2003 Dodge Neon Interior & seats Problems

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 DODGE NEON. WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS AT NIGHT, THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE HEADLIGHTS WOULD FLICKER SPORADICALLY AND THE PASSENGER SIDE FOG LIGHT FAILED. SHE HAD THE FOG LIGHT REPAIRED, BUT IT FAILED AGAIN SIX MONTHS LATER. SEVERAL MONTHS AFTER THAT, THE INTERIOR LIGHTING FAILED. SHE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER AND THEY STATED THAT THE WIRING HARNESS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE IS CURRENTLY BEING REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 70,000 AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 93,000.

NHTSA ID

10216264

Incident

Jun 9, 2007

Mileage

70,000 mi

I TURNED ON MY HEADLIGHTS AND AFTER ABOUT THIRTY SECONDS, I NOTICED A SMELL THAT SMELLED LIKE SOMETHING WAS BURNING. MAYBE ANOTHER 15 SECONDS OR SO AFTER THAT, I SAW SMOKE POURING OUT OF THE STEERING COLUMN. PULLING OFF THE ROAD NOW, I ROLLED DOWN THE WINDOWS AND SHUT OFF THE LIGHTS REMEMBERING THAT OTHER OWNERS HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH THEIR WIRING HARNESSES MELTING. THE SMOKE DISPERSED AND THE CAR SEEMED FINE. I HAVE NOT USED MY HEADLIGHTS SINCE. *TR

NHTSA ID

10208679

Incident

Nov 9, 2007

Mileage

95,666 mi

WIRE HARNESS FROM UNDER STEERING COLUMN CAUGHT FIRE FOR NO REASON WHAT SO EVER. CAR HAS 77000 MILES ON IT. NO COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. THIS HAS HAPPENED TO MULTIPLE CARS AND DODGE IS NOT COVERING REPAIR ON THIS ITEM. HERE IS A LINK FROM MORE DODGE OWNERS THAT HAVE HAD THIS ISSUE FOR NO REASON WHAT TO EVER. HTTP://WWW.SRTFORUMS.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=221333&HIGHLIGHT=5183442AA I WOULD LIKE TO GET HELP IN REGARDS TO THIS ISSUE. THANK YOU *TR

NHTSA ID

10203577

Incident

Sep 20, 2007

Mileage

77,000 mi

2003 DODGE NEON'S HOOD UNLATCHED AND OPENED . *TS THE POLICE OBSERVED THAT THERE WAS PREVIOUS FRONT END DAMAGE TO THE VEHICLE. SOME PART WERE BEING SECURED WITH TWINE. HOOD LATCH AND GRILL SUPPORT APPEARED TO NOT BE IN PROPER WORKING ORDER DUE TO PREVIOUS DAMAGE. THE DRIVE CLAIMED THAT THE LATCH WAS IN PROPER WORKING ORDER. *NM

NHTSA ID

10175395

Incident

Oct 13, 2006

MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH INSIDE STEERING COLUMN MELTED WIRING HARNESS FOR HEADLIGHT SWITCH. SMOKE AND HEAT CAME OUT OF STEERING COLUMN COVER. HAD TO REPLACE DASH HARNESS AND MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH. *JB

NHTSA ID

10172561

Incident

Jan 10, 2006

MY MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH ON MY 2003 DODGE NEON SHORT CIRCUITED AND MELTED THE PLUG THAT IT CONNECTS TO I HAVE CONTACTED DODGE AND SEARCHED MULTIPLE JUNK YARDS FOR THE PLUG AND HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO FIND ONE DODGE CHARGES $1100 FOR THE WIRING HARNESS I HAVE NO LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS OR FOG LIGHTS AND CANNOT AFFORD THE PLUG FROM THE DEALERSHIP NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO FIX MY PROBLEM. *JB

NHTSA ID

10169365

Incident

Sep 8, 2006

Mileage

63,800 mi

MY HEADLIGHTS/FOG LIGHTS STARTED FLICKERING AND ALL OF MY DASH LIGHTS ILLUMINATED. I THEN LOST ALL POWER FOR A BRIEF SECOND AND THEN THE CAR CAME BACK TO NORMAL. I PULLED THE STEERING COLUMN APART AND FOUND THE MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH HAS STARTED TO MELT. I HAVE NOT REPLACED THIS YET AS I JUST FOUND THIS TODAY. *JB

NHTSA ID

10168582

Incident

Sep 18, 2006

Mileage

45,740 mi

THE MULTI-SWITCH AND WIRING HARNESS BEHIND MY STEERING WHEEL MELTED RENDERING MY HEADLIGHTS (LOW-BEAM) AND FOG LIGHTS INOPERABLE. *JB

