Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

xwesx

Speaking of appliances, the bearings went out on our washing machine again (it's fifteen years old or so). So, I bought some new bearings and a seal, pulled the whole thing apart, put the new bearings in it, and then realized that the support shaft for the drum unit is actually worn down where the inner bearing supports it. So, if I reinstalled the old drum unit, there would still be play at the bearing, it wouldn't seal properly, and the new bearings would likely fail in short order.

At this point, I'm thinking it is time for a new washer. My wife, though... she hates the idea of a new machine because they all have electronics on them nowadays (and I do mean ALL). Not that electronics are needed on a washer, but where would we be without neat chiming sounds and steam cycles and all these fancy do-dads of today? So, she says, "can we get a new support shaft?" Well, yes we can! Except they are not sold without also a drum (e.g., together they form the "drum unit"), and the price? $400 delivered. Ouch. But, still much cheaper than a new machine.

So, I order one. It is supposed to arrive in two weeks. After those two weeks, they say it is backordered and will ship on 11/1. Well, that was over two weeks ago, and still nothing. I think we're at about five weeks now with no washer, and I had enough! A friend just moved to Anchorage, took his W/D with him, and found that the prior homeowners left their W/D behind. So, he has a nearly new set for the price of.... ? $400. I'm going down tomorrow to get them.

My wife, bless her soul, is a little miffed, yet says, "that's fine, but we're not cancelling the order on the drum. And, when it does come in, we're using our old washer and selling this new one!"

stickguy

your wife, is definitely not related to my wife.

bwia

Drivingfool said:

Isn't it early for snow yet in the northeast? Our weather patterns seem to be getting more intense in certain areas and just watching The Weather Channel like I do seems to support this. Now this cool weather here in the Orlando area won't make it to where we live. After sweating for like 75% of the year, would be nice to be a bit on the chillier side for a change.

Yes, it is early for snow as I have not yet raked the leaves or done my fall cleaning. We had a good and warm summer but a chilly and wet fall. Basically, we had lousy weather from Labor day to Veterans day.

Speaking of global warming or climate change which is especially bad in the Caribbean this year. It seems as though the hurricane season never ended as there are constant floods and landslides up and down the island chain.

In Africa and Asia the problem is desertification. China and Israel are making great strides in an attempt to reverse desertification but the process is labor intensive and expensive.

oldfarmer50

Mr_Shiftright said:

They're getting good money for those PT Cruisers:

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/d/2007-chrysler-pt-cruiser/6736823186.html

How the mighty have fallen.

boomchek

Drivingfool said:

Boom, just curious but does your store sell many HR-V's or do folks just move right up to a CR-V? And do many complain about the anemic small 1.5 engine from the Fit? The new Fit ain't really bad but prefer the top of the line model. I sat in a mid level unit a couple years back and the drivers seat was pretty awful as I felt a piece of metal in the bottom seat cushion that hurt my bad spine and was the same in a few others I tried. Hopefully that issue has been addressed in the new model.
But I do like the freshened looks of the HR-V, especially the EX-L model in the pearlized white paint with the lighter interior. Am awaiting the new model and am hoping they put the 1.5t engine from the Civic under the hood and fix the infotainment issues. I think it's very dangerous to have to use one's fingers to get from station to station and think a real knob is the way to go...and am betting others feel the same way. But fix these two issues and I think I would buy one to replace my Golf. Both around the same size and now Honda offers Sirius/XM on the upper tier models plus Apple Car Play which is just what I want. I did price one online last night and I got it to just over $26,500 with the additional options I checked which isn't that bad. And as much as I do love my Golf, think I could learn to love the HR-V once I get the improvements done.
As I recall, my 2006 Civic LX had some issues that were unexpected for a Honda which disappointed me. There was a recall which resulted from something in the steering that made the tires wear prematurely. Honda gave me back 1/2 of what I had to spend on new tires that wore out early and after they sent out a recall notice. They also sent me a check for 1/2 after the a/c died a few thousand miles after the warranty ended because again, of a known issue. In both cases I was happy to at least get half back but, they should've paid for the whole thing really each time. It just proved to me that Honda's were no better, or worse, than other makes and I haven't wanted another Honda product until now.

The Sandman/Driving Fool

I haven't heard people complain about the engine, but many people do move up to a CR-V for the space alone. We never stock many HR-V's anyways but we do sell all of the ones we have (we're sold out for 2018).

