Well first of all let me tell you that before I met my wife, she was taken to the cleaners, in 1997,by Dodge World of Des Plaines, IL. She was making payments of 318 dollars over 60 months!
Well so she has this 1997 Dodge Neon that she thought would last. As of now it only has 45,000 miles.
At 10,000 miles, she needed new front rotors as hers had rusted out completely. Then she didn't have a single problem until 30,000 miles. "Um, sir, you have a major oil leak..." said the man who was changing my oil. At first, I thought this guy was just trying to sucker me in. He then showed me the oil soaked cross member. So, I took it to the dealership. Sure enough, a blown head gasket. The car was in the shop for a week.
After getting it home, a week later, the exhaust manifold gasket blew.
Then we seemed to not have any problems until the 44,000 mile mark. What's that I smell? Pancake syrup? Great...coolant leak. Sure enough the water pump had to be replaced. 1,000 miles later, the same smell was still evident and the check engine light came on. We brought it back to find the water neck on the block cracked. Also we had a bad EGR valve(EGR=$300, mostly labor).
I guess luckily, my wife was suckered into buying the extended warranty, so most of the repairs were covered. Except the EGR, water neck, and brakes at 10,000 miles.
Needless to say, I will never look at another Neon, let alone a Chrysler!
Amount Paid (US$): 18,000
Condition: New
Model Year: 1997
Model and Options: Highline 4dr