NHTSA ID

10166718

Incident

Aug 27, 2006

Mileage

44,410 mi

I HAVE A 2003 DODGE NEON SRT-4 AND WAS DRIVING TO WORK WHEN SMOKE STARTED COMING OUT OF MY STEERING COLUMN. I GOT TO WORK AND PULLED THE STEERING COLUMN APART AND FOUND THAT THE CONNECTOR FOR THE MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH (CONTROLS THE HEADLIGHTS & TURN SIGNALS) HAD MELTED INTO THE SWITCH. UPON DISCOVERING THAT THE PROBLEM HAD BEEN HAD WITH MULTIPLE PEOPLE DRIVING NEONS FROM THE SAME MODEL YEAR, I PURCHASED A REPLACEMENT SWITCH AND WIRING HARNESS. I SPLICED THE WIRES BACK INTO PLACE AND EVERYTHING WORKED BUT MY HEADLIGHTS AND FOG LIGHTS. UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION, THE FUSE FOR THE HEADLIGHTS HAD BEEN BLOWN AND NEEDED REPLACING AS WELL. QUESTIONS POSED TO DODGE/DAIMLER-CHRYSLER RESULTED IN DEAD ENDS BECAUSE THERE WERE NO VISIBLE FLAMES. *JB

NHTSA ID

10159022

Incident

May 10, 2006

Mileage

54,400 mi

THERE WAS SMOKE COMING FROM THE STEERING COLUMN. I IMMEDIATELY SHUT DOWN THE CAR. AFTER STARTING THE CAR, I REALIZED MY HEADLIGHTS WERE NOT WORKING. I PULLED ON THE MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH TWICE AND REGAINED THE USE OF MY HEADLIGHTS. I DROPPED THE VEHICLE OFF AT THE DEALERSHIP (BIG VALLEY DODGE/SUBARU) ON 5/24/06. ON 5/26/06, AT ABOUT 4:20 PM, I RECEIVED A CALL FROM MARVIN IN THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT. HE ADVISED THEY WERE GOING TO REPLACE THE MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH AND WIRE HARNESS. HE ALSO ADVISED I WAS BEING CHARGED $386.00 + TAX AS MY CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY. IT SEEMS AS THERE IS NO TSB ON THIS PROBLEM ALTHOUGH THERE ARE MANY NEON OWNERS HAVING THE SAME PROBLEMS. PLEASE SEE LINKS BELOW. HTTP://WWW.SRTFORUMS.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?P=3461887#POST3461887 HTTP://WWW.SRTFORUMS.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=255414&HIGHLIGHT=MULTIFUNCTION+SWITCH HTTP://WWW.SRTFORUMS.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=251467&HIGHLIGHT=MULTIFUNCTION+SWITCH HTTP://WWW.SRTFORUMS.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=191421&HIGHLIGHT=MULTIFUNCTION+SWITCH. *JB

NHTSA ID

10158365

Incident

May 22, 2006

THIS IS A PROBLEM NUMEROUS SRT-4 OWNERS AS WELL AS NEON OWNERS ARE EXPERIENCING (HTTP://WWW.SRTFORUMS.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=221333, HTTP://WWW-ODI.NHTSA.DOT.GOV/CARS/PROBLEMS/COMPLAIN/RESULTS.CFM, HTTP://WWW-ODI.NHTSA.DOT.GOV/CARS/PROBLEMS/COMPLAIN/RESULTS.CFM). MY MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH HAS GONE OUT TWICE BOTH RESULTING IN INSTANCES WHERE THE HEADLIGHTS AND FOG LIGHTS DO NOT WORKING. FIRST TIME I HAD TO PAY THE DEALERSHIP TO REPLACE THE SWITCH. THEY NOTED THE WIRING HARNESS WAS MELTED BUT DID NOT REPLACE NOR ASK ME IF I WANTED IT REPLACED. THIS TIME I REPLACED THE SWITCH MYSELF AND HEADLIGHTS AND FOG LIGHTS STILL DON'T WORK. THE WIRING HARNESS LOOKS COMPLETELY BURNT. *JB

NHTSA ID

10157284

Incident

May 10, 2006

Mileage

33,000 mi

DT: THE VEHICLE CAUGHT ON FIRE FROM THE WIRING UNDER THE DASHBOARD. THIS HAPPENED ON SEPTEMBER 6, 2005, CONTACTED THE DEALER, AND THEY WERE GOING TO INVESTIGATE IT, BUT HAVE NOT DONE SO. THE VEHICLE CUT OFF, AND SMOKE CAME OUT FROM UNDER THE DASH. THEN , THE VEHICLE TURNED ON FOUR TIMES BY ITSELF WHILE CONSUMER HOLDING THE KEY IN HAND. THE HORN STARTED BLOWING AND WINDSHIELD WIPERS CAME ON. *AK

NHTSA ID

10138099

Incident

Sep 6, 2005

Mileage

75,760 mi

3/22/3 5160 MI RADIATOR LOOSE, BRAKES PULSE, 4/7/3 5500 MI. FRONT ROTORS REPLACED. 4/24/3 6204 MI. POWER STEERING FAILED (TWICE), PS PUMP REPLACED. 6/6/3 7300 MI. SEAT BACK POKE INTO MY BACK FROM THE HEAD REST SUPPORT, ACTUALLY WEARING A SPOT IN THE SEAT BACK FABRIC. NEW SEAT BACK ORDERED.*AK

NHTSA ID

10021413

Incident

Feb 22, 2003

Mileage

5,160 mi