I've had my PT Cruiser for 8 years and I've put over 120,000 miles on it so far. My odometer is just past 165,000. I do my own maintenance. The check engine light came on once for the catalytic converter. When I took it off, it was clogged up. I also put new oxygen sensors on as penetrative maintenance. You'll eventually have to do brakes, shocks, control arm bushings, etc. on any car. Here's a tip: the maintenance schedule in the owner's manual only goes up to 150,000 miles so what I did was made a continuation on Microsoft Excel. For example: the transmission fluid needs to be changed every 60,000 miles so I will need to do it again at 180,000 miles. The timing belt needs to be changed every 102,000 miles so I'll do it again at 204,000 miles (along with cam and crank seals as preventative maintenance) . The spark plugs have to be changed every 30,000 miles so I'll do them at 180,000 and so forth. I just made the spread sheet to make it easier to know what's due at a simple glance.
Scotty is more of hilarious actor than a car mechanic. Its is not scientific to sentence this car is the worst car ever made by xnxx, to avoid it at all costs.
@@blurglide Those Pentastar engines have nothing on GM's 3.3 & 3.8 OHV engines. They were indestructible. And I'm not a GM fan by any stretch of the imagination.
Glad you made this video! I never watch Scotty since he attacked Chris Fix... But I’ve followed your channel and have been Sub’ed for a long time. I love PT Cruisers, my channel is largely about then because everyone in my family drives one. I even agree they don’t ride great, but honestly they are a comfy car and they handle awesomely! I end up doing a lot of maintenance to ours, but nothing major and we drive them hard, they hold up better then most cars we’ve owned in the past and are cheap for parts and simple enough to work on. I own 3 Mercedes as well so I feel I’m actually pretty unbiased, they aren’t the greatest car on earth but they are far from the worst!
Musta been flooring it. Family has had 4 of them (still have 2) our 01 lasted 288k miles before the Head Gasket blew and no other major issue. Just sold my 08 for a ford escape. My dad still has his 05 with 150k. Fair amount of issues. Cables and electrical. I still have my 03 with 63k original miles. Most original everything. Still strong. They last IF YOU MAINTAIN THEM properly and dont abuse them.
The 2.4L engine head gasket issue was a badly designed gasket. The new and improved gasket solved that problem. My 2.4L is 22 yrs old and has 205.000 miles with no major problems.
I remember Scotty did a roast video an I commented saying I’d rather buy a McDonald’s cheese burger then his book an he blocked me for saying that haha
mike brink I always wondered about that one lol not only does he scam with his give always lol he probably scams the places that sends him tools he says he throws most of them away but really does he? If he does the person that dumpster dives in his trash can probably gots so much tools by now
mike brink only RU-vid channel that does give aways ive seen is legit Town And Country TV he use to hide a amazon gift card in his videos I got to redeem 2 that channel is legit an makes good videos
My in-laws had a 99 Dodge Stratus that needed a new engine at a hundred thousand miles. (ridiculous) The spirit of Scotty Kilmer compelled them to buy a Toyota Camry. Fourteen years later, it's as good (and boring) as the day they bought it.
Ooof, why so brutal, my boi🙂. Scotty fan here too, don't worry in my opinion he really is entertaining. For example I can't even understand some words of Ratchets and Wrenches, like he has a slang or something😂😂😂. I CAN watch a Scotty video mute and can still understand him. He is just oldscool and I just seem to be more into older style everything, even tho I'm 23!
Amen brother!!!! In my opinion it’s very entertaining to see them go back and forth. Kinda reminds me of the time when people got their panties in a wad when Scotty disagreed with ChrisFix. ChrisFix was a good sport about though.
@@offroader199900 Shit I agree to that, he took that click bait road for views meaning money, and I thought he said money's not a problem, but I guess it goes with his age and the improving technology, he's trying to be relevant, but these young guns chrisfix and RnW are gonna be the new sheriffs in town. (I don't know where to place EricTheCarGuy though)
SK is a talented and old school mechanic, something I can relate to. He is a pedestrian mechanic who loves and appreciates Toyota because they really are just an amazing brand and is the standard he judges all other cars. I own a Sienna and a Porsche Cayenne, two diametrically different kinds of makes. The thrill of owning and driving a Porsche is only for those who are willing to educate themselves and keep up with the maintenance. This is my seventh Porsche and know what I'm getting into. I seriously appreciate your take of day to day issues we all deal with.
