2003 Dodge Neon

DECEMBER 2008, HEADLIGHTS WORKING FINE DURING TRIP, STOPPED FOR GAS, AND HEADLIGHTS WOULD NOT COME BACK ON. USED HIGH BEAMS FOR ABOUT 20 MINUTES AND THEN SWITCHED TO LOW BEAMS WERE THEN WORKING. HAPPENED AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH FOR THE NEXT YEAR. EARLY MARCH, NOTICED A BURNING SMELL, THOUGHT IT WAS OUTSIDE, LIGHTS WERE WORKING FINE. WHILE DRIVING ALONE AT NIGHT APRIL 2009, TRIED TO USE HIGH BEAMS, BUT MULTIFUNCTION SWITCH WOULD NOT STAY IN PLACE, HAD TO HOLD THE SWITCH BACK FOR HIGH BEAMS TO WORK. MY HANDS BECAME VERY WARM SITTING ON THE STEERING WHEEL, FELT CLOSER TO THE STEERING COLUMN AND WAS INCREDIBLY HOT. THERE WAS NOWHERE TO STOP, HAD TO KEEP DRIVING ANOTHER HOUR OR SO. STOPPED FOR 5 MINUTES AND SHUT OFF VEHICLE, WHEN VEHICLE TURNED BACK ON, HEADLIGHTS WOULDN'T WORK. HAD TO DRIVE WITH ONLY PARKING LIGHTS AT 2AM, VERY UNSAFE! EVER SINCE, HEADLIGHTS NO LONGER WORK. THIS HAS CLEARLY BEEN AN ISSUE, AND IT VERY EASY TO FIND INFORMATION AND OTHER COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS SAME PROBLEM. THIS COULD HAVE CLEARLY BECOME AN EVEN WORSE PROBLEM. TRIED TO REPLACE THE MULTIFUNCTION SWITCH, BUT THE PLUG WAS MELTED IN PLACE. PARTS WERE BURNED BLACK AND BROWN AND INCREDIBLY BRITTLE FROM THE INTENSE HEAT THAT EMANATED FROM THE WIRING. THIS FINAL PROBLEM HAPPENED AT ABOUT 90,000 MILES. I AM STILL CURRENTLY WAITING TO FIND THE LARGE SUM OF MONEY TO GET THIS FIXED. I AM CURRENTLY NOT ABLE TO DRIVE AT NIGHT , SINCE I DO NOT HAVE PROPER LIGHTING. AFRAID TO EVEN USE PARKING LIGHTS, AS THIS SUPPLIES ELECTRICAL JUICE TO THE SWITCH AND COULD POSSIBLY CAUSE A FIRE, AS I HAVE READ ABOUT OTHER OWNER'S PROBLEMS. *TR

MY HEADLIGHTS AND FOGLIGHTS WOULD PERIODICALLY SHUT OFF OR NOT COME ON. THEN ONLY THE BRIGHTS WOULD WORK AND WHILE DRIVING WOULD SHUT OFF ALTOGETHER. FINALLY THE HEADLIGHTS AND FOGLIGHTS HAVE STOPPED WORKING. THE MARKER LIGHTS AND TURN SIGNALS STILL WORK, BUT I HAVE NO ILLUMINATION AHEAD OF ME. IT REQUIRED A SWITCH AND CONNECTOR CHANGE. SO FAR THERE ARE NUMEROUS OTHER NEONS THAT HAVE HAD THIS HAPPEN TO THEM AND THE DEALER REFUSES TO HELP US IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM. THE OLD PARTS ARE STILL AVAILABLE FOR EXAMINATION AND THE OEM BULBS ARE STILL AROUND AS WELL. *TR

