Thoughts on PT Cruisers

[cuda-cable]

My son's looking for a car, and is leaning toward a PT,probably auto with out turbo, anybody out there had one as a daily driver say 2006 or prior . Good or bad experience?...thx...dk

[Tom_440]

Co-worker had one. Auto with non-turbo is SLOW. If you live around mountains, you may want to run up some grades before making a purchase decision. MPG is not so great. Hers was really reliable and the interior could hold more than you would think.

[72hemi]

Had a couple as rental cars. Fairly practical, but like stated above non turbo auto cars are extremely slow. I would look for a turbo stick shift car. SRT 4 neons are great cars as well. I had two of those.

[bordin34]

My friend had one and it was kinda fast, I never drove it. Then her boyfriend crashed it, it held up well, but the wheels took most of the force.

[Scatterbrain]

My Mother in Law got one of the first ones out there for 5 dollars (she won a raffle) and has loved it ever since.  I have a thread on here about some cooling problems she encountered and the ultimate solution we went with.  It has over 135k miles and still going.  It has lots of interior room.  Is a comfortable ride and even though the MPG isn't that great for a car its size, she would probably get another.  It is slow, but if its for your kid that might be a plus.

[Rare_T_A]

We have a non turbo and automatic one. We love the car. We have had a high of 29 MPG with it. I would say it averages 25. The wind does bother it though.I don't think it is that slow. But what do you expect for 150 HP? It handled the mountains in Colorado just fine. We did a drive to Carlisle on 07 and put on almost 5k miles on that trip alone. We have 36k miles on it now and it's not been to the dealer once since we have bought it. I would buy another one in a second again.  I have heard not good things from the turbo though. They are great until the turbo starts to give you trouble and then you're in for some expense.

[Slotts]

I bought an 02 new and have just under 80k miles on it. I still have it and like the car very much. It will hold a Challenger fender inside with the hatch closed. Great for hauling, decent gas mileage and very little maintanence.
No complaints here.
They do move quickly, too. Right Alan? 

Slotts

[Moparal]

Slotts lets his run 80 mph  and in curvy roads.   I also have an 02 with the touring package. Wind pushes it around a bit, the radio just started going weird on me last month. I had to get the engine bored  .020 over because the fan relay or something went out and it melted the pistons to the cylinders. My niece was driving. The bigger pistons seem to give it more power and better fuel mileage.

[rallye73]

Great cars. The turbo models have more power and better mpg. I don't see the turbo as a reliability concern. My SRT has 96k with no turbo problems. Turbos have come a long way since the 2.2's and 2.5's. Use good oil and keep it changed regularly and you should be fine.

[cuda-cable]

thnx for the feed back, thats why a lot of us spend time on this site.....good info from folks who know the practical side of 'real cars'...perhaps a turbos the place to go.........thx........dk