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2003 Dodge Neon Reviews, Pricing & Specs
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The 2003 Dodge Neon now comes in four trims, the base SE, the best-buy SXT, the high-performance R/T, and the fastest, sportiest SRT-4. The ACR and ES trims were dropped in 2003. As the base model, the SE still does not offer many standard features, and you'll have to pay extra for air conditioning and side airbags, but it's an adequate choice if you're looking more for affordability than comfort. The SXT offers a lot more standard features for little extra cost. Both trims feature the 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder, 132-hp engine and 5-speed manual transmission. The sportier R/T has a sports-tuned 2.0 engine (to 150-hp), suspension, and steering, with badging, stripes, 16-inch wheels, and leather trimmed steering wheel and gear shift.
In 2003, the Neon got a minor facelift to its front and rear moldings, door handles, and grille. The hood was lowered and the tail and headlights were tweaked slightly. The SXT features body-colored moldings for extra style.
As always, the 2003 Neon is praised for its large interior. 60/40 split rear seats add extra cargo room. Headroom, legroom, and seats are all comfortable for four adults. There is also good availability of aftermarket parts for interested tuners. Engine power, first-off-the-line performance, and easy handling around curves and in rough conditions are oft-overlooked features of the Neon that distinguish it from other compacts. Criticisms center on squealing brakes, poor performance with the 4-speed automatic, and an inadequately sized gas tank.
Published Aug 5, 2022 by CarGurus Editorial Team
User reviews for 2003 Dodge Neon
Write a reviewUser rating:
by roger b
Jun 29, 2023
Composite body is excellent
Cruise control would help,
the dealer who sold me a
2002 SE had it installed
...... it was hreatyJun 29, 2023
by Anonymous
Aug 08, 2014
It burns a good bit of gas for a little sedan. I like that it's still youthful and fun in style, the dash is plain & boring. like that my model/make has carseat belt and little hooks to clip & secure my children's car seat much better than with a standard seatbelt.Aug 08, 2014
by Anonymous
Oct 12, 2013
Please see Pros and Cons.
I really like it because it gives you good MPG and was a perfect car as a college student.
Did not have much cargo space, but enough to keep golf bags, clothes, etc.
5 CD inserts served me well as a huge music person.
Oct 12, 2013
User rating:
by roger b
Jun 29, 2023
Composite body is excellent
Cruise control would help,
the dealer who sold me a
2002 SE had it installed
...... it was hreatyJun 29, 2023
by Anonymous
Aug 08, 2014
It burns a good bit of gas for a little sedan. I like that it's still youthful and fun in style, the dash is plain & boring. like that my model/make has carseat belt and little hooks to clip & secure my children's car seat much better than with a standard seatbelt.Aug 08, 2014
by Anonymous
Oct 12, 2013
Please see Pros and Cons.
I really like it because it gives you good MPG and was a perfect car as a college student.
Did not have much cargo space, but enough to keep golf bags, clothes, etc.
5 CD inserts served me well as a huge music person.
Oct 12, 2013
by Anonymous
Mar 19, 2013
I like that it is red and has a spoiler. It has good acceleration and runs really smooth. The interiors are really great - red and black, instead of the beige that is so commonly found in used cars. In addition it is fuel efficient. 22-24 miles in the city per gallon.Mar 19, 2013
by Kristian B
Mar 19, 2013
its a really fuel saver and great in mileage. Has been used for work and back home new paint not more than 6months old in the paint and great maintainance. althought it is not power locks and windows, it is great for a first car and also for a new driver.Mar 19, 2013
by Matt T
Nov 14, 2012
This is, by far, the greatest car I have ever owned. Period.
I bought this particular model because it had no equipment; manual windows, manual locks, no A/C, and in a manual transmission. When I bought it, it was 3 years old and had about 70,000km on it.
Since then, I have really only replaced brakes, tires, rear wheel bearings, cam and crank sensors, and serviced fluids and performed tune-ups as required.
