Looking to replace my Honda civic with a daily driver. I was thinking about a turbo Pt Cruiser. Or a non turbo. Anyone have opinion on these cars?

I've worked on a couple. Wasn't thrilled.

Wife has a '02 non-turbo. She loves the gutless wonder - mostly because it's purple. I don't see the attraction, but "Happy wife, Happy life."

Generally reliable with proper maintenance. Little small in the cabin space and a little underpowered.

The body integrity is good. Had a good friend get rear ended at 35 MPH while sitting in traffic. Got pushed into the car in front, which sustained a fair amount of damage. Replaced both bumper covers on the cruiser and that was it! Body shop that repaired it commented that they'd been pretty impressed with how tough the Cruisers were when in a wreck.

Bushings in front suspension, timing belt, trans flush are the three things I know of to watch.

Somewhere I'd heard they were intended to have a V6 but the engine development didn't work out so they rushed to fit the 4 cylinder in them.

Nothing but good things to say.
Bought one new in March 01`. Non Turbo/5-speed manual.
Still drive it eveyday 220,000 miles. NEVER a break down or failure to start. Still gets 30mpg.
Its geting rusty,but would`nt hesitate to head on a long trip today.
Looking to find a low mileage one to replace this one.

Replace a Honda with a PT?
Why? Don't understand the loyalty to a poor quality brand.
The muscle cars fine, but a PT?

I had a non-turbo PT before purchasing my 06 Dodge Grand Caravan. I liked the PT but it was underpowered with the standard 4 cylinder. I was not impressed with its MPG. I believe that my V6 Grand Caravan gets better MPG.

The wife got her 03 in 04 Other than brakes control arm bushings and belt and water pump its been good.Has close to 140K on it.Im 6 3 and fit pretty good in it.The best we get though is about 24 MPG.Rocky

JUNK JUNK JUNK, bought one new in 2001, it really soured me on later model chrysler products unless its a dodge diesel pickup of course, and it might be the only front wheel drive car i will have ever owned, i'm looking to get into a 4 door sedan right now and am considering a 300,200 or a charger but i keep going back in my head to all the problems i had with that pt.

"
Replace a Honda with a PT?
Why? Don't understand the loyalty to a poor quality brand.
The muscle cars fine, but a PT? "

I can't comment on the PT but I can tell you the Honda that replaced my wife's Neon (which the PT shares a bunch with I'm sure) aren't as different in reliability as the unbiased magazines and websites would have you believe.

That Neon was a troublefree ride. I can't say that for the Honda.

Sheldon

I'll tell you why.My honda civic was junk. I had to replace the head gasket timing, water pump at 90,0000 miles. I bought the car with72,000 on it. The radio stopped taking a cd. then radio would still play when car was shut down. I would have to disconnect the battery to turn it off. Or radio would just get froze on one channel and volume. To restart the radio. I wasn't thrilled to have to obtain a secret code in order to make it work again. Only to fail 2 days later. Then the a/c compressor worked only when it felt like it. Plenty of freon inside. Just another problem this car had. Replaced a cam sensor at 100,000 miles. Then I replaced a crank sensor which was the most fun for me. The headliner fell down. So i put screws in it to hold it up. Right front caliper froze up. And a month ago The trans blew up. So I have been using My 98 Ram plow truck ever since. I tell you I here so many people say: Buy a honda you will have no problems. Like those chryslers cause. Hondas go forever 200,000 miles easy. I did get 190,000 out of it. But not impresssed enough to buy another one. I'm sure some people have had better luck with them.

My wife's 2003 PT limited has 140,000 miles on it. She bought it new and the only time it's ever been in the shop was for a recommended timing belt replacement at 100.000. It's never failed her and is still tight and quiet. I had a 2005 GT convert and the turbo really woke that car up. It would haul butt. Never went to the shop for any failures because it never failed me. Good everyday dependable drivers.

Our 07 had a burnt valve at 60,000 miles. It was fairly common for a couple years. I think it was like the 06 to 08 model years. Other then that it was a decent car.

i have one, i bought new. look for recall work being done. issues listed above, plus the "haunted headlight switch" issues. for a cruise around town car, it's not bad. mine's a non-turbo, so i can't speak to those. the wife likes hers, so again, as stated above...

They are pretty high maintenance niche cars IMO. If you like changing timing belts, head gaskets, water pumps, radiators, fan units, engine torque struts, wheel bearings, lower control arms, sway bar links and various electrical parts on a regular basis - you will get along fine with one. Poor mileage for a car with limited power - my full sized 3.5 Intrepid got much better mileage than my 2.4L 5-speed Cruiser did.

Bought new PT in 06 - It is a good car, but in my opinion the gas mileage sucks! Best on the highway is 24/25 and for a little uncomfortable car I think that this is poor. We always had Omni's or Horizons for our small cars prior, and enjoyed the 34/35 mpg very much! If I had my choice between a new Omni and a PT it would definately be an OMNI. The PT is a heavy little car ! HEMI JOE

Consumer Reports

For now, the PT Cruiser remains an interesting mile marker in the automaker's product history. New PT Cruisers are still available, and there are ample used examples on the market—many for rather low asking prices. However, used models have very uneven reliability; the latest safety features are still missing (head-protection air bags and ESC have never been offered); and IIHS side-crash test results are poor. Hence, it's critical for used-car shoppers to do their homework. Overall, though, we think there are better choices.