8.0
pretty badTypical Repair Cost:
$5.00
Average Mileage:
57,333 miles
Total Complaints:
7 complaints
Most common solutions:
- not sure (4 reports)
- reinforce taillights with sealant (2 reports)
- seal tail light lens to body gaskets (1 reports)
body / paint problem
Helpful Websites About 2002 Dodge Neon water leaking into trunk and back seats
2009May 09
Neon SE 2.0L I4
- Automatic transmission
- 100,000 miles
Both sides leaked. After pulling my hair out over the cause of the leak and trying several other solutions, I saw on the Internet somebody's comment on this same problem. The solution is simple: remove the tail light lens, put a good bead of silicone caulk on the body where the gasket contacts the opening into the trunk (where the wires and bolts go through) and put it all beack together. Worked great the first time. Hooray!
2008Apr 15
Neon SXT 2.0L
- Manual transmission
- 55,000 miles
In April '08 I noticed that the trunk of my Neon smelled a little musty, but I didn't really think too much of it. I rarely get into the trunk of the car, so it wasn't until August that I opened the trunk again to replace a bulb in the tail light and found that everything in there (coat, blanket, emergency kit) was covered in mold. -GROSS- So I took everything out and lifted the spare-tire cover... AGH! The spare tire well was full of water! I had to use a hammer to loosen the nut on the spare tire and then vacuumed the water out with a shop vac, sprayed a kitchen disinfectant all over the carpet and left the trunk open (removed the trunk lightbulb to avoid running battery down) for several days. The trunk dried out, but as soon as it rained again - MORE WATER! I see several complaints about this issue... and I probably should call and complain to Chrysler, but I don't have a warranty. I bought the car used and opted not to transfer the warranty. For now, I am just parking the car in the garage when not in use and keeping valuables out of the trunk. I may just drill a couple of small holes in the bottom of the wheel well to let the water drain out? I don't know. Very irritating.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
2007Mar 01
Neon S
- Manual transmission
- 60,000 miles
We bought our 2002 Dodge Neon new from the dealer. The first few years we parked in our garage at home until 2007 when we moved and had to park outside. We lived in a part of California with not a lot of rain, so when we first noticed moisture on the back floor, I thought it was probably a leaky water bottle that was there, although it didn't appear it had leaked. Shortly thereafter, we started smelling a musty smell and tried different things. My husband thought the smell dissipated, but I always smelled it when I got in the car.
Late last Fall, we got into the car after a rainstorm and saw that a magazine that was on the back floor was soaked. Checked the other side, and it was wet, too. Took mats out and dried up the moisture. Then we had rainstorm after rainstorm in the weeks following and our car became like a toxic waste site. HORRIBLE smell and water soaking our back mats. We checked the carpet in the trunk, but it wasn't wet. Started looking online for solutions and started finding forums where other Dodge owners have had the exact same problem.
We sealed the tail lights with silicone as was suggested by others and haven't had rain since to test it out. But when taking the advice of others - we looked in the spare wheel compartment and found inches of sitting water and mold EVERYWHERE. We had to rip out everything from the trunk and ripped out the carpet from the back seat floors. There was slime and mold there, too. The car still smells horrible and I get sick with headaches everytime I ride in it. Unfortunately, it is out only car.
I called Chrysler this morning, as others have done about this problem, and filed a complaint and updated our contact information. The rep said she'd never heard of this problem (sure!), took all our complaints and gave us a file number. She said if a recall was ever made in the future, we'd be notified.
Please - everyone who reads this - call and make your complaint known about this so that Chrysler Corp will do something about it. Why should we have to pay out of pocket to replace the carpets, trunk and de-mold our cars? Or make a claim on our comprehensive car insurance policy, which will jack up our rates at renewal?
Call Chrysler's toll-free number 800-992-1997 and press 5, 2, 1, 2 when prompted. And have your VIN # ready for them. Let's band together!
2004Feb 02
Neon SE
- Automatic transmission
- 30,000 miles
Interesting about the tail lights - will try this. This has been an ongoing problem since very early. Dealer always said that they could not find the trouble. This car has a wing, so we removed the wing and reinforced all seals to no avail. Same problem with the water sitting in the wheel well as well as soaking the truck and back seat and floor. Will update on result of sealing tail-lights. Just came upon this site by accident.
Thanks for the advice.
2007Jan 14
(reported on)Neon ES
- Automatic transmission
- 70,000 miles
I too noticed that my floorboards were drenched in water especially after a rainstorm. I noticed the water was coming in from the taillights. I called the dealer/carshop to see if they had heard of any similar problems. He was not sure (yeah right) and claimed they could make an assessment of my vehicle to determine where the water was coming in from and stated the cost would be about a couple hundred dollars!>? are you kidding me? After researching online, I am going to get some sealant and reinforce the taillights. Go to one of the washaterias (the do it yourself one) and use their vacuum to get all of the excess water out. Your car (at least from the other fellow dodge owners that have claimed to do this) say your car is as good as new!!!
2007Jan 08
(reported on)Neon ES
- Automatic transmission
- 36,000 miles
2002 Dodge Neon, Couldn't figure out why back seat was getting wet. Kept thinking the back window was not up all the way. Since no one sits in the back, didn't notice the problem was continuing. Finally, when someone had to sit in the back seat, it was soaked. Still confused, I pulled everything out of the trunk, and when I removed the cover for the spare tire, it was sitting in 3 inches of water. Nothing in the trunk was really wet, including a carpet on the floor. However, everything under was soaked. My back seats were soaked, the cover material in the trunk was dripping. Put a hose on the car and watched water dripping from the back panel, under the tail lights. The water comes off the rear window, and is channeled into (left and right) sides along the trunk and out the back bumper. Some part of the channel on both sides is leaking into the trunk and going down under the material covering the trunk and pooling into the well where the spare sits. I suppose with 2-3 inches of water in the well, its splashed up and soaked the seats? Is this a manufacturer defect???? Why would both sides be leaking???
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
2009Oct 01
Neon LX 3.2L
could not figure out how come water was sitting on the back rear floor of passenger side.
has been going on for about a month, towels in soaking up the water, and progessively getting worse. Finally opened the trunk and water in the spare tire compartment, 2 inches!! Pulled car into the garage, drying out, and still trying to figure out a remedy to fix the leaks. The water is coming through the rear tail lights.
Will be calling Chrysler tomorrow.
bwarren
Campbell River, B.C, Canada
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