I love Scotty and RnW channels, I learn from them both, Scotty is so entertaining and his info checks out so far, RnW is really detailed in explaining stuff, they're both great, I'd love to see a competition between RnW, Scotty and ChrisFix battling to fix a certain vehicle with the same tools YEAHH!!!
Awesome and informative video. That's true not all Chrysler vehicles are trash. PT Cruiset is not super reliable but not such a bad car. I seen some of them with up 500K (km). I like Scotty Kilmer content but you nailed it down at the begging. I like this type of content. Cheers!
Yeah he says he honest, but if he's so honest then when does he need to have silly clickbait. He'll be like, I just bought the new Toyota supra, when he just rented one.
The Cadillac Eldorado Northstar V8 and some BMW's 7 &5 series V8's of the mid 2000's onwards had water cooled alternators.So when the rubber seal inevatably started leaking it drenched the alternator and shorted out the whole electical system.Who would have thought mixing electricity and water is a bad idea.
@BadDriversOfTennessee we bought one new gave to the kids at around 300g they put some really hard miles on it for a year or so before they killed it I'd say it was tougher than a 65 Dodge Dart
I agree 100%. Worst car I've EVER owned. Battery access is through the wheel well. Changing a head light bulb required dropping the front bumper. Awful awful car!!
Love the PT cruisers retro styling, especially as a convertible. I would consider getting one as a fun weekend or travel car only. I would only get the non-turbo manual 5 speed. My father only drove plymouths except for a 1969 chevy Nova until and his last car a Olds Cutlass with one of GMs worst engines, the Quad4. When dad got the Nova he gave me the 1966 Plymouth Belvedere with the 273 V8 and 3 speed automatic. I then a Plymouth 1974 Duster(Ruster)and a 1979 Dodge Aspen both with 225 slant 6 and 3 speed automatics. Chrysler products were the best engines and transmissions until about 1980.
I loved my PT Cruiser. The only major issue I had was the transmission. The engine was extremely reliable. I wish the 2.4 was still produced today. Caveat I owned the mild turbo charged engine. It also had a tune.
Chrysler is the worst Chrysler. I made that mistake once when I bought a 2000 Dodge Ram1500. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. You won't get me again Chrysler.
From a Mopar guy 1000%, DIY and hates car dealerships: Do not by any used Chrysler product that does not have the orange or purple coolant as specified (factory fill HOAT) in the owners manual, in its coolant bottle. When looking at these, dont even start the car, head straight for the coolant bottle. Low/black, clear (water), brown, yellow, green coolant in these vehicles are good indictors of lack of maintenance and the problems he described. For many, the factory fill coolant is not a cost effective option for constant top off of a leaking cooling system and is often done for many miles after the temp gauge first pegged high. This is the precursor to the problems described in this video. And yes, make your life easier and stay away from chrysler 2.7L v6 for the reasons mentioned. In addition, the 3.7 has upper valve train issues. The 4.7 excessive oil burn. Hemi engines valve seats for sure 2005 and some 2006. These engines dont like to be run hot, not even for a second -- run them even luke warm and the seats fall out. Other Hemi culprits are broken valve springs or lifter/camshaft or timing chain tensioners at various years and mileage thru 2012. Oh, shi* Chryslers have transmissions too?! ..... ANY Chrysler product, since the A604 from 1989, that has had it transmission fluid replaced or topped off with anything other than the type it came with, from the factory, even though now it may ride good, is already junk. End of story. If this describes your Chrysler and your trans doesnt shift smooth into drive or seems to thud/shudder when on/off gas at highway speed, take it to Chrysler dealer and pay $300 for pan drop and filter change (or DIY). If this doesnt fix, trans is on the way out! Rust belt: if you can see evidence of rust that has penetrated any body panel or underbody panel, on a Chrysler... walk away. Above all good? Now you can worry about all the other shi* that last guy didnt do. And this is why I like Mopars. These cars are all I can fix, because it's what i know, and what i have all the special tools and manuals for. It is the used car I am FORCED to continue to buy.