Speaking of volume controls, the refreshed 2019 Pilots now have an actual volume knob instead of the +/- touch area, so I guess enough people must have been annoyed by it. Same with the 2019 Civics.

I have a feeling the 19 HR-V's will also have a volume knob.

HR-V's are good cars but I think it's a limited market segment.

The Fits are good as well but I think many people choose to spend a few grand more to get a Civic as I think Honda did a great job with this generation of Civic. It's the number one selling car in Canada and we can't even keep used ones on the lot, the 2016's and up sell very quickly so we tend to pay extra for them when we get them on trade.

roadburner

We received enough ice to drop quite a few limbs on the driveway. Fortunately they were relatively small and I could drag them all out of the way by hand. We probably wouldn't have lost nearly as many were it not for the fact that the trees still had leaves on them.

suydam

xwesx said:

Speaking of appliances, the bearings went out on our washing machine again (it's fifteen years old or so). So, I bought some new bearings and a seal, pulled the whole thing apart, put the new bearings in it, and then realized that the support shaft for the drum unit is actually worn down where the inner bearing supports it. So, if I reinstalled the old drum unit, there would still be play at the bearing, it wouldn't seal properly, and the new bearings would likely fail in short order.

At this point, I'm thinking it is time for a new washer. My wife, though... she hates the idea of a new machine because they all have electronics on them nowadays (and I do mean ALL). Not that electronics are needed on a washer, but where would we be without neat chiming sounds and steam cycles and all these fancy do-dads of today? So, she says, "can we get a new support shaft?" Well, yes we can! Except they are not sold without also a drum (e.g., together they form the "drum unit"), and the price? $400 delivered. Ouch. But, still much cheaper than a new machine.

So, I order one. It is supposed to arrive in two weeks. After those two weeks, they say it is backordered and will ship on 11/1. Well, that was over two weeks ago, and still nothing. I think we're at about five weeks now with no washer, and I had enough! A friend just moved to Anchorage, took his W/D with him, and found that the prior homeowners left their W/D behind. So, he has a nearly new set for the price of.... ? $400. I'm going down tomorrow to get them.

My wife, bless her soul, is a little miffed, yet says, "that's fine, but we're not cancelling the order on the drum. And, when it does come in, we're using our old washer and selling this new one!"

New washers are so much more energy and water efficient than old ones.

abacomike

Got discharged from the hospital yesterday afternoon after spending 4 days there.  Pneumonia was the culprit.  I can’t stand hospitals - they are so unconcerned about their patients.  Everything is based on making money.  What is most disconcerting is the fact that I was in the best hospital in North Broward County - you know, it’s the County still tabulating votes from Election Day.  But it certainly doesn’t speak much of the quality of hospitals here.

At least I am back home now in the comfort of my home.  I’ll spend a good bit of time catching up on all the posts.  Good to be back. 

Was interesting to see that MichaelL had an Abacomike experience with his license plate - not happy about it, MichaelL - just relieved I am not the only one who experiences outrageous life events. 

driver100

xwesx said:

At this point, I'm thinking it is time for a new washer. My wife, though... she hates the idea of a new machine because they all have electronics on them nowadays (and I do mean ALL). Not that electronics are needed on a washer, but where would we be without neat chiming sounds and steam cycles and all these fancy do-dads of today? So, she says, "can we get a new support shaft?" Well, yes we can! Except they are not sold without also a drum (e.g., together they form the "drum unit"), and the price? $400 delivered. Ouch. But, still much cheaper than a new machine.

In many cases it isn't worth fixing appliances these days . You can get a new washing machine for $400 that is pretty basic. For $100 or $200 more you can get a really good one and just use a basic setting without the extras. It is like a really old car....there comes a point when you could be throwing good money out the window, trying to keep an old one going. But, I have to give you credit, at least you are able to fix the washer, and keep Mrs xwesx happy. I can't fix things, so my only option is to buy a new one. Usually when I get things repaired by a professional???? they break down again and I spend more fixing it than it would have cost buying a new one...or at least, I could have used that money to buy a new one in the first place.

driver100

suydam said:

xwesx said:

Speaking of appliances, the bearings went out on our washing machine again (it's fifteen years old or so). So, I bought some new bearings and a seal, pulled the whole thing apart, put the new bearings in it, and then realized that the support shaft for the drum unit is actually worn down where the inner bearing supports it. So, if I reinstalled the old drum unit, there would still be play at the bearing, it wouldn't seal properly, and the new bearings would likely fail in short order.

