Yeah, I know, the COAL: PT Cruiser thing has been done to death. We had RLPLAUT’s 2002 PT back in 2016 and RETROJERRY’s 2004 PT this last January. But this one is different, it has the updated grille!
I thought about skipping this car, what can I say about the PT Cruiser that hasn’t already been covered? It was actually purchased by my wife as her first ever fun car. I took over the reins for the last 6 months of our ownership, so for the record I guess it needs to get a write up here. I heard you laugh when I said it was her first fun car, but given her previous roster of cars, this one did qualify as fun (I know when she reads this she’s going to object, citing her 1988 VW Fox). She had become principal driver of our 2001 Mazda MPV long after it had lost it’s luster and by 2007 it was time for something new(ish). She decided a PT Cruiser was to be her next ride and the kids could take over the MPV. Our brother-in-law had been driving a 2003 Turbo since new and loved it (he’s still driving that PT). Once we started shopping, we quickly figured out that a one year old program car could be had for substantially less than a new one. After we settled on a color, Magnesium Pearl, it didn’t take long to find one with less than 10,000 miles. The car, a Limited Edition model, looked like new inside and out.
You could choose from essentially five levels of trim for the 2006 model year, with the base, Touring and Limited G package models received the 2.4 L normally aspirated engine putting out 150 hp. The Limited K package got the turbocharged 2.4 L with 180 hp and finally Turbo received the high output version of the 2.4 L with 230 hp.
All but the base package got the multi-position rear package shelf and a fold flat front seat. These two items could turn the PT into a very capable cargo hauler, as anyone who made a run to the local DIY center can attest. I discovered this during a remodeling project, finding that I could fit a substantial amount of lumber in the passenger side without hitting the dash while still getting the hatch closed tight.
In the Limited models, the seat fabric was something called Alias which was supposedly more wear and soil resistant. I guess it held up well enough, certainly an improvement over the previous year’s mouse fur. I quite liked the dash layout with the body colored instrument and passenger side inserts, it reminded me of my old Beetle. The Limited package also got you a leather wrapped steering wheel, fancy cup holders, cruise control, and a 6 way power driver’s seat. Rounding out the interior retro theme was a dash mounted analog clock and cue ball shift knob.
Rear seat accommodations weren’t awful, especially for kids and that fabric did hold up well with our children.
The very large hatch and the low lift over height, combined with pretty usable space, allowed plenty of room for groceries and such. Here you can see the various mounting points for the cargo shelf, which was actually a pretty robust piece of hardware, unlike many of the flimsy covers one sees in hatchbacks. The 60/40 split seat allowed you to angle those 2x4s to avoid scuffing the hard plastic interior bits.
But what about that grille? This was a point of contention, especially for those early PT Cruiser adopters. The original design featured a similar style grille that was bisected by a separate bumper. The rear got it’s own bumper as well.
With the 2006 refresh, the lower section of grille is gone as are the distinct bumpers. I preferred the new look, especially for washing the car out in the driveway, much less fussy. Headlights got a scalloped look which I was not quite as fond of, too busy to my eye.
So, negatives? Well, the turning radius for one. Awful, impossible to make a U-turn on urban streets. And that’s about it for the stuff I didn’t like. The car was reliable, capable, fairly interesting to drive. We did have one tiny rust issue, but I want to say it wasn’t the PT’s fault. I got to learn about rail dust with this car. Right in the middle of the hatch, a tiny little piece of metal burned through the paint and eventually caused a little bubble of rust to appear. I sanded it out, applied some rust converter and repainted it. And because the paint wasn’t perfect, I slapped a sticker over the spot and called it good. We held onto the PT for about 5 years, eventually selling it to one of my wife’s coworkers.
Now that the PT Cruiser is mostly gone from around the Twin Cities, I’m starting to miss them a bit. I wouldn’t mind a late model turbo in yellow…
I dont know where these all went over here but I cant remember when I last saw one, I guess whatever ailment they suffer from just made it uneconomical to fix them and that was it
I never gave consideration to buying one though I probably thought that they were neat when they came out. A family member had facelift one for years. The only thing I remember not liking about it as a functional automobile was the appallingly cheap switchgear. That was a Chrysler thing not limited to the PT. She got long life from that car.
Based on personal experience of renting several and then buying a new one in 2009; I can say that the 5 speed manual base model I purchased was MUCH more peppy than the 3 speed slush-a-matic rentals were.
I owned it for 3 years and 40K miles. It provided me with reliable yeoman service, never needed any warranty work done.
If one watched the tachometer and rowed the 5 speed manual gearbox it was more than peppy around town.
I would had appreciated more insulation/sound deadening inside the car as past 75 mph it started getting a little bit noisy inside. But still quieter inside than the Chevy HHR that I drove over a long weekend test drive.
I am glad you wrote this because I had never noticed the change in the grille/bumper/facia. Now that I know about it, I will probably forget it because I rarely see one of these anymore.
I can remember the awful, awful interiors being put in Mopar-badged cars in the late DaimlerChrysler era. I guess that was one benefit of the PT, that it was an old enough design that it must have been cheaper to leave it alone than to design a new molded plastic interior for it.
I’m another one who never noticed there was a difference.
IMO these later facelifted PT Cruiser interiors (had a rental ’07/08ish car) are absolutely godawful. Really nicely sized utility wagon/van-let otherwise, overall I’m a fan.
I had a PT as a weekend rental back in 2009 and while it got us around with no fuss, it wasn’t the most exciting car to drive. I think more power and a 5-speed would have helped make it more fun…though my wife wouldn’t care much for the manual.
A coworker of mine was late one day and said his car finally died and he had to take the PT Cruiser from his girlfriend’s place. I knew his girlfriend didn’t drive so I had to ask. He explained that PT stood for Public Transit and that was his less embarrassing way of saying he took the bus.
I think that of all the retro styled cars and such, the PT Cruiser was well done in terms of styling. I didn’t have to get used to it like the hhr, ssr and the Prowler. I have never actually driven one or even rode in one even though I knew people who had them. And that goes for the hhr and ssr too. I don’t know anyone with a Prowler though.
I guess this is one of the many I will have to experience through others.
Yup. The original-design headlamps looked better, though round lamps would’ve looked even better still.
For quite awhile, a PT Cruiser was the only Chrysler product I would happily accept as a rental. Never got to try a handshift model, but probably would have liked it.
Yeah, I was thinking about round lights after posting this, round lights were the original retro, right? A missed opportunity.
It’s nice to hear some positive comments here about the PT. I have never driven one, but the poor car has been the recipient of so much hatred (both for styling and as a car overall), so I like the counterpoint presented here. With the possible exception of our ’79 Celica and possibly the ’96 Accord, we’ve never owned cars that most would consider “desirable.” But I have found things to like about each car we’ve owned (even the ’94 Saturn!). Frankly, I liked the styling of the PT when it came out, but I know people who just loathed it. Whatever. From what I see here, it seems like it was a capable, uniquely styled car that was perhaps a little rough around the edges but still got the job done.
I was surprised that my father, born 1927, absolutely hated the retro styling. But his father replaced their big ’30 Buick with a ’37 Plymouth, which Dad and Grandma thought was a big comedown. He wisely went back to Buicks a few years later.
There was Daimler-implicated cheapening in the 2006-2010 generation of the PT Cruiser. But somehow it did not come through as starkly as in the RWD 300/Charger sedans and the Avenger/Sebring.
Daimler forced its electrical design philosophy onto Chrysler, too, with the result being worse reliability in post-2005 Mopars with their TIPMs controlled on the Canbus. A really stupid Daimler move was the touchpad switch for the PT Cruiser liftgate, which was failure-prone but probably cheaper than the mechanical release in 2001-2005. And then Daimler cheaped out even more by removing the key lock and linkage on the liftgate so that if the touchpad switch failed, there was no way to open the liftgate without disassembling it from inside. This removal of the key lock happened in late 2006.
At least Daimler did not delete Chrysler’s self- contained malfunction fault code reader, as was rumored in 2001.
The PT Cruiser was the last vehicle designed by Chrysler Corporation, so doesn’t have the austere, stark aura of later Daimlers. Even so, Daimler required that it be “evaluated” before release.
I can testify that the High Output 230-hp Chrysler PT Cruiser GT is a lot of fun. It has the engine of the pocket rocket Dodge Neon SRT-4 with an even better intake plenum made for the PT’s higher hood. The 180-hp “Turbo Lite” is upgradable to 230-hp by a reflash of its engine control firmware.
These abound in the central states, as used cars that grandparents left behind. So I tried a few of them when we were shopping for our Oldest’s first car. She was excited to get her first car, so didn’t want to tell us that no one at high school wants an old grandma’s car.
The used PT market is very affordable. You just have to find someone willing to be seen in one.
The PT Cruiser was popular with businesses for delivery cum advertising use since it was distinctive looking and had a useful amount of space. They were largely supplanted by a mix of second generation Scion xBs and Transit Connects since their blockier shape was easier to vinyl wrap. A workwear store in Bend still has a PT Cruiser with the business name out front but I don’t think it has actually moved in years. Apart from that there’s one in my neighborhood pained in purple truck bed liner :(.