Considering 06 Touring, but it has a few issues

[William_F]

As some of you know I am on the hunt for a PT as mine was totaled recently.

We found an 06 Touring with about 51K miles. I can deal with the cosmetic issues it has as they are nothing a good detailing won't solve.

However, there are some mechanical issues that I have questions about. We have temporary posession of the car so we can have our mechanic check it out next week, but thought I'd bounce so ideas off you guys in the mean time.

We know the fuse box is bad and needs replaced. Any idea what that costs? We found that out because the wipers don't work and when we asked about it, they came clean. Their in house service dept wantd like $900 to fix.

There is also a problem with the radio staying on even after the door is opened and closed. It's not the usual radio on that shuts off when the door is opened after the key is removed. It stays on unless I turn it off.

There's also an issue with the driver's side door not unlocking/locking with the fob. All the other doors respond, but not the driver's side. The lock can be opened manually with a key or by pulling/pushing the pin.

I'm thinking that since these are all electric type problems, they could be related to the fuse box problem. We are having it all looked at before we commit to buy, but thought I'd see what ya'll can tell me about these.

Within reason, we don't mind spending some cash on repairs in the begining, but there is only so much we'll be willing/able to do. They know about the problems which is why I suspect they came down from asking $8900 to just $6850 in less than 2 minutes of negotiations. They say that's only $100 over what they paid for the car.

[quicksilverdon]

I don't believe they paid $6,750 for the car. Dealers lie as a routine...
Ask them to show you a bill of sale - I bet they won't.
Why not have dealer fix it? Clearly, they'd be willing to charge you $900 to fix it, but it doesn't COST them that much.
Are you willing to wait? Make a deal that you wait several weeks to have it fixed, but stick to price.
A bigger question is what's up with the electrics? Was it in an accident?
There are LOTS of PTs out there - this may not be the one for you.

[CREWZIN]

Did they say why there are so many electrical issues? Whole fuse boxes don't go bad for no reason. Crash, flood? I'd personally stay away.

[Cumminsatya]

Originally Posted by CREWZIN

Did they say why there are so many electrical issues? Whole fuse boxes don't go bad for no reason. Crash, flood? I'd personally stay away.

I agree, there are millions of vehicles out there and maybe two of them have had a fuse block go bad without a flood or fire. Maybe an accident.

[soonercruiser]

Electrical Issues????
Run away, fast!
These are the type of problems that are either very expensive to fix - or unfixable.

[William_F]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

After reading your comments, we're going to pass. I'm not even going to bother spending the money to have my mechanic take a look at it.

It really sucks because if the problems weren't so severe, this would have been a great car for us.


What do you guys think about buying cars that were previous rentals? There's a guy who has 30-40 PTs on his lot and all of them are 2-3 years old and have 40-50K miles which leads me to believe they are previous rentals.

We will be able to get a 3/36 extended warranty through the bank but I wonder if this is enought to offset the problems than might arise from so many people having driven the car and the lack of care they might show so since it wasn't theirs.

[CREWZIN]

Actually rental cars can be good and bad. If it's a reputable rental company, then maintenance should have been kept up to date and the car checked over before each rental. The down side is that you don't know how the cars were treated by the renter. Most of the time renters don't abuse the car too much as they don't want to break down while renting it. It's rental sports cars that you'd want to really check out.

You have a mechanic so have any PT your thinking about checked out before hand like you were going to do.

[Hooligan]

I have to AGREE with SOONERCRUISER it could be a water related problem, walk away.

[CREWZIN]

Hey Ernie, Soonercruiser didn't say anything about water.

[William_F]

This all just a very frustrating process. I'm at least glad I have you guys to not only listen to me vent, but to know what it's like to want the perfect PT and give good advice.

We looked at some base models today that we really liked, but the seller wasn't willing to come down at all in price. While they were priced right for the shape they were in, it was still too much for us.

Tomorrow I'm going to call the dealer back on the one we looked at before we agreed to take the problem child for a look see. Their "best" price was only about $400 out the door more than what I can really do. I didn't negotiate with them, I just said no and walked out the door. This place is right down the street from where I have to go to return problem child, so it won't be too bad going back by there if they're willing to talk.