It has a few upgraded parts on it as well. I installed B&G drop springs, a Progress 3-way adjustable rear sway bar, and installed a custom front strut tower brace, cool-air intake with heat shroud, and replaced the muffler with one that's a bit louder. I also installed EBC Greenstuff brake pads. I drive this car all year round, and for the summer I have a set of 15" Motegi wheels with GT Radial 328 tires. I will admit, with the car lowered, it's a bit of a plow in the winter, but that's life.
The car has nearly 200,000km on it, and the last 130,000km has not been easy on it. It's had many miles of hard driving, and even a track day thrown in for good measure. It's still running with a factory clutch, factory alternator and factory starter (knock wood), and the engine has no leaks.Nov 14, 2012
by Roger H
Apr 28, 2012
I went with the smaller engine & non-turbo to try to avoid the "sports car" hit on my insurance. Because it is a stick even though I wanted it for the mpg I still got tagged for the sports car increase. 250,000 miles and no major repairs, good gas mileage, paint has held up well, quick off the line w/ the stick in the 2.0L. Drives & handles well, best tire wear is to use the pressure listed on the tires not the ones in the door/owners manual. I can get 65k out of 60k tires using the tire pressure but only 50k if I use the door. Using the door pressure also reduces the mpg by 15-20%. I usually get 32-36mpg but with the factory pressures I am lucky to get 28.Apr 28, 2012
by Bryan M
Feb 09, 2012
the acceleration on this car is instant, and the body of the car and the interior of the car is excellent. it is so much fun to drive and to go places in the car! the gas milage is great its only at max 30 bucks to fill and it lasts two weeks because i drive a lot at least 20miles a day at max 28miles a day.
Feb 09, 2012
by Matt E
Dec 02, 2010
Build quality fairly poor. Exhaust system is almost completely rusted out.
Fair amount of wind noise when traveling on interstates. Fantastic fuel
economy and decent looks. This is a trade off with acceleration and drive
experience, as to be expected. Dec 02, 2010
by Nancy S
Nov 20, 2010
The only thing I dont like about this car, is that the acceleration aint good but that is because it's a 4cyl. The interior is beautiful, black on black. so when i put my tweety in it! Tweety popped!! Great on Mileage!!! Nov 20, 2010
by Cody B
Nov 14, 2010
xenon body kit jdm strut bar reacative strut bar eibach springs american racing rims thrush muffler short ram intake euro tail lights custom interior and a big ass stereo preformance breaks and probely more just can't remember. and once again they want 40 words is this enough yet you dumb box?Nov 14, 2010
by Anonymous
Oct 28, 2010
I thought the acceleration on it was great for
an automatic, stock car i can keep up and even
beat a few 6 cylinders. the breaking could of
been better but i was cheap and always used
the cheap pads. the handling was average and i
would say the build quality too never really
had any major issues with the repairs just
regularly changed the oil but used mobile 1
fully synthetic i think that helps alot for
keeping the engine in tip top condition my
neon has 140k on it and is still running
strong and is pretty quite i think as well Oct 28, 2010
by Mike D
Sep 28, 2010
Basically it works, starts when I need it to, gets me from point A to point B. It is cheap to own, low insurance, low maintenance, easy to work on. I find it fun to drive, for what it is. Sep 28, 2010
by J'Rico F
Jul 04, 2010
If you bought this car you didn't but it for being the fastest car out there. Although you can fix it up to be considerably quick for not too much out the pocket. Its a really easily maintained vehicle that if you keep up with can last a while. In my opinion it looks pretty good. At most depending on which package you got you'll need an upgrade in the wheels area of the car. The gas is excellent and everything is good. It's a very fun car to drive. This was my first car bought brand new off the lot.Jul 04, 2010
by Joshua S
Jun 05, 2010
Not the most powerful car on the road but it has held up under some great abuse and keeps pushing back, great investment. Easy to work on as well, and the cost of the parts are cheap, plus when it's running well it can be a fun car to drive. Jun 05, 2010
by Johnathan S
May 09, 2010
A lot of history with this car. Drove it thorugh my high school years. I top it out one day its was about 6 grand doing about 105 mph. I hit a deer with it notthing got damage to bad. May 09, 2010
