Bang for the buck in a small used car really favors the Ford Focus these days. A stick shift version is generally cheap to buy and they have good reliability. It’s one of the best kept secrets in used cars.
I would not touch either the PT or the HHR. I like the PT looks, but I’ve heard too many horror stories about reliability, and the HHR is just ugly in my opinion and has far less room inside that it ought to for its size and shape.
They’re all 4 cylinder. There’s a turbo available, though.
Thanks.
Well, now that you’re heard from all the people who have either not owned one, or had rented one for a couple of days, how would you like some first hand experience with one that has been owned since they first came out in '01?
My gf has had her car since it first came out, and was one of the ones who was on the original waiting list after the car was shown at the car show the previous year. In fact, her car was actually ordered by someone in Canada, but they backed out of the deal at the time of delivery, so the car was sent from the dealer in Canada, to her dealer in Colorado.
She has ~80k miles on it now, and hasn’t had any real trouble with it yet.
The rear window wiper motor is the only current issue, aside from an occasional stumble at idle.
The car was originally supposed to be built on the Neon platform, like a few people have mentioned, but Chrysler dumped that idea during the initial design phase, as that platform wasn’t strong enough to deal with the added weight and stresses.
As for working on the car, yes, its harder than your average FWD 4 cylinder car.
Why they designed the intake manifold runners to run over the top of the engine, and block the center two spark plugs, I’ll never understand. Changing the spark plug wires requires the removal of the upper intake plenum, which increases servicing costs, and takes longer.
Also, access to the accessory belts is restricted by the design of the front end of the car, and isn’t easy. Not to mention doing a timing belt change. This is a car they should have used an engine that had a timing chain in it. That would have been a much better idea. Too bad no one makes a retrofit kit. They would make a fortune.
As for every other part on the car, its standard Mopar issue parts.
Dirt cheap, and easy to obtain. Transmissions are from other cars. Suspension is from other cars. Brakes are from other cars. Etc.
Driving the car, the manual transmission gets more out of the engine than the automatic does. I would get Transman’s opinion on the Chrysler automatic transmission. I’ve never heard the word reliable ever used in the same sentence with their automatic FWD cars. My gf has the 5 speed manual in her car, and hates automatics with a passion.
She loves her car, and won’t ever replace it.
She did, however, buy an '08 Chrysler Crossfire Roadster the other year.
She just loves the styling on both cars. The Crossfire is Art-deco, while the PT Cruiser is Art-nouveau. Two entirely different driving experiences, also. And the initial reliability on the Crossfire had been the exact opposite of her PT Cruiser experience.
The Crossfire went back to the dealer during the third month, where is stayed for a full month, and had over $12k worth of warranty work done to it because a single nut that holds the grounding wires from several computer blocks wasn’t properly tightened at the factory in Germany.
Now back to the PT Cruiser…
Its excellent in winter driving with good snow tires on it.
Hasn’t had any issues with starting in cold or foul weather.
The emissions test done on it last year showed that everything was well within spec, so its not a gross polluter.
Its got plenty of headroom, and comfortable driving position.
It is very flexible, as the rear seats come out, and you can use it as a cargo hauler.
The seats do weigh a ton though!
Its a fairly heavy car, and is quite tall, so handles the way a vehicle like that should. It does fine up here in Denver, between 5k and 13k feet, going up the high altitude passes to get to other places. She’s driven it to Missouri in comfort, and it returned decent fuel economy.
It is what it is.
If a bargain is what you are looking for, then the PT Cruiser is a very good bargain.
Insurance is cheap. Repair costs are fairly low, until you get into big ticket repairs, like the timing belt.
If a good car to get you too and from work is the most important item, the PT Cruiser will fit the bill. If the styling turns hit you the right way, then its probably the best car out there for you.
You either like the styling, or you don’t.
There really isn’t any middle ground in that department.
Anyway, the cars are good, and won’t blow up when you turn the key, unless you piss off the mob.
BC.
I looked on Craigslist and here’s what I found:
2002 PT Cruiser with 76K miles $5900
2003 Subaru Forester $5900
2006 PT Cruiser with 52K miles $6900
2007 Kia Spectra with 57K miles $6900
2007 PT Cruiser with 5K miles $9900
2007 Toyota Corolla S with 7K miles $9900
2008 PT Cruiser with 45K miles $11995
2008 Nissan Sentra with 26K miles $12000
All were clean titles and automatics. There are plenty of good deals that aren’t Chrysler PT Cruisers.
Bladecutter, That Is A Very Enlightening Response.
This confirms my thinking that these cars are probably quite a bargain for somebody seeking a later model, low miles, small utility type vehicle. The “hard to work on” aspect isn’t a feather in its cap, though, but I’ll bet there are quite a few smaller FWD vehicles that have that feature.
I have owned more Dodges than I could count on one or two hands and the lack of problems or repairs that your gf has experienced matches with the experience I’ve had with them, all of them.
I know what you mean about the seats. My Caravan seats are heeaavy, but they feel strong. Makes those “stow and go” models look appealing.
Thanks for thorough synopsis.
CSA
GSN, These PT Prices Are Not The Typical Bargains Found In My Locale. The Only One That Even Begins To Be A Good Deal Is The 2006 For $6900 And It’s Priced About A Thousand Too High.
That ad I posted up top is very typical and notice the “or best offer” statement. Who knows how many fanned-out hundreds it would take to buy the car ?
I don’t know what the future holds for Chrysler and its dealer network, but we have no Asian car dealers anywhere near hear. I see a Toyota once in while, but seldom ever a Subaru or Nissan, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Kia up close.
We have mostly American badged vehicles on the road here, the majority full-sized P/Us, Minivans, and SUVs.
I guess a lot of this depends on where you live.
CSA
My area is import-crazy. But even limiting my search to American options, I found plenty of Ford Focuses and Tauruses for the same price.
I owned a PT Cruiser for a few years.
Power of the engine was never an issue, sure it’s not the fastest car on the road but I never felt underpowered or in any danger of being run over.
Having owned a 1st gen Neon as well I have to say that comparing the 2 cars could not be further off. The Neon was very tinny and light, the Cruiser had a much more substantial feel. the Cruiser uses different running gear than the Neon as well; 2.4L vs 2.0L engines, 4spd automatic vs 3spd automatic trans.
I always found that the luggage capacity was more than enough for me, of course I rarely have more than 2 people in a car.
I felt that the fuel mileage should be much greater than what it was, I used to get around 22mpg no matter how I drove; when I replaced the PT with a Dodge Magnum (3.5L) my mileage actually went up to 26mpg.
Would I purchase another one? Probably not but that really hasn’t anything to do with the car itself but rather what I look for in a car now.
I never like the PT to begin with and kind of lumped it in with a few other cutesy cars that were moderate in performance. (New Thunderbird, Prowlers, etc.)
The vehicle that knocks my socks off and I will never own due to import restrictions is the Australian Maloo Ute, the sleek little 420 HP pickup. I’d slash my wrists for one of those. 