The PT Cruiser's Quality

[vdbd08pt]

Hi there.

Now that we've had our little PT Cruiser for almost 2 weeks (10 days). I wonder how my impressions compare to yours.

Fit form and function are out standing. Funny thing, I found out that the car was built in Mexico but this finding seems to be insignificant as I've found that the assembly is better than any car that I've ever owned.

The utilization and functionality of the PT Cruiser are excellent as well.
Is The PT a truck or is it a car? Well, it is classified as a wagon but it is more kindred to a small pick-up with a camper top (to to me).

My wife single handedly cleaned out the garage (OK, I helped a little) using the PT Cruiser to tote all the stuff to a mini ware house. I'm very pleased that she felt confidant enough to used the PT Cruiser to do this monumental task. The PT worked very well for this task.

I can find only one annoyance with the PT Cruiser so far, the sound of the radio is not very good and the AUX input should be in the less conspicuous place as well as an out of the way location the input cable tends to get in the way of the A/C and transmission controls.

The mileage that the PT cruiser is getting is not at all what I was hoping and is the true down side of the car.

I purchased the PT Cruiser because my wife wanted it and I made it happen for her. Would I do it again now that I know what I do at this time.

YES! The PT Cruiser is a fine car/Wagon/Truck or what ever you want to call
it and is built very well and does what I want it to.

Van

[Franksredpt]

Turning radius has always been an issue with most of us but we learn to deal with it. It would be nice if gas mileage was better but I get 24 mpg every week driving mostly highway miles and have over 81,000 on the car so I don't complain.

[vdbd08pt]

Originally Posted by 1wedwudy

Turning radius has always been an issue with most of us but we learn to deal with it. It would be nice if gas mileage was better bu I get 24 mpg every week driving mostly highway miles and have over 81,000 on the car so I don't complain.

MY Neon was not much better for the turning radius. My Dakota was even worse.
The computer says we are getting about 14 MPG

I still like the PT.

BTW you got some nice rims. What do you do when you put on bigger wheels? Is there a computer reset or a switch to recal the tach and speedo for the bigger wheels?

Van

[TalkieTime]

In addition to the turning radius my complaint is that one must be careful not to pull up too closely to curbs or parking barriers as this will scrape up the "facia" area. This seems to be a problem with many front wheel drive vehicles. Older rear wheel drive vehicles never seemed to have this problem.

Other annoyances in my 2005 PT are that the radio/CD player seems to be needlessly complex to operate while driving, and portions of the guages are hard to read during daylight hours. I understand that these problems were corrected beginning with the 2006 models.

This is a little off topic but I was just looking at the 2006 PT Cruiser Accessories brochure and noticed that the picture that goes with the EVS (Electronic Vehicle Security) system shows the PT Cruiser front passenger window open and largely occupied with a majestic doberman pinscher on guard while sitting or standing on the passenger seat, LOL.

[cappy5]

My wife and I love our 2006 Ltd Pt, I do alot of highway driving and am getting 29.2 mpg from a 5 speed with air-con on. I agree the stereo could be better but we love subwoofers and better sound systems ,the standard system has buttons that don't work in Australia, your sat radio I think.
My only complaint is the trim on the side of the drivers seat that houses the electric seat buttons broke off the first week we owned the PT. Bear in mind I weigh about 110kgs, about 15 or 16 stone I'm guessing and about 6ft tall so I wouldn't say I overly large . When I get out of the car by swinging my legs out your weight rests on this trims as it sits too high. I fixed it up by drilling holes where all the clips broke off and using those trim clips with burrs down the side of them, you just push them in the holes and they have more flex and bend abit.
I once carried a washing machine in the back by taking out the back seat, the seats sure are heavy so lucky they have little wheels on them.
Enjoy your cruising,Cappy5

[vdbd08pt]

Originally Posted by TalkieTime

In addition to the turning radius my complaint is that one must be careful not to pull up too closely to curbs or parking barriers as this will scrape up the "facia" area. This seems to be a problem with many front wheel drive vehicles. Older rear wheel drive vehicles never seemed to have this problem.

