srt-4 thoughts?

[mmm240]

Hi all. A work friend has an 03 SRT-4 neon that has been sitting 3 years with a blown turbo.
He bought it with 30k miles stock, sent it to a shop and went nuts with mods. Put down 330whp, in his words should have put down near 400.the shop/guy that worked on it probably f*** up. He states that it is running rich, He pounded on it for 10k miles and now it blows smoke, there is oil around the turbo. It makes sense to me that the turbo is blown.
He hasn't pounded on it, or even driven it since it started to smoke.

03 SRT-4 with 40k miles. He has all the stock parts. I'm not a dodge guy, but these engines do sound awesome!

What do you think it's worth?

[BusyBadger]

It's a Neon. One that's been to gym yes, but it's still a Neon.

In any case, if you're considering it I'd make sure it has (or you can readily get & install) the HLSD for it. Otherwise you're going to get a steady, full-on dose of pretty intense torque steer.

For a car that had an owner that went nuts with mods 330 at the wheels doesn't sound like much for an SRT4, at least from what I've seen.

[Jesda]

Robust motor. Trash can car.

If you set your expectations accordingly, it's one hell of a way to have good, cheap fun.

I have no idea what they're worth since I've never considered buying a second-gen Neon. I prefer the older, slower ones as fun daily beaters.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I agree with the above.

Yes, you can make stupid power cheap, and yes, they're pretty fun. But it is the single cheapest car ever made in the history of the automobile, with a bunch of power glued on after the fact. I've known people who have tracked them (even non-SRT models like the ACR or R/T) and like them for a number of reasons, including their chassis dynamics.

At the end of the day, though, it's a sub-par car that can be made fun for not much money. The question, I guess, is whether that matters to you.

My biggest concern with this specific example would be that nobody has any idea what this "Shop/guy" did to the thing and therefore what kind of halfassery might we waiting to explode on you down the road.

For me, with cars like the SRT-4, Focus ST, STI, or whatever, is that no matter how much "fun" it is, I spend most of the drive being frustrated with what the car does poorly, which in most cases is EVERYTHING except being quick.

[mmm240]

It's a Neon. One that's been to gym yes, but it's still a Neon.

In any case, if you're considering it I'd make sure it has (or you can readily get & install) the HLSD for it. Otherwise you're going to get a steady, full-on dose of pretty intense torque steer.

For a car that had an owner that went nuts with mods 330 at the wheels doesn't sound like much for an SRT4, at least from what I've seen.

He tells me that similar setups have put down 400whp. He doesn't recall specs, he just bought "what everyone else bought" He blames the tune. I've been the victim of poor shop work before.

I was planning on returning the car to near stock as he still has all the items.

[mmm240]

And Jesda and MOD. I will treat it like any of my other cars and be done with it within a year or two. Just want to enjoy it's best and sell it as I generally do.

Just wondering if I should pay the 4k he wants as I think that I can get rid of it for a profit. As I could do many years ago, I miss those days...

[PapaSmurf2k3]

They have a horrible turning radius, and they've been blowing head gaskets since like 1994 or something. That is the extent of my Neon knowledge.