How? Because I don’t want to have to fiddle around with different configurations for shelfing to put the weekly shop in the car. I didn’t look to see if that was possible, and even so, it is significantly smaller in luggage space than a normal car.
Fold down space isn’t that helpful when you have kids.
Yes, as mentioned upthread, the PT is a quirky car that has a lot of “cute” factor built into it. It’s got a very distinctive look, and there was nothing on the road like it until Chevy put out the HHR (which I would recommend looking into as an alternative, I think it hasa little more room). The interior works fine once you are used to it, but it does take some getting used to.
I have kids and found it useful on many occasions when they were not in the car.
As for figuring out the shelving, I am not sure what to tell you. You could put it up high or down low, and it was a snap to move. I coudl easily fit 8 - 10 paper grocery bags in mine, and plenty more plastic ones. If you set the shelf up high, there were even hooks on the bottom so you could hang the plastic grocery bags from those. It does not have the depth of a regular trunk, but it made up for that with height, if you figured out how to use it.
My parents owned a Cruiser, stick, Touring Edition. I don’t remember the year - maybe an '03? '02? I forget.
I liked it - it’s a cute car. Driving it wasn’t bad, although the turning radius was a bit of a bother. My family is small car people - Mom & Dad raised us on Honda econoboxes - so the size wasn’t really an issue. Great headroom. The cargo area is quite small, which I remember as being kind of surprising to us (apparently we thought it’d be bigger). I don’t recall us folding the seat down.
My recall of the car is that we liked it well enough, but I don’t think we expected much from it other than looks and getting from A to B. They certainly didn’t buy it for any performance reasons; it was all looks.
Before my parents bought theirs, I thought it was cute enough that I considered buying one when shopping for my own first car. I didn’t test drive one, though, I think I just sat in it. Ultimately, I went with a Mazda Protege 5, which I can’t rave about enough.
Chrysler’s stopped making them this year, hasn’t it? Might be an issue for future maintenance/parts availability.
Considering you can still get parts for Fords and Chevvy’s manufactured in the 1970s, I wouldn’t worry about it.
I’ve had a 2002 limited PT Cruiser for about two years and like it.
There’s a lot of valid pros and cons already in this thread, but I’ll add my two cents:
Pros
-Really versatile. I’ve hauled mulch, 2x4s, plywood, dishwasher and tons of groceries. I’m relatively young, so don’t have a ton of problems moving/taking out the seats, but they are pretty damn heavy. I also don’t understand the comment that there’s no room with the seats up. If you use the shelf and don’t mind some limted rear visibility, you can fit a TON back there. I’d say about 15 bags of groceries at once.
-Quirky looks - It’s a love/hate with a lot of people. I love that very few other vehicles look like it.
-Good value. They don’t seem to hold their value, so you can get 'em pretty cheap. Plus, they’ve been discontinued and that will further hurt their value. Also, as noted, they’re based on the high-selling neon and share a lot of parts, so there should be plenty of parts in the years ahead.
-Easy to get in and out of - As noted, it seems to sit at just the right height to get in and out of. The rear seats sit higher than the front seats, so the kids get a good view, too.
Cons
-Maintenance - I don’t have a sense of what it should cost to maintain a car, but I think I’ve paid more than I should have to. Brakes, radiator, engine mounts have all been issues
-Turning circle - BRUTAL. The most aggravating thing about the car. Such a small car should not have such a huge turning radius. Pain in the butt in parkades.
-Window controls - As noted, they’re in the the middle of the dash. You get used to it, but it is a bit weird and unnatural at first.
I also suppose that its a bit underpowered, but nothing I really notice. It doesn’t push you back in your seat, but when I need to pass, I get by with no problem.
What year was your Neon? Going by the paint issue, I’m guessing it was a first generation, like this?
I have a 2002 PT Cruiser which I bought new. With a few qualifications it’s the best car I’ve ever had. In all these years the only major repair it’s needed was the brakes, which I know I tend to ride hard. As far as trunk space is concerned, you can fit a lot of groceries in the back without putting the back seat down . . . and when it is down: I’m an artist, and I can fit a 40" x 56" painting lying flat, without moving the front seats forward, and can still close the hatch. You can’t say that about any other car that size.
The only thing I regret is that I didn’t get the turbo, so acceleration sucks. And as others have said, you have to get used to the blind spots . . . just use the mirrors more. And yes, the turning radius is larger than it should be.
I did rent a 2008 a couple of years ago, on a trip through the Southwest. I hated it. They changed so many small things since mine was made . . . like removing the driver’s right arm rest, and increasing the weight of the hatch so that you need two strong arms to lift it.
