PT Cruiser

[GreeCguy]

Can anyone tell me the good, the bad and the ugly on the PT Cruiser? On my way home today one was parked out next to the main road with a big "For Sale" sign on it. I stopped and looked, it's an 04 with a five speed stick shift. Paint is fading a little and the clear coat is starting to come off. Tires look new and the interior looks to be in decent shape. Car has 94,000 miles on the clock. Asking price is 3,400 dollars which according to Kelly Blue Book is in the ball park for this area.

Are there any well know problems? Were they a good car or just average? Any thoughts, opinions or experience will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[exranger06]

It's due for a timing belt change. That's probably the reason the guy is selling it: He doesn't want to spend $1,000+ on a new timing belt.

My fiancée had an '06 briefly. PS pump went out at around 33k miles. Threw some evap emissions code a few months later, the dealer said some wiring harness melted or something. It threw a misfiring code around 35k, changed the copper plugs out and it went away. Cheap, uncomfortable interior, and a bit of a gas guzzler, considering it's size and power.

 

[oilmaven]

I bought a new one in 2003...a "loaded" base model with automatic. Mine was a great car for the 6 years I owned it...sold with 106,000 miles (and running great at the time). I had no problems with mine except for the notorious front end "issues" (wheel bearings and bushings). I ran GC in it for most of the time I owned it (stocked up on sale at various Auto Zone stores when the green GC was all the rage here). I know others that didn't have good luck with their Cruisers...I must have gotten a good one.

 

[79sunrunner]

I drove an automatic version '04 I believe and I had nothing good to say about it. The suspension was too hard, and the cabin was too cramped. And that comes from a Fiat/MG owner. The seats were unsupportive, and my back began to hurt after 20 minutes. The dashboard fit and finish was cheap cheap cheap. You may not be as picky as I am, or are willing to make small sacrifices for an affordable mode of transport, but I'd find something else. This was a friends car of mine, and she did not understand automotive eticut like many other people, so the poor upkeep on maintenance may have made the car worse to drive. Just my $0.02. Here was a good memory towards her knowledger of cars, one time the rear tire of the PT had a bubble in it and caused a violent jutter as it began to loose air as well. I said she could have the tire pumped up at my house and I could inspect the tire to see if it was safe to drive into town (10 miles) to have a replacement. I aired it up, and instructed her to stay under 50mph (there was no highway to the tire shop). I went with to deal with the tire boys so they wouldn't take advantage of a young woman, and she ignored me while driving and did 70. The juttering returned as I shook my head. Well $80 not worth it to her for a tire and she dropped me off. The tire blew 1 week lator on her way to work. She kept driving on the rim for another day.... I havnt talked to her since. By the way sorry for wasting your time with a useless story.

 

[hemitom]

underhood mainteance and repairs are a nightmare, you need the patience of saint to work on one of these.

 

[97tbird]

can mods move this to 'vehicles' or 'general automotive' section?

 

[WhyMe]

i once read that its one of the cars that dealers won;t take in trade. not sure if its true or not

 

[VNTS]

They are actually quite easy and simple to work on other than the timing belt.

If maintained are quite reliable, gas mileage is avg, think about 26 day in day out.

Problem areas are lower control arm bushings, simpley buy a whole new control arm from moog at rock auto for 80$ and replace, takes about an hour per side.

The cooling fans can also fail, 2 speed and brushes can fail, replacements are cheap at about 100$.

Ride quality is quite good, I have 3 PT GT 5 spds, 2 convertibles and 1 4 door. Very nice interiors with leather, heated seats etc dynoed them and got 230 WHP and 260 WTQ.

4 door is quite roomy and very comfortable, seats fold and tumble for extra room or can be removed quite easily, so it is very good if you have something bulky

My 03 GT has 125K miles and nothing much has gone wrong, have done the LCA, brakes, hoses, timing belt/WP/tesnioner, battery and tune ups, gets 25 day in day out and 31 sh highway.

My other 2 GTs are rag tops and are decent, got them for a song.

I also have a 4th Pt base convertible automatic, got it cheap and only had 4000 miles on it, nice car for the money I paid.
Has the 2.4 auto, not a fireball but no worse than a corrolla or civic with slush boxes.

Shop condition and look around there are tons of PT;s. I would shop for a GT stick, one owner with records.

 

[Rick in PA]

I have an '01, 5-speed manual, first year. Had it since new, it has 102K miles on it now. It needed a head gasket at 60K, so I had the timing belt, water pump, etc. done then. That's been OK since. Over time it's needed various suspension bushings, they're something to keep an eye on. And it's had some other miscellaneous repairs. But overall, I'm satisfied with the car.

If you do go for it, I'd check on the timing belt. My service manual indicates replacement at 120K miles. The engine is dual-cam, so it has four valves per cylinder and although the valves cannot crash into the pistons, the intake and exhaust valves can crash into each other on a timing belt failure. Timing belt replacement is a bit difficult due to the tight fit of the engine in the car.

The Cruiser is nicely accommodating for loads. Both rear seats fold down and tumble forward (and can be removed). If you fold down the passenger seat, you can fit 8' long items in the car. It's easy to get into and out of. I like the seating it's nice and upright with good room, even for tall people. It has good road manners, I enjoy driving it.

Well, that's what I got...

 

[RiceCake]

I recently did a timing belt on my Dodge Stratus, 2.4L (essentially the same engine).

