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No worse than the Pontiac Aztek.
Or the HHR.
Or the Prowler.
I still see a few prowlers around at local car shows and alot of HHR's being used by commercal company's and construction workers. they are great for the trades if you are a electrician or plumber they are perfect and can hold all your tools and materials in the back and carry two people up front.
http://www.chevrolet-carz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/2011-Chevrolet-HHR-Panel-Pics.jpg (broken link)
No worse than the Pontiac Aztek.
Or the HHR.
Or the Prowler.
I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder! I DO think the Pontiac Aztek was absolutely the most hideous car ever to roll off an assembly line, however I REALLY like the styling of the PT Cruiser, and the Chevy HHR. In fact, the HHR is the only Detroit 3 vehicle I would ever consider.
I would by a Nissan Cube over the HHR though, just to get a reliable car. The Cube is also built in Japan which is a big plus over the Mexican built PT Cruiser or HHR
Did you ever think why boxes are not built in the shape of Corvettes? It's because the Cube shape is much more efficient in carrying merchandise. The same goes for a vehicle. Buses are usually rectangles, The Cube, Kia Soul, and Scion xB, are VERY efficient people and cargo haulers with absolutely no pretensions of style or beauty.
I've only owned one Fiat... it was a piece of junk... and it spent more time in the shop than on the road, that's why I only owned it for just less than a year and a half.
Turns out mine was a lovely parking space warmer. I had to factor in an extra hour every morning so I was prepared to take the bus the 50% of the time my Fiat wouldn't start or would only go 15mph. It lasted 1-yr. I had vibrantly wonderful dreams of driving it off the end of the pier.
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I have a 2001 Nissan Xterra with a 3.3 Litre V-6, and 5-speed stick, and I love it.
I'm very glad to hear that. Xterra & Honda CR-V are my leading contenders in my car search. I love the look of the Xterra. Unsure I want to spend over $20K (I'm also looking at very inexpensive cars... Nissan's Cube & Versa, Honda Fit... plain for sure, but financially practical), but I know I'd love driving the Xterra everyday.
There are huge numbers of fans of these little cars here that feel the same way I do about their Fiats.
Oh, I believe you. One normally shys away from any vehicle which has been past trouble. For me that's Fiat, Buick, Hyundai, Pontiac. There're plenty of cars to choose from... I'd rather move onto new makes/models than risk getting my wallet burned again.
And, sometimes it's just luck of the draw. I do know a man who owned a new Mercedes & said it the least reliable car he'd owned. Everytime I saw him, the hood was up & he was waiting for a tow truck.
Oh, I believe you. One normally shys away from any vehicle which has been past trouble. For me that's Fiat, Buick, Hyundai, Pontiac. There're plenty of cars to choose from... I'd rather move onto new makes/models than risk getting my wallet burned again.
And, sometimes it's just luck of the draw. I do know a man who owned a new Mercedes & said it the least reliable car he'd owned. Everytime I saw him, the hood was up & he was waiting for a tow truck.
After having worked on and owned so many different cars, if I was to shy away from any car make or model that could be problematic 9or has been in the past) there woudl be NO cars left to like.
People always say "well, that car gave me trouble so I'll get a different kind" and forget that there are specialist independant shops that survive and profit working on any kind of car. Honda and VW shops, Mercedes, shops, BMW shops, Toyota and Nissan specialists, etc. Any and all cars can be unreliable and break, and people can make a living specializing in any of them. I've had worse "luck" with so called "reliable" cars than with the ones that people say "stay away" from. I've had Jaguars, Range Rovers, MGs, BMWs, Fiats, all excellent cars. I've had VWs that were great and VWs that were not. I've had Hondas and Nissans that were constantly having issues. I've come to realize that 90% of a car's woes come from how it's owners treat it, even in supposedly problematic brands and models.
I would by a Nissan Cube over the HHR though, just to get a reliable car. The Cube is also built in Japan which is a big plus over the Mexican built PT Cruiser or HHR.
I bought a PT brand new in 2002. 5 years later, daily driving, load carrying, even some race track use, the car was still as perfect as it was the day I bought it, and never once gave me any mechanical, electrical or trim issues. No squeaks or rattles, and the ONLY issue was where the tape line was on the bumper (all the black bumper PTs had tape marks where the black was separated from the body color. You can see it on this pic of my car the week I sold it):
My car was so reliable a couple of my friends bought them as well, and had the same results.
