CD Article: Chrysler PT Cruiser, 2001-2009

[CD_Editor]

         
Used Vehicle Review:


So-so reliability makes the PT a less-than-ideal buy, but choosing one that's been well-maintained and that checks out with a trusted mechanic could prove decent if you need lots of practicality at a low price, say Contributing Editor, Chris Chase.
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[Arthur Dent]

I'd love a low pressure turbo with a 5spd. I like the styling and enjoyed the Neon I had but still too pricey to for me.

[ovr50]

My sister-in-law has a 2001 model PT. I drove it a bit back in 2002 or so, and found it to be uncomfortable and underpowered for my taste. Very low on the totem pole of desirable cars, IMO. 

[Erik]

My sister-in-law has a 2001 model PT. I drove it a bit back in 2002 or so, and found it to be uncomfortable and underpowered for my taste. Very low on the totem pole of desirable cars, IMO. 

Agreed. Never got a chance to drive a turbo, but the NA rental car that I put a few thousand K on was a tragedy. Horrible gas mileage, uncomfortable seats and no real redeeming values I could see made it a total non-starter for me. I did like the looks however.

[Cord]

It's hard to believe that people were lined up to pay more than MSRP when these first came out.

[The Mighty Duck]

It's hard to believe that people were lined up to pay more than MSRP when these first came out.

I rode in a PT rental once, and it was pretty bad. The interior was decently laid out, but otherwise terrible (poor materials and some glaringly bad design choices that took away from the good aspects), and imo ugly as sin from the outside. If I wanted a retro-styled compact wagon, I'd take a Chevrolet HHR ten times out of ten. The HHR is much nicer looking (have not seen the interior, so cannot comment there), and the turbocharged version would desecrate the turbo PT Cruiser.

[Honda Owner]

The PT is a total POS and that is speaking from the perspective of a former Chrysler service advisor. The constricted front end makes them extremely hard to work on and therefore very expensive. The non-turbo models (like 95% of all ever sold) are noisy, rough, crude and unreliable. The interiors are plastic crapola. Most of the owners were men with grey hair, pot bellies and choo-choo hats and with a generous number of fat ladies. Ick, ewwwww, awful car!

[rrocket]

A co-worker had one.  Other than a yearly head gasket failure, it seemed to run fine....

[Trainman]

... Most of the owners were men with grey hair, pot bellies and choo-choo hats ...

That's me!   

But I have never had or driven a PT and have no desire to.

[Winklovic]

Call me goofy, but I still like the PT.  I've driven both manual and auto versions, too.

[Mitlov]

Mini-Mitlov thinks the PT Cruiser is the coolest car in the world, even cooler than the Mini Cooper.  Of course, he's just shy of 3 years old

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xpUCXBtlMo

[Greg B.]

The PT is a total POS and that is speaking from the perspective of a former Chrysler service advisor. The constricted front end makes them extremely hard to work on and therefore very expensive. The non-turbo models (like 95% of all ever sold) are noisy, rough, crude and unreliable. The interiors are plastic crapola. Most of the owners were men with grey hair, pot bellies and choo-choo hats and with a generous number of fat ladies.

Whereas most Honda Fit owners are obnoxious, arrogant, smug, pencil-necked geeks with a superiority complex. 

When are you going to stop these ridiculous negative generalizations about owners of cars you don't like?

Ick, ewwwww, awful car!

At least you spared us the usual lecture on the 20 ways the Fit is superior. 

[Sir Osis of Liver]

IIRC the PT Cruiser has been pretty good reliability wise, average or better from CR.
We looked at one years ago; too little cargo space. Nifty looking, but getting on in years.

[random006]

I have three friends who own PT Cruisers.  The cars have served them well and as far as I know, continue to do so.

[Mitlov]

It's hard to believe that people were lined up to pay more than MSRP when these first came out.

Some people still do really like 'em.  There's a Rogue Valley PT Cruisers Club with a bunch of customized PTs around here.

Just a sampling of how many fan groups there are:
http://www.milehighpts.com/PTCruiserClubLinks.html

[Seafoam]

 I think these cars get  a bad rap just because they are chryslers.  Went to New Brunswick to the car show this weekend in the brother in laws 05 5 speed.
I 've been in it many times . It's not that bad, I found the seats comfortable and it delivered 38 mpg on the highway. It is fairly practical with lots of cargo space . And i am a Fit owner. You get what you pay for it's not an expensive car . It hasn't fallen apart yet like his 01 jetta tdi[needed new engine at 130,000 km]

[Honda Owner]

The PT was based on the Neon which after 2000 was actually a pretty good car. The real problem with the PT is the constricted nose design makes any engine compartment repair very difficult. Book time for basic jobs for a basic job such as a radiator replacement is like double that of a Neon. This goes for most other repairs, too. There weren't that many warranty returns on PTs when I worked for Chrysler. The car was in my opinion underpowered in base engine form but the owners just loved them.

[Mitlov]

You get what you pay for it's not an expensive car .

The local Chrysler dealer is advertising new PT Cruisers for US$9,000.  It's certainly not a great car, but it's an acceptable car (my mother, a die-hard Toyota loyalist, says she likes PT Cruisers better than Focuses and Cobalts when she rents cars).  For that price (plus a lifetime powertrain warranty) it's actually a very smart option for folks on a budget.

[toolatecrew]

Had one as a rental 1st year they came out. This was when people were lining up for them . Freinds were like cool you got to drive a PT cruiser I want one but linesups are too long don't want to pay MSRP. My response: Don't bother. Noisy,underpowered did I mention noisy. I owned a 98 Neon twincam and it was a better car than the PT cruiser (doesn't say much).

Amazing what repackaging does to people wanting to buy an aging platform (New Beetle?)

[gta_driver]

You get what you pay for it's not an expensive car .

The local Chrysler dealer is advertising new PT Cruisers for US$9,000.  It's certainly not a great car, but it's an acceptable car (my mother, a die-hard Toyota loyalist, says she likes PT Cruisers better than Focuses and Cobalts when she rents cars).  For that price (plus a lifetime powertrain warranty) it's actually a very smart option for folks on a budget.

There are some dealers in the Toronto area advertising them for just below $12k Canadian.

I've had both the Touring Limited and convertible PT cruisers as rentals. I know the touring limited had extra sound deadening insulation. It was almost Lexus like quiet on the inside. The fit and finish was better then a regular PT. I hated the turn radius.

The PT for the current price is not bad basic transportation with good hatchback utility.