PT Cruiser for the grandkids
- Thread starter dishdude
- Start date
When I first saw a PT Cruiser, I thought it would be an ideal hearse for midgets.
CleanSump
Site Donor 2026
Wife tried one. It went away in a year's time. After about a week I called it the PT Snoozer.
Cramped interior. Too small to be practical as a station wagon, etc. etc. etc. Just didn't work for us.
YMMV depending upon what your tastes and needs are.
Cramped interior. Too small to be practical as a station wagon, etc. etc. etc. Just didn't work for us.
YMMV depending upon what your tastes and needs are.
I’ve driven & ridden in one a few times, they were underpowered rattle traps from day 1… They had the drivetrain of a base Voyager or Caravan, without the hauling ability.
I thought it was a cool looking car, until I saw the way the engine was jammed into the thing, then I was done.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
A bloke drove one to The Tavern on the Green in Central Park when they first came out.
It drew a crowd and the owner gave us a small tour of the interior. Was it that the rear seats were higher than the fronts?
It jumped clean out of my head as I knew it was a novelty car by the #1 carp car company at the time.
I've only seen a few more...ever.
I did love it when a car magazine printed pictures of the 1937 Pontiac from which the design was.....derived.
One nice thing to say at parties is that the design is said to hold the record for unchanged sheet metal.
I believe it was 12 or so years. Even the Ford Model T body was tweaked over its annulated life.
It drew a crowd and the owner gave us a small tour of the interior. Was it that the rear seats were higher than the fronts?
It jumped clean out of my head as I knew it was a novelty car by the #1 carp car company at the time.
I've only seen a few more...ever.
I did love it when a car magazine printed pictures of the 1937 Pontiac from which the design was.....derived.
One nice thing to say at parties is that the design is said to hold the record for unchanged sheet metal.
I believe it was 12 or so years. Even the Ford Model T body was tweaked over its annulated life.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
Didn't it have a goofy TV ad that said there were 30 some ways to configure the interior with seats up/down etc?
They were cool the first six months they were out and really did look like a gangster car.
They then became a CAFE subsidized junker for the 600-credit score crowd.
Somehow I see the Cybertruck following a similar path with early adopters and "the rest."
They then became a CAFE subsidized junker for the 600-credit score crowd.
Somehow I see the Cybertruck following a similar path with early adopters and "the rest."
Its a disposable vehicle with an interferance engine with a rubber internal wet timing belt that has aged out. Unfortunately it's about two thousand dollars of labor to replace that belt. People commonly won't do the belt becausd of the labor cost. It breaks and pistons hit valves, then it's not worth fixing and ends up in the junk-yard.
Back in the day, those belts broke between 80,000 and 85,000 miles almost like clockwork. But age has a lot to do with it also. A 25 yo belt is trash, even with only 5k miles on it.
It's the definition of a disposable vehicle. Worth two thousand tops, drive until it grenades because the belt broke, pull the tires off and scrap it.
My brother had one. When it had 70 K something miles on it, I warned him about the belt and told him to have it done at 80,000 miles. He did not. At 82 K he had his family in it with his son driving, accelerating on an on ramp in Erie the belt went. It was not worth fixing. A mechanic gave him $400.00 for it ( because it had 4 new tires on it ). That mechanic did fix it and sold it.
Back in the day, those belts broke between 80,000 and 85,000 miles almost like clockwork. But age has a lot to do with it also. A 25 yo belt is trash, even with only 5k miles on it.
It's the definition of a disposable vehicle. Worth two thousand tops, drive until it grenades because the belt broke, pull the tires off and scrap it.
My brother had one. When it had 70 K something miles on it, I warned him about the belt and told him to have it done at 80,000 miles. He did not. At 82 K he had his family in it with his son driving, accelerating on an on ramp in Erie the belt went. It was not worth fixing. A mechanic gave him $400.00 for it ( because it had 4 new tires on it ). That mechanic did fix it and sold it.
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SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
They had several electrical issues with them too.
Patman
Staff member
Remember when Skylar gets Walt Junior a PT Cruiser in Breaking Bad? The look on his face when he saw it was priceless 
slo town
$200 Site Donor 2026
It always makes me a bit sad to see a low mileage, well preserved vehicle getting no interest or love because it was born ugly.
Scott
Scott
For the right price (CHEAP) I'd bum around in a super clean 5-spd PT Cruiser.. haha
Patman
Staff member
I would too but only if it was the turbo version
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2022
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I put 100k miles on my PT cruiser. It was my second 1st car. Changed the timing belt and a bunch of other stuff. Learned how to wrench from it. It was really useful, cheap, but not high quality or efficient.