No worse than the Pontiac Aztek.
Or the HHR.
Or the Prowler.
let me give yo a bit of perspoective on that, and why you cannot put the PT or HHR on the level of the Aztek, or even close.
GM thought they might sell 100k Azteks per year, considering how practical and how much cheaper it was than the minivans it was based on. They sold a little over 40k of them across the entire production run, the last 10k or so being sold as leftovers for a couple years after the car was canned. they only sold 15k the first year. The virtues could not overcome the styling, and the people that bought them did so DESPITE the styling (most saying they knew it wasn't good looking, but it was very practical and turned out to be pretty well built).
Chrysler thought they could sell 50k PTs per year. Half GM's target. Well, the first year (2001), they had to add a third shift to the plant to keep up with the demand, sold 150k of them that first year, and there was a 2 year waiting list. All BECAUSE of the style. And that sales rate kept up and only tapered down to the original target figure in the the last couple years due to the economy. And it did so with ZERO advertising since about 2002. Were the PT truly ugly, it woudl have sufferend the same fate as the Aztek. Same for the HHR (which was designed by Bryan Nesbitt under the guidance of Bob Lutz at GM. Bryan also penned the PT Cruiser while working at Chrysler.. under Bob Lutz).
After having worked on and owned so many different cars, if I was to shy away from any car make or model that could be problematic 9or has been in the past) there woudl be NO cars left to like.
Sure, sometimes it's just luck of the draw.
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I've come to realize that 90% of a car's woes come from how it's owners treat it, even in supposedly problematic brands and models.
Always a possibility with neglect or abuse, yes.
Any consistently problematic car I've had was from the moment I'd bought it, shiny & new & drove it off the lot. I never had a car where problems suddenly cropped up after owning it for awhile & could never be fixed and/or worsened once in for repair. Every case differs. Yes, experts in makes/models exist... I've seen them before... wow, they're expensive.
My personal financial judgement is when my money is regularly being funneled into keeping my car running, new or old, expensive vehicle or no, best to let it go. If it means brand switching, fine. A relative of mine had no luck with American cars, yet felt he should only buy American. Okay. As consumers, we've the right to decide what we'll sink our money into. For me, with each new car I switch style, colors, makes, models... there are many choices... if it's basically a crap shoot, why not buy something different.
Although I don't disagree with you in some cases (I've known people who never changed oil or drove with it very low), since my cars were often rendered undrivable due to problems, there was little time for any mistreatment on my part, whatever that could be, to contribute to it's problems. Who knows why the problems existed initially fresh from the lot & why after a dozen visits to dealerships or expert mechanics, they still weren't fixed. Again, luck of the draw with mechanics & any other subject under the sun.
We all spend our money differently, as it should be.
Maybe you're just really unlucky. I've owned well over a hundred cars in the last 30 years, and I've never had something rendered undriveable by a factory flaw. Neglect and age, yes. If it was that easy to buy a car that was constantly broken due to design/engineering, I'd probably have bought one by now, and I haven't. I've had lots of supposedly problematic cars and the ONLY issues have been due to age and neglect. Seriously, if it IS just luck of the draw, then why shy away from a subsequent example? You can't be so unlucky that you'd ONLY get bad examples. And if you ARE, then you'll get them in ANY make you might choose.
It isn't bout spending money differently, it's about slagging on cars due to one owned example having issues. Mechanical sympathy and understanding what's going on under the skin play a big role. I HAVE noticed that about the only people (there are a few exceptions) that ever complain about cars being unreliable from the factory and that they'd ever buy another one, are people that can't/won't do any of their own work and are at the mercy of mechanics/technicians etc. And people that supposedly love cars, from the moment they first turn the lkey on a new car that just are buying, treating the car like crap without even knowing they are doing it. hamfisted working of the controls, **** poor driving skill in how they transition the controls. Oh, they change the oil on time and put premium fuel in it, but mashing the pedals, beating up on buttons and switches, slamming doors, etc (to friend: wanna know why you needed a new ignition switch at 30k miles? Twisting on it too hard every time you try to start the car, making everything loose inside it).
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