Was 1995 really 30 years ago already? How is that possible? Times sure seemed simple back then, now that I think about it, including vehicles like this 1995 Plymouth Neon. There are no incessantly troublesome “media screens” in this car to go out; it has a radio. The seller has this Neon posted here on craigslist in Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada, and they’re asking $3,200, I’m assuming Canadian funds, but we don’t know for sure. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Tony P. for the tip!
Chrysler made the Neon available to both Dodge and Plymouth, and this is a first-generation car, made from 1993 through 1999. They came in this four-door sedan body style and also a two-door coupe. I made a quick convertible just to see what that may have looked like. I’m not sure if my version works or not.
As a small, easy-to-drive, easy-to-park, easy-to-maintain commuter car, it’s hard to beat a Neon. This one has a bit over 100,000 miles on it, so it hasn’t been used really that much. Or maybe those are kilometers, in which case it really hasn’t been used much. The early concept for the Neon was pretty wild, and as almost always, it got watered down to a regular ol’ car by the time the accountants and regulations got involved.
The automatic transmission selector on the console shows that this car doesn’t have a fun-to-shift manual, making it much easier to illegally and unsafely text and drive on your commute, so that’s a good thing, right? I mean, unsafe for everyone else to do that, not us, we know how to safely text and drive! Sorry, that has nothing to do with this great-looking Neon. The exterior looks just about flawless, and so does the interior of this car. The upgraded stereo system module (cough) gives it a modern touch, counterpunching my opening paragraph about this car being from another era before too much technology was involved. The back seat looks as perfect as the front seats do, and the small-but-big-enough trunk compartment also looks like new.
As interesting and, dare I say, “cool-looking” engines as I can imagine for a commuter car, this is Chrysler’s 2.0-liter SOHC inline-four with 132 horsepower and 129 lb-ft of torque when new. With a three-speed automatic sending power to the front wheels, the seller says this one has a new timing belt, water pump, and pulleys, along with a new battery, new LED headlights, a new fuel pump and filter, new spark plugs, and the AC system has been gone through. For $3,200, this is a no-brainer; it won’t last long at that price. Have any of you owned a Neon?
Sharp drop top Scotty!
Ha, thanks, Pat! It’s not one of my favorites but that’s darn nice of you.
When these came out,I was impressed with how quick they were
for autocrossing & hillclimbing.I also thought it was cool the way
they came in bright neon colors.
I couldn’t agree more. I loved their early ad campaign with the “smiling” and friendly Neon “face” saying, “Hi.”
Very clean one here. The automatic may have had something to do with it still being in such a nice condition. Loved you’re drop top too Scotty. It DOES work. That would have been nice to have in the market.
Once again, the author could sugercoat a salt lick, but like the Saturn Ion, they were the poster child for recalls. As if the Volare/Aspen wasn’t bad enough. These suffered reliability problems from the get go. Head gaskets, naturally, poor build quality, and a host of recalls. While not a direct replacement for the Omni, that was the Shadow, many folks that had Omnis thought, how different could they be? Not many bought another, and didn’t help Chryslers already iffy market. They became this standard issue FWD beater, again, adorning trailer home parking stalls next to that Corsica in disrepair. I thought they were okay cars, but once again, no match for the Asian offerings, like Civic or Corolla and the Neon quietly disappeared and nobody noticed. Once the timing belt broke and scrambled the motor, very few kept one.
They got it right w the hot SRT-4 model .. it was a legendary screamer Howard. 🚀 🏁
I am normally on the same page as Howard, but disagree with him on this point. First, the head gasket issue was resolved fairly early on by using the MLS replacement. Second, never broke a timing belt on one of these, but then again, I will replace on whenever I have to take it off (e.g. water pump replacement, etc.). Third, the Neon is a solid platform. I have raced a Neon for over 20 years. Won three NASA regional championships. After NASA cancelled the Spec Neon series, another Neon racer and I formed a team which we ran in LeMons, Chump Car, and currently, Lucky Dog Racing. We have always been competitive, including one overall win (by 11 laps over 2nd place) in a true 24 hours race. The Neon’s best feature is reliability. I will try to send Scotty a photo of the current race car (maybe I should become a member).
