Anyone know anything about PT Cruisers?

Avoid, avoid, avoid.

Dear friends of mine have this machine. Seats are uncomfortable, vehicle is badly underpowered and it probably would not fare well in crashes since Neons haven't exactly been noted for their durability.

Honda, Nissan and Toyota, pern. They usually cost a little more now, but they'll cost a LOT less down the road. Good luck.

 

Many years ago a large contingent of friends attended a wedding in Philadelphia, right across the river from where we all grew up together.
We all booked rooms at the downtown Marriott, which was still quite new.
When the after parties were winding down around 3-4 a.m. I wandered out of our room and down to the indoor pool. I had a very nice drunken swim and fell asleep on the lounge chair.
Later that morning, I was awakened by a hotel employee who asked to see my room keycard. I didn't have it. I didn't have any ID. I'd left everything in the room.
I was escorted to the front desk, where another employee called up to my room, saying 'We have a pool-side sleeper who claims to be a member of your party.'
For years, I was called The Pool-Side Sleeper.

 

I had a PT Cruiser for a rental once and it was awful.

And after reading this thread I feel lucky my 2002 Chrysler is up to 155K with no major problems. I'd drive it across country tomorrow if I needed to.

 

Same as beanpole.

Had a PT cruiser rental last year. This was a 2009. Awful vehicle. For a car with as little cargo space as the Cruiser, I expected better than 24 MPG. Also, started to shake at 65 MPH.

"Hmmm, let's see. Why don't we manufacture a car that isn't very attractive, gets weak mileage but also doesn't have a lot of power on the highway. That'll sell!"

Don't get it.

Look at a Honda/Toyota with 100k on it. We are a Toyota family with two vehicles - 144k and 156k. I fully expect to go another four years without having to buy another vehicle. These Toyota have had FEW mechanical problems.

 

Chryslers are notorious for transmission troubles, especially around the mileage you're talking about. IMO, there are better options.
I rented a Cruiser once in 2006. I had rented a Neon a month before and actually kinda liked it. Night and day difference between the two. Uncomfortable ride, couldn't get a decent driving position at all, cheap looking materials and disappointing gas mileage. We were looking to buy a vehicle in that class, but that experience alone eliminated the Cruiser from consideration.
You're looking for a vehicle that can haul a decent amount of stuff, i.e. a wagon or SUV? We have a 2005 Malibu Maxx that is a great hauler. They were made from 2004-2008, so you should be able to get an older one for a decent price. Ours has been pretty reliable aside from a steering issue and an occasional electric glitch which was traced to improper installation of a replacement windshield. It's a midsize car that gets 30+ mpg on the highway and has cool features like rear seats that move forward and back, front seat that can be folded flat (i.e. if you need to pick up some 4X8s) and a big trunk. We fit a dresser in there once and two weeks ago a chest freezer fit in.

 

I have a 2004 PT Cruiser with about 123K. I've already had to replace the transmission, and it seems like every time I take it in for an oil change and they check the car out, they find something that needs to be fixed.

 

As of right now, we're leaning toward the Explorer ... took it for a test drive today and, personally, I've always thought they were among the best looking SUVs out there. I may be able to get the dealer to come down on it, too ...

Of course, there's always a hitch: financing. I applied through my bank for a loan and am awaiting approval. If I don't get it, this car dealer can't help me because for anything less than perfect credit, they require $2,000 down (if I had $2,000, we'd just buy a cheapo off craigslist). If I get turned down for it, the PT Cruiser may be the final decision.

As much as I'd love to get a Honda or Toyota and run it for the next decade, our price range all but assures it's going to be a piece o' crap with around 150,000 miles on it. Mechanically, they may be fine, but the few we've seen in our price range looked awful (and most were 1997 or 98s).

We've visited 10 dealerships, looked at countless websites and read the Autotrader. My credit and financial situation make it much more difficult to be picky.

 

PT Cruiser: Underpowered, sketchy reliability, and incredibly unpleasant to drive.

 

The truly ludicrous thing about PT Cruisers, at least in this neck of the woods, is that even 8-year-old ones are selling for $12K. But they also seem to have low mileage on them. I'm guessing people bought them, were disappointed and stopped driving them, which keeps the mileage low and the value artificially high.

And if HHR's are made as cheaply as Cobalts, then yeah, I have no interest in an HHR, either. The day I bought my 05 Neon, it and an 06 Cobalt were the best options for me in the lot. The Colbalt had a cheap feel, an issue with the steering and no options other than A/C and cruise control and they wanted $1,500 more.

 

FWIW, used car prices are real high now.

1. In this economy, people are hanging onto them.

2. The supply also is down because a lot of cars -- especially SUVs -- were crushed last year to get the government rebate.

Crazy that you can see people wanting $12,000 or more for cars with over 100,000 miles that might have sold for $20k-25k new.