Any advice on buying a PT?

[ccracer]

Hello everyone, I have been looking into buying a PT for a few weeks now. Of course I have loved them since they first came out, but am only now able to afford one. I am probably going to end up with a used one, but am keeping my fingers crossed for a new one with lifetime warranty

My first question for this forum is this:

When making an offer on a car at a dealership, how low can you go without being insulting? 80% of the sticker price? 60? 50 even? I have never bought from a dealer before and have no experience in haggling. I am planning on taking my BF with me but I am afraid he will make such a low offer on anything that we will not be taken seriously.

What do you guys think? Any advice?

Thank You!

[Hooligan]

Find out on what year, model you wish to purchase. Go to "Blue Book.com" and get an idea on the worth of the car. Then you have a good idea on what to offer. You may have to get up to leave a couple of times and the salesman will "have to check with the manager/boss" before you finalize the deal. On a high mileage car there are many things that will have to be done to put it in tip top shape. Don't "fall in love" with any particular car before you get there.
New is best if you can afford the payments. Of course, you will start to "mod" it as soon as you get it.

BTW: Welcome to the Forum, you'll like it.

[lakersfan1]

Buying a new car is not a matter of offering a PERCENTAGE of the sticker, it's about knowing how much the dealer paid for it. I bought my PT brand new in Jan 2008. I offered $3500 below the base sticker, and 30 minutes later I was driving home. No haggling. A brand new car for $13,000. Of course, this was a base model with a stick shift (what I wanted). Only had A/C and power windows/locks. And this was on a car that was sitting on thier lot for a full year before I came looking for it. They were glad to get rid of it, and I was glad to take it off thier hands.

The incentives on them right now don't look as good as when I bought. But expect to offer about $3,000 below Chrysler's sticker for a new 2008, or $2,000 below sticker for a 2009.

As for used, a slightly used version will save you ALOT of money. The resale on PT Cruisers is crap right now because so many of the newer PT's are in rental car fleets now. Expect to get a used 2007 with under 20K miles for about $10,000 with automatic and A/C in great condition. Under $9,000 for the same car with stick shift if you're a stick-shift person.

[ccracer]

Thanks for the advice! I have found a leftover 07 on the lot at my local dealer, and it does have a stick shift I looked it up at KBB and found that the blue book suggested retail value is $10,875

I was asking about haggling because of the local news stories talking about how much Chrysler is hurting right now and the great deals they are willing to make as a result. Things like incentives, dealer pricing, employee pricing, MSRP, and invoice price. I don't know what these are, and the internet has been less than forthcoming.

I did find a place that would tell me the invoice price on a car if I paid them about 25 bucks! LOL. I am WAY to cheap for that.

So, can anyone tell me what a dealer would have paid for this car? If not, should I start at the KBB price, or even lower?

Thanks Again!

[lakersfan1]

I swear to god I just answered your question before you asked it. I own a 07 stick shift. Unless it's a turbo GT with a stick, it's worth $9,000 with a stick or $10K with an auto. You can find them on Autotrader all day long at those prices.

Forget the KBB. It's funded by the dealerships(read: biased), and it's a buyer's market. Don't fall in love and be willing to walk out. PT Cruisers are a dime a dozen. You can find one at a dealer willing to do business.

[careyk]

I wouldn't buy a used car from a dealer unless it was an awesome deal. You are just going to pay dealer markup and pay way more for a car on the lot than you could buy privateley.When I bought my car there was a blue one on the lot 03 GT turbo autostick 80000km+ cracked bumber,rock chipped front end etc....for around 15000$.....I found a red 03 Gt one owner that night locally that was mint, 36000km, 5speed,full history etc and got it for 10500$ A much better carYou have to look around and be quick on the draw. If I wouldn't of looked online that nite and didn't go 1st thing in the morning it would of been gone.A woman showed up to see the car just as I wrote the deposit cheque and boy was she MAD........

[ccracer]

Thanks again guys! I found out today that the sticker price on the leftover 07 is $13,500 I don't think I can talk them down into my price range. I was really hoping that I could get one with the lifetime warranty as it seems like I have been plauged with car problems my whole life, and it would be nice not to worry about it for once, LOL.

Don't get me wrong, I am a girl that is handy with a wrench, but I like to work on a car when I DONT HAVE to, know what I mean?!?!

I did some more looking into the warranty and I found that for manual trannies, the clutch is not covered! I don't like that very much. Has anyone here had many clutch probs with thier PTs?

I was also wondering what voids those warranties. If I did any aftermarket mods would that screw me?

Of course, I am still shopping around. I am looking at a couple on ebay, an 07 and an 08 both low miles, both with existing 3 year warranty. Can these warranties be extended by someone other than the first owner?

I looked at a few in the Hanford, Visalia, and Tulare areas last weekend. This weekend I plan on looking in the Fresno, Madera and Merced areas. Both cars from dealers and places like Craigslist.

I was told by my mechanic friend that the 05 had a 7 year warranty and that I should look into that. What do you guys think of that year/warranty?

Thanks again for all the info and wish me luck in my shopping!

CC

[crusierdad76]

Hey ccracker:
As you already found out there are TONS of stuff NOT covered by the warenty and even more stuff that you will have to fight to get it covered (dealers suck)
Clutch,tires.breaks,belts,hoses all of these are not covered the battery is not covered.
I think the life time warranty is more if you blow the motor , or maybe and im not even sure but if a auto tranny bites the dust. it dont cover a lot more that that but then that is the high dollar stuff
Again Im not sure that the warranty is expendable unless it is done through a dealer.
The Pt is a coool car but it is in no way a user friendly car as far as working on it--the timing belt and all that goes with that is a huge pain to work on the bearings are pressed on and you will have to have a press to change them

Other stuff is pretty easy to work on the radiator and some of the relays are OK
Keep in mind it is a fun car and looks cool so get what you want and have fun with it

[ccracer]

Thanks for the advice cruiserdad. By the way I have always been ccracer because I am a barrel racer (roping sometimes too!).

BTW Nice paint

[Mean Green]

Whatever you decide on make sure it is what you want. Don't get a non turbo and then come on here asking what you can do to make it more powerful. It's not going to happen. If you are a girl who likes to turn a wrench and make your car more powerful then go with the 180 hp turbo lite or a GT.