AT 60,000 MILES MY 2003 DODGE NEON R/T STARTED SMOKING FROM THE STEERING COLUMN. AT THE TIME I THOUGHT IT WAS DUST CAUGHT BY THE SUNLIGHT AND SINCE NOTHING APPEARED TO BE WRONG WITH MY CAR, I FORGOT ABOUT IT - ONE WEEK LATER- I STARTED BY CAR AND MY HEADLIGHTS WOULDN'T WORK, CONCERNED AND REMEMBERING THE "DUST IN THE SUNLIGHT THE WEEK BEFORE, I CALLED THE DODGE DEALERSHIP IN THE AREA AND DROPPED OFF MY CAR A LITTLE WHILE LATER. TURNS OUT THE WIRING HARNESS ON THE STEERING COLUMN HAD OVERHEATED AND MELTED TOGETHER ( THERE WAS ALSO A PROBLEM WITH THE GAS TANK PRESSURE BUT I COULD NEVER GET THEM TO TELL EXACTLY WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS) LUCKILY THE HARNESS WAS NOT COMPLETELY DESTROYED SO THE WIRES COULD JUST BE REPLACED. I ASKED THEM WHAT CAUSED THE PROBLEM AND IF THEY WERE JUST REPLACING WIRES, WELL, WOULDN'T IT HAPPEN AGAIN? ONCE AGAIN ALL I GOT WERE VAGUE NON COMMITALE ANSWERS, A 1,200 DOLLAR BILL, PLUS, I WAS REFUSED A COURTESY VEHICLE - YEAH I HAD TO FOOT THE BILL FR DRIVING A RENTAL CAR FOR A WEEK. I RESEARCH THIS PROBLEM AND FOUND THAT THE 1996 NEON HAD BEEN RECALLED FOR THIS SAME PROBLEM BUT THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM WAS NEVER FIXED, ALSO, THE PT CRUISER HAS THE SAME DEFECT. THE DEALERSHIP TOLD ME THAT IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE AND BASICALLY WHAT WENT WRONG WAS MY FAULT, SOME HOW. AGAIN VERY VAGUE AND NON-COMMITTAL. I FOUND OUT THAT UNLESS A PROBLEM IS A SAFETY ISSUE, MEANING I GUESS THAT A FEW PEOPLE HAVE TO DIE, A RECALL WILL NOT BE ISSUED. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 DODGE NEON. EVERYTIME THE CONTACT ACTIVATES THE HEAT IN THE VEHICLE, HE NOTICED AN INFLUX OF CARBON MONOXIDE IN THE VEHICLE. HE EXHIBITS PHYSIOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS OF CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING, SUCH AS FEELING LIGHT HEADED. THE DEALER COULD NOT IDENTIFY THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE OR FIND A REMEDY. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 44,000 AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 50,500.

MY 2003 DODGE NEON SRT-4 WAS MAKING A FUNNY SMELL AT NIGHT THEN MY LIGHTS WENT OUT AND THEY WOULD ONLY WORK WITH MY BRIGHT SWITCH PULLED BACK. I PULLED APART AND SAW THAT MY SWITCH TO MY MULTIFUNCTION SWITCH WAS BURNT. I WENT TO DODGE AND THEY TOLD ME IT WAS NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. SO I BOUGHT A NEW MULTIFUNCTION SWITCH AND PLUG. I DO HAVE ALL THE OLD PARTS. *TR

2003 DODGE NEON, LOW BEAMS QUIT WORKING A FEW WEEKS LATER THE FOG LIGHTS BECAME INTERMITTENT, THEN EVENTUALLY QUIT WORKING TOO. UPON EXAMINATION IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THE CONNECTOR THAT ATTACHES TO THE MULTIFUNCTION SWITCH IS MELTING FROM BEING OVERHEATED DURING HEADLAMP/FOGLAMP USE. DODGE IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM BUT DOES NOT HAVE A RECALL ON IT. A REPAIR KIT IS AVAILABLE, THE DESCRIPTION FOR WHICH CLEARLY INDICATES THAT DODGE IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM. RESEARCH ALSO REVEALS THAT THE SAME REPAIR KIT IS INDICATED FOR SEVERAL OTHER CHRYSLER PRODUCTS EXHIBITING SIMILAR DESIGN DEFICIENCIES. *TR