At this point, I'm thinking it is time for a new washer. My wife, though... she hates the idea of a new machine because they all have electronics on them nowadays (and I do mean ALL). Not that electronics are needed on a washer, but where would we be without neat chiming sounds and steam cycles and all these fancy do-dads of today? So, she says, "can we get a new support shaft?" Well, yes we can! Except they are not sold without also a drum (e.g., together they form the "drum unit"), and the price? $400 delivered. Ouch. But, still much cheaper than a new machine.

So, I order one. It is supposed to arrive in two weeks. After those two weeks, they say it is backordered and will ship on 11/1. Well, that was over two weeks ago, and still nothing. I think we're at about five weeks now with no washer, and I had enough! A friend just moved to Anchorage, took his W/D with him, and found that the prior homeowners left their W/D behind. So, he has a nearly new set for the price of.... ? $400. I'm going down tomorrow to get them.

My wife, bless her soul, is a little miffed, yet says, "that's fine, but we're not cancelling the order on the drum. And, when it does come in, we're using our old washer and selling this new one!"

New washers are so much more energy and water efficient than old ones.

Yeh, like my high efficiency furnace. I save $3 a month because it uses fuel more efficiently, but, they only last 12 years instead of 30 years so it actually costs a lot more to own.

oldfarmer50

abacomike said:

Got discharged from the hospital yesterday afternoon after spending 4 days there.  Pneumonia was the culprit.  I can’t stand hospitals - they are so unconcerned about their patients.  Everything is based on making money.  What is most disconcerting is the fact that I was in the best hospital in North Broward County - you know, it’s the County still tabulating votes from Election Day.  But it certainly doesn’t speak much of the quality of hospitals here.

At least I am back home now in the comfort of my home.  I’ll spend a good bit of time catching up on all the posts.  Good to be back. 

Was interesting to see that MichaelL had an Abacomike experience with his license plate - not happy about it, MichaelL - just relieved I am not the only one who experiences outrageous life events. 

Your troubles never seem to end Mike.

imidazol97

driver100 said:

Yeh, like my high efficiency furnace. I save $3 a month because it uses fuel more efficiently, but, they only last 12 years instead of 30 years so it actually costs a lot more to own.

That's a very clear analysis. My experience with electronic in a washing machine and refrigrator is making that clearer.

imidazol97

Have a fast recovery, Mike. Glad to hear you're home again.

abacomike

oldfarmer50 said:

Got discharged from the hospital yesterday afternoon after spending 4 days there.  Pneumonia was the culprit.  I can’t stand hospitals - they are so unconcerned about their patients.  Everything is based on making money.  What is most disconcerting is the fact that I was in the best hospital in North Broward County - you know, it’s the County still tabulating votes from Election Day.  But it certainly doesn’t speak much of the quality of hospitals here.

At least I am back home now in the comfort of my home.  I’ll spend a good bit of time catching up on all the posts.  Good to be back. 

Was interesting to see that MichaelL had an Abacomike experience with his license plate - not happy about it, MichaelL - just relieved I am not the only one who experiences outrageous life events. 

Your troubles never seem to end Mike.

 Nope!

explorerx4

Mike,
Glad to see you back.
In about an hour, I'm off to Yankee Stadium to watch the game.

snakeweasel

abacomike said:

Got discharged from the hospital yesterday afternoon after spending 4 days there.  Pneumonia was the culprit.  I can’t stand hospitals - they are so unconcerned about their patients.  Everything is based on making money.  What is most disconcerting is the fact that I was in the best hospital in North Broward County - you know, it’s the County still tabulating votes from Election Day.  But it certainly doesn’t speak much of the quality of hospitals here.

At least I am back home now in the comfort of my home.  I’ll spend a good bit of time catching up on all the posts.  Good to be back. 

Was interesting to see that MichaelL had an Abacomike experience with his license plate - not happy about it, MichaelL - just relieved I am not the only one who experiences outrageous life events. 

Welcome back Mike, I hope you have a speedy recovery and a healthy future. 

bwia

abacomike said:

Got discharged from the hospital yesterday afternoon after spending 4 days there.  Pneumonia was the culprit.  I can’t stand hospitals - they are so unconcerned about their patients.  Everything is based on making money.  What is most disconcerting is the fact that I was in the best hospital in North Broward County - you know, it’s the County still tabulating votes from Election Day.  But it certainly doesn’t speak much of the quality of hospitals here.

At least I am back home now in the comfort of my home.  I’ll spend a good bit of time catching up on all the posts.  Good to be back. 

