1998 PLYMOUTH NEON — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 159 complaints · 1 recalls

Verdict & Safety Summary

Most-reported system: ENGINE (75 complaints · 47.2%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 19
  • Fires 3
  • Injuries 17
  • Deaths 0
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 75 of 159 owner complaints (47.2%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 75 complaints, 47.2% of reports ENGINE 75 · 47.2% · 1 fire reports AIR BAGS: 17 complaints, 10.7% of reports AIR BAGS 17 · 10.7% · 14 crash reports SUSPENSION: 10 complaints, 6.3% of reports SUSPENSION 10 · 6.3% · 1 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 9 complaints, 5.7% of reports POWER TRAIN 9 · 5.7% · 1 crash reports 1 fire reports STRUCTURE: 8 complaints, 5.0% of reports STRUCTURE 8 · 5.0% · 1 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 6 complaints, 3.8% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 6 · 3.8% · 1 crash reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 5 complaints, 3.1% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 5 · 3.1% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 4 complaints, 2.5% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 4 · 2.5% · 1 fire reports VISIBILITY: 4 complaints, 2.5% of reports VISIBILITY 4 · 2.5% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 86 complaints, 54.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 86 · 54.1% · 16 crash reports 2 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 75 47.2% 0 crashes · 1 fires
AIR BAGS 17 10.7% 14 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 10 6.3% 1 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 9 5.7% 1 crashes · 1 fires
STRUCTURE 8 5.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 6 3.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 5 3.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 4 2.5% 0 crashes · 1 fires
VISIBILITY 4 2.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 86 54.1% 16 crashes · 2 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 Apr 1998; the first recall shown was reported in Jan 1999. 1998-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 1998-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 1998-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1999-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 1999-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 1999-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 1999-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2000-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2000-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q1: 17 owner reports 17 2001-Q2: 12 owner reports 12 2001-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2002-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2002-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 2002-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2002-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2003-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2003-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2003-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Apr 1998 Oct 2013 Recall campaign 99V001000 ◆ Recall campaign 99V001000 Investigation PE02082 ● Investigation PE02082
  • Campaign 99V001000 was reported 133 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1998-Q2 Owner reports 5
1998-Q3 Owner reports 7
1998-Q4 Owner reports 4
1999-Q1 Owner reports 9
1999-Q2 Owner reports 7
1999-Q3 Owner reports 6
1999-Q4 Owner reports 2
2000-Q1 Owner reports 3
2000-Q2 Owner reports 6
2000-Q3 Owner reports 7
2000-Q4 Owner reports 3
2001-Q1 Owner reports 17
2001-Q2 Owner reports 12
2001-Q3 Owner reports 1
2001-Q4 Owner reports 7
2002-Q1 Owner reports 8
2002-Q2 Owner reports 9
2002-Q3 Owner reports 6
2002-Q4 Owner reports 8
2003-Q1 Owner reports 5
2003-Q2 Owner reports 4
2003-Q3 Owner reports 1
2003-Q4 Owner reports 2
2004-Q1 Owner reports 3
2004-Q2 Owner reports 1
2004-Q3 Owner reports 3
2004-Q4 Owner reports 3
2005-Q1 Owner reports 1
2006-Q1 Owner reports 2
2008-Q1 Owner reports 1
2009-Q1 Owner reports 1
2009-Q4 Owner reports 2
2010-Q4 Owner reports 1
2011-Q2 Owner reports 1
2013-Q4 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 99V001000
Defect investigation 1 PE02082
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (1)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 99V001000

    Report date
    Component:
    STRUCTURE
    Consequence:
    THIS CONDITION CAN RESULT IN STRUCTURAL CRACKS IN THE BODY, AND REDUCED CRASH PROTECTION IN THE EVENT OF A REAR IMPACT.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE VEHICLES FOR ANY MISSING WELDS, AND WILL HAVE STRUCTURAL RIVETS INSTALLED IN PLACE OF THE MISSING WELDS.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
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 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 159 complaints · page 1 of 7

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 2026-08-21
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