My 1st Car

My 1st Car

Born December 9, 1999 in the hour of 12pm, this page tells the ongoing story of my neon, as well as providing a wealth of information about it in general. I find the car to be well built and a good value, although with any car, there are issues.

My neon is a 2000 Chrysler Neon LX fully loaded with all the features in bright silver. Actually it's a 2000.5 model as it has a few revisions over the original 2000s. I purchased it from Bob Roach at Winnipeg Dodge Jeep January 8, 2000 and took delivery January 18.

silver neon lx

History

December 9, 1999My Car is Born and leaves the Belvidere, Illinois, USA plant around 12pm.
January 18, 2000My Car is delivered.
February 9, 2000Well the first few tanks of gas are running about 20mpg and 1000km was obtained as I pulled into the parking lot.
March 13, 2000Hit 2000km.
September 7, 2000All the way to 10000km, running around 26mpg now.
October 25, 2000Had the recall done in regards to the PCV valve, around 11500km now, mileage has slumped to 22-23mpg.
December 17, 2000Gas mileage dropped to a new low, 17mpg.
January 3, 2001Had the horn replaced due to failure.
January 20, 2001Disabled the automatic usage of A/C in defrost mode, it is now controlled manually, should improve gas mileage.
February 17, 2001Gas mileage hit a new low of 16mpg, the only driving on that tank of gas was the short trip to work and back, but still, it is rated at 30mpg city, 16 is bad.
March 30, 2001Surpassed the 15,000km mark, mileage has recovered to a more tolerable 20mpg with the warmer weather.
August 7, 2001Brought it in for the Brake Booster Hose recall, also had them look at the HVAC fan, of course it follows the cliche and it wasn't making any noise today, so it didn't get fixed.
September 9, 2001Performed Modification to make side markers blink in correlation with turn signals. HOW-TO
October 7, 2001Surpassed the 20,000km mark.
November 12, 2001Installed an Interior Car Warmer.
November 27, 2001Service appointment for delayed transmission engagement, electronic lock failure, mechanical lock failure, and a badge that fell apart. They ordered the part for the transmission, replaced the badge, but couldn't reproduce the other two intermittent problems so nothing was done with them.
December 3, 2001Service appointment to install the transmission part to remedy the delayed engagement.
April 23, 2002Stopped by the dealer while the HVAC fan was squealing, they put a blower motor on order for later replacement
May 2, 2002Surpassed 25,000 km
June 8, 2002Modified the springs retaining the trunk lid to exert more force, there are 4 positions for the springs, it shipped with them at 3/4 strength, I bumped it up to the maximum
June 26, 2002Had the HVAC blower motor replaced
September 30, 200230,000km
January 16, 2003Fixed passenger door lock actuator, replaced warped front rotors
September 1, 2003Called in roadside assistance to install spare tire after discovering a punctured driver's side rear tire
September 3, 2003Had the puncture repaired after differing opinions
September 23, 2003Replaced the front left suspension ground strap (04794265AD)
September 24, 2003Surpassed 40,000km
January 29, 2004The vehicle failed to cope with -40c weather. Battery was weakened and barely started the vehicle after a couple attempts. Electrical systems could be noticed resetting themselves. Tire couldn't maintain its seal and went flat. Rear center high mount stop light was punched back while trying to open the frozen trunk. Spare tire barely held air long enough to make it to the service center. Subsequently, lock system failed and locked me out of a running car in the cold. The next day the tire continued not to be able to hold air and required another remounting and sealing.
April 1, 2004Repaired the center high mount stop light mounting
April 5, 2004Replaced the driver's power door lock mechanism
June 2, 2004Changed the spark plugs. Needs a 5/8" spark plug socket and two regular socket extenders.
June 10, 2004Surpassed 50,000 km fetching lunch.
December 23, 2004Replaced with a 2005 Honda Accord
December 28, 2004Replaced the tires at 62,000 km
January 4, 2005Repaired broken AC, safety check completed, locking wheel lugs stripped and removed
April 7, 2005Sold

Links