[Hooligan]

Lawchick, welcome to the Forum. You are one of the first that I remember who asks the questions before buying one.

I recently found a 2001 Touring for my grand daughter with all of the bells & whistles. Her Mom purchased it and it had 74,000 miles and the garage we bought it from had changed the timing belt and all of the necessary parts that are required by the 100K service schedule. Her Mom paid $4500 for it, and the owner when he found out she would be driving 200 miles to college and coming home most every weekend wouldn't let us have the car until he replaced the front brakes and rotors and rear pads.

I brought it home and checked the car out with OBI II tool and found all to be good. I did change the plugs and wires and reset the gap to 0.40. That is the only mechanical I could find wrong with it. As others have said, mileage expectation is only about 17-19 city and 22-24 highway if you leave it stock. If you do buy it you will find that it is a very comfortable car, I think at $6000 + is quite high. In Florida dealers are offering base, stock for $7, 8 thousand dollars. I would check around at dealers for a new PT so you will have some idea and can check for bargains. Good Luck on your decision.