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Sedans Dodge/Plymouth Neon Dodge Neon vs Chevrolet Cavalier
25 messages, Last post on Sep 26, 2008 at 2:20 AM
You are in the Dodge/Plymouth Neon Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Hey All you smart car people! I'm a student and recently turned 16. I currently drive my father's old 1995 Chevy Silverado half ton around and with gas prices sky-rocketing and for many other reasons I'm considering seeing if I should trade it in for a compact car. The truck is in excellent shape and with extreemly low miles and Kelly Blue Book said I could get between 5000 to 7500 for trade in. With that in mind I immedietly decided to see what the best affordable 'compact' car would best suit me. I went to cars.com and had them compare the 2005 sedan models of a Dodge Neon, Chevrolet Cavalier, Pontiac Sunfire, and a Ford Escape. So I've done my homework. Immedietly it first looked like the Cavalier was the way to go. Largest engine out of all of them and it had the best standard equiptment. The Sunfire I eleminated almost immedietly because it's pretty plain jane for their base model compared to its contemporaries. Then I got down to the saftey reports. The Neon faired the best and I was somewhat scared away from the Cavalier since it for a 1 out of 5 for front-side impact ratings. Not that I'm a bad driver, I'm just worried about the bad drivers that could hit me. My mother had an original Cavalier in 1984 and got the totally plain jane one, with crappy seats and a 3 speed. She told me it was the worst car she ever got. My mom commuted and she said she almost blew up the motor going 60. I told her the new ones are better but she still was wary. I feel guilty driving my truck since my parents insist that they pay for gas. I'm involved in TONS of extre-curricular activities and I play the cello and it barely fits inside the truck's cab. I love my truck it's just times are a changin and I need some advice. Was the cars.com report bogus or are Neons pieces of crap? Thanks for reading! Also FYI: My truck is a 5-speed so I can drive a manual. Are those better or are automatics the way to go in compacts? I've heard both. |
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Replying to: matchgame1974 (Aug 20, 2005 7:22 pm) While you are waiting for some input here, you could help yourself out by continuing your research. Some resources for you are on http://www.edmunds.com and you can also find individual discussions on both of these cars using the Browse by Vehicle pulldown menu on the left side of the page. Reading up on the vast material we already have on this site will be very valuable for you. You'll get some opinions here, but there is so much here already that you don't want to miss. Good luck. |
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Replying to: matchgame1974 (Aug 20, 2005 7:22 pm) Good luck, Dusty |
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Replying to: matchgame1974 (Aug 20, 2005 7:22 pm) When my Elantra was in the shop for a fender bender I got a Neon for a couple of days and think it (if possible) was even more disagreeable than the Cavalier (although I may have forgotten just how bad the Cav. was)-- of course it was probably greatly abused in its 30K miles. BTW-- I'm now very happy with a Malibu Maxx so my advice isn't based on hating American cars, just those American cars. I'm sure they're almost giving remaining Cavs and Sunfires away (although I guess they're keeping the later around for one more year), but for god sakes at least look at some other cars that you could probably get in the same price range. The Elantra, Focus, Spectra, Reno/Forenza come to mind. You should be able to pick up a new one of any of them for $11K or less. Or buy a late model Corolla or Civic. Any of these choices would be far better than the cars you've looked at. |
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Replying to: matchgame1974 (Aug 20, 2005 7:22 pm) |
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You'll have more options (and a better car) if you broaden your scope. May I suggest reading ... http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Comparos/articleId=106881 Meade P.S. For 2005, I think you're talking Cobalt instead of Cavalier. At least at this point in 2005. The Cavalier isn't even listed on Chevrolet's website anymore.
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Replying to: mdaffron (Aug 23, 2005 7:35 am) |
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But if you want a Cav, you'd better hurry! I think the stock is drying up fairly fast since the Cobalt's come out. Meade |
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Replying to: matchgame1974 (Aug 20, 2005 7:22 pm)  . I paid a little under eleven thousand, for a base 05 cavalier with a 5-spd. I average thirty miles to the gallon, and haven't had mechanical problems yet. On an other note, I worked in an auto shop for about two years and have seen my share of cars. I've seen several 99-01 cavaliers with over 180,000 miles on them. they seemed in decent shape, that doesn't apply to the 05 though because of a different drivetrain.
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