About to purchase a 2005

[Abnmarine]

About to pull the trigger on a 2005 Dream Catcher, manual, mint condition, 61k miles for $5,800 here in Hawaii. I've been reading through a lot of posts here to learn about these cars. Prior history of repairs was a new battery, rear shocks, rear wheel bearings and brakes.

I'm already wanting to do the Stage 1 and a few other mods. Anything specific that I should look for when buying it?

Is the engine the same as the HHR SS? I had one before and was impressed with it being a 4 cylinder.

Any info would be appreciated.

[sanatanadharma]

Greetings,
Do you mean that you bought a 2005 Dream Cruiser convertible?
If so, the price is a bargain in Oregon. Congratulations, may your miles and years together be free of disturbances.

I doubt that the engines are the same as one is Chrysler and the other GM.

Information about the 2005DC from: PT History

"2005 Dream Cruiser Series 4 (DCS4) - This was the first (and only) Dream Cruiser that was a convertible. It was Lava Red with a matching Maroon top, chrome grille accents, 17-inch 15-spoke Satin Silver painted wheels. The lift-gate had the DCS4 badge having Deep Lava accents. Light Pearl Beige leather seats had lava red accents. The instrument panel had Deep Lava Red accents. It was available with the five-speed Getrag manual transaxle, or four-speed Auto-Stick. Also included was the new for-2005 bright accents on the pedals, chrome door lock knobs, leather-wrapped steering wheel with satin silver spokes and Home-Link universal garage door opener, along with power windows, locks and mirrors, remote keyless entry, solar-tinted "Smart" glass, compass/temperature display rearview mirror, two-way driver power seat with manual lumbar adjuster, fog lamps, theft alarm, Sentry Key theft-deterrent system, rear glass window with electric defroster, air conditioning, rear 50/50 split fold and tumble seats, a pass-through cargo area, a sport-tuned suspension with ABS four-wheel disc brakes and low-speed traction control, and driver and passenger side air bags. It had the 220hp turbocharged engine, heated front seats, AM/FM 6 disc CD changer, and the Boston Acoustics® 368 watt Infinity premium sound system with speed dependent bass boost. ... MSRP was ($30,085) with the five-speed manual and ($30,700) with the Auto-Stick. Production was capped at 1,500 units"

Originally Posted by Abnmarine

About to pull the trigger on a 2005 Dream Catcher, manual, mint condition, 61k miles for $5,800 here in Hawaii.
...
Is the engine the same as the HHR SS? I had one before and was impressed with it being a 4 cylinder.
...

[nomad327]

In Hawaii, mileage is normally never a problem, but rust can be very bad. I would inspect underside and pull plugs from bottom of rocker panels and inspect. I had a recent thread where I had to patch a very small spot that was starting to come through under the left door. I discussed treating the interior of the rocker panels before they became worse.

[Abnmarine]

Picking the car up today. It's rust free, been garaged and had one owner. Good to know that there were only 1,500 made. Forgot to mention it also has new tires.

[Busa_Powered]

The 2005 Dream Catcher is a very rare model, known to very few.

It is a rear drive, 400hp beast.

Sounds like a great price for a truly rare piece of history

Originally Posted by Abnmarine

About to pull the trigger on a 2005 Dream Catcher, manual, mint condition, 61k miles for $5,800 here in Hawaii. I've been reading through a lot of posts here to learn about these cars. Prior history of repairs was a new battery, rear shocks, rear wheel bearings and brakes.

I'm already wanting to do the Stage 1 and a few other mods. Anything specific that I should look for when buying it?

Is the engine the same as the HHR SS? I had one before and was impressed with it being a 4 cylinder.

Any info would be appreciated.

[Abnmarine]

Originally Posted by Busa_Powered

The 2005 Dream Catcher is a very rare model, known to very few.

It is a rear drive, 400hp beast.

Sounds like a great price for a truly rare piece of history

good catch. Dream Cruiser.

[randyincctx]

Originally Posted by Busa_Powered

The 2005 Dream Catcher is a very rare model, known to very few.

It is a rear drive, 400hp beast.

Sounds like a great price for a truly rare piece of history

Not to be confused with the even lesser known..."Dream Crusher"....Which is a 3 cylinder 1.0L Turbocharged POS!lmao

[QuarterFlash]

So I'm guessing the one you're buying looks like the one in my sig?

It's a freaking great car. The wife loves it and we love to take it out for weekend drives. She commutes in it rain or shine, no problems (although we do tend to keep it in the garage when it snows. It could probably handle it just fine, but it's a personal choice). It is an absolute rocket ship, as are all HO Turbo Cruisers. Not the most refined car in the world, but a great car for the money, especially with the low miles yours has on it.

The only real issue we've had with it is the battery cable got all corroded and had to be replaced. Supposedly it's fairly common so keep an eye on that. We've got about 65,000 miles on ours and are thinking of buying a Cruiser sedan for our daughter.

I will say that you want to garage it. It'll last a lot longer that way. Good luck and happy driving.

[VNT]

My advice is to change all the fluids in it, including the brake, power steering and Getrag and the coolant.

Throw some new stock Champ copper plugs and get new wires, also clean the throttle body. Also change the PCV Valve

Check you LCA bushings, if bad just buy new Moog LCA assembly and throw them in.

Oh get some good conv top cleaner and preservative.

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