Was interesting to see that MichaelL had an Abacomike experience with his license plate - not happy about it, MichaelL - just relieved I am not the only one who experiences outrageous life events. 

Glad you're back home Mike. As you know pneumonia is a symptom of an underlying illness so I hope your doctors pinpointed the culprit. And as to nursing care that was a referendum issue in Massachusetts. The nurses association wanted to reduce their patient load to four to improve patient care--so they say. But voters were not buying it and voted the referendum down.

carnaught

@abacomike, sorry to hear about the hospitalization, but I’m glad you’re back home, hopefully on the mend.

As for hospitals, nowadays, they’re preoccupied with CYA-ing, and the bottom line. As a result, sometimes patient care and compassion unfortunately takes a back seat.

suydam

My experience with hospitals has been very caring. I owe my life to some pretty wonderful people. I could not do that kind of job and remain as positive as they do. As for patient load, that is a big problem if they have too many to care for.

ab348

We had the same storm that dropped snow on NY and New England come through here yesterday. Started snowing here around 7AM just in time for morning rush hour and it was a total debacle. First snow of the year is always a bad driving day but because this one was earlier in the year than usual and came just in time for morning rush it was insane. Lots of people didn't have snow tires on yet because of the date and the road crews got caught with their pants down. Result was lots of cars abandoned, lots of accidents, traffic at a standstill, massive (for us) delays. Lots of vehicles just couldn't make it up even small hills for whatever reason. Seemed odd because in the end we got 4"-6" of snow, not really all that much, but it did come down fast.

I went out around noon to shovel the paths and the driveway but just let the snow stay on the car because it was supposed to turn to rain. Sure enough it did and by last night after some hard rain the car was cleared. Today it is sunny and fairly mild.

imidazol97

My experiences with my wife's surgeries and patient care while in the facility over the last 8 years or so, including thyroidectomy/parathyroidectomy recently, have been good. The people follow their rules which sometimes slows down finishing exams to send one home.

The backoffice part of the hospital is another thing. Never got a bill, yet, from the hospital for the thyroid/parathyroid.

After 3 or 4 months, we got a billing from someone for $10 or so, I forget what service that group supplied. But no insurance was mentioned. When I called, they said Med Mutual and something about that insurance company. But that's not the current insurance company. We supplied, and verified, the correct insurance to the hospital intake person. They gave this hospital-picked supplier of services the wrong insurance.

I suspect the hospital billed the wrong insurance as well.

Our insurance company says the hospital has up to a year to bill.

graphicguy

I thought those PT CRuisers were pretty durable? I see them around here all the time. Just saw a Turbo version yesterday. That would have to be a hoot!

Welcome back @abacomike ....glad you’re feeling better!

tjc78

Re: appliances
IMO if you get 7-8 years out of them be happy and replace them if something major breaks.

I’m not completely sold on HE furnaces/AC... but there must be some merit to them. In my case I went from a 25 YO system and my bills are virtually same despite the house being over 700 square larger (500, sq ft addition and we brought heat/AC to the old addition that never got ducting) and having an extra person.

The new system is much larger too, to handle the increased load. I wonder how much my bills would have gone down if I simply swapped apples to apples and didn’t increase the size of the house.

roadburner

abacomike said:

Got discharged from the hospital yesterday afternoon after spending 4 days there.  Pneumonia was the culprit.  I can’t stand hospitals - they are so unconcerned about their patients.  Everything is based on making money.  What is most disconcerting is the fact that I was in the best hospital in North Broward County - you know, it’s the County still tabulating votes from Election Day.  But it certainly doesn’t speak much of the quality of hospitals here.

At least I am back home now in the comfort of my home.  I’ll spend a good bit of time catching up on all the posts.  Good to be back. 

Was interesting to see that MichaelL had an Abacomike experience with his license plate - not happy about it, MichaelL - just relieved I am not the only one who experiences outrageous life events. 

Hang in there, my friend!

houdini2

ab348 said:

driver100 said:

I also see cars going through yellow lights and even red ones constantly. I know red light cameras are money makers but I don't care....I would rather see red light runners get caught and pay fines than have them run lights. The only thing is, if the light changes to yellow, and a tailgater is behind me, I may have to run the light too, but, maybe he will block my license plate.

The long arm of the law would probably still nab you due to the "I (Heart) Pickleball" sticker on the trunk and that striped shirt you like to wear.

