i am interested in buying a dodge neon srt? are these cars reliable and are they expensive to fix?

Asked by blondie7 May 25, 2013 at 08:54 PM about the 2005 Dodge Neon SRT-4

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

10 Answers

47,355

I would avoid that car like the plague...2005 was the LAST year of production for the Neon and for good reason: It was unreliable poorly engineered. According to Consumer Reports, the 2005 model scored Negative Ratings in Fuel System, Drive System, Engine, and Electrical System areas. It was NEVER a good car at all and I strongly suggest spending your $$ elsewhere. Here's what else CR has to say about it: Neons boasted a relatively roomy interior and secure handling but a stiff, jittery ride. Power came from a choice of two four-cylinder engines which sounded harsh and served up unimpressive fuel economy. Stick-shift versions were difficult to drive smoothly, and the three-speed automatic stole a lot of power. A four-speed automatic arrived for 2001, but still didn't work well with the engine. A high-performance SRT-4 model with a 230-horsepower, turbocharged four-cylinder engine and a stiffer suspension was added for 2004. The Neon received a Poor score in the IIHS side-crash test when tested without side air bags. It was discontinued after the 2005 model year.

7 people found this helpful.
635

http://www.consumerguide.com/dodge/neon/used/ Read this first.....if you can find one that has not been totaled or Badly modified then yeah. enjoy it, the SRT-4 gets fairly good gas mileage for what it is.

6 people found this helpful.
25

i've enjoyed having mine! but it is a "project car" one where you need to do maintenance on it. Mine has 109,000 on it now.

2 people found this helpful.
405

I think you should avoid Racer-X's recommendation and consumer reports like the plague. Consumer reports stands by their claims that Toyota has built some of the highest quality cars in the industry even though they had to make massive recalls due to the throttle sticking, brakes failing, etc. I think CR gets paid off by companies personally. I own one and it is pretty reliable. I daily drove it for 5 years and, even after being pretty heavily modded, the only things that I've had to repair that aren't normal wear items were my front axles (due to excessive burnouts haha), a couple of sensors, and it leaks oil from the head gasket. But with over 100k, over 350hp, and a lot of hard driving, I consider this minimal. It's not the best made car in the world but it gets good mileage, is really fun to drive, and very seldom leaves you stranded.

18 people found this helpful.
230

I have a 2005 Orange Blast SRT4 that I bought brand new when they came out and I still have it today. Now granted I don't have as much mileage on it as the above post but that is mostly due to the amount of combat deployments I have been on. Mine has 72,489 miles on it currently and it is also heavily modified. Everything on mine is Stage 3 and the only issue I have ever had with it was when I first bought the car. I was driving down the Autobahn in Germany at about 155 mph and the sunroof popped open. Which was not a real big deal since it was still under warranty. They did have to fix it twice though because it happened again about 2 weeks later when I was going 160+ mph. After the second time they fixed it they just went ahead and replaced the stock sunroof and put in a different one at no charge. I asked them why it happened and they said that American made cars may have the capability to go that fast but never actually do so the sunroof wasn't rated to withstand that much pressure. Obviously my car has no govenor or rev limiter. LOL I laughed when the mechanic told me what the issue was. He asked me how fast I was going the second time and I told him I don't know because my speedometer only goes to 160 mph. Gotta love the Autobahn!!

23 people found this helpful.
13,505

This is to racerx.... my wife had an 05 SRT-4 and ive had a 95 and 99 neon R/T. the 95 had 342,122 miles on it, I bought it with 41,000 and I never had and problems with it except for the headgasket at 120k which was the original not the mls design. the 99 has 123 and is strong as hell I don't know where you get your info but all three of mine where 5 speed manuals, and the 95 once got 51 mpg on a trip back from northern Wisconsin. The srt got 18-26 under normal driving.

16 people found this helpful.
40

thinking about buying a 2004 and it has 86000 on it...priced around 5000. kind of leary if something could be wrong.

20

I got my 2003 srt4 blacked out edition And it is amazing. I bought mine for 5,800 and it is amazing. I have had no problems with it since and it has 90,000 miles on it. I have also adjusted my turbo intake pressure so that I can run more boost, plus an intercooler and I just put a new turbo intake kit on it . I am pushing 270 now without the dyno tuning. With the dyno tuning and the stand alone program I should be pushing 650 to 690whp. It is a great car reliable and when tuned right the fastest front wheel drive car that the United States produced. My personal advice is to look for a 2003 my buddy has an 04 and mine is much faster. The only difference with the 03 is no sunroof and no limited slip differential. But in all honesty you really don't need the sunroof or the lsd. Trust me the srt4 is the American subaru to me and many others. Good luck and I hope you take my feedback and roll with it.

2 people found this helpful.
10

I have a 2002 Dodge Neon with 269.000 miles. The only real problem is the wheel bearings, This car has been reliable with minimum maintenance for 16 years and the car is still straight and it has the original clutch

1 people found this helpful.
50

I've always loved the srt-4 neons and now that there about 13 years old now. Of course your going to have normal issues with them and yes you will have to do repairs to them. What im saying is these cars are gonna be a collectors item 10 years from now! I say take care of it the best way you can. Enjoy it because it is a keeper Im a big fan of these cars and have alot of friends that are also! Srt-4 are awsome in my book!

5 people found this helpful.

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