The bottom line is this: If I could buy another new 2002 (with Turbo), I would in a heartbeat.
Keep in mind that they’re a lot more expensive to repair than a US “made” car. With the exception of replacing the transmission, every repair on my Sephia over the past 2.5 years has cost 2X what my other cars did. I’ll never buy another KIA of any type, but ymmv.
They didn’t offer the turbo till '03, I think. And they didn’t offer the Touring and Limited (de-tuned) turbos until '04 or '05.
Ah, the mini-hearse. I’ve only ever ridden in one as a rental so I can’t really comment on its driveability, but I can’t be the only one to whom the design screams “hearse” from behind. I find this fact appealing and humorous, but others might consider it a drawback.
Actually, the first car I ever owned was a 1950 Cadillac Hearse, so it wouldn’t bother me!
Since 2005 I’ve travelled for work purposes at least once a month, and rented a car every time. There is no rental car I hate worse than the PT Cruiser / HHR. I’ll pay for the upgrade out of my own pocket if PT Cruiers are all that’s left and they have larger cars available.
Bear in mind we’re talking about two dozen different PT Cruisers here from different airports; not the same vehicle. These are universal issues.
Terrible power. Lawn mower sounding engine. Turbo lag, even though there is no Turbo. Lurches like you stepped on the gas when stopping. Shudders like I’m masturbating it. Horrific A/C. Brutal blind spots. Awful driving position - seat doesn’t go back far enough, steering wheel doesn’t telescope, only tilts. NO arm rests - as in, you have to drive with your arms like a T-Rex, or open the window and rest one on the thin door that digs into your arm. Turning radius is laughably bad. Shitty cup holders - as in, you can’t use one of them if you put it in Drive, b/c the gear shift pushes the beverage over. As in, you can’t use the cigarette lighter as a power source, b/c it blocks the cup holder. Opening windows with coffee in one is a delicate procedure.
These are the newer models - at least from 2006 and up, and it seems they get replaced in the fleet with newer ones every year. I never drove an older one.
I may have forgotten some details, but the others just about covered it. A few impressions of my own:
It was one of the worse cars I ever had the displeasure to drive.
The driving position is awkward and uncomfortable to the point where it actually makes it hard to drive properly/safely. (I felt like sitting in a bus).
It is the exact opposite of how it should be designed, i.e., it takes up much more space on the outside than the space it offers on the inside; despite its “tall” proportions I actually kept touching the roof with my head and it felt cramped - (btw I’m of average build).
It drives terribly - suspension on the hard side, the steering can be jerky at high speeds and overall it doesn’t feel right.
Poor visibility, not only because of the blind spots, but also because of the viewing angle allowed by the driving position (the upper part of my field of vision was covered by the roof).
Noisy. It feels cheap.
I did like its looks, but after a day of driving it I couldn’t wait to get my own car back.
I would definitely advise against buying it. And BTW, I think the price asked for the one in the OP is too high.
I guess the PT Cruiser was a big seller for Chrysler at first because of its retro styling, but it had a lot of design flaws that made it not such a great car, which is why Chrysler discontinued it. It was mentioned as typical of the design issues that Chrysler cars have been saddled with, as in this interview from NPR:
Based on this, and websites like this, I’d be wary of buying one, esp. knowing that the car’s been discontinued.
I think they look like a cross between a hearse and one of those old milk trucks.
Concerning NEONs and PT Cruisers: I have driven both (as rental cars), and thy seem like “OK” cars-nothing exciting. I did notice that the PTC gets pretty poor gas mileage for its size;I guess because it is so heavy. Has ayone had experience with these cars at high mileage (>100,000 miles)? My secretay had a Neon that seemed to disintegrate when it hit 80,000 miles, just ell apart.
I’ve not experienced any of these things, Morbo, with my 2003. Mine has folding arm rests for both front seats, and perhaps it’s a function of being a manual, but the gear shift handle doesn’t interfere with the cup holders, and the cup holders don’t interfere with the power outlet. In mine, the window switches are in the middle of the dash, nowhere near the cup holders. (And the turning radius is better than it was in my Saturn sedan!)
I test drove an automatic before I bought my manual 5-speed. I found the automatic very sluggish. The manual is noticeably zippier.
I bought it because I wanted the flexible interior space for ease of hauling my art show set-up, and it’s perfect in that regard. It gets good mileage, even fully loaded. I was never bothered by the reported blind spots. I have ridden in the back seat for a 3+ hour car trip and found it quite comfortable.
I concur with others about the squishy handling, and it’s had some repair issues which have displeased me.
Nice to hear they headed in the right direction with the later models.
