I might. I really might. I am between 94% and 95.2% sold on the concept.
The Fem-Bot is urging me to do this. She’s 12 and a half. I need a younger ride, I may well be virtually living in my car come September, driving all over the U.S.A. on road trips.
It’s not compensation for a small penis. :eek:
It’s not because I’m turning 42 this summer. :dubious:
It’s not cause I need to recapture my youth. ( that’s what the ponytail and earring are for ).
It’s a neat lookin’ car and has the storage capacity to get me and my equipment from here to say, Miami, Houston or San Francisco.
Anyone own one? Should I get this thing? And, should I hold out for the Cobalt Blue model I adore so much?
We had one - a 4-cylinder model. Lousy acceleration. Abominable mileage (like maybe 25 on the highway)
It was comfortable to ride in, but we traded it in on a Jetta and were glad to be rid of it. And naturally, since you value my opinion so much, you’re going to listen to me.
That’s funny, I now have a Cruiser and I’m going to give up my Jetta. And I’m 42 this year. No ponytail, though. I love my Jetta but it’s a business decision to do without it. I’m not wild about the Cruiser, but I think I’d like it more if I hadn’t ended up with the base model. They are fairly lousy on gas and acceleration is not overwhelming, particularly compared with my Jetta.
Want to buy my Jetta, Cartooniverse? The only downside is the lack of rear seat space, but trunk space is awesome on most VWs.
I have a '03 GT model and absolutely love it! I highly recommend getting the turbo as it is a heavy vehicle and needs the boost. Highway mileage is not bad at all (24 mpg).
I have owned various automobiles (Explorer, Mercedes, Lincoln,etc.) and the PT is the most fun I’ve had behind the wheel ever. That being said, I definitely believe it is the type of vehicle one either loves or hates due to it’s unusual styling.
Oh, hold out for the Cobalt Blue. I think you will enjoy it much more in the color of your choosing.
I personally don’t fancy the PT Cruiser, it just isn’t visually appealing to me. I’d have to rank it up there among the worst-looking cars i can think of, right below the Honda Element. But everyone has different tastes.
I bought a Subaru Outback a little under a year ago, and have been very pleased with it. It was a great upgrade from my old '89 Renault Medallion. For example, it moves when i press the gas pedal. Right away. Amazing.
I’ve also heard good things about the Jetta, and it looks nice, so i’m with FCM on this one. Plus The Girlfriend likes them, and might get one as her next car.
I own a jetta…I got it because when I was working for State Farm, my daily commute was 150 miles each day. I had a rental PT cruiser for a month between getting rid of my gold, and getting delivery on my jetta.
PTCs have sucky mileage, dont really handle well, and I found them too ‘high and tight’ it felt like I was sitting on top of a tall skinny box, more like sitting in my international scout than in a car/mini van. Even my Caravan didnt feel unbalanced because it had what felt like an actual wheel base that wasnt going to tip over if I cornered too fast.
I know riding in a jetta feels like you are sitting down in a roller skate, but it [to me] beats sitting on a tall thin box that can tip over=(
I went to the rent a car this past weekend thinking I was going to get an Impala or something similar, but the counter guy says; oh you’re getting a PT Cruiser. I must have “made a face” or something, because he says, what’s wrong? I said that car was too conspicuous for me, and could I please have something else. They found me a Camry, and I left happy. I like to blend in.
But it sounds like you really want it. You’re 94-95% for it. What’s stopping you?
Advice from the Insurance Guy: Don’t buy it new. I settle total losses and just had to handle a 2003 PT Cruiser Limited Edition with 8,000 miles. Only 6 months old. Sticker price was $23,155 but the current market value is $17,540…after giving almost $1,000 for very low miles and for being in excellent condition!
These rigs dump value very quickly. If you don’t mind, I’d suggest either: 1) get a 2 or 3 year old one and squeeze the seller on the price or 2) get a new one but BUY GAP INSURANCE because you’ll need it if the car gets wrecked or stolen.
I rode in one a while back and wasn’t really impressed. The windshield seemed really small to me (though I’m used to the glorious expanses of glass in my Echo) and the seating was pretty comfortable, but I felt like I was riding ON the car, rather than IN the car. It felt more like a minivan than some minivans I’ve been in.
This does not bode well. Yes, I want it. But I must have a car that can do well on a highway, and it’s sounding like- when loaded down with perhaps 250 lbs of equipment, it won’t do so well.
Then again, 250 lbs. is your average Big Guy. You telling me that this car has crappy mileage AND no pickup, even if I am alone in the car, or carrying a few hunnerd pounds with me?
That’s no bargain. I’m currently driving a 1998 Quest with 96,000 miles on it. 6 cylinder, it zooms when it has to, does just fine and can seat 7 but flip to lots of storage in 60 seconds.
I was hoping to go smaller, but with better mileage. I get about 22 on the highway. If the PT Cruiser can’t beat the heck out of the gas mileage issue, AND handles badly, AND has no pep, then I’m worried…
Just to be sure either way, why not rent one for the weekend. You’ll get more out of that than a single test drive, and if you hate it, you’ve only spent a few bucks.
And the loss of value is no joke - we had ours less than 2 years and we were upside down by several thousand when we traded it in on the Jetta. However, the 48MPG from that peppy little diesel is going a long way towards making up for the loss.
Um, yeah, I love the Jetta. ALmost as much as my Aerostar (which seats 7 and still gets 20MPH on the road.)
Speaking as a Big Guy, I can chime in again. My boss had one during my internship and we went out. I notice the engine was definitely lacking in pickup lugging our respective big butts around.
This is indeed an odd trend. I grew up in VW Beetles. Dad had a 1958 for cryin’outloud, and Mom had a 1968 ( First SuperBeetle year, IIRC ). Then, they had two white Rabbits. ( Shush. They’re square. If I quoted Jefferson Airplane at them, their eyes would glaze over ).
I owned a Rabbit. Not a bad ride. I’ve ridden in a few Jettas. Look, I’m very fond of my molars, okay? Call me zany, but that car has ZERO and I mean zeeeeeeero comfort as far as suspension goes. There’s a pebble somewhere in New York State, a Jetta I’m in will find it and amplify it like the scanning electron microscope in The Andromeda Strain. Jettas. Feh.
Renting is a darned good idea, I wonder if I can do that. I don’t sweat resale value, I tend to drive cars until they die. This is an exception, I’m looking ahead. I must admit, I’m not as enthused as I was.
Maybe I should save my dinero, have the fuel injectors blown clean, powerflush the tranny and decide I adore my Quest and leave it at that for another ( if I am lucky ) 96,000 miles…
If you haven’t already, look on CARS.COM–it’s a great site and you can sort the vehicles according to things you need to see, like editions, price, mileage, color & distance from your humble abode.
Y’know…I have this old '89 Camry Wagon that I put a little over a ton of cargo in (I’m not exaggerating) twice a week. V6–with over 170k miles, still runs great and you barely know there’s a load. And it’s comfy to drive in. And I could buy at least 5 for the price of a PT Cruiser.
If you want to rent, check with some of your local dealerships. My Toyota dealership (who I dearly love and will miss when I depart) will rent you a “new” Toyota (I put it in quotation marks cause I’ve never used em and don’t know if new means “never touched” or “under 1,000 miles” or what). I glanced at some of the big company sites and you can’t specify a car, so you may want to try a smaller car company.
We had a PT Cruiser overnight before we bought our Jetta. It was OK, but we decided to go with a used VR6 Jetta instead. Sometimes I feel the Cruisers are too popular among older women (maybe the fact that I pass one with a “Grandma At Play” sticker on it every morning on my way to school has something to do with that) and I want to avoid that older woman with a retro car look.
).
The only downside is the lack of rear seat space, but trunk space is awesome on most VWs.
Plus The Girlfriend likes them, and might get one as her next car.