Other annoyances in my 2005 PT are that the radio/CD player seems to be needlessly complex to operate while driving, and portions of the guages are hard to read during daylight hours. I understand that these problems were corrected beginning with the 2006 models.

This is a little off topic but I was just looking at the 2006 PT Cruiser Accessories brochure and noticed that the picture that goes with the EVS (Electronic Vehicle Security) system shows the PT Cruiser front passenger window open and largely occupied with a majestic doberman pinscher on guard while sitting or standing on the passenger seat, LOL.

Bon and I pulled into a parking space yesterday and heard a scraping noise as we came to a stop. We looked at each other and said OH CRAP......
I looked under the front bumper and there is a black piece of plastic under there that scraped the top of the cement stop bar.
The painted surface was OK...

The 2008 has BIG knobs that my Fred Flintstone fingers can operate easily. The things that I don't like about the radio is the sound sucks, the aux input needs to be relocated so that the cable won't be in the way when you want to change gears or operate the radio.

Van

[Franksredpt]

Originally Posted by vdbd08pt

MY Neon was not much better for the turning radius. My Dakota was even worse.
The computer says we are getting about 14 MPG

I still like the PT.

BTW you got some nice rims. What do you do when you put on bigger wheels? Is there a computer reset or a switch to recal the tach and speedo for the bigger wheels?

Van

These are 17" wheels from an '06 GT. Wheel is larger but height of tire is shorter so over all tire diameter is the same as what came on it. No problem with speedo.

[Superwoody]

Originally Posted by vdbd08pt

snip....

The 2008 has BIG knobs that my Fred Flintstone fingers can operate easily. The things that I don't like about the radio is the sound sucks, the aux input needs to be relocated so that the cable won't be in the way when you want to change gears or operate the radio.

Van

The only way to help the sound problem is to go to Crutchfield and order a set of 3 1/2" speakers for the dash. The Polk's I got sound GREAT!!! It still won't sound like you have a 300C with the Infinity system but it will make a HUGE difference. They will send you all the instructions you need to remove the dash pad (Not that bad) and they will also send you a wiring diagram by email (that you will need because unless you currently have speakers there, you will not have any wiring for the speakers) to get everything going. You might find them a little cheaper on ebay or some other online stores but it was worth it to me for the tech help. It made for a easy install even though I had to snake a couple of speaker wires down to the back of the factory head unit.

I also went on ebay and found a factory 6 disc MP3 playing unit to complete my upgrade. After selling my factory stereo, I wound up with a little over a hundred bucks in my upgrades but WOW what a difference in sound and convenience!

Trust me, it is well worth the time and $$ for this upgrade

[fritz_t_coyote]

Car or Truck?

The market segment has picked up the name 'Tall Wagon' (like Matrix, and a few others out there).

The EPA calls the PT a 'Truck' because the seats can fold down to a flat load floor.

I call mine the Wee Beastie, and think of it as a fun-to-drive, good looking, extremely practical econobox.

I also remind everyone out there to not brag about cargo capacity unless they want to be tapped by friends who need to move bulky/dirty/smelly objects.

[vdbd08pt]

Originally Posted by Superwoody

The only way to help the sound problem is to go to Crutchfield and order a set of 3 1/2" speakers for the dash. The Polk's I got sound GREAT!!! It still won't sound like you have a 300C with the Infinity system but it will make a HUGE difference. They will send you all the instructions you need to remove the dash pad (Not that bad) and they will also send you a wiring diagram by email (that you will need because unless you currently have speakers there, you will not have any wiring for the speakers) to get everything going. You might find them a little cheaper on ebay or some other online stores but it was worth it to me for the tech help. It made for a easy install even though I had to snake a couple of speaker wires down to the back of the factory head unit.

I also went on ebay and found a factory 6 disc MP3 playing unit to complete my upgrade. After selling my factory stereo, I wound up with a little over a hundred bucks in my upgrades but WOW what a difference in sound and convenience!

Trust me, it is well worth the time and $$ for this upgrade

Thnaks for the info!