NHTSA Complaint #734657 — 1997 DODGE NEON

I FOUND OUT ABOUT A POSSIBLE HEAD GASKET PROBLEM WHEN I TOOK MY CAR TO AN AUTO REPAIR SHOP FOR ANOTHER SERVICE. THE REPAIR MAN WAS GOING TO CHANGE MY TRANSMISSION FLUID/PAN BUT THEN DISCOVERED THAT THE SEAL TO THE PAN ON THE HEAD GASKET MAY BE LEAKING, BUT THE PAN WAS SEALED WITH SOME TYPE OF SEALANT THAT HE COULD NOT REMOVE IT. ALSO, WE WERE TOLD THAT THERE ARE DEFECTS IN THE AIRBAGS AND THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN RECALLED, BUT I HAVE NEVER GOTTEN ANY INFORMATION PERTAINING TO THIS "VERY IMPORTANT" ISSUE. ALSO, THE PAINT ON MY CAR IS LITERALLY FALLING OFF IN PATCHES. IT APPEARS TO ONLY BE THE ONLY COLOR (PURPLEISH/BLUE) OF THE NEON'S THAT THE PAINT IS COMING OFF. MY CAR (KEEP IN MIND ONLY 2YRS OLD) ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE A SPOTTED COW. I CAN TAKE MY FINGER AND PEEL THE PAINT OFF WITH EASE. THERE ARE CARS THAT ARE 10YRS OLDER THAN MY 97 AND THE PAINT LOOKS 100 TIMES BETTER! DODGE IS ALSO AWARE OF THIS "BAD PAINT" BUT THEY WANT TO CHARGE $300 TO GET IT RE-PAINTED--THE EXACT SAME COLOR??!!! DODGE SHOULD REPLACE THE PAINT FREE OF CHARGE ON ALL THESE MODELS WITH THIS COLOR PAINT. IT MAKES ME NOT EVEN WANT TO DRIVE MY 2 YR OLD CAR WITH PAINT MISSING FROM FRONT,BACK,SIDE TO SIDE.