I drive a long way to work each day, and have been looking for a small car that got good milage. My $1K budget was turning up only cars that had blown head gaskets, trannys that didn't work, interiors that were clapped-out or multiple issues that I didn't want to deal with. After a while I narrowed my search down to just mid to late 90's Escorts and Neons. I really didn't want a Japanese make, and found that if an Escort or Neon had been taken care of during it's life you could wring a lot of miles out of them...plus the parts are cheap and the junk yards have plenty of them lying around for the small bits and pieces I'd probably need. Hitting Craigslist every day turned up some potential good ones, but they always sold real quick. The right Escort never came along but a Neon did, so I jumped on it. It's a '95 Plymouth Neon Highline 4 door, 124K, adult owned and runs well. I'll have to put a rear main seal and a windshield in it, but that's OK.

My question to you guys is...have any of you had any experience with these cars? Any tips or tricks you might know? I can't seem to find any good online forums about Neons either...guess I've been spoiled by having F150online all these years. Allpar has some info, but my search so far hasn't turned up much.

MR

 

my suggestion: tint the windows very very very dark.

seriously tho, thats pretty low mileage for only a $1000. hopefully you will be fine and the few repairs you need to do are it. keep up with your maintenance and you should be golden

 

My buddy had one, excuse me.................................



























...anyways, my buddy had one and had to replace the head gasket. Other than the obvious, it was a good running car.

 

I wouldn't touch a neon. Go with the escort. Depending on the year, it is a much more reliable car than a neon. The early 90's escorts were actually a mazda with the 1.8 engine. The 1.9 was still a Ford engine.. but both engines are reliable.

 

Too late...I bought it last week. I'd rather have an Escort, but couldn't find the 'right' one. I found that people either had all kinds of problems with Neons, or they had no problems with them. I think they were made in both Mexico and Illinois. Mine was made in Belvedere, The guy I got it from had it for 3 years and seemed like an honest guy.

 

A Dodge NEON! Yikes! Hell NO!!!!

 

You can do a hell of a lot worse than a Neon that runs for $1000. It's got more ***** than any of the other domestic disposable cars.

 

Personally, I would wait and find some kind of Ford, but you culd definitely do a lot worse than a Neon. At worst, you could sell it to someone else for $1k later on if it is a turd.
I had a girlfriend who had one, I ran the pee out of it, took it up mountain trails too fast and stuff like that, and it survived and is still running. Only experience I have had with them, though, but the Neon definitely served her longer than she served me.

 

Guy at work has one. I think it has something like 350K on it. He's really just driving it til it dies. He adds oil when it is low, and gives it a real oil change every 50K miles or so. Yeah, it leaks/eats that much oil.

Anywho, good cheap beaters are hit and miss. My $350 Cavalier has been great for the 6K miles I've put on it so far. Spent $15 on a belt for it, plus a tune up and oil change and it's been purring ever since. Yes, it could use a headgasket to stop the anti-freeze leak, but with damn near perfect compression on all cylinders, eeeh, I'll keep adding antifreeze. LOL

 

That's what I thought too.
It will easily outrun my son's '95 Civic.

 

I've got an 02 cruiser, that is used for a delivery car. It has about 100,000 on the clock. Rutine maintenace, plus engine is never turned off while in route.
Work so far, rear wheel cylender, right half shaft. replaced ac freon hose, and currently needs new efan. But in its defence, it takes a lot of abuse.

 

I am a bit late on this thread, but...

One of my RC Car employees some years ago purchased a Neon Turbo of some 1990s vintage for cheap.

I don't remember all the details, but your question brought up some memories.

As I recall, the car had some issues with the front suspension and had a leaky head gasket.

He is a Mopar road racer type and had access to some upgraded suspension pieces and had the engine rebuilt paying particular attention to surfacing the head and block to the N'th degree and using some special gasket materiel and sealer.

He also tweaked the turbo and engine management system and did a few other things. I think his total investment absenting tires and wheels was about $3,000.

That car was scary fast and good handling and would run circles around my then driver, a last year Taurus SHO V8 totally stock.

I haven't seen him for a couple of years but as of then, he was still driving the car as both a daily driver and weekend warrior and was happy with it.

Not that you would want to do it, but it could be a beater or a sleeper if you wanted to put a bit of money into it.

Bill

 

What would you recommend for his budget?

 

My brother in law had one once. That neon was one oil leaking sumbitch.

 

I haven't had the oil leaks with the 02. I have no idea what they are selling for.