Aha. A British term?
A PT Cruiser is a Neon station wagon…nothing more.
Apparently I’m like the only 22-year-old who loves the PT Cruiser … especially the black or dark blue ones with the fake wood panelling.
Of course, I can’t stand the new “Beetle” and I plan to someday buy a Mustang and have tailfins put on it, so I’m not exactly representative of the populace at large. 
I’m 49, love it, and would get one if I wasn’t still paying on a minivan.
What?
Reminds oneself to start a “I love minivans” thread someday
hah! well put, jackalope.
But interestingly enough, my boomer brother (we are both in our 40’s) wants to get one, and sneers at me because I drive a Volvo wagon, which to him is the epitome of lame yuppiedom.
To me, the PT is kinda cute but is indeed a bit self-consciously retro. And I would indeed worry a bit about the visibility with the rear window.
I’m 28. I like it. When it first came out, most of the people in my office (mid to late 20s and early 30s dot.com-ers) loved it. I am not sure if we were the target demographic though.
I think it’s adorable. It looks like a cartoon car. I like that it doesn’t look like everything else on the road.
But then again, I drive a station wagon (Subaru Outback) so I’m officially lame.
I like them, but I would like them even more if they had running boards that gangsters with tommy guns could stand on while I drive away laughing insanely.
Too darned small. The design is OK but looks silly incarnated as a compact.
I love them and want one but they cost way too much here.
I’m mid thirties BTW
My mid life crisis car will be way flashier than a PT cruiser which is only a nicely styled family car.
Mid-30’s here. I like the PT Cruiser in theory, in that it’s a car with all the personality that all those Generic Vaguely-Rounded-Off Sedans that dominated automotive design in the mid 1990’s lacked. Anything that’s uniquely styled and designed to stand out, as opposed to blending in with all the other lowest-common-denominator focus-group-designed crap, gets a thumbs up from me as far as intent.
However, I don’t care for the PT Cruiser in actual execution, for many of the reasons already stated.
I’d much rather have a Mini.
I drove one once when the rental car place was out of Tauruses and Buick Regals. It was fine, I guess. The raised back seat was kinda cool, although I was alone. What I appreciate about it is that it at least tries to be different. It stands out on ther road just because it doesn’t look the same as all the others out there. Just like the Mini Cooper does. I couldn’t believe it when I first saw a new one. I had no idea they were even still made.
Having said that, the point of the OP seems to be “Is the PT Cruiser a mid-life-crises car?”
Maybe. What really screams mid-life-crises to me are the BMW Z4 convertible (show me that hair weave!) and the Mercedes SLK.
Crisis.
I’m 19, and I personally can’t stand the things. They make me vaguely nauseous just looking at them. This is coming from a girl whose dream car is a VW New Beetle, white with big black cow spots all over it, and bright orange fluffy shag interior… currently trying to put the best of both worlds in my bright blue '94 Pontiac Sunbird, with cow-spotted front seat covers and a bright orange fluffy rug over the backseats… it’s just not the same. [sigh]
Antares JB
Who is such a total newbie she hasn’t made an actual sig yet
http://www.mp3.com/antaresjb/
It’s interesting, but I have to join in the hearse category. We’ve been calling the things PT Hearses for quite a while. It’s also so small. It makes the outside dimensions of the Neon look big. It really does belong compared to the Mini (although how you can compare a Chrysler and a BMW, I don’t know 
).
I think I liked them more when they weren’t sitting in in every second driveway.
I was surprised to see they seem to be somewhat popular here in the UK too. I see at least one every time I’m on the M25.
I absolutely hate them, to me they are one of the most unlkiable cars on the road.
I just make the age cutoff - I’m 39.
Most people seem to either love it or hate it, but I’m pretty neutral about it. It’s OK.
I drive one of the most boring cars on the planet - a '98 Nissan Sentra. I actually like the idea that designers are trying different things. It’s risky because anything unconventional is going to be disliked by the majority of people. But at least gives us a break from all the Honda clones on the road.
That said, I think the Pontiac Aztek is just plain fugly.
It’s okay, but it’s really too big for me. I’m going for a Focus SVT instead.
I don’t think I like that, 'course I don’t refer to the toliet as the “john” either. Ming is a * first name* after all. http://www.findyourfate.com/numerology/babynames/chinesenames.html It can’t be an uncommon name either, considering I live in one of the least diverse parts of the US and have known two women with the name.