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Chrysler PT Cruiser (2005 and earlier)
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Not that women aren't welcome in this little fraternity. As a matter of fact, most Cruiser groups could use a little estrogen injection to balance all of the "machismo" that seems to permeate throughout the Cruiser owners.
I went to my first "Cruise-In" last weekend. OUt of the 30 or so Cruisers that were there, only one was owned by the fairer sex.
Sounds like your co-workers are jealous.
Pat
What kind of MPG were you getting on the Caravan? How are you figuring your MPG?
Drive what you like. To heck with what your friends call it.
My boys are also convinced that the PT Cruiser is the hottest thing on four wheels, the only debate is whether my wifes auto is faster or slower than my 5 speed.
-Honda Accords, CRVs,Odysees, and Pilots (are all Hondas chick cars?)
-VW New Beetles and Cabriolets
-Ford Explorers and windstars
-all Mazdas (except Miatas)
-BMW 3 series convertibles
-Cadilac Eldorados
-Most Jaguars
-All Chrysler minivans
-Toyota RAV 4, Matrix, Solara, Avalon, Highlander and Corolla (again, are all Toyotas "chick cars"?)
-Chevy Cavalier convertibles
-Infiniti I30s and G20s
-Lexus ES300s
-Most Hyundais
Not many PT Cruisers, though. Saw the first woman driving one this morning. That's in all 2-3 years worth since they've been out.
Other than that window, both our cars have been trouble free.
P.J.Heff
A also like the black, but it will be difficult to keep clean.
Nothin wrong with silver. I just see so many silver ones out there.
Mine is next but I can wait as they perform the recall.
Well, anyway, I saw my first PT Turbo in Okemos, MI. It was a Silver one. I first just looked at it, turned my head. Did a double take and took a look at the front bumper. Either this was a custom paint job, or someone actually bought one of these powerhouses. Saw the ugly badging on the back (well, this was when I decided it really was ugly), and stared until I could see no more. Beautiful.
And then I saw an '03 Lincoln LS, this time wearing Manufacturer plates. They could go sans the Tailight treatment I thought. It just didn't look right. Then I saw another LS, sitting side by side, a previous model, and I said, someone really was thinking when they did the treatment. It looks much better now. It's amazing what some new tailights can do to a car.
Just my 2¢.
What a pity, I guess I'll have to test sit all the cars.
BTW, when I made the appointment, I did so in person. I had my youngest son with me and afterwards we went into the showroom, where he hopped from car to car testing the seats. He thought the GT Cruiser was cool
Actually they are identical to a point, my wifes and my car are both stock, his wifes car is stock and his is modified.
Besides the window noise up and down on both the driver and passenger side and the recalls...has anyone had a problem with oil around the tranny (5 speed) or rear engine seal?....this is really getting scary. We have several Cruisers where I work and only 1 has not had any problems other than the recalls. We have everything from replacing the clutch...(car just refused to budge) to having the wipers come on by themselves.
Any thoughts on the oil leak would be helpful. Yes, I've taken it to the dealer....they can't seem to locate it so we are trying the ole (dye in the oil trick). I'm just trying to speed things up here with the fix. The garage floor looks like crap. Thanks and God Bless America
Recalls? The 2001's had a recall on the LATCH system. The mounting points were too thick to fit the child seats. There was also the fuel pump recall, basically adding a second seal to the fuel pump to prevent leakage as the result of an accident and rollover. The crash test generated a bit of leakage, my understanding is that there have been no real world problems. There was also a number of cars released with the fuel line improperly routed around the A/C line, causing wearing and abrading of the fuel line. That recall is also current.
2002 recalls: The early production run (prior to mid August) had a potential problem with the computer which could cause the dashboard lighting to fail. A simple software flash corrected it. The fuel pump recall is the only one affecting a large number of cars, it takes only about 30 minutes to correct.
Not to sound alarming, the PT Cruiser has so far proven to be quite reliable. The body is amazingly tight and quiet, even high mileage models are demonstrating no creaks or groans (other than the groans of the driver upon spotting a rogue Aztek) A number of buyers now own turbos and love them. The turbo has to be one of the bargains of the year. If I didn't love my two 2002's so much, I might consider trading one in on a turbo, but I'm happy with what I have.
Interior is incredible for a car at this price point. Love the "sports seats"...very comfy and secure.
The turbo really transforms this car/wagon/minivan/small SUV (whatever you want to call it). Handling is great. No turbo lag. I've embarrased some sports cars with it. It is very fast. I've done my own 0-60 with the autostick...did it in 6.6 sec.
Although, I haven't been to my dealer at all, the service dept seems to be cordial and knowledgeable when I took delivery.
The PT GT has to be the bargain among anything that comes close to its price range. It offers more room, better handling, is faster, more versatile, is built as well (or better) than anything I've come across (including Toyotas and Hondas).
Of course, styling wise, it's a car that doesn't lack in style or will ever go out of style.
Not really a complaint, but the steering is a tad light for my tastes, but there's good communication from the road.
Ride is great. Only big bumps are felt. I was really surprised at how quiet the car is.
Can you tell I'm pleased?
A/C isn't so great. Yes, it works, but it is not like a unit from Toyota or GM. more like a Honda. Eventually cools, but takes its time getting there.
Seats are comfortable, but if you are bigger than average the seat support on winding roads is just so-so.
Reflections in the windshield are the worst I have ever seen. Problem is there day and night.
Cruise control downshifts going DOWN hill. On some steep freeway hills where none of my other cars have (15 other cars with cruise control through the years) downshifted and none of my current cars (2 others) downshift going downhill, the PT does. The owner's manual says this will happen, so it is a design of the unit. I find it annoying. BTW, I haven't found a hill steep enough for the car to need to downshift going UP a hill.
Turning circle is very big (43 feet for the turbo) for a small car: Not a problem except in tight parking situations.
Service: My dealer is not 5 star (yet) but gives very good service. DC (Chrysler, the manufacturer) isn't as good when it comes to customer concerns. Example: My rear washer weeps. The dealer would like to make a repair but DC says there is no authorized repair and they haven't received many complains (meaning there won't be any authorized repair until there are many more complaints?). This isn't necessarily any worse than other manufacturers, but it is not what I expected either.
While the ride is comfortable and the noise level inside okay, it is not trip car smooth or quiet. Maybe I'm getting old fashioned here, but quiet and road isolation is nice for a long trip. Local (two hours or less) driving is where a little extra noise and more interaction with the road is a plus. The PT is for local fun and it is outstanding at that.
At delivery, the quality of assembly was as good as any car I have bought (better than my Acura and Toyota). Only one very minor problem found. At 1200 miles, the only problem is with the rear washer.
My turbo is not as fast as graphicguy's, but it is quick too. Starting traction is a problem if one wants to make a fast start on less than ideal road surfaces.
Even driven easy, mpg is not high. Our turbo gets about 14-15 in local to the store and to school type driving and about 22 on the freeway (In SoCal the speeds are very high just going with the flow). This is about as expected based on EPA, talking to other owners, and posts on BBs. No complaint from me, but I would like a larger tank for more range. Some will get better mpg because their local driving is less like gridlock and they can drive closer to the speed limit on the freeway without the fear of being rear ended.
Even with the negatives I feel it is just too much fun not to be on someone's short list of practical fun cars. It is still number one on our list.