K2 Drives: 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser Limited

Don't get your knickers in a bunch, but the PT Cruiser is a ground-breaking car. Seriously.

Yowza...that's some color. Not sure I could live with that.

Form and function...that's right, I said it; the PT Cruiser is all about form and function.

It's hard to see past Brian Nesbitt's (a name we'll revisit in a couple of days) now rather tired and trite design for a lot of enthusiasts, including me. There's so much stigma attached to this car that it's blinding. But the more I thought about taking a look at one, the more I realized that it ticked a lot of boxes for me and what we're looking for.

When I purchased the Shadowagon, I chose to look past the design or lack thereof and concentrate on the function and relative performance. At the time, there wasn't anything else out there that compared to it. The Saab 9-5 wagon was in the running, but when I test drove a couple, it was clear it was nowhere in the same league. Years later, the utility and experience of owning the Shadowagon sank in to the point where I grew to love the look. I doubt that's true of the PT, as the look probably drew most buyers in the first place.

The it hit me; this thing was starting to remind me of the stigma around the Miata...for me, was the car so good that it overcame the crapola that other people put on certain cars? Could I learn to love it despite all of that? It was worth taking a look to find that out.

This was a special edition. It adds nothing to the equation.

And so it was with gritted teeth that I approached this rather loud Electric Blue Pearlcoat example. As I got closer and closer, the more I loved the lines; curving cheerfully, flowing purposefully, they were actually far more realized that I imagined. There's a cohesiveness to this design that makes it clear why there will never be another and why it never really changed all that much in its ten year lifespan. Creating a serious Version 2.0 would have been a daunting task. Despite the argument that the Dodge Caliber is the followup to the PT, it's no surpise Chrysler jumped ship, which is the typical American automaker approach anyway.

Godgawd, the more I looked at it, the more I liked it. It was nearly impossible for me to keep a smile off my face, it was so downright happy. The words both me and my wife kept muttering to each other was, "Cheep and cheerful!"

So the interior was bound to be a letdown. WRONG. If anything, the inside of this thing is even more amazing. The ability to fold, tumble and completely remove the second row seats combined with the multi-position rigid cargo cover (which is rated to hold up to a 100 pounds!) makes this into a microvan with nearly minivan utility. The increased height of the vehicle makes it seem like you could wear a ten gallon Stetson with room to spare, even with the sunroof.

While the Flex had limousine rivaling rear legroom, the PT has an equally (maybe more so) impressive 40.9 inches rear leg room. That's about half a foot more than in a same-year MB E-Class! Unbelievable. There was plenty of room in the front, too.

Unlike most people, I love love love the central window switch location.

This '06 represents the beginning of the only real "update" the PT ever got; a slight change to the front design that is nearly imperceptible to normal people (not to REVolutionaries, of course) and the dashboard was completely updated. While it is much more modern looking, the updated dash is less integrated than the previous design. But the ability to install an aftermarket double-DIN stereo appeals to me and if given the choice, I'd pick the newer version. It also swaps the vertical placement of the stereo higher, which is a safety issue in my eyes; the lower the stereo placement, the more dangerous. But this wouldn't make or break a purchase for me, it just more of a preference.

This thing was loaded with conveniences on par with the Shadowagon, which at the time was a "premium" vehicle. With the exception of dual zone A/C, there was nothing I'd miss with the exception of memory settings for the driver's power seat. It boggles my mind that any manufacturer would leave that out. What's the purpose of all the motors and additional buttons if you can't set your preference?

Rear leg room was huge and tho the seats weren't sporty, they were comfortable.

Driving this car was enlightening. It's downright fun to drive in a first gen Scion xB sort of way. If you know what I mean, then I don't need to explain it. But the 150 hp four banger is under-powered for this car, which weighs around 3200 pounds. Fortunately, the fantastic cheap speed SRT-4 engine is available in the GT variant and that would be a requirement for me.

Based on the horrible Neon, the PT is a triumph of form and function. I loved it. This variant, the upscale Limited, was not particularly sporty to drive. It never was intended to be and I don't need it for that. Driving around, it felt nimble but the turning radius of a GT is a terrible 40.2 feet, an increase of roughly 4 feet over the naturally aspirated variants. Why, I wonder? The sport suspension wrecks the turning circle? When I was first researching the Shadowagon, the media and owners alike complained about the 33.5 feet that it took the car to turn. Uh oh. Guess I'd be making some more points on those turns in the PT GT. Not sure that I care, though. I don't live in New York or Tokyo.

MPG for the GT is 19/25 on regular, which would be a significant savings over the Shadowagon, which prefers premium (though it's not required, surprisingly). Most owners complain about the PT's "poor" mileage, which I can see given that they expected this to me a fuel efficient economy car. I don't know what the Cd is on the PT, but I doubt it's very efficient.

Zero to sixty is in the low seven second range. Increasing that performance is easy, if a little scary in regards to putting even more stress on parts with questionable build quality and longevity. Still...

The comparisons to the Miata continue; online support by fellow enthusiasts is immense and the customization options are of equally mind-boggling proportions. For me, I wouldn't really be all that interested in anything but performance upgrades. Maybe new wheels.

Chrysler scores another utility triumph. Note the excellent 25" bumper height.

There are only a few true weaknesses with this car, for an ownership perspective. The first is a generalization that Chrysler parts for this car are of variable and questionable quality. Stories of water pumps that only last a couple of years are not uncommon. But part costs are cheap, nothing compared to a premium European vehicle, and this is not a terribly hard car to work on. The other big issue is that the required automatic can and will eat itself if WOT occurs while in 4th (top) gear. A used replacement on eBay, including a warranty and shipping, can be had for as little as $366. Wow! Labor cost is somewhere around ten hours. Depending on the shop's hourly rate, a tranny swap is going to go for about a grand-ish. Amazing.

Yes yes, now the argument that Chrysler's are junk start flying fast and furious. No argument from me. But if the thing is cheap to fix and it isn't on the side of the road constantly, then that argument starts to lose some steam. KBB and NADA says that a GT of any year shouldn't run you more than $5K-$6K and that's with low miles on it, of which there are plenty on the market. Conversely, looking at the online ads, there are plenty of extremely high mileage PTs on the market, which I take as a sign that the cars can and will reach those miles as well as most other cars. The dealer wanted $6.7K for this example with only 61K miles on it. It presented as a brand new car with the exception that it clearly had been smoked in and sported a cigarette burn hole in the rear seat. Nice job, prior owner.

Our Autozone starter for an '06 PT GT would run a mind-blowingly low $97. This will probably be the lowest starter cost of any car that I look at, I'd imagine.

Surprisingly, the PT (in GT form) moves up the list to the top. Not much else on the market will be this fun, cheerful and cheap to buy. Of course, it's yet another car that will be a bit harder to find the perfect one. I want an '06-'08 automatic GT in the right color with low miles. Fortunately, there are tons of PTs still on the road; another good sign! Like I said, form and function, cheap and cheerful! That's the PT, in a nutshell. Hey, it sort of looks like one....

Younger enthusiasts need and are understandably drawn to cheep speed. Even though I could be this kid's father, I like this video.