Was that driver in the striped shirt? I thought that was Hamburglar !!

houdini2

bwia said:

Ok, I finally found the NBC news video about the hoverbike. I hope the linked video works this time.
https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/technology/watch-futuristic-hoverbike-ace-its-test-flight-n724626

Looks very simple and easy to operate. What could possibly go wrong !

Mr_Shiftright

oldfarmer50 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

They're getting good money for those PT Cruisers:

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/d/2007-chrysler-pt-cruiser/6736823186.html

How the mighty have fallen.

Well PT owners do seem to be quite loyal. My friend Rick is a case in point. He's on his 4th one in almost as many years. When I asked him about changing so frequently, he replied, quite deadpan: "Well, the others fell apart, so I had to replace them".

Love 'em or hate 'em. No middle ground on a PT Cruiser.

Mr_Shiftright

graphicguy said:

I thought those PT CRuisers were pretty durable? I see them around here all the time. Just saw a Turbo version yesterday. That would have to be a hoot!

Welcome back @abacomike ....glad you’re feeling better!

Ah......no. Not so durable. At best, "average", depending on the model.

Here are two reviews from owners:

#1. "I have had a 2007 PT Cruiser since 2008 (bought a rental that was abused, go figure), and it's needed very little repairs in the ten years I've had it. It's true, though, you have to keep up on the maintenance" (CIndy, in Missouri, with a left-handed compliment).

#2. " PT Cruiser was crappy and falling apart no matter how good you took care of it. The window switches were in wrong. The CD player didn't work. It was the worst car I have ever owned" Tom in Maine (the toothpaste guy? Nah, couldn't be).

Drivingfool

I also have my local hospital in Coral Springs to thank as they saved my life also. The emergency doc knew pretty quickly after some tests that I had sepsis, pneumonia and the gall bladder stones as my white count was through the roof. Don't remember much of the first week or so in the hospital and have no recollection of trying to get out of bed with all the tubes in me and falling and hitting my head. No recollection at all!
The price for those 15 days was just obscene but thankful that they did indeed save my life!

The Sandman/Driving Fool

28firefighter

Glad you’re back and on the mend, @abacomike. Be well. 

oldfarmer50

suydam said:

My experience with hospitals has been very caring. I owe my life to some pretty wonderful people. I could not do that kind of job and remain as positive as they do. As for patient load, that is a big problem if they have too many to care for.

My two experiences with hospitals for surgery were ok. Staff was very caring. My only problem was trying to walk out of the place before they wanted me to. Liability I suppose.

oldfarmer50

graphicguy said:

I thought those PT CRuisers were pretty durable? I see them around here all the time. Just saw a Turbo version yesterday. That would have to be a hoot!

Welcome back @abacomike ....glad you’re feeling better!

My opinion, with nothing to back it up, is that by the late 2000s Chrysler was trying to cut corners any way they could as bankruptcy approached. They produced PTs that were not the same quality as when they came out in 2001. I’ve seen much older ones in much better condition than mine. I’ve also seen contemporaries to mine with extensive rusting while earlier models held up better. I think by 2009 Chrysler figured they’d be out of business when the stuff hit the fan.

oldfarmer50

imidazol97 said:

My experiences with my wife's surgeries and patient care while in the facility over the last 8 years or so, including thyroidectomy/parathyroidectomy recently, have been good. The people follow their rules which sometimes slows down finishing exams to send one home.

The backoffice part of the hospital is another thing. Never got a bill, yet, from the hospital for the thyroid/parathyroid.

After 3 or 4 months, we got a billing from someone for $10 or so, I forget what service that group supplied. But no insurance was mentioned. When I called, they said Med Mutual and something about that insurance company. But that's not the current insurance company. We supplied, and verified, the correct insurance to the hospital intake person. They gave this hospital-picked supplier of services the wrong insurance.

I suspect the hospital billed the wrong insurance as well.

Our insurance company says the hospital has up to a year to bill.

That $10 bill can also be a scam. Crooks with someone on the inside get your personal info and send a small bill that you won’t bother to check or dispute.

henryn

My problem with the newer washing machines is how long they take to wash a load. The last time I was looking, I couldn’t find a model that would do a basic wash in under one hour. Which seems ridiculous to me, as my present model can do a very good job in about 20 minutes.

I have performed minor repairs, the little plastic gizmos that cause the agitator to work, the springs which hold the tub in place, but so far no bearings. If I get into that territory, I will probably just buy a used one. There appears to be a large supply of good used ones out there.