@@patrickyell309 YEA for sure Kia is great on quality and I think Toyota's are great no doubt but all car makers usually make too many different kinds and then there is that one that is shit. American made cars were twice as bad because they were changing up way too much with too many kinds but the American Pickup trucks on average are usually great because they stay with the same basic design for a long time .. . ,There was a Toyota model with the V6 that had poor crank case ventilation and it was making sludge city inside the engine ..I think if the owner was using AMSOIL ,it was not as bad but it was a terrible design ..
hi RnW, observations of Scotty are correct for large number of samples ( for any model/make ) he comments, and for those specific sub system in those models, say Coolant adulteration of engine oils, sensor failures, injector failures, head lights whatever.
I have rebuilt one and only one engine, the Chrysler 2.7 out of a 2001 Chrysler Sebring convertible. It was just a fun project for me, it helped me learn about cars. I guess before I bought it I should have googled "worst engine ever made." I feel like everything is crammed together under the hood of the PT cruiser....and to a lesser extent with the Sebring.
NOT the worst engine ever made, just the worst Chrysler made in the past few decades. Every maker has their dogs, all uniquely craptastic. While not a design issue persay, GM switched over to new coolant and aweful sludge issue... Only they had also moved engine block casting to Mexico, the sludge was casting sand not removed from the blocks. Destroyed tens of thousands of engines with internal sand blasting... But they got away with it cause new coolant red dye mixed with old coolant green dye to make brown dye.
I also glad someone finally said it about Scotty!!!!!! Scotty is full of the best bad information in every video. As a professional in automotive, it is painful to watch one of his videos. Feeding the mass population with clickbait and not actually telling them anything useful. Thanks for the video, was a great start to the morning. Still learned more than I did in all of Scotty's videos. LOL
The junkyard I frequent in my area has a lot of those Sebrings, Concordes, Intrepids and the like. Many of the interiors are still very nice in them too. Now I know why apparently ...
It's kind of sad. A neighbor had an intrepid he fixed up. The amount of care he gave that car along with the tasteful modifications made me think highly of the car. Now I know the engine is a ticking time bomb and I can't help but feel for the guy even though I haven't seen him in over ten years.
@BaTTle CAt I see on your channel you've got a lot of Astro/Safari vids listed. You must work on them a lot, huh? I'm on my second and third ones. Also, could you kindly tell me what junk yard you reference that has a lot of PT cruisers? The only junkyard within an hour of me only has 2 and half of them.
Scotty Thumbnails and titles include: Certain manufacturer changes the game or dealerships are doing this and I am going to fight it, this is the only BMW I would buy, do this to keep your vehicle going, why I wouldn't buy a VW....
Scotty has the most click bait titles for his videos I've seen on any channel lol. And I don't find his instructional videos to be that good.. sorry Scotty
Not really my friend. Chrysler vehicles made until the mid 70's were reliable, durable and built well. It was after the mid 70's that their reliability sunk badly. Since the mid 70's, about 80percent of their cars were crap. The reliable 20% since the mid 70's were the FURY, GRAN FURY, VALIANT, SUNDANCE, VOYAGER, ACCLAIM AND BREEZE. THE RELIABLE DODGE CARS WERE: DART, MONACO, ROYAL MONACO, SHADOW, CARAVAN, SPIRIT AND STRATUS UNTIL 99. I can go on but yeah, the vast majority of Chrysler vehicles have been unreliable but not the most unreliable. That honour goes to the FIAT AND MOST BRITISH CARS SINCE THE LATE 60'S. MANY GERMAN CARS SINCE THE MID 90'S, REGARDLESS OF THE AUTOMAKER, HAVE WORSE RELIABILITY THAN CHRYSLER. EVEN NISSAN IS WORSE THAN CHRYSLER SINCE YHE EARLY 2000'S SINCE RENAULT TOOK IT OVER.
