any experience with 2005 Dodge Neon?

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Is the 2005 Dodge Neon SXT any good ? is the engine and transmission decent ?
my neighbor is selling a 2005 Dodge Neon SXT with only 64,072 miles for $3,750, should I take a look ?
 
Wait, there are still Neons out there?
crackmeup2.gif


Seriously, by this stage though they were a pretty solid little ride. Engine and trans are pretty basic, but with some love, should hold up just fine....
 
Originally Posted By: daves87rs
Wait, there are still Neons out there?
crackmeup2.gif


Seriously, by this stage though they were a pretty solid little ride. Engine and trans are pretty basic, but with some love, should hold up just fine....



how often the timing belt has to be replace ?
 
The engines are OK. You might need a head gasket down the road though. Was really common on these engines and frequent in early ones. Not hard to do at all. The price is a bit high for the age unless it's loaded.

Change the trans fluid every 30K miles with a new filter is my recommendation.

The timing belt is called for around 60,000 miles but you can easily go 100,000 no problem and the belt will still look like new. It's not very difficult to replace either.

My dad's manual trans 1995 Neon he bought for $200 went to 200K Miles with just a head gasket when he bought it with 100,000 miles.

My dad is a mechanic and worked for Chrysler. I know a lot about the Chrysler product line and specifically this line.
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As I've mentioned in your posts before, stop looking for "low miles" cars. It's meaningless especially when it's tied to junky cars. I always scratch my head when you search for cars because it's like you're purposely looking for the worst car. Oldsmobiles, Neons, Volvos, Cobalts, Ford 500s, Pontiac G6s, etc.

Are you afraid of Japanese cars? It sounds like you just need basic transportation, coming from a Saturn. Look into cars that are known for reliability like a Camry, Corolla, Civic, Accord, Yaris, etc.

And erase "low mileage" from your brain
 
Originally Posted By: sirgerman
Is the 2005 Dodge Neon SXT any good ? is the engine and transmission decent ?
my neighbor is selling a 2005 Dodge Neon SXT with only 64,072 miles for $3,750, should I take a look ?


Take a look, if its clean I'd buy it.

Auto or manual transmission?
 
I once bought a brand new 2004 Dodge Neon. But it wasn't an SXT, it was an SRT-4. It was exceptionally stupid fun, and exceptional at nothing else. I wouldn't buy a lesser model. But if I did, I wouldn't pay that much for it. Regardless of the mileage, this '05 SXT isn't worth much more than $2000 IF it has been well maintained and needs no repairs
 
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Originally Posted By: Nick1994
As I've mentioned in your posts before, stop looking for "low miles" cars. It's meaningless especially when it's tied to junky cars. I always scratch my head when you search for cars because it's like you're purposely looking for the worst car. Oldsmobiles, Neons, Volvos, Cobalts, Ford 500s, Pontiac G6s, etc.

Are you afraid of Japanese cars? It sounds like you just need basic transportation, coming from a Saturn. Look into cars that are known for reliability like a Camry, Corolla, Civic, Accord, Yaris, etc.

And erase "low mileage" from your brain


I am not afraid of Japanese cars, I know they are better than any american car, the problem is the cost more money, I love my Saturn ( 189000 miles nothing major and I get 38 miles per gallon ), is getting too old.I try to find a good deal that all
 
Too much coin for too little car.
If you think you might want it, wait until it sits for a few months and offer a couple of grand, unless some hapless fool gets there first and pays near 4K for the thing.
Could happen.
 
I had one after my saturn died. Same exact everything, a 2005 SXT.

Saturn got 40 MPG, neon did 28.

I got it at 150k and immediately did the timing belt. Head gasket went at 155k so I had to rip all that timing belt stuff off again.
mad.gif


It drove nice, had a very nice stick shift, and sounded cool for a 4 cyl.

It was a very forgettable car. I barely have any pictures of it.

The AC barely worked. I think it was a clogged orifice tube. The pipe under the hood got cold but nothing else. I never fixed it.

Rust ate it very quickly, was kind of a junker from that perspective. All the way from the rockers up the rear quarters.

They say Lee Iacocca invented it so it could be built for $4000 and the rest would be profit. I tend to believe this.
 
