95 Neon

Yes. Something newer.

Do you really want your daughter driving around in a 12 year old car?

The NEON, IMHO, is a good car, biggest issue prior to mid '99 was a headgsket problem, but that was resloved with a newer gasket. You may wish to go to a bit newer version as frst year cars sometimes encounter growing pains. I have a 1998 and it is great, no problems, it has a manual tansmission and the double over head cam (DOHC)engine that was an option. I get about 27-29 MPG city and at 70-75 on the Interstate 38.5-40 MPG. If your daugher can drive a standard I would look at that as the early automatics were only three speed and had no overdrive. Second generation 2001 I beleive went to a four speed overdrive auto that helped both performance and fuel economy.

The first generation Neons (Dodge and Plymouth) all have head gasket issues (bad design). Chrysler, in their infinite wisdom of rocket scientists, decided after the fact that the oil port to the head form the pump was too large and provided too much oil to the top of the engine and caused a loss of pressure in the rest of the block. So, their fix was to make the hole in the original head gasket smaller in order to restrict the flow. Well, that ultimately caused oil to leak through the head gasket to the outside world. IMHO, they should have metered the hole with a screw-in device instead of the gasket. But nobody called me about it.

So, look for oil puddles near/around the left/top of the engine or down behind the left/rear corner on top of the transmission. Here is a good site for it that can explain it all to you:

As a 95 toyota corolla wagon driver, why are you looking for a Neon?

I am looking for a reasonably priced car for a 16 year-old girl. Not interested in anything with a Japanese nameplate.

New would be nice, but not in our budget, nor does it make good economic sense. The age of a car doesn't concern me as much as the condition. I drive a 10 year-old truck, my wife drives a 7 year-old car. Are you in car sales?

I didn't say "new", I said "newer". You didn't really answer my question, either. What kind of condition are most 12 year old cars in? Is that really what you want for your daughter? No, I have nothing to do with car sales, but I do think about car safety, especially for my daughter(s).

the so called "sacrificial lamb"

The condition of "most" cars of a particular age doesn't matter. The condition of a particular car does. I forgot to mention that my son drives an 11 year-old car. All of our vehicles are in good mechanical condition, particularly where safety issues are concerned.

How old of a car would you consider acceptable?

Please understand that my intent isn't to be confrontational, but conversational.

Ken

The American auto industry?

American all the way!!! I own 4 Dodges and could not be happier:

They need to find a way to put the Hemi in the new Dakotas. Dodge is the best vehicle for the money. They aren't as safe as Volvos but not far from it.

Well.....OK.

I'd think maybe 5-7 years, usually. Like you said above, some cars which have been well maintained are still good (safe) at 12 years, but many are not.

Same here. Good luck with the search.

Early neons had head gasket issues. Other than that, get a reasonably low mileage one and check for rust. Body, chassis, and tubing. Don't want brake lines and fuel lines disintegrating. In the "rust belt" virtually all have perforation at the leading edge of the hood.

I have a 1994 Pontiac Trans Sport with 340,000 km. My wife has a 1996 Mystique with 135,000km, and my daughter has a '98 Neon with 135,000 km. My wife's '88 New Yorker was 18 when we sold it, and it was still very driveable. I'd take ( or send my daughter with) any one of our 3 current vehicles anywhere in north america, any time. Other daughter took the mystique half way across the country last summer. Yet, I see MANY 4 year old cars I would not let my wife or daughters drive, and which I would not pay more than a couple hundred dollars for if I'd bother with them at all.