I’m looking at a used 2005 PT Cruiser convertible. I test drove it and it seemed…rough and shaky. I was told it was because the turbo went out and had been removed. Would that cause the roughness? If it doesn’t really matter, I can live with it. Just not sure if something comes turbo, does it need to stay turbo?
Run away from the car. PTs are trouble prone anyway. You don’t want to buy one that already has one foot in the grave.
Agreed. I don’t know how a missing turbo would make a car run rough and shaky. It would make it run a lot slower, but unless there’s something else wrong, then the ECU should adjust to the reduced air volume.
I would never consider buying that car. A car that is designed to have a turbo should have a turbo. It probably runs rough because it isn’t designed or setup to run as a naturally aspirated engine (the timing is off). If the owner’s answer to a malfunctioning turbo is to remove it, I’d hate to imagine how he dealt with other malfunctions.
Run Fast and don’t look back. This is the kind of car that would be a bad deal even if you were given it for free!!!
Too many red flags for me. I agree with the others…don’t even think of buying this vehicle.
I agree with @Whitey, the guy selling is a cheapskate. If he didn’t bother to have the engine repaired properly, there’s probably cut corners in every other aspect of the car.
Yes,this is really pathetic,people used to do that all the time around here with the turbo equipped Mustangs,I never thought it was a very good idea,even though they would run after a fashion-Kevin
Thank you so much for the input and information.
In 3 hours you guys saved @smooshie from a world of grief. I feel sure that the Brothers will have a special bonus in your checks this week. They apparently don’t have my correct address. I haven’t gotten a check from them yet.
LOL, thanks for the chuckle.
I wish they’d send checks… I could use the dough! 
To the OP, avoid the car. Walk away. If the turbo was removed, it was probably due to a failure of the seal between the exhaust impellar and the impellar that pushes the air into the engine, which means that oil probably got cooked, the engine probably ingested oil (which can destroy the cat converter and oxygen sensors), and the engine probably even died once due to oil depletion, which means there may be internal damage. That is the single most common mode of failure for turbos.
Whenever anything on a used car isn’t running right and you get some “oh, it’s only the XXXX” excuse, run away fast.
Unless it’s being sold for $100, I would look elsewhere for your next ‘new to you’ vehicle.
Seller near me r on CL has a 06 pt cruiser with bad motor for 1500. He will replace motor for 1500 additional or 3k out the door. Seems quite fair. A 2nd CL poster said the seller was a scammer? How so? 1500 for a bad motor car sounds like a good deal for a mechanic. Wonder how turbo piping is tweaked to accommodate missing turbo?
He could be a scammer. He might ask for money up front to do the swap then do a bad job. If there’s the slightest whiff of a problem I’d pass, like here.
Why doesn’t he just fix the car up front and offer it for 3k?
Why turn people off by trying to get them involved in the sausage making?
I don’t buy anything used with an obvious flaw.
If I can’t afford one in great shape I aim lower or do without.
Personally, I wouldn’t give 1500 for a blown engine PT Cruiser even while having the ability to fix it myself. If someone trashed the engine on an '06 already then one has to wonder how the rest of the vehicle has been treated. There’s also the par for the course issue of one unknown thing after the other cropping up.
@ok4450: I totally agree. I would suspect the turbo failed from the owner running the engine low on oil or changing it very infrequently. The transmission fluid was likely never changed either.
Maybe He tried to use it for a truck? PT= Plymouth Truck-Kevin