Althouse: Cruising to a halt.

July 6, 2010

Cruising to a halt.

The end of the PT Cruiser.

"For a while it was the best-selling Chrysler-brand vehicle."

32 comments:

garage mahal said...: Thank GOD.; 7/6/10, 9:47 AM
traditionalguy said...: Looks like the end of Baby Boomers spending their money on imaginary images from their youth and getting a poorly designed car for it.; 7/6/10, 9:50 AM
MadisonMan said...: Bad link.

I thought about buying a PT Cruiser once, but ended up with a used Ford instead. Spiffy looking car, though.; 7/6/10, 9:54 AM
Larry J said...: I've heard mechanics call it the "PT Loser." Apparently, it isn't very reliable and is costly to repair. I rented one once. It was comfortable enough but the highway gas mileage was in the low 20s. Still, it's better than the Chevy rip-off, the HHV. I've been stuck with one of those twice as rental cars. They're awful.; 7/6/10, 10:04 AM
GMay said...: Broken linky?; 7/6/10, 10:06 AM
Big Mike said...: I drove one as a rental about a year and half ago.

It won't be missed.; 7/6/10, 10:08 AM
Shawn Levasseur said...: The link doesn't work. Looks like a mistaken cut and paste of the URL.; 7/6/10, 10:24 AM
Known Unknown said...: Fix the link and maybe someone will say something about this.; 7/6/10, 10:40 AM
kjbe said...: Have a nephew who bought one. A couple years in and it's on it's last legs...; 7/6/10, 10:49 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: "Spiffy looking car,..."

On the outside. The inside was crap.; 7/6/10, 10:50 AM
Brian said...: The link doesn't work, but I found the article at the LA times website. I had a chance to ride in PT Cruiser (a rental), and found: The interior was cheap, but I liked the exterior retro look. It should have been refined into a bigger "crossover" so that it could compete with the likes of the Ford Escape.

Note though that the look-alike Chevy HHR (as far as I know) is still being produced.; 7/6/10, 10:50 AM
Christy said...: The PT Cruiser had a certain quirky sex appeal and roominess, but wasn't particularly well made. Does its decade long run define the limits of the American patience?; 7/6/10, 11:15 AM
Pastafarian said...: One of the ugliest things to come out of Detroit since the Gremlin. A true piece of shit -- good riddance.

I'm surprised that President Obama would allow this to happen, however. What about the people who assemble it? Shouldn't we bail out this model by paying Chrysler to produce them? Or does that logic only apply to brands, and not models?

Anyone care to explain why that's so? Alpha? HD?; 7/6/10, 11:50 AM
Joe said...: Thank God for the Pontiac Aztec so there could be an uglier car on the road today.; 7/6/10, 12:19 PM
virgil xenophon said...: If you liked the retro look the PT was great in terms of styling alone. I saw one one fully loaded with sun-roof, etc in candy-apple red with matching 30s-style "visor" sunshade--the peaked gabled type--that REALLY set it off. If they had only paid attention to the mechanics and interior! Perhaps the sales potential was limited to a certain aging generation.

But in a way it was the ideal "nebulous" "tweener" car that worked like a station-wagon but had a hipster sporty look. And the beauty of it was that since it was bought/driven by the rich and working stiffs alike if one were a young single male of limited means one couldn't automatically be pigeon-holed as to class/wealth by the opposite sex like driving a typical econo-box would. Done right could have been a GREAT little car..; 7/6/10, 12:25 PM
alan markus said...: I guess paying closer attention to "The Office" show should have been an indicator of the pending demise of this model. When Michael Scott & Jan Levinson split up, she got the Porsche & he got the PT Cruiser.; 7/6/10, 12:47 PM
Unknown said...: I never saw anyone who owned one of those things who wasn't a pompous jerk. Now we'll need some other way; 7/6/10, 12:51 PM
Methadras said...: The Reliant K of the 21st century.; 7/6/10, 1:40 PM
Opus One Media said...: If not the only selling chrysler brand vehicle but that is being snarky.; 7/6/10, 3:04 PM
Opus One Media said...: If not the only selling chrysler brand vehicle but that is being snarky.; 7/6/10, 3:05 PM
Mark D. said...: Great look, wonderful style when first introduced. But left to die on the vine for lack of updates by Daimler-Chrysler, which is a shame.

The PT Cruiser was part of DC's plan to retro-style its line of vehicles -- the 300 and the Charger & Challenger are other examples. Too late, though, and DC and its successor companies simply haven't invested the money in platforms and updates to make it work right. It will be interesting to see if Fiat has better luck, although at this point I doubt it.; 7/6/10, 3:18 PM
Michael said...: The PT Cruiser appeared to be the motorized version of a recumbent bicycle; it attracted a certain type of user, easily identified. Horrible product, an eyesore and an insult to taste.

Chrysler will doubtless fail again at which point we will be made to invest again.; 7/6/10, 3:22 PM
Robert Cook said...: I'm with Pastafarian on this one...the P.T. Cruiser was one dog-ugly automobile.

My own personal favorite current automobile from a purely styling standpoint is the (not so) new VW Beetle that's been on the road for a few years now.; 7/6/10, 4:12 PM
james said...: That cross between a VW Beetle and a hearse didn't have enough seats to show up on our radar.; 7/6/10, 7:34 PM
Ralph L said...: Chryslers aren't known for their reliability and durability, but I'm sure Fix It Again, Tony can help that.

28% of new VW Jetta sales are station wagons, so maybe an American company will start to make them again, some day.; 7/6/10, 9:34 PM
Unknown said...: Had a red turbo version and it was a fun car. Spiffy inside and out - not cheap looking at all and very reliable for the 4 years I had it. Never needed any service the entire time, beyond routine maintenance. Loved it. I'd still have today I think but hubby got a hankerin' for a Jeep Wrangler.; 7/6/10, 9:53 PM
Anonymous said...: I hate those cars. Good riddance.; 7/6/10, 11:05 PM
Valerian said...: There goes the only practical car in their lineup. Sedans are useless for hauling stuff, and everything else gets crappy mileage. The Dodge Journey might be worthwhile but why can't we stop pretending we need SUV's?; 7/7/10, 6:02 AM
Michael said...: I've had one since they first came out. I'd call reliability and build quality above average for a Chrysler, and it's always been fun to drive, though it's a long time since people wanted to get their picture taken with it or other PT Cruiser owners waved to me as they passed.

Chrysler's failure to follow up with other styling-driven models even after they had one hit says all you need to know about how car companies work. Like Saturn, the PT Cruiser was different, so it had to be stopped.; 7/7/10, 7:42 AM
Michael said...: (needless to say, I'm a different Michael than the one above); 7/7/10, 7:44 AM
Kevin R said...: "I never saw anyone who owned one of those things who wasn't a pompous jerk. Now we'll need some other way"

Fortunately, BMW still sells cars here.; 7/7/10, 9:01 AM
Anonymous said...: Since Chrysler is now a public utility, shouldn't this decision be put to Congress or a national referendum?; 7/7/10, 11:05 AM