hmm thats funny alll the gm's   i had did what you said and all my
problems went away when i went mopar my early mopar rides rusted out way
before the motors or trans quit and my charger actually went faster with
time since the sheetmetal rusted off and it lost weight cutting a better
et here in michigan
the the new 300 cars are really tight and have few common failures
but there is a problem with people putting stuff on the front seat and
shutting off
the airbag and setting a airbag lite fault code

My wife and I bought our second PT Cruiser, very highly rated by Consumer
Guide/Reports, this one is the convertible.  We traded in our 2003 sedan for
the 2005.  I personally have had: 1964 and 1970 Dodge Darts, bulletproof
cars.  My Mother had a 1967 Plymouth Fury, great car, 318 V-8, I had a 1973
Fury wagon, great car, 1948 Plymouth, one of the best cars I ever owned, and
I currently have a 1949 Chrysler Windsor sedan, all original and runs great!
My wife's son has a 2001 Neon with no problems.  It just comes down to what
you like, how you take care of the car, etc.  Any car, even the vaunted
Honda and Nissans can be PITA.

The 95's had a lot of those problems, probably because it was their first
year.  Later years did do better, we had a 97 that was fairly trouble
free--except the head gasket--which Chrysler fixed.  We also had a 97
Stratus, also had the headgasket problem, also was fixed by Chrysler and
also was a very dependable car.  As far as I've heard, the auto
transmissions on the Neons very rarely had problems.  We now own 2 PT
Cruiser and have very few problems with them.

What you should also be asking, in the GM and other newsgroups,  is how are
these manufactures doing?  Have GM and others had the headgasket,
electrical, computer and tranny problems?  I remember in the late 80's I had
a Plymouth Reliant K car, almost problem free, while a friends Toyota Pickup
had blown headgasket etc.  BTW, the K car was put to rest after 13 years by
a t-bone accident.

SRG

I think it varies just as with any manufacturer.  I had pretty good luck
with my 89 Acclaim.  The biggest problem it had in 143K miles was a
cracked torque convertor flex plate (not sure that is the exact part
name, but it is close).

My 96 Grand Voyager has been fairly troublesome, but so far all have
been pretty much nuisance things, nothing major in the drive train.
Although I am now having a serious problem with it stalling at idle when
it is put into gear.  The dealer thought it was a dirty TBI, but
cleaning it didn't help.  They then thought last week that it was the
coil pack as it missfired when they sprayed a mist of water on it.  But
replacing that didn't help as I found out yesterday.  This is the first
problem I've had that has affected its driveability seriously.

I had an 84 Honda Accord that was the most troublesome car I've ever
owned.  My current pickup, a 94 K1500, got off to a bad start with a
valve train failure at 5,200 miles (the ball came off the end of a
pushrod and it welded itself to the rocker arm), but has been pretty
reliable since then.  Just the normal 4WD stuff like replacing a
u-joint, but nothing major in the drive train or otherwise.  This truck
hauls wood and plows snow all winter so it has held up well for 85,000
miles of pretty heavy use.

Personally, I've not found Chryslers to be significantly worse than the
GM cars I've owned.  I've not owned many Fords so I can't compare them.
   My Jeep Comanche was one of the most reliable vehicles I ever owned,
probably in the same league as the Acclaim.  However, I bought it when
Jeep was still owned by AMC.

Matt

Been buying Chrysler products since 1987.

Had the head gasket problem also at about 60K on a 1997 Neon Sport (DHOC
engine)....which is a known common problem...replaced  under 70K extended
warranty.

Had AC problems on a 1987 Grand Caravan V6 (1st year for the Grand and the
V6)...repaired twice under extended warranty...then gave up again after it was
out of warranty at 82K (didn't fix it after that).  Started burning a little
oil by the time we sold it...but the people we sold it to drove it for several
more years and said it was one of their more reliable vehicles they'd ever
owned.

Other problems...not many?

