For those that question Neon's reliability, I have one example. A good friend of mine owns a 99 Neon ACR. He drive it a lot, I think he's over 70k miles now. Oh, and he drive it hard, autocrosses every local SCCA event as well as travels to some regional events out of state. Also helps set up/organize SCCA rally events so he gets to drive on some pretty crappy roads. He has replaced some things, mostly out of abuse, but mechanically the car is sound. No oil leaks or trans issues. I don't think a Contour could take that abuse. But he doesn't neglect his cars which I think it why many cars fail. Just IMO.
