1998 Plymouth Neon: Reliability Data

237
Total Complaints
66,123mi
Median Mileage
Engine
Top Issue
23
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

54,100 25th Percentile
66,123 Median Mileage
75,600 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

Engine
69
Gasoline
15
Frontal
14
Front
8
Engine And Engine Cooling
7
Automatic Transmission
6
Sun/Moon Roof Assembly
5
Unknown Or Other
5
Vehicle Speed Control
5
Foundation Components
5

Severity Assessment

23
Crashes
5
Fires
20
Injuries
2
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"OWNER HAS NON ABS BRAKES. WHILE APPLYING BRAKES IN A ROUTINE STOP, BRAKES FAILED TO RESPOND, RESULTING IN AN ACCIDENT. .DEALER NOTED PROBLEM WAS DRIVER ERROR. *AK"
"WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE ABOUT 35 MPH WHEN SHIFTING THE VEHCLE FROM 2 SPEED TO 3 SPEED THE TRANSMISSION EXPLODED WITHOUT A REASON, RESULTING IN A FIRE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT HOT AT ALL, AND THE TRANSMISSION HAD A HOLE ON TOP. SERVICE DEALER SAID THEY HAD TO WAIT A FEW DAYS TO FIND OUT WHERE THE PROBL..."
"WHILE DRIIVNG THE VEHICLE A POPPING SOUND CAME FROM THE RIGHT FRONT END OF VEHICLE. THE DRIVER WOULD ALSO GET A VIBRATION WHEN USING THE GAS/ BRAKE PEDAL. DEALER FOUND THAT THE STRUT MOUNTS AND SHOCKS WERE LO0SE. THERE WAS ALSO A LACK OF LUBRICATION ON THE BALL JOINTS WHICH CAUSED THE NOISE AND VIB..."

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

Engine 69 complaints
25th: 37,125 mi Median: 53,650 mi 75th: 65,128 mi
Engine And Engine Cooling 7 complaints
Median: 66,123 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

CA: 38 TX: 17 NY: 16 NJ: 12 FL: 12 CO: 10 WI: 10 MD: 10 MA: 9 IL: 9

Who Files Complaints?

46.4%
Original Owners
53.6%
Second+ Owners

Plymouth Neon — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

YearComplaintsCrashes
199571177
199647641
199723422
1999828
200019940
20017418

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28