@@sensiblebabyandreality6804 , yeah, mid 70s. My Grandmother's 74 Valiant was basically a decent car, but Chrysler's abysmal quality control sunk it. First problem was when the power steering fluid leaked out due to a twisted Oring while she was driving on the expressway. Great! She's 70 years old and she's already calling for a tow truck for her nearly new Valiant. And the car knocked like crazy. Howcum? Because it somehow got out of the factory with an extra 10 degrees or so of ignition advance. Then there was the smell of gasoline around the car when it was parked. That was another Chrysler QC winner. Somehow the spring for the heat riser was installed backwards so it went to full carburetor heat when the engine was warmed up, which was reversed from normal full heat only on a cold engine. And that's not counting the less critical QC issues that car had. I just love all the comments from the know-it-alls who say Chrysler cars last as long as they are maintained. Sure, take the thing to Jiffy Lube and get all the factory screw-ups fixed.
Since you said if we have a question within 36 hours of you posting, I want to know about an alarm that is intermittent and prevents startup. According to OBD Blue driver, there are no more significant codes. I have replaced the PCM, keys, fob, fuel filter, fuel pressure sensor, fuel pump, inertia switch, battery, battery terminals, fuel pump relay, and cleaned the grounding wire to battery and PCM. This us a 2006 Ford Escape. It started after I cleaned the grounding wire to battery, ran perfect for 3 days, now won't start. Love your videos. Going to spend time viewing all your videos again on multimeter use and how to check switches and sensors. But right now, kind of at a loss. Think its my alarm is intermittently tripping.
Or its a grounding issue. Cranks, does not start. When I turn the key to On Position all lights disappear except engine, oil, and battery. My ABS was draining my battery so I took the fuse off to prevent that and my ABS light stays on too for that reason. I re-ran the OBD scanner and it gives codes P0193 and P1000. But I already replaced the fuel pressure sensor. It says Fuel Rail Pressure Sensor Circuit High Bank.
I've driven Chryslers for 30 years. My '03 PT Cruiser GT High Output with the 5-speed gave me 120K miles of smiles before I traded it. It was a good commuter. I concur that the 2.7 was a piece of crap. Which was unfortunate because I've owned three of the 3.5 engines and they all are above 200K miles..
I have a 1996 4.0 Ford Aerostar. 160K. recently the motor is running rough. I was told one cylinder has 50 psi. the van is excellent in other ways, , all electrics work, good air conditioning, just had complete tune up, new front springs and shocks. I use this vehicle as a utility vehicle. is it worth repairing? replacing the motor? Thanks. Frank.
What boggles my mind is that Chrysler/Fiat/Puegeot built the PT Cruiser for so many years. It was supposed to be a limited run of retro style cars that kept the production lines occupied for over a decade. Even GM recognized after a few years that producing the Chevrolet HHR was a losing proposition and stopped before that rolling wreck could destroy the brand.
Great video! I enjoy both yours and the "OG"s videos. I have been an auto DIYer for over 45 years. But I would rather not. ;-) wish I had enough money to pay someone else that I trusted to work on my vehicles. Have to laugh at someone when they say they have owned something for a year with no problems. I feel that one should own something for a decade or two before making any claims about "reliability" saying that..I have to head out and replace the Y pipe on our 2004 honda Odyssey.... for the second time. I do wish I had known about SK before we bought our used Odyssey and the transmission failed before 100,000 miles. Now have over 120,000 miles on the rebuilt transmission. Should have sold the thing years ago.... But I want to get my money worth out of the transmission. ;-)
Agreed. Someone that's owned a car for a very short period of time, is hardly the person to ask about the reliability of said model. I have a 49 yr old Valiant, original engine, still drives beautifully. I have a 1988 Honda Legend, only recently the gearbox died, can hardly say its not reliable, because it is a great car. I also have a 1986 Mazda 323, still going. A 1986 Toyota Corona, you could pull that out of a swamp, and it'll still start, and run. The more modern stuff in my family, 2008 Mazda 3, still drives like new. 2007 Dodge Avenger SXT with the 2.4, very nice car. The most modern I have is a 2015 300 srt 392, I'll wait to pass judgement on that one. We also have 2020 MG3, so far so good, I'll wait a decade before critiquing that one. I do look after my cars, so that plays in they're reliable nature. If any inherent issues arise, I can give a fair assessment on their reliability.
