1996 DODGE NEON — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 601 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (286 complaints · 47.6%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 46
  • Fires 5
  • Injuries 32
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1995 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution ENGINE appears in 286 of 601 owner complaints (47.6%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 286 complaints, 47.6% of reports ENGINE 286 · 47.6% · 1 crash reports 2 fire reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 66 complaints, 11.0% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 66 · 11.0% · 1 crash reports 2 fire reports SERVICE BRAKES: 51 complaints, 8.5% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 51 · 8.5% · 5 crash reports AIR BAGS: 38 complaints, 6.3% of reports AIR BAGS 38 · 6.3% · 29 crash reports 1 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 28 complaints, 4.7% of reports POWER TRAIN 28 · 4.7% STRUCTURE: 18 complaints, 3.0% of reports STRUCTURE 18 · 3.0% STEERING: 16 complaints, 2.7% of reports STEERING 16 · 2.7% · 1 crash reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 13 complaints, 2.2% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 13 · 2.2% FUEL SYSTEM: 12 complaints, 2.0% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 12 · 2.0% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 338 complaints, 56.2% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 338 · 56.2% · 46 crash reports 4 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
ENGINE 286 47.6% 1 crashes · 2 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 66 11.0% 1 crashes · 2 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 51 8.5% 5 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 38 6.3% 29 crashes · 1 fires
POWER TRAIN 28 4.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 18 3.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 16 2.7% 1 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 13 2.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 12 2.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 338 56.2% 46 crashes · 4 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Oct 1995. 1995-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 1996-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 1996-Q4: 10 owner reports 10 1997-Q1: 12 owner reports 12 1997-Q2: 11 owner reports 11 1997-Q3: 13 owner reports 13 1997-Q4: 16 owner reports 16 1998-Q1: 11 owner reports 11 1998-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 1998-Q3: 21 owner reports 21 1998-Q4: 30 owner reports 30 1999-Q1: 41 owner reports 41 1999-Q2: 21 owner reports 21 1999-Q3: 21 owner reports 21 1999-Q4: 37 owner reports 37 2000-Q1: 43 owner reports 43 2000-Q2: 31 owner reports 31 2000-Q3: 32 owner reports 32 2000-Q4: 21 owner reports 21 2001-Q1: 40 owner reports 40 2001-Q2: 27 owner reports 27 2001-Q3: 12 owner reports 12 2001-Q4: 15 owner reports 15 2002-Q1: 17 owner reports 17 2002-Q2: 14 owner reports 14 2002-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2002-Q4: 10 owner reports 10 2003-Q1: 14 owner reports 14 2003-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2003-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2003-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2004-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2004-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2011-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2011-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Oct 1995 Apr 2015 Investigation PE98012 ● Investigation PE98012 Investigation PE02082 ● Investigation PE02082
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q4 Owner reports 2
1996-Q1 Owner reports 1
1996-Q2 Owner reports 6
1996-Q3 Owner reports 8
1996-Q4 Owner reports 10
1997-Q1 Owner reports 12
1997-Q2 Owner reports 11
1997-Q3 Owner reports 13
1997-Q4 Owner reports 16
1998-Q1 Owner reports 11
1998-Q2 Owner reports 9
1998-Q3 Owner reports 21
1998-Q4 Owner reports 30
1999-Q1 Owner reports 41
1999-Q2 Owner reports 21
1999-Q3 Owner reports 21
1999-Q4 Owner reports 37
2000-Q1 Owner reports 43
2000-Q2 Owner reports 31
2000-Q3 Owner reports 32
2000-Q4 Owner reports 21
2001-Q1 Owner reports 40
2001-Q2 Owner reports 27
2001-Q3 Owner reports 12
2001-Q4 Owner reports 15
2002-Q1 Owner reports 17
2002-Q2 Owner reports 14
2002-Q3 Owner reports 7
2002-Q4 Owner reports 10
2003-Q1 Owner reports 14
2003-Q2 Owner reports 6
2003-Q3 Owner reports 5
2003-Q4 Owner reports 3
2004-Q1 Owner reports 8
2004-Q2 Owner reports 7
2004-Q3 Owner reports 2
2004-Q4 Owner reports 2
2005-Q3 Owner reports 2
2005-Q4 Owner reports 2
2006-Q2 Owner reports 2
2007-Q1 Owner reports 2
2008-Q1 Owner reports 2
2011-Q2 Owner reports 2
2011-Q3 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 1
2015-Q2 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 PE98012
Defect investigation 1 PE02082
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA records.

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 601 complaints · page 1 of 25

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources