Chrysler PT cruser. Real life experience.

Hi
I’m interested in a 2.2 d pt cruser.
I’ve read reviews, and as normal there mixed. I have been looking at( on line only) 2005 ones there between1200 upwards.
Can anyone give me the good and bad.
2nd choice is a bit more boring, ford focus zetec.
Do I just like the pt cruser for the looks?

Do I just like the pt cruser for the looks?

If you do, I’m not sure your eyesight is good enough for you to be driving.

Marmite!
😆

The Wife has a 2.0 petrol (Y reg, currently on about 105k), we’ve had it for about 6 years and is been pretty much hassle free. Being honest it’s been a much better car than I expected it to be if not a little thirsty.

My biggest bug about the car is that the turning circle is truly shocking.

I rarely use it but it has performed admirably when called into service for bike duties. The rear seats come out completely really easily which makes it great for runs to the tip although the boot space isn’t amazing with the seats in. Got 3 people + 3 bikes in it with just the double bench removed easily enough.

The thing my Wife really likes about it is the higher driving position.

Oh yeah, it’s also one of those cars where other owners wave at you like grinning idiots and expect a wave back. ‘Wavers’ usually have lots of chrome trim or Joe cool graphics on the bonnet. Be warned.

We ended up with one as a hire car in the states back in 2000/2001 when they hadn’t been out long. Back then they certainly drew lots of attention and we would regularly be approached by locals wanting a look inside.

Personally I thought it was horrible. Poorly built, plasticky, heavy and slow and I’m really surprised there are so many still on the road.

Having said all that I could imagine that they have attracted lots of owners who looked after them because they thought they were cool. (Probably the “wavers” referred to above)

A friend was given one by her mum who had bought a new car after it ran out of warranty.

She hated it and reckons that because she was given it she had to keep it for at least a year before she shifted it on. Still thinks she would have been cheaper buying a similar aged Focus due to running costs and repairs in that year.

She also hated the wavers.

Apart from the abysmal looks, they’re also pretty awful cars. an acquaintance has always looked after hers and she just had a £3500 bill from seemingly nothing…

I’d leave well alone.

If you do decide to buy one, the biggest breaker of Chryslers with a redundant cotton mill full of parts is in Oswaldtwistle. Good bloke too.

Check the cost of replacement parts, particularly a new battery for the diesel, I think this is the model that has a low profile gel battery on its side under the passenger seat as there is no room in the engine bay. Personally I’d go for a Focus, but then I do rate them.

im in the same boat

always liked the look of them, got a little daihatsu runabout van ,but the floor level is quite high, and have to lift my dog in and out because of it

so plan in the new year is

get a pt cruiser (prob diesel) and get all rear windows body colour wrapped, and take out rear seats and drop a plywood/carpeted floor in

i got out big on a 54? plate diesel last week for £770 I reckon £500 for wrapping and lowering kit and I’ll be okay

not going to find a 54/55/56 plate van in good cond for that money

aparently the 2.0 is both uneconomical and slow, if you dont mind the poor economy get the 2.4 petrol, but prob does 20mpg hooning about

Ill only be doing 5000 a year in it as a runabout

think black looks too hearse like, so wavering towards a silver (think it will suit a van like style)

its a real buyers market on them, Im gonna sit it out and wait for the right one

might go the £700 route, or the £1500 (face lift – diffrent lights/big bumper) route, dunno yet

Real life experiences?

I die a little inside every time I see one being driven – then realise I never have to set foot inside one of the god awful looking things and all is well again… 😉

http://www.euroncap.com/results/chrysler/pt_cruiser.aspx

Not for me thanks. Please don’t run anyone over in it either eh!

I’m watching this with interest , I’ve been interested in getting one for a while. They missed a trick by not making a van version as the rear space with the seats out is very usable.
They drive pretty much like a van and they seem pretty easy to fix diy stylee amd they being so unfashionable go for about half the price of a similar van.

Any one know the insurance cost.
45 year old full no claims

I like the look of them, breaks the monotony of all cars looking identical. Never driven one mind.

Mrs busydog’s boss had one around 2006 and he referred to it as his
PT Crapper and sold it after 6 months.
From what I saw, quality control was pretty shoddy and as someone mentioned above, “plasticky”.

My real life experience of PT Cruisers is that they cause me to wretch uncontrollably whenever I see one.

This seems to be the usual guise of these horrid things

Absolutely bogging.

You often see them driven by faux-Middlesborough-cowboys in their 50’s with chrome etc galour. OP buy something even vaguely decent.

I like the anagram on the reg plate ^^^

That picture proves that you can roll a turd in glitter but it`s still a turd

What are the little chrome sticks at the corners? Stabilisers?

Oh, a friend had one. Bad points:- you’ll probably run out of fuel part way through a 27 point turn. Good point:- you’ll always be able to make your way back by following the trail of bits that fell off on the way there.

A Focus has the advantage of stealth mode, no-one notices them 🙂

What are the little chrome sticks at the corners?

They’re just there to hold bits on while its parked. There’ll be someone following it on the move to stop and pick bits up off the road the rest of the time… 😉

hmm didn’t know you could take out back seats ….. Might make a nice dog carrier for Mrs DOD……

Didn’t they do a convertible as well 🙂 a right stunner if I remember..

Yeah, a right stunner…..

They look like something the Anthill Mob would drive. (all those under 40 google Anthill Mob) 😀

I think this gives it a run for its money in the looks department….

in order to re dress the balance,, something like this I
prefer, they look nicer as a van imho

I use to sell them and actually quite like the 2.2 Crd Merc one, but I also own I MK1 Berlingo that I love so my opinion is probably void.

The Berlingo is fantastic. The PT is tragic

My neighbour who’s an ex mechanic replaced the wishbones on them fir a living……and he only looked after a couple of them…….so if it’s seen a life of speed humps don’t bother.

The PT is a Cheap rapid Diesel with loads of space for bikes, it’s just over styled.
No doubt the Berlingo is awesome, stick that 2.2 Merc lump instead of the 1.9D or the tragic HDI and it would be a home run.

ou see i coming at is from making, say a £1500 van

compared to a nice £5000 caddy of same year, they seem a bargain

and I doesnt need to drive like car, just like a decent van

although my other car is a defender, so it’ll surely drive better than that !!