1998 Plymouth Neon problems
NHTSA has received 237 complaints about the 1998 Plymouth Neon, and 41% of them involve engine. After that come air bags (8%) and suspension (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 237 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 41% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 23 and 5
- Injuries and deaths
- 20 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 66,000 miles 33 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 6 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 3 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 19 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 1 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 4 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 33 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 66,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 62,000 miles (17 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 23 complaints mention a crash; 5 complaints mention a fire; 20 injuries reported; 2 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1998 ranks 3rd most-complained-about out of 7 model years of the Plymouth Neon with enough data (166 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
This car was owned by my sister, who died as a result of this accident. Please contact me as I would like an investigation of this car.
Vehicle was involved in a frontal impact at 20-25 MPH and neither air bag deployed. Dealer is not aware of the problem.
When brake is pushed the turn lights would light up and brake lights wouldn't brighten. This was (08/13/01). In 10/10/01 was able to drive forward in reverse and neutral, didn't have a reverse, transmission replaced. In 03/12/02, found oil in the antifreeze reserve and radiator, replaced engine due to head gasket problem. In 04/15/02, transmission doing the same thing back on 10/10/01 , transmission is replaced again.
I bought the car and had great mileage for about 4 months. Now I get less than someone who owns a chevy camero that is 3 years older than my car. I went on a trip to southern illinois and 5 and 1/2 hour drive. I used all the oil in my car. I took it to a dealer and was told that I had blown a head gasket.