They're not bad if you're not gonna get under the hood, but if you're a person who likes getting under the hood, this vehicle will piss you off to no end
Yep, Scotty's titles have no relation to his videos. He is mostly for entertainment value. My brother had an Intrepid and we had to scrap It. Don't recall why.
As a new subscriber I must say I really enjoy your videos. I’m retired now and I like to try and keep up and some of the newer techniques. That being said there’s always an exception to the rule. I purchased my daughter a 2004 Dodge Stratus with a 2.7 L from a government auction. When I first did an oil change it was frightening as the oil was extraordinarily thick. I used a M0-090 factory filter and synthetic oil and did three consecutive oil changes at 500 miles each. After that the car never reached 3000 miles for oil change intervals. I was extremely vigilant. Then when the car reached close to 100,000 miles I started to notice coolant in the oil. I found there was a TSB that included a new style water pump, timing chain & gears on the camshaft, essentially everything involved under the timing case. I purchased that kit from Chrysler and replaced everything. With the time in case off I could see into the oil pan and the engine appeared sludge free! I have to say to this day the car is still running like a champ after my daughter owning it for 10 years, we sold the car. Since we are still close to the family who purchased it we know it’s still running like a champ. I purchased a car in 2006 with 26,000 miles on it for $5600. It was a great deal at a GSA auction. Up until the time I went to do the first oil change. I know if I didn’t take preemptive steps to head off the sludge issue and then noticing the coolant in an oil pan the engine would’ve certainly failed. We were lucky and our neighbors daughter to this day still drives the daylights out of it..
Oh well here in SA we had hips of PT cruisers on the road... They were unique looking and I guess ppl wanted something unique but today u hardly see one!
These vehicles are extremely garbage. The Car Wizard did a buy this, not that video for Dodge over a year ago. He said, that the Omni's and the Horizon's are the worst vehicles to repair and to maintain. Do not ever buy these vehicles.
Probably rarely driven/ engine replacement (or swap) or a grandma drives one I would know, my grandma drives an '07 town and country and it's at 168k miles...
Thumbs down for making fun of Scotty. There are a ton of dishonest car reviewers on YT talking up crappy cars that have terrible reliability. Scotty ain't one of them. Too many dishonest people giving praise to German cars.
Yeah, don't get me wrong. I have alot of respect for that guy, But I unsubscribed a while ago. His thumbnails and clickbaity titles were so bad that they were just outright lies. Not to mention what R&W states in this video, he starts to repeat him self over and over again.
he was fighting with me once in the comments once and arguing like a bratty child so i been avoiding his channel for quite a long time now. Hes petty af 😹
Shots fired at Scotty!! I respect Scotty, but I unsubscribed for the same reason. He's too much. Less "back in my day" and more info please and thanks.
I un subscribed because his newer videos about a year ago, had nothing but clickbate in the title. Was getting annoyed at what it was titled .compared to what actually was being talked about
I watched Scotty for a long time. Some of his advice is good but I have a feeling he lives in the late 1990s. Some of the stuff he says has no bearing on modern cars. The thing that made me unsub was a rant he did about modern paint protection like ceramic coatings. He said that wax was just as good and cost less. Now, I am a Professional detailer. That stuff is the bread and butter of my industry. The way I see it is: If you have no idea what you are talking about, shut the heck up! I don't go around telling people how to fix their cars because I am not a mechanic, he should do the same with detailing ;)
We bought one new, in 2001. It was stick, loaded with options. Kept it until 2005. We put 50k miles on it. Never a problem, always ran good, and was exactly what we expected.