by Holly L
Mar 23, 2010
It seems to be solidly built and it gets great mileage. It's hard to compare with other cars as it's the newest one I've ever had. It's cute. I haven't had any trouble with it so far. The interior is usefully designed.Mar 23, 2010
by Taylor S
Feb 01, 2010
I like how i can rebuild the suspension and the power steering in a day. Plus i love the fact that i was doing donuts this morning in some mud. Topped it out around 130 mph, but speeding tickets suck. lolFeb 01, 2010
by Anonymous
Jan 30, 2010
Dont get me wrong it does great on gas mileage, but other then that i have had it since 2004 and i have had to replace the radiator, all 4 motor mounts, calaper's, went through 3 or more sets of brakes, 3 sets of tires, ect. I just wish that the transmission would not have went out! It no longer goes in reverse and hasnt for a while. Also ever since i got the car the CD player makes a clicking sound when it goes to eject a CDJan 30, 2010
by Jeffrey T
Jan 11, 2010
Carbon fiber hood, Halo projector lights with yellow rings, Depo L.E.D.s taillights, mirrors, ksport coilovers, srt rims for now, T4 turbo, MSD DIS-2 ignition, MSD coil, radiator hard pipe, racing seats ,and glowshift gauges and more. Had two bodykits on the car am upgrading again!Jan 11, 2010
by Cory F
Dec 10, 2009
It's got good performance for a little four-banger. The manual transmission and sport suspension make for a little fun around town. It's dependable when serviced often. It's got great throttle response around 3500 rpm. My only complaint comes from the reverse gear in the transmission slipping out of gear somewhat regularly.Dec 10, 2009
by Branden K
Dec 08, 2009
any car will last as long as you take care of it. The neon has been running great and looks like a 2007, but its a 2003. So be scared, i get off the line faster than most. have a good oneDec 08, 2009
by Ashley K
Nov 22, 2009
its my maggie I really like the color and the engine is fine, it takes a while to get going but when shes there well shes there i love to drive it and its a 5 speed so she makes me happyNov 22, 2009
by Christopher R
Oct 22, 2009
Not as fast as the SRT-4 but I can fix that. Five speed manual sick. needs a six speed and a tripple disc clutch. and maybe a V-8 no luck on that tho it won't fit. thats too badOct 22, 2009
by Rilee S
Sep 10, 2009
well it didnt get up very quick, the quality was junk, it was a rebuilt car. The appearance was ok, prolly not my favorite, It got good milage, but it was expensive, and it was pretty fun to drive, ecpecially driftineSep 10, 2009
by Norah W
Aug 12, 2009
is a neon what else can i say. lol would love to have a
srt 4 but hey. it gets me to work. oh it does have nice
speakers normally neons do. I don't think there is
anything else I can say about the car. Sorry.Aug 12, 2009
by Kevin H
Dec 02, 2008
I have had this car for about 4 months now and it has
been a good car so far. Performance-wise it is a weak
car but it gets me from a to b. The cost of ownership
is great with the great gas milage. It was my first car
and it has been a great one.Dec 02, 2008
by Heather G
Jul 17, 2008
i like this car because it gets me around and great on gas. performance is nice but sometimes have to push the petal to the ground before it picks up. cost was good concidering how old the car was. yes this car is fun to drive. great stereo system tooJul 17, 2008
by Dallace B
Jul 13, 2008
LOve It. 5 speed cold air intake factory tinted windows and teh loud factory exhaust is great. 32 mpg's and handles great. no problems except for the really only "new" belt that i put that squeals!Jul 13, 2008
by Shane S
Jun 11, 2008
I've had this car since 2005 and I have loved it since. I love driving it and being in it. It has a powerful enough engine to have fun in. The pull on the E-brake is solid for going around corners. Aside from burning my brakes out, this car has been running great with only the necessary fix-ups (oil change, spark plugs, etc.). Car looks much better with stock spoiler or SRT-4 spoiler compared to the oversized aftermarket wings. Jun 11, 2008
by Benjamin V
May 21, 2008
This year of neon was very well built. I really have not had any problems exept for the conector for the head lights burned up but it was an easy fix to do.May 21, 2008
by Jennifer F
May 02, 2008
Bought this car cuz it was cheap and it has never given me a problem.May 02, 2008
by Marcus R
Apr 22, 2008
I've owned the car for less than one year and it's holding up well, no major issues.