WHEN I USE MY HEADLIGHTS FOR 15-20 MINUTES, I BEGIN TO SMELL A BURNT PLASTIC SMELL AND NOTICE THE LEFT SIDE OF THE STEERING WHEEL GETS VERY WARM. AFTER 20-30 MINUTES OF HEADLIGHT USE THE LOW BEAMS JUST GO DEAD, IT "AUTOMATICALLY" SWITCHES TO HIGH BEAMS IMMEDIATELY. IF I TRY TO TURN IT BACK DOWN TO LOW BEAMS, EVERYTHING GOES DARK (*VERY* DANGEROUS AT NIGHT!). THEN I AM FORCED TO USE HIGH BEAMS AND BLIND EVERYONE ELSE FOR THE REST OF MY TRIP, OR I HAVE TO PULL OVER AND LET THE APPARENT CAUSE (THE MULTIFUNCTION SWITCH) COOL OFF FOR AN ETERNITY BEFORE RESUMING MY TRIP. I'M HIGHLY UNCOMFORTABLE KNOWING THAT MY CAR HAS PLASTIC BEHIND THE STEERING WHEEL ON THE VERGE OF ERUPTING INTO FLAMES WHEN I USE MY HEADLIGHTS. I ALSO CONSIDER IT EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS, NOT ONLY FOR THE FIRE RISK, BUT ALSO THE LOW BEAMS DYING SUDDENLY. *TR

THE STRAP THAT ATTACHES THE CAR SEAT BASE TO THE HOOK IN THE CAR IS NOT SECURED TO THE BASE VERY WELL. THE STRAP IS SECURED BY ONE SCREW AND THE STRAP IS NOT REINFORCED WHERE THE SCREW GOES THROUGH IT SO THE HOLE STRETCHES AND EVENTUALLY BECOMES LARGER THAN THE SCREW HEAD MAKING IT SO THAT THE STRAP IS NO LONGER ATTACHED TO THE BASE. (RELATED VEHICLE INFORMATION: MODEL YEAR=2003, MAKE=DODGE, MODEL=NEON). *TR

BOUGHT CAR NEW. REAR LOWER CONTROL ARM BUSHINGS HAVE FAILED TWICE ON THIS CAR AND DURING MY LAST INSPECTION THE PASSENGERS SIDE BUSHING WAS STARTING TO TEAR AND FAIL AGAIN. A LOCAL DODGE DEALER STILL INSPECTED THE CAR AFTER FIRESTONE WOULD NOT DUE TO SAFETY THE SAFETY ISSUES OF A FAILED CONTROL ARM BUSHING. FIRST FAILURE HAPPENED AT AROUND 25,000 MI. AND SECOND AROUND 40,000 MI. THEY WILL BE REPLACED AGAIN DURING NEXT YEARS SAFETY INSPECTION DONE AT FIRESTONE THIS TIME. THIS CAR IS GARBAGE. *TR

BOUGHT CAR NEW AND I AM METICULOUS ABOUT IT'S MAINTENANCE. OIL SEAL IN MANUAL TRANSMISSION HAS FAILED TWICE NOW. ONCE IN 2004 WITH ABOUT 10,000 MI. ON THE CAR WITH NO DAMAGE TO CLUTCH DISC AND AGAIN NOW IN 2008 WITH 45,000 MI. THIS TIME THE CLUTCH DISC WAS CONTAMINATED WITH OIL AND WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE REPAIR UNDER CHRYSLER'S 7 YR. 70,000 MI. DRIVETRAIN WARRANTY. ENDED UP PAYING FOR A NEW CLUTCH ASSEMBLY AS WELL AS THE 100.00 DEDUCTIBLE. THIS CAR HAS BEEN A NIGHTMARE. THIS IS JUST ONE OF ABOUT 15 TIMES THIS CAR HAS BEEN IN FOR MAJOR REPAIR. *TR