What to do with my beloved PT?

[PTtreegirl]

Hi, I'm a new member. I have a 2008 Turbo PT that I love, but it has been having a lot of problems lately with the AC, Heater, and now the lights on the gear shift panel don't work. Also, when I click the keys to lock the car, I get a half-hearted moan, instead of the normal chirp. We have spent over $1000 on the AC/heater problems and they still aren't fixed. The mechanic did a Freon re-charge, but told us it wouldn't last long - that we needed a new compressor which would cost $1500 (he was right, the air was cool for only three weeks or so). We didn't get the new compressor because the car is worth about $3,500 according to the blue book. The heater went out about a month ago, and the repairs haven't fixed it. We have two teenaged daughters who will need cars in the very near future and I was planning on giving the car to the oldest, but my husband just says sell it, it's not worth the money to repair or maintain. It has about 105,000 miles on it. We have maintained it well for 8 years. It is beautiful - silver with purple flames, leather seats, moon roof, power seats, etc. What would be your advice, knowing the problems that PT Cruisers are known to have? We are not handy and would have to pay a mechanic for all needed repairs. We don't have money to spare with two daughters going off to college soon, but I've checked and can't find another option for a reliable used car for our daughters for less than $10K. Since the PT is our family car, we'll also need to buy a new/used car for ourselves. So after all this rambling - is it better to cut our losses and sell, thinking that we'll only have more problems in the future, or does anyone think we can get 10-20K more miles on this car after repairing the AC/heater? Thanks for your advice.

[Vengence]

Originally Posted by PTtreegirl

Hi, I'm a new member. I have a 2008 Turbo PT that I love, but it has been having a lot of problems lately with the AC, Heater, and now the lights on the gear shift panel don't work. Also, when I click the keys to lock the car, I get a half-hearted moan, instead of the normal chirp. We have spent over $1000 on the AC/heater problems and they still aren't fixed. The mechanic did a Freon re-charge, but told us it wouldn't last long - that we needed a new compressor which would cost $1500 (he was right, the air was cool for only three weeks or so). We didn't get the new compressor because the car is worth about $3,500 according to the blue book. The heater went out about a month ago, and the repairs haven't fixed it. We have two teenaged daughters who will need cars in the very near future and I was planning on giving the car to the oldest, but my husband just says sell it, it's not worth the money to repair or maintain. It has about 105,000 miles on it. We have maintained it well for 8 years. It is beautiful - silver with purple flames, leather seats, moon roof, power seats, etc. What would be your advice, knowing the problems that PT Cruisers are known to have? We are not handy and would have to pay a mechanic for all needed repairs. We don't have money to spare with two daughters going off to college soon, but I've checked and can't find another option for a reliable used car for our daughters for less than $10K. Since the PT is our family car, we'll also need to buy a new/used car for ourselves. So after all this rambling - is it better to cut our losses and sell, thinking that we'll only have more problems in the future, or does anyone think we can get 10-20K more miles on this car after repairing the AC/heater? Thanks for your advice.

Honestly, In my opinion, If it only has 105k miles on it and the A/C and Heater are the only things wrong with it, I would get them repaired. As for what could be wrong with them.

A/C-
1. Could be the A/C unit itself.
2. A/C compressor which runs with the Belt.

Heater-
1. May need new Radiator.
2. Radiator Flush
3. Heater Core

These are to my knowledge but I am sure others have other suggestions. If you repaired/replaced those, I think you would get more than 20k miles with it. Hell, I'd say maybe more than 50-75k. PT's have been a reliable car in my opinion and this 08 LX I just bought a couple weeks ago is now my 4th PT Cruiser. I had a 2001 Limited which died last year. and 09 GT that was Totaled, and 09 LX that I modified like crazy for my hobby at the time and now this 08 LX model.

[rckstein]

Welcome to the forum

Sorry to hear of the problems you're having with your PT. Mine is 2 years older and with about 35,000 more miles, but everything works on my PT, it's never been in an accident, and I plan on enjoying it for at least another 5 years, or longer.

