Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We are considering getting buying a PT Cruiser for my wife. Good idea or bad? She will use it mostly for going back and forth to work and sometimes carrying kids around.
Is there one particular PT you're looking at? The build quality, workmanship, and reliability varied widely with these vehicles. There are some that seem to run forever, and others that seem to never run right.
A good negotiating tool would be to make sure the seller cuts the eye-holes in a nice paper bag to wear over your head while you drive it, to avoid being recognized by someone you may know.
Location: Butler County Ohio and Winters in Florida
929 posts, read 2,722,588 times
Reputation: 635
If you what a PTC, go buy one. There are so many around, you can find the right one. My mother has a 2001 model. She loves it. You sit up higher than a car, more like a mini van. They are to work on if you have a problem, but if you service all fluids every 30K and the engine oil every 5K you shouldn't have a problem. The PTC is part Neon, that is good and bad. The engine is a 2.4 like a base Caravan or Stratus. Also the other folks write they handle and ride bad, that is all relative to what you are use to driving. I drive my Moms from time to time and I think it drives good, not great. The GT Turbo models are nice, that would be my choice if I was seeking a PTC.
They are pretty much trash. Poor driving position, weak drivetrain and possibly the ugliest thing inside and out to ever roll off a Mopar assembly line. Pass on this and get a her a Honda or something.
If Chrysler would have been smart, they would have made continuous improvements on the PT Cruiser, without changing the standard platform, like VW did with the original Beetle. The tooling could have been amortized by keeping the timeless design, thus keeping the costs down. It was built in Mexico, anyway. Had they made it a reliable bargain, they could have kept selling it for decades. It had a timeless appeal, but unfortunately was just a standard Chrysler POS.
as ukrkoz pointed out the (2004, 2005, 2006 SCION Xb) first generation Scion Xb is perhaps one of the best ever zippy, manueverable, small vehicles with HUGE AMOUNT of Useable Interior/cargo space.
The 1st gen. SCION Xb with its 1500cc four cylinder is great on gas.
Great MPG with either the 5speed or the AUTO and both versions are supremely reliable!
The PT Cruiser's gas mileage in comparison will be awful. It is a cool-retro looking horrible piece of trash. If you must have a PT, be sure to get one with manual transmission as they are slightly better than the automatics. Oh, and if you think that Chevy's copycat of the PT, called the SSR or whatever it officially was called is any better than the PT, think again because it is also a hunk of junk!
Stick with choosing from vehicles produced by TOYOTA, HONDA, MAZDA, NISSAN and KIA/HYUNDAI.
SCION is a Toyota brand initially marketed towards youth buyers (18 to 27 year olds) but it turned out a welcome surprise for Toyota when middle-aged married consumers made up the majority of buyers for the Xb.
Let me just say this: IF YOU ARE ON A TIGHT BUDGET, YOU NEVER WANT TO GAMBLE WITH JUNK!!
Because bringing home garbage made by the automakers based in Landuffjunk (DETROIT) is going to cost you as it will require much more time in the shop and it's useable lifespan in total miles before it falls apart will be much less.
Priorities FIRST!!! If you're on a tight budget and looking for a reliable/dependable vehicle, forget about cool looks, as nobody is gonna think your _________ junkmobile is cool when you show up late for work repeatedly because your car's in the shop again. Nobody is gonna be impressed when they see your car on the back of a flatbed towtruck, or when they see you stranded on the shoulder of the road and they have to pick you up because you up for the seventh time in six months. Your friends/family/co-workers will soon get tired of running a "taxi-cab/rescue service" for cool idiots who must drive cool looking crap vehicles.
Is there one particular PT you're looking at? The build quality, workmanship, and reliability varied widely with these vehicles. There are some that seem to run forever, and others that seem to never run right.
Yeah she found one on Craigslist she likes...and yes there are tons of them to choose from as well...right now she has a honda accord and we both hate it...She wants something 4 door but not a minivan,truck or suv...so it narrows it down some..Has to get good gas mileage 23 and above.I will let her read this thread and make her own mind up...my grandmother has had one for 5 years at least and never had a problem...so I dunno...
I wanted a PT Cruiser (Pete, in our family) for years and finally got one in 2006. It was a used 2001 model and I had it for barely four years. It was on the road for less than three of those years with various issues, including one no one could figure out that seemed to be a transmission issue. After I bought it (yeah, dumb decision on my part) I found a forum that said the earlier Pete's were worse than the later issues. Not sure how true this is, but the earlier model I had was horrible.
Later, it was an electrical problem, as it was explained to me, that would not let the car cut off. But sometimes, it would not cut on. I was already looking for a replacement one time when I started having this problem. I called my wife and said, I'm not cutting this car back off until I get to a dealership. I hated the car so bad and wanted to get rid of it that I gave the dealership 500 bucks to take it off my hands and get me into something else. (They offered 500 less than I owed and I was grateful to get rid of the POC car.)
...Has to get good gas mileage 23 and above.I will let her read this thread and make her own mind up...
It might get that. My 2001 was lucky to get 22.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
as it will require much more time in the shop and it's useable lifespan in total miles before it falls apart will be much less.
