We rented a 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser for three weeks while in California.

The features:

The car we rented was the automatic Touring 4 door wagon with a 2.4L, 4 cylinder engine. It seats 5.

This car had about 4,000 miles on it.

The PT Cruiser Touring Edition is 169.9 inches long by 67.1 inches wide by 63 inches high. It has a ground clearance of 6 inches.

There are several models of the PT Cruiser. The base models come with air conditioning, a CD stereo and power windows, locks and mirrors- basically the essentials. The Touring model adds rear headrests, a thermometer and compass, foglights, deep-tint glass, keyless entry, 16-inch alloy wheels and a touring suspension.

Inside:

This is a cute car; there’s no doubt about it. We were given many options from which to choose and we both chose this one. The first thing I noticed on the inside was the bar on the dash in front of the passenger. I have no idea if it was meant to hold onto as we drove Route 1 (most of the time) from Los Angeles to San Francisco or to actually put a towel on! I had never driven a PT Cruiser or been a passenger in one.

The specifications on the inside include 39.2 inches of front head room; 50.1 inches o front hip room; 53.8 inches of front shoulder room and 40.6 inches of front leg room. The back gives you 40.9 inches of rear leg room. This car seems smaller than it actually is inside. Although in my opinion three adults would not be comfortable for long in the back, my 5’ 6” daughter and 6’ 2” stepson had no problem sitting in the back. He was more comfortable of course behind me since I sit much closer to the wheel than my husband.

The PT Cruiser Touring Edition’s seats were very comfortable. We drove about 1500 miles in this car and my back never hurt me. This was true as a driver and passenger. The front head rests were very uncomfortable though. No matter how I adjusted them they felt hard as rocks. The seats don’t recline all the way but it didn’t matter because the head rest really doesn’t seem like one I could sleep on.

There was plenty of storage space in the car including a space to put our spare change which wasn’t inside anything so it made it very convenient to get money.

I noted for some reason that the seat belts were in a great location. Perhaps because in so many cars I really have to reach back to get it. I also noted the very cute analog clock and the temperature display.

It has 63 cubic feet of cargo space. Although the space is great for every day driving we couldn’t fit our three suitcases under the ledge/cover. This cover was great because it hid our bags while we were out for the day but it made it impossible to put the three suitcases under it.

Outside and other information:

When the PT Cruiser first came out it was noted for its very unusual look. More and more cars have come out with this look which I really like. It’s different; not conservative and gives a bit of an edge for those looking for something unusual in this amazing price range ($13,000). My daughter who is 26 rented one when she was looking for apartments in California and really liked it until she saw the gas mileage.

The rear seats go down in a 60/40 split which we used frequently.

We drove a bright silver metallic clearcoat car. The other color choices are black clearcoat, cool vanilla clearcoat, electric blue pearlcoat, inferno red crystal pearlcoat, linen gold metallic pearlcoat, magnesium pearlcoat, marine blue pearlcoat and solar yellow clearcoat.

The fuel tank capacity is 15 gallons. It gets about 21 mpg in the city and 26 mpg on the highway. Since I would recommend this for an “around the town car” which is what my daughter was looking for the 21 mpg just doesn’t cut it.

A problem we had was with the trunk. We found we could lock the doors but the trunk could still be open. If we didn’t really slam the trunk closed it looked closed and since the car made a noise as if it were locked we assumed everything was alright. Luckily nothing was stolen and when we got back into the car there was a light showing us that a door was open. This is a flaw that needs to be corrected.

Handling:

The PT Cruiser that I am reviewing changed handling ability as we changed terrain. When we first starting driving I noted that it was quiet. It got significantly noisier the faster we went.

Not surprisingly there was very little pickup. This is another reason for the around the town label I gave it. I don’t know if you’ve ever been on L.A. highways but they do something peculiar. The right hand lane often becomes an exit. We were not familiar with the roads and I found myself having to quickly move over to the left. Thankfully for whatever reason in our 2 weeks in L.A. we had little traffic so I was ok with the car but it is not one I would want to drive and commute in.

I had no problem with the brakes; it held the road well enough; it didn’t giggle around or over steer. It was a solid steering car. In addition it was fairly decent on bumps. I must say that when I was a passenger driving up Route 1 which is a winding road I started to get car sick and started to feel every bump.

I did note something that troubled me. I felt like the accelerator pedal stuck and I had to push a little to much to get it going. I never really did get used to this feeling though my husband said he never noticed it.

The poor car had a lot of trouble getting up the hills from San Simeon to Monterey. In fact I believe it was in Carmel that we thought we might be having problems. It didn’t sound great. But a week’s rest on city streets helped.

Warranty:

The basic warranty is 3 years or 36,000 miles. The drivetrain has the same warranty as does roadside. You’ll get 5 years or 100,000 miles on rust.

How does it fare in a crash?

The NHTSA ratings are as follows: Passenger: Passenger: Good Driver: Good Side Impact Front: Not Tested Side Impact Rear: Not Tested Rollover Rating: Good

From http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ncap/cars/3838.html the chart shows four stars (out of five) in a frontal crash for the passenger and driver with a 13% chance of a rollover.

My final thoughts:

I can’t help but consider the price of the PT Cruiser. For that reason I would recommend it as an around the town car. It was very popular in California. We saw more PT Cruisers than any other car. Since it is on the smaller size it fits into parking spaces that others cars can’t get into which is a plus. It also will hold all the groceries you are buying and your kids in the back seat.

If I were buying it I would spend more money for more pickup but if that’s not what you are looking for then I think you’ll do well with this car.

http://www.edmunds.com
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/NCAP/
http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ratings.htm



Other car reviews I have written include:

How to Buy a Car

2006 Buick LaCrosse ~ 2005 Nissen Quest ~ Mazda Miata ~ 2004 Mazdaspeed ~ Toyota 4 Runner ~ 2003 Toyota MR2 Spyder ~ 2003 Ford F150 SuperCrew
2003 BMW325I ~ 2000 Nissan Altima ~ 2001 Chevy Malibu ~ 2002 Chevy Prizm ~ 1998 Dodge Ram Van ~ 1996 Nissan Sentra ~ 2001 Pontiac Sunfire ~ 1999 Toyota Camry ~ 2001 Hyundai Accent ~ 1998 Chevy S-10 Pick Up ~ 1999 BMW 323is ~ 2002 Subaru Impreza ~ 2000 Suzuki Swift ~ 2001 Chevy Metro