2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser

When it comes to autos, I'm the kind of buyer that has to have something a little unusual. I purchased the 2001 PT Cruiser shortly after its introduction. It is not a car for everyone, but it works out nicely if you need a 5 passenger auto that can be converted to haul some rather bulky items. I use it just about every day to take eBay shipments to local FedEx pickup location. You would be amazed at how many large packages it will hold. If you fold down all the seats, 8 foot ladders and pieces of lumber will fit inside with the rear hatch closed. I installed a hitch for a trailer, which allows me to transport items like 4 by 8 sheets of plywood that will not fit inside the vehicle. The seats can easily be removed but they are difficult to reinstall. There are some cute features that most people will never use such as a shelf that can be set up as a picnic table or for tailgate parties and a mesh bag to hold small items.

I have taken the Cruiser on a couple of very long trips. It is comfortable to drive and does not wear you out like some cars. Gas mileage on the freeway runs about 26 mpg. There have definitely been some problems. All were covered under the warranty (except the tires) but it is always a pain to take the thing back to dealer to have them fixed. The hood release cable broke making it necessary to use a screwdriver to open the hood. There was a noise when turning the steering wheel requiring the entire steering column to be replaced. I took it back several times for a rattle under the front end. They replaced the rack and pinion but that did not solve it. On about the fifth trip back, they finally replaced some suspension part that cured that noise. It seems that the noise may be returning and the car has less than 35,000 miles on it. I also noticed a noise when going around corners which I assumed correctly was the wheel bearings. They replaced all the bearings in the front. Even though I rotated and balanced the tires at the required intervals, the cheap tires that came on it did not last 25,000 miles. I am used to getting 50 or 60 thousand miles on a set of tires. At about 24,000 the check engine light came on and a chip had to be changed in the computer. Six thousand miles later, same thing and same chip had to be changed again. I do like the PT Cruiser but as you can see it has certainly had its share of maintenance problems.