Have you had the timing belt work done on yours yet? If not, it should have been done around the 100,000 mile mark and you're facing about a $1000-$1500 bill to fix that and related components.

Although I hate to see any vehicle go to the scrap yard, I don't think that the PT is any more problematic than any other vehicle. I think all vehicles have their quirks, the key is to stay on top of things, and do some preventative maintenance before things break. But I wish you luck on whatever you choose.

[Busted_PT]

If your spending that kind of money. You should be getting results. Time in my opinion to find you someone that can give you those results. Only thing your guy was right about was he didn't fix it. Maybe you can post up the itemized bills so we can see what exactly you paid for. You can cover the name of the shop if you prefer.

[rob302]

he was likely wrong about the compressor being the leak. the lines chafe and wear through on these cars. you can follow the 2 fat lines up with your hand and see for yourself what i'm referring to. you can't see it unless you pull the two lines apart and look.


post about when i fixed mine:

broken AC line, $0
6" gas pipe with threaded ends, $2.99
2 hoseclamps, $3

result:


i know it isn't the right way, but it was 100° out and i had a lot of driving to do. i fixed it in the parking lot, charged it, and
it worked great. this will never wear through and it still holds pressure and still works properly a full year later.

what doesn't work with the heat? the air coming out of the vents? the temperature?


.

[Vengence]

Also another thing from what others are saying and what I've seen. Is you engine Temp guage reading lower or higher than normal? I had an issue (not in a PT) Where I had no Heat and No A/C but my engine Temp read lower than normal. May not be the same but it's worth mentioning.

[PTtreegirl]

Thanks for your replies! Yes, we did get the timing belt replaced a year or so ago, so that should be good. My hub just doesn't see the sense in paying 2K for repairs on a car worth $3.5K. I don't see the sense in paying $8-10K on a used car for a beginning driver. I'll probably make the sacrifice and do the repairs, since we have one daughter who will be driving locally (she just told me yesterday that she was old enough to get her permit tomorrow - which is what sparked this question) but the other will off at college at least 3 hours away so she'll need a more dependable car. What a situation - three cars needed in the next three years for one family! BTW, we do have another car - a 2001 Dodge Dakota with only 60K miles since it only has 2 seats! But for some reason, my Hub takes my car everywhere, even when it's just him?? I guess he lives driving my car with purple flames

[PTtreegirl]

Originally Posted by Busted_PT

If your spending that kind of money. You should be getting results. Time in my opinion to find you someone that can give you those results. Only thing your guy was right about was he didn't fix it. Maybe you can post up the itemized bills so we can see what exactly you paid for. You can cover the name of the shop if you prefer.

OK, I'll have to ask my husband where it is. I'll try to post it later tonight. Thanks, and we agree, we should have gotten better results.

[PTtreegirl]

Originally Posted by rob302

he was likely wrong about the compressor being the leak. the lines chafe and wear through on these cars. you can follow the 2 fat lines up with your hand and see for yourself what i'm referring to. you can't see it unless you pull the two lines apart and look.


post about when i fixed mine:



what doesn't work with the heat? the air coming out of the vents? the temperature?


.

Thank you! I'll share this with my husband! I really hope you are right - that will save us a ton of money (And my husband can tell me "I told you so for refusing to pay for a new compessor, Haha). The problem with the heater is the temperature. Just like with the AC, the heater ran warm for a couple of days after it got back from the shop and then stopped and is now just blowing cool air. We are very lucky that our winter has been very mild here and that I have heated seats in front. I'll let you know what he can find out about the lines! Thanks again!

[PTtreegirl]

Originally Posted by Vengence

Also another thing from what others are saying and what I've seen. Is you engine Temp guage reading lower or higher than normal? I had an issue (not in a PT) Where I had no Heat and No A/C but my engine Temp read lower than normal. May not be the same but it's worth mentioning.

Thank you! I'll have my hub look at the gauge. So what did you have to do to get your AC and heater fixed - or were you able to?