1989 Dakota 4x4...Timing chain went at 130K
   (which is unusual)  Went through pittman arms
   for some reason too.  No other problems.
1997 Grand Caravan 3.3...Sticking lifters at 30K...replaced
  under warranty
  (I attributed this one to my 4 mile winter commutes and not
  changing the oil often enough to prevent sludge)
2003 Stratus...Cabin blower fan at 2K...replaced under warranty
  loose/leaking tranny coolant couplings...dealer tightened.
2004 Sebring...None so far

Other Family Members

Mother in Law...1989 Dodge Aries...still driving it
  don't know the service details, but she isn't complaining
  that the car is a problem
Son 1996 Dakota V8.  Water pump at 85K.  Bought it used
  so don't know what happened to it before 50K
Daughter 2000 Neon.  Clutch cable problem...nothing else.
  She has about 80K on it at the moment

Neighbors

1996 Caravan - 190K miles..abuses it as his weekend
  hauler for home improvement projects.  Often comes
  down the street sitting awfully low from weight.  He
  recently bought a SAAB 9.5 wagon and was going to
  trade the Caravan... but changed his mind and decided
  it was too good of a vehicle to get rid of just yet.

So, all-in-all, reliability seems to be quite good if you ask me!  I've not
seen any of the electrical or transmission problems you have.  I think 1995 was
the 1st year for the neon...I wouldn't buy a 1st or 2nd year model run from ANY
manufacturer...they statistically have the greatest number of problems.  I'd
stay away from the new 300 for a couple of years...let them work the kinks out
The Pacifica?  I'd wait one more year before buying that one too.

Go ahead and buy one if you are an electronical engineer and master
mechanic.

All those wires.  They would scare an electrician to death.  99% of
mechanics don't know electricity so who's going to fix those connections
when they corrode or the wires break?  And if a transistor burns out, its
all over.  

Again we are brought back to the leaky head gasket problems,  a perineal
everlastingly reoccuring fault.  By Gosh!, hasn't anyone ever worked on a
moped?  Their heads don't even need a head gasket!!  Its a metal to metal
fit.  A car engine can be made the same way.  No gasket = no head gasket
failure.  Its simple Automechanics II.

So how do you build a watercooled engine without a gasket?  Well you could,
but its easier if you do use a gasket so long as a little leakage doesn't
matter to the engine.  Just don't run water or oil through the gasket!  The
gasket needs holes, but only cylinder holes!!  The water and oil circulate
just as before but don't through the gasket.  Instead, the circulation in
the block and head is independent with a cast manifold connecting the two.
A stainless distribution tube in the head takes care of potential hot
spots.  Looking at the block, it would be smooth except for cylinder holes.
Looking at the head, it would be smooth except for combustion chamber
cavities with the valves in the usual places.  Its a very elegant solution
and I challenge the factory to prove otherwise.  Sure the engine would cost
$10 or $20 more but so what?  If the gasket leaks a little, it would be
combustion gas only and it would harmlessly bleed to the atmosphere instead
of your WATER JACKET or OIL GALLERY which it does now and kills your car
engine.  At the very worst, the engine would have to be derated a little
because its cooling efficiency might be impaired by a small amount, to be
determined by actual testing during development.

Surely this configuration has been thought up before, hasn't it?

We had a '98 Neon and it was a good little car.  Never had any trouble
with it.  We now have two Chrysler minivans ('00 and '02) and both have
been relatively trouble free.  We did have an issue of a leaking intake
manifold gasket and a faulty EGR valve, but both were fixed under
warranty years ago.

From 1989 to 1996 I drove a '88 Dodge Daytona Shelby Z. Fast car,
passed everything but a repair shop. Broke down a lot. Was leary of
another Mopar product but in 2001 I bought a '98 Cirrus. It has been
the best car I've ever owned and extremely reliable.

Gene DiGennaro
Baltimore, Md.

Own a 99 300M.  42k miles.  Purchased 11/98.  Bought an extended warranty on
it but so far haven't used it once.  Power windows were a problem first year
though and covered under regular warranty.  Goodyear tires had to be
replaced by Goodyear.  When new ones started vibrating I switched to
Michelin.  So did Chyrsler in later years.