2001 Dodge Neon — 1.6L

The 2001 Neon, as the second year of the second generation, shows a sharp improvement over the problematic 2000 launch year with complaints falling from 381 to 155 and TSBs dropping from 74 to 47, though recalls remained elevated at 10. Across the 1995–2005 federal record, the model exhibits a classic two-peak pattern: an extreme first-generation spike in 1995 (1,196 complaints, 11 recalls) and a second-generation spike in 2000 (381 complaints, 11 recalls), with 2001 marking the beginning of a sustained decline toward the 94–95 complaint range seen in 2004–2005. The 2001 complaint profile is led by air bags (28), hydraulic service brakes (19), electrical system (12), and engine cooling (12), with 35 crash-related complaints and one fire report; the data does not specify root causes for these categories. While 2001 represents a meaningful step down from the 2000 peak, its recall count matches the 1995 generation-launch high and remains well above the 4–5 range of the final production years. For a buyer prioritizing federal-record stability, 2001 is a defensible choice within the second generation but carries more recall exposure than the 2004–2005 models.