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Chrysler PT Cruiser (2005 and earlier)
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Comments
I've heard others at meet and greets report mpg similar to yours as well as an equal number reporting lower mpg. Mpg is so greatly effected by how one drives as well as road and traffic conditions I tend not to use what someone else gets as an indicator of what I will get. I have found the EPA numbers are reasonably good at indicating which vehicle gets better mpg or worse mpg, but not the mpg one should expect.
:-( I drove by Costco today and noticed premium had inched up over $2.00. I wonder what it will be at by Labor Day? I have a grandson who is stationed at Coronado, who is in the Navy Seals. My wife and I will be flying up to Boise, ID for his wedding in two weeks.
I even managed to keep my 6 and 9 year old sons from killing each other on the trip. :-D
I've sat in the back seat of our PT a number of times and found the back seat very good too. The only complaint I have when in the back is lack of A/C airflow. It does get cool enough in back, but it takes a while.
I've seen EPA highway mpg a couple of times on my GT automatic (25). Still, 25 isn't so good compared to many cars today. My 96 Avalon does about 20% better and uses regular not premium. Interestingly, my PT GT weighs about the same as my Avalon and both have four speed automatic transmissions. I suppose the freeway mpg difference is due to the difference in aerodynamic drag. Years ago, my old Volvo 740 turbo, which weighed a little less than the PT GT got about the same mpg as my PT GT and it also had streamlining like a barn door.
Charlesf1 - You can sometimes get better prices from certain dealers and many after market vendors if you are a member of a national or local PT Cruiser Owners Club.
Enjoy the flight to Boise. Might even cost less than driving. Even more fun if you could be the one doing the driving (the plane). I've see coast to coast airline ticket prices of $99 plus tax (about $250 round trip, including tax). In my PT GT the gasoline alone would cost more than twice that.
Mileage has increased to about 23mpg since getting the car, so I have no complaints there. No problems to report so far either. Glad I took a chance on Chrysler and American cars in general, I am happy with my selection.
Also, does anyone use synthetic oil in their PTs? I probably would not switch to synthetic until after my 3y/36,000 is up, but I could be convinced So far my '03 PT has been great, no problems at all. I only have 8,000 miles, but they have been all trouble free. The reason I asked those two questions is that I would like to keep my PT forever *knock on wood*.
Forgot to add my gas mileage is like everyone else, its no bueno, usually 16/19 if I'm lucky.
Used to change to synthetic at 1000 miles, but have switch to first scheduled oil change based on car manufacturer oil change schedule. Usually see a decrease in oil consumption after switching to synthetic. Years ago I would also see a small mpg improvement after the switch to synthetic, but have not seen that with the last several cars.
Synthetics can take a lot more heat that regular oil and are a good idea for turbo/supercharged cars. The turbocharger gets very hot and therefore the oil lubricating it does also. In addition, some engines, including normally aspirated ones, have 'hot spots' that can overheat oil. Mercedes and Toyota had some a few years ago. In those engines, regular oil would tend to gell due to the heat, which caused poor lubrication and rapid engine wear. Synthetics offer better protection for this situation too.
Many manufacturers recommend longer oil change intervals, depending on driving condition, than the old standby of 3000 miles. Today's regular oils are very good and most likely do just as well as synthetics unless there is a temperature issue.
Synthetic oil costs $3 to $4 more per quart and over the life of a car can add several hundred dollars to routine maintenance costs. Like insurance, it isn't free and you hope you never need it, but it tends to give one comfort knowing that it is there. Using synthetic oil that meets the manufacturer's oil requirements (most far exceed) will not void the warranty.
I guess I'll keep the orange radiator fluid in my car for now
I change my own (more convenient for me) and found the oil drain plug and oil filter to be easy to reach with all four wheels on the ground. No ramps or jacks needed. However, the end of the oil filter is very close to an exhaust pipe and I had to narrow the band on my band type oil filter wrench to fit between the filter and the pipe.
I asked them to check the driver's window, which made a funny noise once or twice when lowering it. Turns out there was condensation inside the rubber, and rubbing the glass causing this noise. But, the service advisor said he checked all the windows and one of the rear ones sounded weird. Upon further inspection, he said the right rear window regulator was bad. They ordered the part and it will be in this week. I think it's funny for 2 reasons. One, I didn't even know that a problem existed, but the dealer found it on their own. And two, I had a VW (which are famous for the regulator problems) and never once had a problem with them, but had a problem with the PT's.
Anyway, now at 5600 miles and still liking the car as much as the day I took it off the lot. Also, fuel economy is steady at about 23mpg, so it definitely has improved.
It sounds like your dealer is being proactive. Things will go wrong, the question is how the dealer handles it. Your dealer handled it.
Good luck to everyone on the East coast in battling the hurricane. Here in MD, they already closed all schools and half the businesses on Thursday, so I think they are expecting one heck of a storm. Everyone stay safe out there!
To be candid, as much as we like our PT GT we'd buy a 2004 Prius today. Drove one yesterday and came away very impressed.