Truth be told it was a nightmare, but I'd never done it before and never attempted something like that before. Getting the timing belt off and changing the idlers and stuff was actually pretty easy. Timing the motor, I screwed up, and had to fix...twice...and that's guaranteed to cause a mental breakdown, as its somewhat unforgiving until you learn the exact tricks of getting it done. Getting to the water pump requires removing even more after you get to the belt, so its also worth doing. You'll need a Chrysler specific harmonic balancer remover, *AND THE INSTALLER TOOL* or make your own, else you'll be seriously boned. A way to clamp the camshafts so you can remove their bolts is essential too, because you have to remove them to remove the rear cover (to change the water pump).

Doable? Yes. Expect to spend a whole weekend on that project though.

Besides that? I can vouch that its a fantastic engine. The transmission is iffy but with regular fluid changes mine has been absolutely golden so far.

But yeah, PT Cruiser or Stratus, don't expect legendary fuel economy from that weighty car with that horrific aerodynamic profile.

Edit: Its a non-interference motor but as said above you can get inter-valve crashing, but needless to say I think that's really really rare. I've spun a single camshaft over halfway without issue by accident. I think both cams have to be on a real sweet spot to bind up. Needless to say, don't risk it, but it seems even when these motors throw belts in service, they rarely need a valve job.

 

[yonyon]

As mentioned, the timing belt is kind-of a pain and there's the frequent need to replace control arm bushings. Radiator is also unpleasant to replace. Torque-strut mounts and A/C hoses are also common failures, but reasonably easy to repair and not too expensive. Early years used to lose head gaskets the way GM 3100s went through intake gaskets and when that time comes you get to take the timing belt off again. Check for even wear on rear tires before buying.

 

[NHGUY]

You see a lot of them in those buy here/pay here broker type places.That should tell a lot...they buy them dirt cheap and mark them up.Why can they buy them so cheap??
Overall,the PT Cruiser was a poor replacement/spiritual successor to the 1981-1988 K car wagon.

 

[Chris142]

I see lots roll through my shop. I agree that the timing belt is a terible job.

Replacing the Radiator is actully very easy. I've got the non turbo ones down to 45 minutes out and in. The turbo ones are a little harder to work on.

The radiator sits on a thin metal crossmember. When people run into parking blocks they smash that crossmember and destroy the radiator too.

Dealer gets $175 for a new crossmember.I used to have a pile of them in the back lol.

All in all IMO they are not that bad. If given a choice between a pt and a taurus I'd take the PT.

 

[heyu]

I remember reading back when these cars started out was any of steel for the body /engine /chassis all was shipped over from one location only Tampa Florida ,,,,,TO Mexico and was all sorted and melted down to make everything for this car and i think all assembly was in Mexico also nothing from the states

 

[JANDSZIRKLE]

Good friend of my wife has one, has just under 195000 miles on it. She has always taken it too dealer for servicing and repairs. Its a strong running vehicle still and pretty reliable. Not sure about the timing belt issues, shes never replaced anything more expensive than a battery on it. Some are good, some bad i guess.... flip a coin....

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: exranger06
It's due for a timing belt change. That's probably the reason the guy is selling it: He doesn't want to spend $1,000+ on a new timing belt.

My fiancée had an '06 briefly. PS pump went out at around 33k miles. Threw some evap emissions code a few months later, the dealer said some wiring harness melted or something. It threw a misfiring code around 35k, changed the copper plugs out and it went away. Cheap, uncomfortable interior, and a bit of a gas guzzler, considering it's size and power.


I agree about the timing belt. It's time.

What's so uncomfortable about the interior?

Mine has a higher option level, but the seats appear to be the same shape. Lots of legroom for a car that size. I'm well over 6 feet tall and I can sit in the backseat. I don't think it's any less comfortable than any CR-V or Rav4. Footwells are bigger than the HHR.

As far as the interior being cheap? Yeah....remember they were selling them new for Kia Rio/Chevy Aveo prices. Couple thousand less than the HHR. Half the price of a CR-V. And that's the direction Chrysler was going at the time. Cheap hard Polypropylene dashboards. Ram has it. 300 has it.

Yep! it's a bit of a gas guzzler. I think the city gas mileage is a mile per gallon or two better on the Touring over my GT, and my turbocharged version requires Premium, but the freeway mpg is virtually the same. The window sticker says 26mpg freeway and it's the only car I ever had that I cannot consistently beat the EPA MPG on.

I never paid attention to how loud the regular PTs are. Mine is loud. Not Neon SRT/4 loud. Mine actually has a muffler, but it must be a pretty straight through design.

Ours has 100,000+ miles.

 

[GreeCguy]

Thanks for all the replies guys - it was a moment of weakness. I was in the "Bluesmobile" on a hot and humid day when I saw this little car. I will confess when I walked to the "Bluesmobile" this morning, she looked kinda sad and rejected like a middle aged housewife at a class reunion. I think I'll buy her a new air freshener as a peace offering to make up for my "wandering eye."

 

[oilmaven]

Although I agree that these were not the best cars (even for the time they were designed), there is somewhat of an emotional attachment to them by many of their owners. I don't think there has ever been a vehicle with as much after-market mods and "bling" as was designed for this car (just check out ebay). People attended huge "Cruiser" conventions and shows around the country and shared with other PT owners while showing off their "ride". The car was an experience and their owners (including me) loved them. I miss mine and occasionally think I'd like to own another. I probably won't for practical reasons but I doubt that I'll ever own another car like it.

 

[opus1]

A friend of mine just posted on Facebook that his '07 PT hit 207,000 miles. No engine problems or rust but the vehicle has gone through 3 wheel bearings and replacement of wear items like tires and brakes.

 

[dave1251]

My brother in law finally sold his 06 with about 112K on it last Saturday for 2200 bucks after a timing belt change. It needed two transmission shifter cable replacements, one wheel bearing replacements, and other general parts replacements.

I am sorry but my impression of them is they are more of a money pit then must autos. I recommend staying away.