This wasn't anything near what I was looking for, but it's what I have. I was looking
more for a fast, rear-wheel drive car. Instead I have a fairly slow, front-wheel drive
car.
I would recommend this to someone who's looking for a car with nice amounts of
leg, isn't too concerned with speed and handling that wants a reliable car.
Pros: Reliable. Decent Looks. 4Dr.Apr 22, 2008
by John W
Apr 15, 2008
Solid Interior, 18-30 miles a gallon depending on when where and how I'm driving, VERY simple mechanics, good solid carApr 15, 2008
by Brent S
Apr 03, 2008
As far as econoboxes go the Dodge Neon tends to sacrifice some of the superior fuel economy of a honda civic at the expense of some performance. The handles and feels rather tight compared to other cars in its class, and acceleration is decent for the little 4-banger.
The seats are also rather comfortable for its class, and I found the driving position to be very nice (this is important for me). My only con on comfort is that the car seems to have very bad blind spots for me (it dosen't for my wife), so I feel claustrophobic when driving.
Other than that, this is a great economy car.Apr 03, 2008
by Norm G
Jan 18, 2008
If your looking for a fun car, then this is it. Fast, Fun, and Flashy.Jan 18, 2008
by Anonymous
Dec 17, 2007
i have a sxt love it this car is fast for a auto transmission just bought a cold air intake sounds great. 85,000 miles strongDec 17, 2007
by Anonymous
Oct 09, 2007
I haven't have too many problems, I had a warped rotor when it was about 3 years old. Recently the engine light comes on when I get gas. It could be the gas or the gas cap, not sure yet. People always tell me they like my car. Mine's yellow with black rims. I'm thinking of selling it though, the manual transmission isn't helping with my bad shoulder. Oct 09, 2007
by Anonymous
Sep 03, 2007
Has 88,000 miles. I've had it for one year and have only needed to take it in once or twice for maintenace, both problems dealing with complete loss of power. Sep 03, 2007
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Top Comparisons
Have you driven a 2003 Dodge Neon?Compare this car
2003 Dodge Neon Pricing
Original MSRP
$13,575 to $17,630Price range
N/AAverage price on CG
N/AYoY price change
N/ATrims & specs
Airbags
Dual front airbags · Front side airbags
Audio System
Single disc in-Dash CD · AM/FM radio
Brakes
ABS: 4-wheel
Convenience Features
Multi-function remote: keyless entry · Steering wheel: tilt-adjustable
Mirrors
Exterior mirrors: power
Rear Seats
Type: bench
Seats
Front seat type: bucket · Upholstery: cloth
Tires and Rims
Wheels: steel
Windows
Front wipers: intermittent
Airbags
Dual front airbags · Front side airbags
Audio System
Single disc in-Dash CD · AM/FM radio
Brakes
ABS: 4-wheel
Convenience Features
Multi-function remote: trunk release · Steering wheel: tilt-adjustable
Lights
Exterior entry lights: security approach lamps
Mirrors
Exterior mirrors: power
Rear Seats
Type: bench
Roof
Moonroof: power
Seats
Front seat type: bucket · Upholstery: cloth
Tires and Rims
Wheel type: aluminum alloy · Wheels: chrome
Windows
Front wipers: intermittent
Airbags
Dual front airbags · Front side airbags
Audio System
6 disc in-dash CD · MP3 player: CD MP3 Playback · AM/FM radio
Brakes
ABS: 4-wheel
Comfort Features
Shift knob trim: leather
Convenience Features
Multi-function remote: trunk release · Steering wheel: tilt-adjustable
Lights
Exterior entry lights: security approach lamps
Mirrors
Exterior mirrors: power
Rear Seats
Type: bench
Roof
Moonroof: power
Seats
Front seat type: bucket · Upholstery: leather
Tires and Rims
Wheel type: aluminum alloy
Windows
Front wipers: intermittent