On to your point about the Toyota Prius, well, I really agree there. I test drove a 2001 Prius a couple years ago and I was really impressed. The '04's seem so spacious for a car. I'm getting about 17-19 city-highway mileage with my PT. Maybe its that I drive 30% city miles, but I'm lucky if I get 18 a gallon. I fill up 12 gallons at a time every 210 - 230 miles.
I love my PT, but the gas mileage isn't as advertised. I'm still impressed with the initial quality. No problems except for a tire going out (the Goodyear tire set me back 70 bucks). Maybe I'll keep it for 3 or 4 years, I don't know.
More room, much quieter, better ride, more safety items, and more luxury items for a sticker price thousands less than my PT GT. The almost triple mpg is an added plus. The one we drove had voice activated navigation (or use the touch screen), a fully automatic A/C system. a really nice sound system, and more. Curtain airbags and stability control, along with xenon headlights are available too and it would still sticker for less than my PT GT.
My PT GT is much quicker, loads more fun to drive, and probably can hold more stuff inside, but I'd rather take a trip in the Prius and save money at the pump too.
I didn't expect good mpg from my PT and my 17 mpg overall is about what I expected. No complaints about the mpg. I've seen as high as 25 on the highway, but 23 is the norm. It isn't driven much, so the cost of poor mpg isn't excessive.
BTW, I've have two Goodyear tires that are giving problems. Goodyear won't take care of the problem. None of the Goodyears that came with the car look like they will last even 20,000 miles so the Goodyear problem will go away when I put a different brand on the PT in a few months.
I seem to have a grip problem with the right front tire. I always seem to squeal the tire a little bit when taking off, even with light throttle. Goodyear tires have always given me trouble anyway, so I will definitely select a different brand when these need replacing.
So far, 8700 miles. The only problem was a window regulator that went bad and the dealer replaced without me even knowing it was bad.
Any reviews by impartial parties regarding the performance of various brands. Any feedback helpful. Just got 01 with 3,800 miles.
I actually have to take my car in one day this week for this buzzing sound in the right front. Sounds almost like a molding's loose or something on the right side of the windshield. No signs of it though, and no water leaks or anything. Considering the roads I travel over on a daily basis, I am surprised the car hasn't developed a load of rattles by now, but it hasn't. I have about 9700 miles right now, just had my second oil change on Thursday, and still very happy with the car.
The PT seems to have a very tight body, neither my wife's or mine have any rattles and this will be their third winter each.
This car had the chrome package - grille, gas filler door, door spears, chrome wheels, door lock pulls, chrome inserts on the front door sills, chrome shifter bezel, chrome trim on the steering wheel, and metal trimmed pedals. Looked nice.
It could use the formerly standard rear sway bar to get rid of the swing and sway when one drives any way but very easy. It feels like my GT did before the rear bar was added.
During the early part of the 03 model year GT window stickers showed the rear bar as standard even though the cars were built without the rear bar. The rear bar was installed by the dealer on mine, after purchase. It looks the same as the 01 and 02 standard rear bar.
Ooops!
Meade
Crk, took me a while to understand Baltington. I moved from that area about 24 years ago in the midst of a blizzard (16 inches on the ground when the moving van arrived and over 30 when it left). My old 78 Caprice did fine without snow tires. It did have limited slip (positraction) and that helped me get out of Ellicott City and onto the interstate heading West. I have a feeling my Cruiser would do at least as well.
The area can certainly fool a person with the weather. We can go for years without little or no accumulation of snow and then hit a period with very heavy snowfall. When I first moved to my present house, we were hit immediately after by a series of storms that kept dumping more and more accumulation. Then we had a series of years with more "normal" snow and then last year we were hit hard again.
I missed your Ellicott City reference in the post. Although we live in Anne Arundel County, our church is located in Ellicott City. it made it fun getting home from the Christmas Eve service as it had started snowing while we were up there and just kept on snowing.
I'm intrigued by the Prious, but eneded up getting an RX8....have never been more pleased with any new car I've ever had in 25 years of buying cars.
From everything I've read, the Prious is a very nice piece.
Since 1979 I drove Camaro Z28's or Iroc's. Then in 1999, my husband brought home a Chev Lumina LTZ because I thought I had grown up, and needed a grown up car. Them the PT came out but I couldn't imagine driving a 4 cylinder. (I need to get out of the way of the people I pull out in front of.) So then the Turbo came along & I decided I wasn't so grown up after all.
I love my cruiser - here on the central coast of California, Cruiser owners waive or thumbs up other Cruiser drivers, - but I'm wondering if this is really normal for this car?
I also have a "misfire" problem when pulling a small incline at 45 mph. Service tells me their computer says my cars computer check out "OK" for both symptoms.
Any other feedback on these issues?
I posted a message elsewhere, but I'm new at this and looking for info from other owners.
Also, how do I find out about a local PT Club I hear exists in my area?
Our local PTOC chapter meets every month for a meet and greet followed by a cruise. In addition there are national get-togethers as well as regional ones.