Consumer Complaint Detail

DODGE / NEON / 2000

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
Yes Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 004284824 Incident Date: May, 26 2004
Consumer's City: PITTSBURGH Consumer's State: PA
Vehicle Transmission Type: MAN Manufacturers Name: Chrysler (FCA US, LLC)
Model Name: NEON Model Year: 2000
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Electrical system
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: Yes Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: 1B3ES46C2YD Date added to File: May, 25 2021
Date Complaint Received: Jun, 15 2004 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: Yes Purchase Date: Apr, 14 2000
Was Original Owner: Yes Anti-lock Brakes: No
Number of Cylinders: 4 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: I owned a 2000 dodge neon. i last drove the vehicle on may 25, 2004 and it had been parked outside my apartment since that time. according to the police report, on may 27, 2004 at about 2:45am my car while parked outside my apartment caught on fire. i was unaware of this and was asleep in my apartment at that time. according to the police and fire department, the fire was confined to the engine compartment and had to be put out by the fire department. according to the insurance fire investigator, the heat from the fire was so intense and engine and front end damage so severe that he was unable to determine an official cause but suspected the fire to be electrical in nature. officially according to my insurance, the cause is unknown. my insurance determined my vehicle to be a total loss. i have no reason to expect arson or that it was deliberately set fire. the police and fire departments also did not suspect arson and are not pursuing further investigation. the consequence of this fire was a big finacial loss for me(based on my annual income) due to the insurance reimbursing only half the original cost of the car. i also am thankful that i was not operating the vehicle when this happened which could have caused me serious injuries. i did have two prior accidents to the front end of this vehicle with one of the crashes requiring the engine to be removed and put back in. this crash, however, took place over a year ago and i had no problems with the neon up until may 27, 2004. as a result, i do not suspect the prior repairs to be the cause of this fire. with the recent recall of the chryslar pt cruiser, i thought i should report this neon engine fire to protect other neon owner's safety.