Neon

• Automatic transmission
• 100,000 miles

I bought a used 1998 Dodge Neon several years ago. It was in pretty good shape, except for a paint chip by the trunk. I felt I'd received a pretty good deal, my credit wasn't wonderful, and I was happy with the car. Approximately 2.5 years later, the paint on the entire car began to blister and peel, so that now the car looks like it has leprosy. I put this down to a fluke, but then I began seeing 1998 dodge neons all over the place with the same problem. At one point I visited a Dodge dealership with the intention of maybe trading it in on a PT cruiser. When the salesman told me my car has the same problem EVERY 1998 Dodge Neon has--big problem with the paint--I was floored. He told me there had been a problem with the undercoat. Now, I have owned other cars in the past that have been involved in a recall--all have been bought used. And the car company has managed to track me down, even though I have never been the original owner. Yet Dodge never contacted me and said, "we know there' a problem; come in and have it repainted." At this point, my car has over 117,000 miles on it and a huge dent on the passenger side (was hit by 16-year-old girl running without headlamps at 9 pm. Go figure.) It honestly is not worth repainting at this point. Still, everything affects trade-in value, and the "cosmetics" of this car aren't helping anything. I think Dodge should determine what the going rate of a paint job is for this car, and send me a check that I can use towards my down payment. And I think they should do this for everyone who has a 1998 Dodge Neon. PS: there is mention of this in Ripoff Report, where another woman was told she "failed to properly maintain the paint." In my 42 years of various car ownership, three husbands, countless vehicles (some of them service trucks and semi-trucks), this is the FIRST time anything has ever been in my driveway that peels all by itself.