xSILENTx
04-22-2006, 06:27 PM
What kind of mpg do the early model neons get? I'm looking into buying a daily driver for work. I dont want to spend more than 3000 so it would be an early 90's neon. How reliable are higher mileage neons? It would be all highway driving.
rice_eater
04-23-2006, 03:19 AM
a well tuned DOHC with a manual trans will pull 28-30mpg in town (IF you can keep your foot out of it... a big if...) and 36-40mpg on the highway, depending on how fast you drive (faster = less mpg). the SOHC neons (manual trans) get better mileage, mostly due to the lower final drive ration in the transmission. DOHC has a 3.94:1 final drive, SOHC has a 3.55:1 final drive. SOHC's should pull the same mileage in town as the DOHC, but anywhere from 38-44mpg on the highway. I have the DOHC engine with a SOHC 3.55:1 transmission, and I've seen 36 mpg in the summer with about 40% city and 60% highway driving on that particular tank of gas. That was with a faulty EGR vavle, and no, I cant keep my foot out of it. :D
Automatics will get about about 2-3mpg less in town, and about 2-5mpg less on the highway than the the numbers listed about for manual transmissions.
As for reliability... If you find a neon thats been well taken care of and you continue the trend, they are excellent. If you get one that hasnt been maintained, or you yourself skimp on maintenance, they are horrible. Typical neons die around 175k miles, some a lot more, some a lot less, depending on maintenance. Dont buy a neon from a car lot, you'll get screwed over big time. you can find 97s or 98s for $2500 or less in decent condition from a private party if you look around. You actually want to buy one with 85k-120k miles, no less. If you buy one with less, chances are you'll be replacing the headgasket. When purchasing a neon, find out if the headgasket has been replaced, as well as if the timing belt, timing belt tensioner, and water pump have been replaced. If these havent been replaced and the car has more than 90k miles, I'd recommend getting it done ASAP. $600 - $800 for a timing belt, tensioner, waterpump job is a lot cheaper than $3000 to fix broken valves. Good luck with your purchase. :D
