Hi all,
New to this forum doing some research about possibly buying a used PT.

Looking at a 2001 PT-Limited, and wondering if I'm doing the right thing.

Car is Candy Red, sunroof, full Limited package, automatic.. 73k miles, basic dealer serviced til 36k, then regular oil changes fomr there..

Looking for specs on the 2001 PT-LE engine and transaxle, also the maintenance schedule so I can see what should have been donw between birth and now as compared to what has been done.

Is it the same setup today, (Non-turbo models), or has Chrysler replaced with newer/better engine and tranny.

I see references to 4 spd and 5spd trannys, besides the obvious 4 vs 5 gears, what models have which ?

What size is the fuel tank, the mileage does not seem to be the best, and the seller says you seem to notice it more because it does not hold much fuel.

 

I have a 2001 LE with almost 87,000 and no major problems.

There have not been any big changes to the NA engine or transaxle.
4 speed = auto trans
5 speed = manual

both are offered on all PTs with the NA engine.

The turbo uses a stronger block.

Auto trans only with turbo lite.

Gt offers both the auto and its own 5 speed manual.

The tank hold 15G. I get around 22mpg over all.

 

I have a 2001 LE. I ditto everything Richard says.

 

Thanks guys... I think I may make an offer on one.

2001-LE-Auto w/ 73K, no known problems I know the owner, they've had it since it was ordered new, I know where its been and its history. Asking price for me, a special deal, only $7K.

Mileage may be bit high for the '01, but shes a hockey mom with 3 kids, and I gotta get somthing used in that price range for my daughter and I'd be rolling a bigger set of dice on a used car that I have no idea where it came from.

I'm really a Honda believer on my 3rd one and no complaints, my biggest fear is will a Chrysler PT go 150K miles and how much will it cost to get there. In a Honda its 4 sets of tires and brakes, 3 sets of plugs and wires, 2 timing belts, 50 oil changes, and about 5000 gallons of fuel.

 

Hi Krash,

I own a 2001 PT Cruiser with 118K miles, I have owned it for 2 1/2 years and purchased it used with 33k miles. I would consider myself a good person to ask about reliability since my driving habits are to the extreme. Some problems I have had, front end wobble caused by cheap tires and warped rotors. Install good tires, brembo rotors and a good ceramic pad to fix. Electronic problems are my most recent hurdle, the car lost power and the gauges went crazy and engine light came on. I was able to drive about 20 miles per hour, had it towed to the dealer and they replaced coil, plugs, wires and changed the oil. It ran fine for a week. I then had the air bag light stay on and again it was taken in for service to replace clockspring. This clockspring part is located in the steering column under the air bag. With your air bag on your air bag is not operable. This has been recalled on the Chrysler Caravan, not on the PT. I had the car for a week and it lost power again, gauges went crazy and engine light. Back to the dealer and they replaced an idle sensor, they kept the vehicle overnight and had the mechanic drive home. Each time it was hooked up to a scan tool, it can only point you in a general direction. The mechanic said it was running fine but that the scan tool was showing a problem in the transmission. He would need two more hours of diagnostic time to research or I could drive home and wait for a problem. I took the car and drove 10 miles, I could tell it was not running correctly. I exited the highway and the car stopped, transmission would not shift. I towed it back to the dealer and it was diagnosed with a blown transmission. I have read enough post to say that design problems at Chrysler and specific to PT Cruisers is a reality. Electrical problems seem to start and can be masked by its internal computers. I mean that if a problem occurs the computer seems to compensate, you can go through lots of money chasing PT problems. Run don't walk from PT Loser!!

 

not trying to start a fight or anything but i work at a dealer and we see very little pt cruisers with big problems the shake is bad tires or not very good ones yes problem has been noted. as far as th clockspring we have replaced a very minute amount of those the minivan recall was a bad design and at least dcx stepped up and has a lifetime warranty on those.
as far as suspension the rear watts link does go bad about every 50k or so if you get a bad rear end noise easily changed acouple of bolts is all. they haave recently noted that a hotter plug is needed to be installed on some pt where the drive is a bit of a lead foot. and here is a hint when you buy spark pluge from a dealer ask the price for one wire they are all the same and cheaper if purchased as four single wires instead of a set by about 10 bucks i think.
i believ the pt is a good buy and thats why i am leasing one and looking to purchase a pt turbo i can play with as well

 

I guess Krash has made his decision by now.
We have a 2001 Limited with about 56,000 miles. MPG on the best highway day is about 25. Town lower. The 15-gallon tank therefore doesn't give you a lot of range, 350 is as far as you want to stretch it.
Plugs have to be replaced every 30,000. I've seen ads for 90,000 mile plugs but haven't popped for them.
From what I've read and heard, the PT is pretty trouble free.
We've replaced the front discs and pads, O&F at every 3,000 to 4,000 miles except now when I switched to syn about 5,000 miles ago. I had the radiator flushed at about 36,000 and the ATF replaced around the same time. I also had the brake fluid replaced at three years.
I installed a cabin air filter, which wasn't standard in 2001 for some reason.
So far, so good.