In all fairness, the second-generation Neon wasn't a horrible car. It wasn't a great car, but for what it was, an el-cheapo econobox to get you from Point A to Point B inexpensively, it fulfilled that role reasonably well. My boyfriend has an '05, and we've gotten 34 mpg out of it on the highway, it has enough pep to pull into traffic, I could only dream of having that car's a/c in the Element, it's not uncomfortable, and aside from a camshaft position sensor that took 15 minutes to change and cost $8, it's been problem-free.
The first generation Neon, on the other hand, was a horrible car.
Dodge tried to pretend the Caliber was something more than an el-cheapo econobox, and they tried to charge like that, too. But, the Caliber isn't a good enough car to do that.