Learn me...PT Cruiser?!

In my hunt for the perfect car I stumbled on to a crazy idea. So crazy it just might work.

PT Cruiser GT.

I know. Not the first word in pretty much anything. But I've borrowed my in-laws base Cruiser a few times and was impressed to some degree. There's enough room so that the baby seat doesn't make my wife sit in the windshield. There's lots of storage area, the seats fold up and come out easily.

And it has the heart of the SRT-4. Yes it's taller and heavier so it's not a dead ringer, but still. Since it's a neon in disguise, it has a pretty wide variety of aftermarket parts if I ever felt so inclined.

It doesn't appear to get great MPG, but neither does our Suzuki.

The only real downside I've found is Cruisers tend to go through tires at a slightly accelerated pace. Thoughts?

I saw a YouTube video once of a 400+ horsepower GT Cruiser with a huge front-mount intercooler.

I seriously considered buying one after that...

Worked at a Jeep/Chrysler store for five years. Overall, they will last. That's not to say they don't have their little quirks.

They go through cooling fans pretty regular and they are not real easy or cheap to replace. I suppose an aftermarket could be used.

It's also an absolute bear to do a timing belt on.

The lower control arms will get sloppy and make a knock noise over bumps.

A/C compressors don't seem to last too long either.

The shifter cables on manuals are known for the bushings falling out, making them real sloppy. On that: the OE bushing is only available with the whole cable but the Mopar urethanes are a drop in and are available separately. Yeah, go figger.

The dash pad is a hollow plastic shell and it'll crack. The weird thing about that: I've seen garage kept cars that cracked and park in the yard types that didn't. Doesn't seem to be related to plastic preservatives either. In fact, the trim is pretty much substandard all through them.

I had this thought a while back and made a thread about it.

What I remember from that was that while its the Neon chassis, it's not the Neon suspension, so the handling isn't anywhere near up to par.

Also, PT Cruisers have the least comfortable interior I've ever been in outside of a mid-90s Kia.

Different strokes for different folks!

If I recall correctly, the GT Cruiser was replaced by the PT Turbo, which made less power but is easier to find. There's a board member who won his local autox class championship in a PT Cruiser - maybe he'll chime in.

My Dad had a regular Cruiser for a while as his work truck. It was surprisingly versatile - I was simply amazed at how much it could haul with the rear seats taken out.

There is one at my friend's shop with a bad motor. The other night I was wondering how hard it would be to get it inspected if I put in the v8, tranny and rear axle from a newer Ram or Dakota and a straight front axle to look like an older Gasser. It's already purple so maybe some silly name like "the Goofy Grape" in gold leaf and tint the windows purple.

Wally wrote: There is one at my friend's shop with a bad motor. The other night I was wondering how hard it would be to get it inspected if I put in the v8, tranny and rear axle from a newer Ram or Dakota and a straight front axle to look like an older Gasser. It's already purple so maybe some silly name like "the Goofy Grape" in gold leaf and tint the windows purple.

You're a monster..

Major PITA to do anything under the hood. HHR handles better and gets better gas milage. Cruiser has nicer dash, shifter and sight lines. Yes I have driven both on long roads trips.

The bride has a PTGT. IIRC the turbo PTs (touring edition?) had 180 hp & the GT has 220 hp. GT has faux carbon fiber interior trim, different seats, & in '04 the only way to get side airbags was to get the GT with leather. GTs had bigger wheels,tires, perhaps stiffer suspenson.

She's only driven her's around 55K since getting it new in '04. It's been a good car all in all. Had cam position sensor replaced under warranty & there is a very small trans. fluid leak where the axle shaft comes out of the trans.

It's a very quick car with a little bit of torque steer when hammered. Bride is a little old lady & drives like one but it still needs tires more often than we think it should.

IIRC timing belt should be replaced every 90K.

I own a regular PT. It's amazing. I can carry stuff or kids. It gets a decent but middling 23-28 mpg. Handling is fine. Parts are really cheap. Nothing ever breaks. I've done the timing belt, which wasn't too bad. I did the control arm bushings, which weren't too bad. I did some sway bar bushings. Brakes took me 11 minutes, and not per side. I did the tranny fluid, which was a bit of a pain because the tranny pan is at an angle, so it's hard to get a dry bead of gasket RTV (What Chrysler recommends) on there.

I do have the dash cracking, but other than that the interior is great. The leather option is actually a leather/suede combo that both cleans easily and doesn't let you slide around. It's got an upright driving position that I love, and it's super easy to drive. The biggest downside is that it's dull and slow and has a terrible turning radius. For a DD, it's great.

tuna55 wrote: It's got an upright driving position that I love, and it's super easy to drive.

Different strokes I guess. I was just going to warn that the driving position was like sitting at a picnic table or on a toilet, awkward and uncomfortable. I felt I had no control of the PT's I test drove.

ditchdigger wrote:

tuna55 wrote: It's got an upright driving position that I love, and it's super easy to drive.

Different strokes I guess. I was just going to warn that the driving position was like sitting at a picnic table or on a toilet, awkward and uncomfortable. I felt I had no control of the PT's I test drove.

It's more minivan or truck than Neon, that's for sure, but I like that for daily driving. It's super easy on the knees. Ingress and egress are improved too. The back doors open to a wide angle for this as well. Pretty well designed car save for the underhood access and aerodynamics.

They seem to hold together fairly well but they are dull as hell. The interior is ok. I have seen worse I have seen better. Basically it is perfectly average. I don't think it is worse then the HHR though.

The M/T version's shifter is awful. It works but was obviously meant to do only that. I drove Taurus SHO's with that single cable shifter and thought that was the worst on the planet until I drove a PT. Strange: Neon shifters feel better.

I've driven worse.... I have worked on worse.

They are decent A-B transportation.

Gearheadotaku wrote: Major PITA to do anything under the hood. HHR handles better and gets better gas milage. Cruiser has nicer dash, shifter and sight lines. Yes I have driven both on long roads trips.

Relevant to my interests. Which has more room / better accessibility in the rear hatch area? More comfortable seats?

I keep looking at basic models, and I really like them, but mileage is a deal breaker. And I'm not sure I want another ChryCo product any time soon.

Mileage surprises me. PT Cruiser is 19/26 mpg, while the HHR is 22/32 mpg?

In reply to nderwater:

Drive each of them and you will figure it out real fast.... In comparison, the HHR is much more refined, quiet, easy to drive. The PT is a truck car in comparison. But in reality, both suck, IMO.

Yeah, my dad has a PT Cruiser and he has complained about gas mileage since almost day one. They also have a Stratus that gets about 5mpg better on the highway. ??

I rented an HHR and found the fuel mileage to be FAR better in the HHR. Other than that, his Cruiser seems to be pretty good.

Ranger50 wrote: In reply to nderwater: Drive each of them and you will figure it out real fast.... In comparison, the HHR is much more refined, quiet, easy to drive. The PT is a truck car in comparison. But in reality, both suck, IMO.

HHR is a better car. But from what I have seen the PT Cruiser survives better.

93EXCivic wrote:

Ranger50 wrote: In reply to nderwater: Drive each of them and you will figure it out real fast.... In comparison, the HHR is much more refined, quiet, easy to drive. The PT is a truck car in comparison. But in reality, both suck, IMO.

HHR is a better car. But from what I have seen the PT Cruiser survives better.

HHR has those tiny windows, you can't hang your arm out the window. The PT has been around longer, so it's much cheaper, too.