I purchased the 1997 "Expresso" 2 door Neon coupe for my girlfriend. I bought it used with about 50,000 miles on it. The engine is a 16 valve 4 cylinder, so it's quite peppy. The "Expresso" package gives the car the 16 valve engine, funky "confetti" seat upholstery, premium wheels and a big trunk mounted spoiler. This model as purchased has air conditioning, power steering, dual air bags, AM/FM cassette stereo, tilt wheel, split folding rear seat, fog lights, power locks and cruise control. While she loves driving it because it is such a "cute" car and it zips along, I have a hate-hate relationship with it.

Noisy engine: I'm not sure if its due to lack of sound-proofing from the engine compartment or just a really noisy engine/transmission but inside the passenger compartment you can hear the engine loud and clear, especially during acceleration. I wouldn't recommend a manual transmission on this car.

Noisy brakes: I've seen other members comment on the noisy brakes that most shops just write off saying "that's the way it is with these cars". Not good enough. The brakes were so noisy and even felt weak that I took the car to "a national chain for brake repair". The mechanic said that the brakes were functionally fine and even new pads would make the same amount of noise. He quieted them with brake cleaner and fortunately didn't charge me a dime.

Windows: I'm sure the windows weren't like this from mile 1, but now the door's windows do not meet the weather stripping when closed. These are the types of doors that don't have "frames" around the windows when open. So when the door is closed there's a good gap along the rear edge of the window. Makes for some more noise from the wind when driving and lets some moisture leak into the car.

That damned spoiler: Maybe it's just me, but I like to be able to see out the rear window of a vehicle when I'm backing up. This car is already angled so that it seems to get higher in the back giving it a small, high rear window. But add that spoiler to the mix and all you can see out the back window is a little bit of sky.

Everything else: There's bound to be things that go wrong with a car that's nearing 60,000 miles, but I feel that this car has some sort of accelerated aging problem. Is it quality? Did the previous owner drive the car like Burt Reynolds? I'm not sure. There's an even mix of people here who either love this car or hate it. But in my opinion, when looking at this vehicle to purchase used, test drive it like you already own it: find some railroad crossing to bring out the rattles, test the brakes a lot(!), get out on the highway and give the engine a chance to "speak up".

This is one of those cars that appeals to a lot of people; you can't drive a mile without seeing at least 3 Neons on the road. But beware, as the saying goes "All the beauty of the world, 'tis but skin deep". Its an inexpensive car for someone on a budget, but check it out thoroughly before buying.