- sedan
- 741 below average
- 2,000 great
- Eagle Lake, FL
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- autoshopper.com
2003 dodge neon review this car review is specific to this model, not the actual vehicle for sale. Practical, affordable and fun to drive. introductiondodge neon is practical and fun to drive. Neon features a roomy interior and is available at an affordable price. Dodge claims it's the quickest production vehicle sold in america for less than $20,000. It has wind-up windows, manual door locks, and 14-inch tires on steel wheels. There's no tachometer, no keyless remote. Floor mats 50) are optional. Mirrors and bodyside moldings are black. Am/fm/cd 125) is available. Power features are available as optional equipment. sxt 14,895) adds air conditioning, am/fm/cd with six speakers, power windows, power door locks (with speed-sensitive automatic locking), keyless remote, power mirrors, power trunk lid release, full instrumentation, map lights, 15-inch aluminum wheels, bodyside molding, body-color door handles. A trunk lid spoiler is a no-cost option. A power sunroof 695) is optional. A six-disc in-dash cd changer 300) is optional. Power rack-and-pinion steering is standard. We highly recommend opting for abs as it allows the driver to maintain steering control in a panic-braking situation. Cruise control 235) is optional. r/t 16,735) is designed to be fun to drive. The six-disc in-dash cd is standard, interior lighting is upgraded and there's a trunk light. A leather interior 715) is optional and comes with compass and outside temperature readouts on the rearview mirror. Seat-mounted supplemental side air bags 390) are optional (a smart option, but they don't provide the head protection of a curtain system). Three-point seat belts are provided for all three rear-seat positions. . walkarounddodge neon maintains its cab-forward design and ovoid headlamps, but new front and rear fascia give it a freshened appearance for 2003. the new front fascia features a more integrated, more organic design. The upper grille has been enlarged, giving the neon a cleaner, more aggressive, more contemporary appearance. The lower grille is more subtle, yet sportier. The redesigned front bumper better integrates the available fog lamps. a new rear spoiler is attached at the ends, giving it a more integrated appearance than the previous wing. Last year's spoiler looked more like an aftermarket wing that had been tacked on. New exterior door handles, bodyside moldings and other detail work freshen the neon. All models get new wheel designs. srt-4's grille is an inverted version of the neon grille. Just behind the lower grille sits a cast-aluminum intercooler; dodge left it visible in keeping with the car's intent. A functional hood scoop and unique integrated fog lamps give it an aggressive look. The tall rear basket-handle spoiler is designed to look outrageous and it succeeds. Sill-mounted ground effects give it the look of a sport compact car. Big tires fill the wheel well openings. Special wheels are designed to channel air to the brakes to help keep them cool. neon's long wheelbase and wide track contribute to its roomy interior, smooth ride quality and high-speed stability. Full-frame doors reduce wind noise and create a tight seal. The current neon has a more rigid body structure than first-generation models, which results in a smoother, quieter, more controlled ride. . interiordodge neon features a roomy cabin, with generous front hip room. The driver sits high, for good visibility. Neon's front-seat space is comparable for the class. It has a bit more leg room than a honda civic sedan, a bit more headroom than a chevrolet cavalier. Neon sxt's new rear spoiler restricts rearward vision down low, but not unduly. sxt's seats are quite comfortable, cushy and supportive. The side bolsters on the seat seemed a bit soft, but felt fine while driving. The new cloth trim feels good and looks like it will hold up well. Vinyl trim on the front edges of the seats gives them a nicely finished look and feel. dash and door trim are made of a premium material that is soft to the touch, providing an attractive appearance and feel and lacking the plastic look of many compacts. The stereo sounded mediocre. Having to press a button to get the key out of the ignition slot seems like an unnecessarily annoying extra step. It's not a bad place to spend short-to-medium-length trips. Rear-seat roominess is about average for the class. the trunk is reasonably large, about average for the class. Gooseneck hinges intrude into the cargo space, but afford a relatively large trunk opening. Liftover height is on the high side. The rear seat splits 60/40 and folds down for carrying additional cargo. srt-4 comes with special interior trim, including a satin-silver center stack, shift knob and door handles. Srt-4 seats are modeled after those in the dodge viper with enhanced lumbar and lateral sections for better support when cornering. Agate-colored cloth is designed to grip the driver. Cast aluminum pedals look like those seen in racecars. A turbo boost/vacuum gauge sits to the right of the instrument cluster, underneath the dash brow. . driving impressiondodge neon rides well, handles well, and the standard engine delivers good acceleration performance. It doesn't lead the class in refinement, however. It doesn't ride as smoothly nor is it as quiet as, say, a toyota corolla. neon's single-overhead-cam 2. 0-liter engine delivers decent power. It lacks power down low in the rev range, however. Step on it while cruising at 3000 rpm and it slowly gathers speed. There's a small rush of power that starts somewhere around 4000 rpm, but there isn't great gobs of it. It can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in about 8. 5 seconds, which makes it quicker than many more-expensive compacts, including honda civic lx, mazda protege lx, or nissan sentra gxe. New motor mounts for 2003 are designed to reduce noise. Still, the 2. 0-liter engine is relatively unrefined and its boomy and raucous behavior is transmitted into the cabin. the manual gearbox works well, but shifting is clunky. Manual transmissions have a revised fifth-gear ratio for 2003 designed to improve fuel efficiency on the highway. automatic transmissions on 2003 models have been recalibrated for improved driveability, and a new, more elaborate electronic controller should provide better communication between engine and automatic transmission. the suspension does a good job of balancing ride quality and handling agility. The neon is fun to drive on winding roads, offering good response in transient (left, right, left) maneuvers. The suspension does a good job of preventing the car from bottoming on dips, reducing the need to slow way down. When we hit a sharp dip at a neighborhood intersection, the neon's suspension was soft enough to absorb the harshness of the dip, yet it was firm enough and had enough travel to avoid bottoming. The front of the neon did not scrape on this dip, a place where many cars before have scraped. Its fully independent strut-type suspension is designed for high ground clearance and long jounce travel. This improves ride quality while decreasing the chance of bottoming under heavy loads. Soft springs and premium shocks contribute to neon's ride quality. the brakes that come standard on the se and sxt work w.
2,000 Eagle Lake, FLEagle Lake, FL at autoshopper.com