Drove a PT Cruiser for the first time the other day

"mcseanerson" (mcseanerson) 04/18/2016 at 21:48 • Filed to: None

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I always thought all the hatred the PT Cruiser got was exaggerated and at least a little undeserved. Nope. The interior is as cheap as my old Ford Aspire. The steering wheel is laughably huge and thin spoked. The motor felt like something out of a Brazilian utility vehicle. It acted like it would just fall over on the side of the road and die if I tried to take it past 5k.

Would not recommend.

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > mcseanerson 04/18/2016 at 21:57

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But was a PT Cruiser to the max? Flames, 2 tone paint, random bits of chrome all over, and being towed behind an A-Class RV.

Urambo Tauro > mcseanerson 04/18/2016 at 21:59

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I had the same experience just a few weeks ago, piloting my father’s PT for the first time. It felt so awkward to drive. But I’ll postpone final judgement just in case I ever have an opportunity to drive one of the GT models.

smobgirl > The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock 04/18/2016 at 22:01

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Probably this one.

gmctavish needs more space > mcseanerson 04/18/2016 at 22:08

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My dad had one as a rental car once and was so angry at it he brought it back and got a Dodge Caliber instead. When a Dodge Caliber is better, you know it’s a bad car....

boredalways > mcseanerson 04/18/2016 at 22:24

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back in ‘06, a last minute red eye flight for myself ended due to health reasons at everyone’s favorite airport (in terms of cust. ser.) LAX.

The next morning I stopped by Hertz to get a rental car to drive back to SF bay area. The clerk initially offered a PT Cruiser. I looked her dead in the eyes with a straight face and told her “I’m not over 50...yet”.

got a Hyundai Sonata V6...comfy drive back.

Deal Killer - Powered by Focus > mcseanerson 04/18/2016 at 22:52

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Do you want to blow your mind. Enter “430 S Reynolds Road, 43615" in Google maps, and do a street view. Make sure it’s the most recent 2015 view. Rest assured, they are all still there, waiting for a new owner. I don’t think any of them have moved in a year.

jimz > gmctavish needs more space 04/18/2016 at 22:59

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except the Dodge Caliber wasn’t better. you and your dad are liars.

jimz > Urambo Tauro 04/18/2016 at 23:01

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are you like 12 or something? the fucking car has been out of production for 7 years now, and you’ve just driven one a few weeks ago? Christ, let me tell you about the goddamn AMC Concord.

NJAnon > jimz 04/18/2016 at 23:11

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Well we’ll have to wait JimZ because maybe they can drudge up a GT model.

I’m not saying that driving the GT model will change Urambo’s mind about the PT Cruise being terrible though. :P I was pretty mad at the time that the Prowler and PT Cruiser got terrible development results when they could have been oppo status.

jimz > NJAnon 04/18/2016 at 23:13

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my sister had a GT 6 years ago. as for the rest of your comment, would you care to translate it into English?

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > mcseanerson 04/18/2016 at 23:18

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But did you almost cut yourself on all the leftover plastic flashing on the shift knob? I got stuck with those on two consecutive trips to Chrysler functions. The next time I said eff it and got the Pontiac rental instead of another PT. At some point I’ll risk pissing off the customer to keep my sanity.

mcseanerson > Deal Killer - Powered by Focus 04/18/2016 at 23:49

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That’s too good. Not far from me either. I should check it out some day.

mcseanerson > jimz 04/18/2016 at 23:50

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I daily a ‘96 Regal that is worlds better than any PT cruiser.

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > Deal Killer - Powered by Focus 04/18/2016 at 23:59

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Holy fuck, he must love them. The most recent google drive by is Sept 2015.

gmctavish needs more space > jimz 04/19/2016 at 02:03

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It was better simply because the seats didn’t feel like narrow torture devices

jimz > Urambo Tauro 04/19/2016 at 07:56

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hey, I apologize for that, man. between dealing with falsing hard-wired smoke alarms all evening, the lanesplitter nonsense, and a couple glasses of liquid attitude I went way overboard on that response.

Urambo Tauro > jimz 04/19/2016 at 08:51

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All’s forgiven.

I was indeed able to make it to 2016 without getting into a PT. Turns out it lives up down to all the hype after all. Can’t say I’ve ever driven a Concord, though; does it make the PT look good?

jimz > Urambo Tauro 04/19/2016 at 09:46

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The Concord is the key example of how screwed AMC was. outside of Jeep, they only had one car platform of their own (the Hornet) which came out in 1970. AMC’s in-house cars were all a mish-mash of parts bin and purchased components; either the ancient AMC six, or engines from GM and VW, and transmissions from Chrysler. The only real notable car they had was the Eagle, which was basically the Subaru Outback 10 years ahead of time.

the PT cruiser’s problem was that it was the right car for 2001. the design just didn’t age well, which was doubly bad because they were still selling a barely-different version in 2010.

the other knock against it was lack of power (before they turbo’d it.) If you had one with a manual it was a lot better.

jkm7680 > mcseanerson 04/23/2016 at 09:22

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That’s the most accurate description of driving a Pt Cruiser I’ve ever read.