OK Howard lighten up. I sold new Neons,Omni’s, Shadows ect. None of them were bad cars. Mostly happy customers. Yes the Jap cars were better. Not by as much as most people think. One of the main differences was the owners! Honda owners really did replace the timing belt at 60k just like it said in the owners manual. Dodge owners never opened the book! The big big big deal in the 70’s to 90’s was the Japanese government helped with r&d the Japanese government spent millions upon millions trying to put the American car business out of business. BTW the same people who bombed Pearl Harbor! Keep your Jap cars. I have no use for any of that. Sign US VET
Good write-up Scotty. It seems that these did an admirable job being just what they set out to be: a basic, inexpensive commuter car that didn’t look like a box on wheels. This example looks to be in good shape with several new parts, and is cheap.
I’m not sure about the convertible, seems like it needs to be six inches shorter. In any case, I certainly enjoy seeing your efforts.
Oh yeah…. I remember the “Hi”. Its funny the things you forget all about until seeing an economy car from 3 decades ago
I had a last year Neon (2005) from 2005-2017. The later year ones had a 4 speed automatic with overdrive. Even with that I only averaged about 28-30 mpg. Had a little over 100,000 miles on when I traded it in for a new Outback. By then the rockers were rusted out. It had very weak suspension parts that needed replacing often.
Bad head gasket years. Pass (plus its an auto)
My ’99 2 door R/T is sitting out in the parking lot as I type. It’s serving backup duty (it’s my garage queen) since I likely blew the turbo on my 2003 TDi Jetta wagon. R/T is still on the original headgasket. I changed the timing belt/pump myself in my garage. It’s got Mopar XX rate springs, Koni yellows, Mopar ECU, Modern Performance UDP, Iceman intake and uber hard to find neon “Trunk kit” wheels which are in phenomenal shape. Car has original paint and still shines. She boogies, for what it is and I hate driving it only due to the people around me that can’t appreciate a clean survivor. Oh and she’s got her copper historic vehicle plates to boot. ;)
I had a brand new 1995 Dodge Neon 4 door Highline trim with automatic transmission and air conditioning. Very nice car and served my purposes well. The car for sale looks even better in red. Texting was not a thing in 1995 especially in my personal car I used (under cover)to deliver court summonses and orders.
These were hugely popular and continued to sell well into their second generation. Not a rocket with the automatic but pperfectly road worthy. When introduced the 5-speed model was said to be CChryslers second fastest 0-60 car (non Mitsubishi). I thought they were pretty sweet especially in the Strawberry Pearl coat paint you see here.
Check out the touchscreen display where the old radio used to be. And what’s that device added to the steering wheel? Is the price in Canadian dollars or USD? And what is the actual mileage in US miles? This is a very good example of a neon. I actually liked them at the time, especially the coupe. As this one sold yet?
I won a 1995 Plymouth Neon in 1994 at shea stadium. Wfan 66 radio contest. About 300 people came, I hit the most homers off left handsets, Ed Kranepool And Art Shamsky. I at lefty , they pitched left, harder to hit. During baseball strike, no pro players or crowds. But very fun, called my mom in hospital, she just had breast surgery removal, asked her which color car she wanted, RED!. And that’s the story.
My mom had one of these. Put no mileage on it. I think after 5 years, it had 5k miles on it. She didnt drive on freeways. By the time she got rid of it, the whole undercarriage had rusted out. Now, it wasnt garage kept, but she never used it. These things were just a pile.
OK… here is a link to my Craigslist ad which shows the current Neon race car.
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/pts/d/burbank-two-first-generation-dodge-neon/7877742853.html
If anyone really wants to build a LeMons car, the 4 door would be a good start.
My wife and I bought a 2000 Plymouth Neon, in black in November 99. That little car was great for us. Aside from routine Maintenace, we had very little extra cost repairs. Replaced the timing chain/ water pump twice, fuel pump once and very little else that wasn’t normal wear and tear items. Finally took the car off the road in 2017 with 218,000 miles. The only reason for getting rid of it was because the whole front end needed replacing, at a cost of $2500 and the car was only worth about $800 at the time. That car was used by us for years, then by my daughter to go back and forth to college and then by me for going to work, as we bought a new Caliber in 2008.