@abacomike, glad to hear you’re out of the hospital and feeling better.

fezo

Hey, back again and glad to see we're back on washing machines. Ours works wonderfully but is rusting in the front of where you load. I can see it now. Having it rust out before it wears out, like an early Honda.

Speaking of cars, I have like one and a half stories. The "twins" are now licensed so we decided to buy my wife a new (CPO) and push the other cars down the line. So she has a 2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring. Wonderful car and feels much more pricey than it is. Nice leather stitching, no real hard plastic surfaces. Just love it. Was a three-year lease where the owner only put on a little over 6K a year. Had 20K on it almost on the nose.

So then we had the hand me downs. My 26-year-old had the 04 Camry with the 288K on it. She and my wife traded that for the 2010 Prius and the girls got the Camry. Now I have to wait for the 2019 Mazda 3s to hit the CPO market. New engine that, in theory, gets diesel type mileage on regular. I could live with that. And, unlike the 6, offers a stick in every trim.

Meanwhile, after ages of hanging near home did 17 states within a month. A friend of my brother in Doylestown moved to Napa. He and another guy had the job of driving his BMW 320 x-drive to Napa with 16 cases of European wine in it. This worked for us. we got there, spent the weekend and flew home, all on this guy's dime.

A BMW x-drive has nothing to do with a BMW as I understand them. It has a nice enough interior, but as for driving dynamics, it's an ordinary car. The only useful thing was the x-drive at 10,000 feet.

So a week after I get back, we go down to Florida. One daughter stayed home, my wife and two others flew, and Carrie and I drove down and picked them up in Orlando. Great trip. Had promised years ago that I'd take my two Harry Potter crazies to Universal so that's done, Was hypermiling on the way home. From south of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to Lewes, DE, we got 32 mpg on the 5. A number previously unheard of. Usually, if I get 28 (the gov't highway mileage I'm fine. Now I'm doing it as I take the girls on campus tours. I like it. So far they are sticking to New Jersey. Have to convince them that they shouldn't be afraid of hitting out of state as tuition prices are only the dealer price. What we pay is different. Claire should get academic scholarships wherever she goes. Carrie is not that far behind. Right now, Claire is tilting towards Rutgers and Carrie to College of New Jersey. We will see. They are off on another campus visit with my wife today.

That's the basic wrap up. I'm still doing well. Carpal tunnel surgery in January. If I can find a place to rent for a month in Florida, I might skip part of winter. John Cleese said the only item on his bucket list is to never be cold again. He passed up a Lordship for that. I'm in the same boat minus the Lordship.

driver100

Mike, nice to have you back.....I was going to say with the living but, that might be stretching things a bit

Mr_Shiftright said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

They're getting good money for those PT Cruisers:

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/d/2007-chrysler-pt-cruiser/6736823186.html

How the mighty have fallen.

Well PT owners do seem to be quite loyal. My friend Rick is a case in point. He's on his 4th one in almost as many years. When I asked him about changing so frequently, he replied, quite deadpan: "Well, the others fell apart, so I had to replace them".

Love 'em or hate 'em. No middle ground on a PT Cruiser.

I just googled 2009 PT Cruiser reliability and the first 4 or 5 sites that came up gave it excellent reliability ratings, most were 4 out of 5 stars and one was 5 out of 5.

Personal reviews are generally favorable, here is a good and a bad;

Review
take your time, find one that has low miles.i purchased my 2009 pt , in 50,000 miles the only needed repair was fan assembly and cam position sensor ( cheap easy fixes). this car has been magnificent, i am 6'3 250 lbs. easy car to get in and out of and easy to drive. wish it had a little more power ,but besides that i would highly recommend.

Review
junk.this is the exact car as the dodge neon.60 thousand easy miles, replaces ac pump, rear door latch, starter,valve cover gasket and timing belt.total pile of junk.

It seems that a 2009 is worth about $2900 like OF said. Most people seemed to like them so it might be worth it to "ride it out" ha ha because it is very practical, but, I never win when I play that game....would rather not gamble
MORE REVIEWS

abacomike

Drivingfool said:

I also have my local hospital in Coral Springs to thank as they saved my life also. The emergency doc knew pretty quickly after some tests that I had sepsis, pneumonia and the gall bladder stones as my white count was through the roof. Don't remember much of the first week or so in the hospital and have no recollection of trying to get out of bed with all the tubes in me and falling and hitting my head. No recollection at all! The price for those 15 days was just obscene but thankful that they did indeed save my life! The Sandman/Driving Fool

Sandy, I was in the same hospital and found it less-than-satisfying in term of The time it took to be put into a room.  The rooms were exceedingly small - took 12 hours for me to be admitted and assigned to a room.

