[MichaelDay]

PT Sean brings up interesting points. Most vehicles that were designed to tow list both a GVWR and a GCWR. The unibody is normally not considered suitable for towing much weight. The 100 pound hitch weight limit would support that logic. As a matter of fact, the PT Cruiser has a fairly low internal weight carrying capacity. Load up 4 large males, put in a couple of heavy suit cases and you are at (or over, depending on whether the occupants are over 200 pounds each) the GVWR. With the turbo, the unibody is more of a limiting factor than horsepower or torque.

For towing stability, the hitch weight should be 10-15% of the towed weight. Since Chrysler limits the hitch weight to 100 pounds that would indicate that a appropriate towed weight limit of 675-1000 pounds. As has been pointed out, hitch weight reduces the load on the front of the vehicle and increases the load on the rear of the vehicle since the weight is located several feet behind the rear axle. On the other hand, too little hitch weight (yes hitch weight can be negative, actually lifting up on the rear of the tow vehicle) can be a bad as too much hitch weight. Fortunately, with the weights we are talking about, you can use a bathroom scale to determine the actual hitch weight.

All that said, if you follow the advice of staying to about 1000 pounds towed weight, keep the hitch weight to a maximum of 100 pounds (but not less than 10% of the towed weight), let the engine idle for 3-5 minutes before shutting it down after towing and preferably run synthetic oil, you should be OK.

The wiring issue is interesting. I have found that MANY trailer wiring harnesses do not have an adequate ground and result in dimmed parking and brake lights. Many wiring harness installations result in reduced isolation that cause strange electrical problems. If you are going to be towing often, I would spring for the powered converter. If you are going to be towing very infrequently, it is not necessary. If there is any concern about the wiring (or the vulnerability of the wiring) on the trailer, adding diodes to the trailer wiring will significantly improve isolation between the wires by only allowing current to flow in one direction rather than back feeding into the PT's wiring.