Originally Posted By: sirgerman
Is the 2005 Dodge Neon SXT any good ? is the engine and transmission decent ?
my neighbor is selling a 2005 Dodge Neon SXT with only 64,072 miles for $3,750, should I take a look ?


A Honda Civic is miserable enough. These are just low rent Chrysler versions of the Honda Civic that are more fun to drive and in 2005 extremely dated in design back to 1990's.

Any good nope. $3750 is a ton of money for this car.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
As I've mentioned in your posts before, stop looking for "low miles" cars. It's meaningless especially when it's tied to junky cars. I always scratch my head when you search for cars because it's like you're purposely looking for the worst car. Oldsmobiles, Neons, Volvos, Cobalts, Ford 500s, Pontiac G6s, etc.

Are you afraid of Japanese cars? It sounds like you just need basic transportation, coming from a Saturn. Look into cars that are known for reliability like a Camry, Corolla, Civic, Accord, Yaris, etc.

And erase "low mileage" from your brain


+1 million. Purchased an 06 Civic last year with ~190K miles from 1st owner and immaculate maintenance history for peanuts. Knocking on real wood, still running like a champ at ~198K. Civics/Corollas are reliable and economical.

Yes, maybe I am biased
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: sirgerman
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
As I've mentioned in your posts before, stop looking for "low miles" cars. It's meaningless especially when it's tied to junky cars. I always scratch my head when you search for cars because it's like you're purposely looking for the worst car. Oldsmobiles, Neons, Volvos, Cobalts, Ford 500s, Pontiac G6s, etc.

Are you afraid of Japanese cars? It sounds like you just need basic transportation, coming from a Saturn. Look into cars that are known for reliability like a Camry, Corolla, Civic, Accord, Yaris, etc.

And erase "low mileage" from your brain


I am not afraid of Japanese cars, I know they are better than any american car, the problem is the cost more money, I love my Saturn ( 189000 miles nothing major and I get 38 miles per gallon ), is getting too old.I try to find a good deal that all


In my area if you keep your eyes open and keep looking, you can buy a low mileage nice Civic for ~$4k-$5k and it'll be definitely less than 5-10 years old. There are plenty of Civic/Corolla's out there, there's a deal out there every single day. Just keep looking and once you find it, just pull the trigger immediately. They aren't any exotic or fancy cars which are rare to find.
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: sirgerman
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
As I've mentioned in your posts before, stop looking for "low miles" cars. It's meaningless especially when it's tied to junky cars. I always scratch my head when you search for cars because it's like you're purposely looking for the worst car. Oldsmobiles, Neons, Volvos, Cobalts, Ford 500s, Pontiac G6s, etc.

Are you afraid of Japanese cars? It sounds like you just need basic transportation, coming from a Saturn. Look into cars that are known for reliability like a Camry, Corolla, Civic, Accord, Yaris, etc.

And erase "low mileage" from your brain


I am not afraid of Japanese cars, I know they are better than any american car, the problem is the cost more money, I love my Saturn ( 189000 miles nothing major and I get 38 miles per gallon ), is getting too old.I try to find a good deal that all
I bought my Camry over 2 years ago for $2,100.

It’s been sitting for 9 months now since I bought a newer car.

I wouldn’t think twice to hop in it right now and drive it to New York City at 227k miles.
 
I had a 95 Neon and it was a tough little [censored]. But not a whole lot is the same between the two cars. If they have been maintaining it, its probably pretty good. If its "needed nothing" then beware.
I think for a bit more money you can find something that will cost less in the long term. I think something like a new manual Fiesta for $11k
will cost way less per mile than most $3-4k cars with lots of miles on them.
 
Originally Posted By: StevieC

The timing belt is called for around 60,000 miles but you can easily go 100,000 no problem and the belt will still look like new. It's not very difficult to replace either.


sounds like you're talking about the serpentine belt, not the timing belt.
serpentine is due @60k, The Timing is Due @ 105k. and if it goes, you're in for a valve job minimum (interference engine), if not a rebuilt/reman engine.
timing belt is under a cover behind the serpentine, and also drives the water pump.
most timing belt kits for these engines include a new water pump.

the plugs are due every 30k, with cheap champion copper core plugs. they're cheap and super easy, no reason to not change 'em every 30k.
over all they can be a fun car to drive, and definitely easy to learn/work on.
 
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