Dodge Neon
Owners filed 3,492 complaints across 13 model years of the Dodge Neon. The 1995 drew the most (976).
Model years13
Complaints3,492
Recalls75
Fires114
Deaths28
Which Dodge Neon years should you avoid?
Going by 3,492 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the Dodge Neon years to avoid are 1995, 1999, 1996 and 2001.
- 1995976 complaints, 4.8× a typical Neon year, most often about the engine.
- 19993.1× the usual share of fires, crashes and deaths for a car of its age (4 fires, 21 crashes, 5 deaths).
- 1996611 complaints, 3.0× a typical Neon year, most often about the engine.
- 20012.4× the usual share of fires, crashes and deaths for a car of its age (1 fire, 35 crashes, 5 deaths).
How this is worked out: each year is compared with a typical year of the same model, which takes most of the difference in sales out of it, and its share of serious failures is compared with every other car of the same model year, because older cars were complained about differently. A year needs 25 complaints to be judged at all. Complaints are unverified owner reports. Full method →
Every Dodge Neon model year compared
Complaints per year| Year | Complaints | Relative volume | Recalls | Fires | Crashes | Most reported | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 96 | 4 | 2 | 23 | Vehicle Speed Control | Routine | |
| 2004 | 94 | 5 | 3 | 19 | Engine and Engine Cooling | Routine | |
| 2003 | 202 | 5 | 20 | 23 | Electrical System | Fatalities reported | |
| 2002 | 173 | 6 | 3 | 26 | Power Train › Automatic Transmission | Routine | |
| 2001Avoid | 146 | 10 | 1 | 35 | Air Bags › Frontal | Fatalities reported | |
| 2000 | 337 | 11 | 6 | 73 | Air Bags › Frontal | Fatalities reported | |
| 1999Avoid | 116 | 4 | 4 | 21 | Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine | Fatalities reported | |
| 1998 | 339 | 6 | 3 | 43 | Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine | Above average | |
| 1997 | 390 | 6 | 12 | 44 | Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine | Above average | |
| 1996Avoid | 611 | 7 | 5 | 46 | Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine | Above average | |
| 1995Avoid | 976 | 11 | 55 | 126 | Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine | Fatalities reported | |
| 1994 | 9 | 0 | — | 2 | Air Bags › Frontal | Routine | |
| 1993 | 3 | 0 | — | — | Suspension › Front › Control Arm | Routine |
Data: NHTSA complaint and recall files, October 2026. Complaints are unverified owner reports.