Since I was only there for 4 days, I was found out that I was admitted for observation ONLY!  So I was treated, insurancewise, as an outpatient and will have to pay $150 a day + the $100 copay.  Unbelievable.  It’s a practice to save insurance companies big bucks.  I may also have to pay for some drugs they administered.  I’m telling you it’s almost like a scam.  I didn’t find this out until I was discharged.  Pathetic!   :@

cdnpinhead

I've heard that the PT Cruiser is a Neon with different sheet metal. Is that the case?

I rented one once to go from Maine to Montreal and back and it wasn't bad, but that is thin gruel. The only rental car that ever left me beside the road was a Renault Alliance. Remember those?

Drivingfool

I came through the emergency room after I passed out in our kitchen, wife called the paramedics luckily right away. I ended up in ICU those first few days after they dislodged the stones in my gall bladder of which, I have no memory. I was in and out for a couple more days and the nursing staff was wonderful. Also helped when my pharmacist daughter was there and they talked shop. Turns out I fell when I was put into a regular room and then, I had a nurse's aide full time for 48 hours just to make sure I didn't fall again. Once that ended, I was moved to a room right across from the nurses station with a sign outside that said "Fall Risk". But, they were still lacking when it came to helping me into the bathroom every hour and had "accidents" three different times! I pushed the proper button each time but after being told, "we'll be right in", that never happened and then life took over.
After that, two different nursing supervisors came to see me about what had happened and I let them know that letting a patient go through that humiliating experience is not acceptable under any circumstance. They listened but going forward, the wait times never really improved. And since I was getting constant i.v.'s, I had to go pee every hour and a bed pan wasn't going to do it. I wanted to get up and walk with the walker, even though I was so weak. Felt if I didn't get up to walk, I never would. The physical therapy folks agreed with me and said just keep ringing for help as you need to get up and walk. Now the rehab place I spent two nights in was so much worse that my kid got me out within 48 hours. Going home was the right course at that time.
Needless to say, have no intention of going back to any hospital any time soon!! Luckily my insurance covered the 80% but that 20% that I had to pay was still a obscene figure. So, paying the hospital back monthly because I can. Tried to negotiate my bill but they wouldn't hear of it. It was their idea to pay it off monthly and I said sure.

The Sandman/Driving Fool

suydam

It is a scam, and unless you are up to noticing (which sick patients seldom are) you are stuck. Outrageous. I read about it in Consumer Reports. Who puts someone in for pneumonia on “ Observation”? Last time I had it I was ADMITTED for a week. As you should have been.

driver100

suydam said:

It is a scam, and unless you are up to noticing (which sick patients seldom are) you are stuck. Outrageous. I read about it in Consumer Reports. Who puts someone in for pneumonia on “ Observation”? Last time I had it I was ADMITTED for a week. As you should have been.

Which reminds me....there is a vaccine for pneumonia which is very worth checking into. Not sure if Mike said he wasn't able to have that one (possibly liver problem).

fezo

Yeah, I get that pneumonia vaccine. After the transplant, I needed a bundle of vaccines, including for things I'd already had. The only one they couldn't give me was for shingles because it contained a live virus and I have a compromised immune system. Apparently, they've now developed one with a dead virus. I get that in December. Once they've established that it's taken effect I can get off the last of the transplant meds. Will still be on about 8 for various things, but this is good.

abacomike

I had both vaccines injected over the past 5 years.  So much for vaccines! 

driver100

Fezo....good to hear from you. The only thing X-Drive means it has AWD.....should handle a bit better in slippery conditions etc.
Hope you stick around but if not check in in about 2 years from now like this time.

driver100

abacomike said:

I had both vaccines injected over the past 5 years.  So much for vaccines! 

The first shingles vaccine wasn't very effective, only about 50% but it could make shingles less severe. The new one is a two step one, and most people don't feel great the next day, but it is over 90% effective.

tjc78

henryn said:

My problem with the newer washing machines is how long they take to wash a load. The last time I was looking, I couldn’t find a model that would do a basic wash in under one hour. Which seems ridiculous to me, as my present model can do a very good job in about 20 minutes.

I have performed minor repairs, the little plastic gizmos that cause the agitator to work, the springs which hold the tub in place, but so far no bearings. If I get into that territory, I will probably just buy a used one. There appears to be a large supply of good used ones out there.

