, and felt 'cleaner' and less mushy. Good mod for 25 bucks, plus you don't have to replace your exhaust donut again.
2. >shrug< Mine didn't seem that noisy. But in comparison to an SVX, yeah, a lot of noise. :)

3. Wind noise through the frameless windows. User manual says it is "normal" and cannot be adjusted.
4. Optimistic fuel gauge showed 1/3 of tank full when I run out of gas completely. Same problem as with Audi, but unlike Audi Chrysler never issued a recall. Cheap parts - not any cheaper than the Subie.

3. Yeah, the frameless windows are kinda a pain in the ass. You CAN adjust them, and you SHOULD adjust them. If you shut the door with the window half down the stress will make the windows not seal correctly, or you'll break the window mount. I broke mine. It still works fine, but there was this annoying rattle from it ever since. But yeah, there' even a FAQ on neons.org to fix this problem.
4. My fuel gauge was fine... >shrug<

5. Rear brake cylinder started leaking (on 3 year old car) - found out that one of my rear wheels does not brake because linings of the drum got soaked in brake fluid.
6. Lost a bolt from front brake caliper during driving. Have to admit the system is fail proof - I would not have lost brakes even if all bolts fell out.
7. Temp sensor for a/c went bad, destroyed a/c compressor as the result. Apparently there is no safety valves built into compressor or a/c system (Subaru has couple).

I didn't have any of these problems... the only one I did have was my thermostat breaking, so I had to put in a new one. Bad luck I guess.

8. Paint started peeling off from primer (on 3 year old car). Apparently a defective paint or a violation of the technology. Known problem, Chrysler is known to pay 50% even after warranty expired, but I did not know that at the time.
9. Headlight switch developed an annoying buzzing rattle. Cheap parts - at $80 for the switch I don't think so.
10. Headlight lenses go yellow and foggy in no time.

8. Yep. Let me guess, your car was either WHITE, or that light blueish color. Those colors are both really prone to peeling. Thats why you shouldn't screw around and always get a black car like me. :D
9. 80 bucks?! Dang... do you go to the dealer? Try www.car-parts.com.
10. True. Good thing you can get complete aftermarket headlights for em now. http://www.modernperformance.com/dcx..._1995-99.shtml

11. Car gets no respect from the driving public - everybody assumes it is a rental, gutless and people tend to cut in front much more often.

That is very true. Everyone thinks they're better than you, which kinda sucks in its own way... on the other hand, it's kinda nice to be enlightened and realize what a blast they are.

- Rob

Re: Neon
 

That's odd. None of my neon friends (I have a lot) have ever had that many problems.

I bought mine USED, it was a LEASED car so it was quasi abused before I got it, in 1998. It was a 97 Coupe. Here's my neon story:

1. Bought car
1.5: Headgasket went bad, still under warranty, got the new MLS gasket and didn't leak since
2. Did nothing but change the oil for a few years
3. Thermostat Broke (10 bucks)
4. Door clicker (the thing that sorta sets the door open at different angles) started making noise. New one for $45 bucks solved that problem.
5. Bought new tires (why did you put this on your list? My SVX required new tires. You either drive like a psycho or your car isn't aligned if you need to buy tires often for ANY car)
6. Drove it at 112-118mph for over an hour straight in 90 degree weather in South Dakota during a road trip. Temperature guage didn't move.
7. Beat V6 Camaros, Mustangs, Mustang GTs, older 300ZXs, Modded Civics, Integra GSR, and ALMOST a non turbo 3000GT, all with ZERO MODS.
8. Added DOHC. MPG went up about 3-4 mpg to a total of 30-43, depending on how I drove
9. Bought 16 TSW trophies with falkens. Installed those.
10. Wasted money on those fake blue HID headlights, then threw them away.
11. Bought clear corners, strut bars, installed those
12. Purchase stereo system, installed that
13. Spent 20 bucks on shifter bushings, OMG, best 20 I ever spent, Shifted like a ferrari. :D

All in all I basically had zero problems, except for the noisy suspension (blew a rear strut mount at some point).

ANd I beat the crap out of it.

- Rob

Re: Re: Neon
 

If you read on and saw that she now has Sentra with 48k and has done nothing to it (of course the oil and junk).

Why did I put tires on there? Ummm.. a girl who drives a car like a grandma should really need to replace tires at 22k. Same reason the brakes were on there. Reasonable wear is acceptable but under these conditions I would say that is very premature. Hell I have $80 for 4 tires from Tires Plus on my Brat that I've put over 25k on already and still have another 10k left in 'em. The last alignment for it was probably somewhere around when you were going to grade school :D The original RE92s from my Impreza lasted me to the 60k mark before the wires were showing. Personally, I expect to have pretty much of a 3 year 36k problem free driver if I buy a new car. Sure, 1 or 2 issues is acceptable, 10 are not.

RE: so what you're saying is.....
 

'FUN FUN FUN!

But yeah, they suck ass for daily driving.... well... the gas mileage is good...but other htan that... blech. '

so what your saying rob is ....... the neon sucks ass. who would want to buy a neon for a weekend driver?

:p

from some of the problem's i've seen here as stated by you fine folks, problems with my mother's 2000 dodge grand caravan, and a buddy of mine's dodge ram 1500. i will not buy a dodge badged product.

sure dodge has some good points, but if you weight the good vs the bad, in my honest opinion, i did not pay for a new car to have so many problems. if i'd have bought it used, it would be a different story, i bought the caravan and my friend bought his new.

also i've driven a few cars, and other than the gas mileage, i'm not that impressed with a neon. might as well buy a civic.