Rate It: The Dodge Neon Lives on in Mexico and the Middle East

Colin
By Colin Wood
Nov 6, 2020 | Dodge, Neon, Rate It

The Dodge Neon and the later SRT4 may have been popular in our world, but after the car was replaced by the Caliber in 2005, we have yet to see a replacement besides the now discontinued Dart—or so we thought.

Known as the Fiat Tipo in Europe and the Fiat Egea in Turkey (where it is actually assembled), customers in both Mexico and the Middle East can walk into a Dodge dealership and buy a brand-new, third-generation Dodge Neon.

There are a few different engines available depending on the trim and market, though buyers looking for a manual transmission have one trim to choose from: the Neon SE MT sold in Mexico at a starting price of 257,000 pesos (about $12,430). That gets you a 1.4-liter, four-cylinder engine good for 95 horsepower and 94 lb.-ft. of torque that’s mated to a genuine six-speed manual transmission for the roughly 2535-pound car.

As you might imagine, however, the base Neon is pretty light on features besides electric windows and a 3-inch Uconnect head unit with Bluetooth.

As well, it was rumored that the Neon was going to be sold here in the United States, though the poor sales of the Dart coupled with the recent trend of car makers focusing on crossovers may have had something to do with the Neon’s absence from North America.

At any rate, do we deserve the newest Dodge Neon, or is the Dart’s shortcomings proof that another small sedan from Dodge wouldn’t sell well?

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Comments
noddaz
noddaz GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
11/6/20 6:54 p.m.

95 horsepower?

frown

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
11/6/20 7:07 p.m.

In reply to noddaz :

A 110 horsepower unit is also available, but it can only be had with the six-speed auto.

Pete. (l33t FS)
Pete. (l33t FS) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
11/6/20 8:45 p.m.
noddaz said:

95 horsepower?

frown

From a 1.4l.  Sounds like it'd be giggly-manic, assuming the car around it wasn't bloated.

mad_machine (Forum Supporter)
mad_machine (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
11/6/20 9:44 p.m.

I can hear the howls of the Mopar faithful now, exclaiming it is not a "real" Neon.

Vigo (Forum Supporter)
Vigo (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
11/8/20 7:42 p.m.

Nobody would defend Neons if they weren't faster (on a track, mind you) than sporty cars that cost more than them, or weren't fun to drive. 

All the people who didn't care about what made Neons special but were shopping for a car like this probably already bought a Mirage, though. cheeky

I had one of those, too.. The guy i sold it to AWD and 4g63 swapped it (Evo2-ish).  Maybe there are people who cry about the current Mirage the same way some people miss when Dodge sold small cars that were cool. 

Appleseed
Appleseed MegaDork
11/8/20 7:46 p.m.

Would you rather have the B13 Nissan Tsuru from Mexico?

Javelin (Forum Supporter)
Javelin (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
11/8/20 7:56 p.m.

Does it still have manual roll-up only windows in the back doors like the SRT4?

einy (Forum Supporter)
einy (Forum Supporter) Dork
11/9/20 4:48 a.m.

In reply to Appleseed :

Are they STILL selling that piece of crap car in Mexico?

Appleseed
Appleseed MegaDork
11/9/20 8:02 a.m.

In reply to einy (Forum Supporter) :

No. They stopped...in 2017. 

Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter)
Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) UltraDork
11/9/20 8:06 a.m.

0/10 do not recommend

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