@abacomike, glad to hear you’re out of the hospital and feeling better.

This. Our new Maytag HE top loader (I think it’s their top of the line) takes minimum of 52 minutes to do a load. A monster load of towels will be an hour and 5. It is huge and probably holds double the amount an old agitator based model does, so there is most likely a time savings on multiple loads.

oldfarmer50

cdnpinhead said:

I've heard that the PT Cruiser is a Neon with different sheet metal. Is that the case?

I rented one once to go from Maine to Montreal and back and it wasn't bad, but that is thin gruel. The only rental car that ever left me beside the road was a Renault Alliance. Remember those?

Same platform as the Neon. I think the Neon had a 2.0L vs a 2.5L in the PT. By the end of the car’s production run it was pretty obsolete technology but neither me or my wife cared about audio or nav gadgets. That old 2.5L hasn’t been a problem even though it gets dismal gas mileage compared to more modern 4cyls. My complaints have centered around suspension, brakes and body integrity.

oldfarmer50

Drivingfool said:

I came through the emergency room after I passed out in our kitchen, wife called the paramedics luckily right away. I ended up in ICU those first few days after they dislodged the stones in my gall bladder of which, I have no memory. I was in and out for a couple more days and the nursing staff was wonderful. Also helped when my pharmacist daughter was there and they talked shop. Turns out I fell when I was put into a regular room and then, I had a nurse's aide full time for 48 hours just to make sure I didn't fall again. Once that ended, I was moved to a room right across from the nurses station with a sign outside that said "Fall Risk". But, they were still lacking when it came to helping me into the bathroom every hour and had "accidents" three different times! I pushed the proper button each time but after being told, "we'll be right in", that never happened and then life took over.
After that, two different nursing supervisors came to see me about what had happened and I let them know that letting a patient go through that humiliating experience is not acceptable under any circumstance. They listened but going forward, the wait times never really improved. And since I was getting constant i.v.'s, I had to go pee every hour and a bed pan wasn't going to do it. I wanted to get up and walk with the walker, even though I was so weak. Felt if I didn't get up to walk, I never would. The physical therapy folks agreed with me and said just keep ringing for help as you need to get up and walk. Now the rehab place I spent two nights in was so much worse that my kid got me out within 48 hours. Going home was the right course at that time.
Needless to say, have no intention of going back to any hospital any time soon!! Luckily my insurance covered the 80% but that 20% that I had to pay was still a obscene figure. So, paying the hospital back monthly because I can. Tried to negotiate my bill but they wouldn't hear of it. It was their idea to pay it off monthly and I said sure.

The Sandman/Driving Fool

Yeah, when it comes to hospital bills you have to be very rich or very poor. When my wife had her stroke we had no insurance and the hospital basically said sell you house, sell your dog, give us your IRA , no mercy. I got them to accept half and took a loan to do that.

Recently, a hospital sent my disabled son a bill for services given almost a year ago. Since he’s indigent and on Medicaid they can’t collect a dime. I’ve been calling their billing department for a month trying to help them get reimbursed from the correct provider but they don’t return my calls. Makes no sense.

suydam

driver100 said:

suydam said:

It is a scam, and unless you are up to noticing (which sick patients seldom are) you are stuck. Outrageous. I read about it in Consumer Reports. Who puts someone in for pneumonia on “ Observation”? Last time I had it I was ADMITTED for a week. As you should have been.

Which reminds me....there is a vaccine for pneumonia which is very worth checking into. Not sure if Mike said he wasn't able to have that one (possibly liver problem).

There are two kinds of pneumonia— bacterial and viral. The vaccine prevents one but not the other.

suydam

tjc78 said:

henryn said:

My problem with the newer washing machines is how long they take to wash a load. The last time I was looking, I couldn’t find a model that would do a basic wash in under one hour. Which seems ridiculous to me, as my present model can do a very good job in about 20 minutes.

I have performed minor repairs, the little plastic gizmos that cause the agitator to work, the springs which hold the tub in place, but so far no bearings. If I get into that territory, I will probably just buy a used one. There appears to be a large supply of good used ones out there.

@abacomike, glad to hear you’re out of the hospital and feeling better.

This. Our new Maytag HE top loader (I think it’s their top of the line) takes minimum of 52 minutes to do a load. A monster load of towels will be an hour and 5. It is huge and probably holds double the amount an old agitator based model does, so there is most likely a time savings on multiple loads.

Our new washer is also quick and very efficient. They are all larger now than in the past too.