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.
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