You used to see the Neon and it would say "Hi" to you. At least, that's what the advertising people wanted you to think. The truth is, it did say "Hi" and much more to a lot of people. It was a good car for a small price and had plenty of room to carry people and cargo with a bit of style as well. In the '90s, it was the closest thing an American manufacturer had to the innocent, non-compromising aura of the original VW Beetle.
The Neon was introduced way back in 1995 and was redesigned into the car we see today four years later, in 1999. The new Dodge-only Neon (since Chrysler axed the Plymouth brand last year) has grown up quite a bit since its initial run and took on new responsibilities with it redesign and is garnering a new clientele, which should please the bigwigs at DaimlerChrysler.
Chrysler
engineers and designers, with the stigma of a truly important redesign on their
shoulders, had to please everyone from kids on the street to the dealers that
would sell the Neon. Those same people hoped upon hope that the original Neon
formula wouldn't be messed with too much: A cute car with personality and oomph
to get you where you want to go and let everyone know you've arrived once you
got there.
What they gave us was a more sophisticated more refined car with a little less
personality and a little more savoir faire. Our little Neon grew up and we couldn't
be more proud.
But seriously, the 2002 Dodge Neon is a capable, dependable, nicely styled small car with a bit of pizzazz and one that's a whole lot of fun to drive.
Speaking of which, we enjoyed driving the Neon around town. It was fairly quick off the line and made it easy for us to zig and zag through traffic. We were a bit disappointed with the rough shifts of the four-speed automatic but we liked the fact that putting the gear selector in "3" which made the car feel more sporty than we thought possible, with quick shifts to keep the engine in its powerband.
We liked the high-tech sound to the not-too-buzzy engine. We were actually impressed at the refinement of the powerplant in the test car. Our earlier experiences with Chrysler four-cylinders were nothing to write home about. They would buzz like a bumble bee at higher rpms were just coarse little things.
Inside, the Neon benefits from Chrysler's multi-million-dollar light studio built three years ago within the Chrysler design center in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Every bit of plastic and cloth looked good in each lighting situation we experienced. And the switches felt reasonably weighted and not cheap like some other cars of small price.
Our car came with a most interesting feature: The front windows were power operated while the rear windows were of the old roll-down type. If this is a cost-cutting measure, I'd like to find the people that were in that focus group and put them all in an institution. It is difficult for me to fathom why, of all things, would an automaker do something so strange.
Idle is a little rough at stoplights, or whenever the A/C is off. The 132 horses of our tester's engine had little difficulty keeping pace with traffic with the A/C on full blast.
The four-speed automatic made some rough shifts between first and second and also shifted about 1000 rpms shy of the redline. This was a bit disconcerting but didn't seem to hurt performance all that much; we just expected more of a push to redline than what the Neon gave.
This little car does well in tight, fast corners, due to the independent suspension at all four wheels. We noticed that there was enough power to pull us out of the corners at a good clip but not enough to really get the tires squawking. Long, sweeping corners, on the other hand, were taken with aplomb, but the lack of forward energy really cut into the fun, fast feeling. Punching the accelerator didn't do too much to help out in that department. The 2.0-liter Magnum and five-speed manual would have been more up to the task, but they also would have added a few grand to the bottom line.
Our Neon came with the front disc/rear drum brake setup found on most non-performance oriented sedans and did a great job of keeping us out of real trouble. We didn't test them to fade but they showed little signs of wear after traversing our test loop.
The Neon we drove came decently equipped and had just two options: Side airbags ($390) and an automatic transmission ($825). The total price for our car, including destination ($490), was $16,325.
Otherwise, the Neon ES now comes standard with air conditioning, 15-inch wheels and tires, CD player, remote keyless entry and power windows, locks and mirrors.
For the price and feature content, not including the demerits for the manual rear windows, the Neon is a good car for the money. It is a great car for youngsters in high school and college to get back and forth from work and school and will do for a small family on a budget. We're still not sold on its long-term quality, even with the long warranty, but the people of Belvidere, Ill., can be proud of this little car they build.