He actually said he's driven one on several occasions.
^ What he said. What I've also mentioned a few times is that I'm able to compare my experience of the PT with some really quite impressive modern cars, such as the current Mazda MX-5 and 2, the first gen BMW MINI Cooper (which was actually a race tuned version), and a brand new Ford Ka. All are considered benchmarks for handling in their respective classes, and I can safely say that I've driven the PT hard (the whole distance up and down the Pacific Coast Highway, forty miles North of 'Frisco and as far South as San Diego), with not only myself in the car but a passenger and a boot full of luggage, and it
still impressed me with regard to it's steering feel, roadholding and ride.
Since you've made the comments you have, I'll go ahead and assume you didn't read anything I've said over the last five pages. But I've read everything you've said and let's have a look and see why I disagree with it.
The PT is infact worse than a Neon tenfold--lets get that straight. The Neon is lighter, gets better MPG, is faster, has better resale value (albeit only slightly), and doesn't look like its trying too hard.
The Neon doesn't look like it's trying at all. It's a white good, a refridgerator in a land of plasma TVs. The PT at least has some style - fair enough, it may not be to all tastes but at least it provokes opinion. The Neon is drizzle, and trust me, being British I know a lot about drizzle
The PT has only one advantage--it has a larger boot--and that's only because of the higher roofline and hatchback
And also thanks to that higher roofline and hatchback it's much more versatile inside, and has more space for passengers too. The interior is a better design (both pre and post facelift) than any of the Neon interiors, and again has a bit of design flair and colour. It also has better visibility, which is important in most aspects of driving.
Sorry, but it is junk through and through. I've worked at enough car dealers taking them on trade-in (and hearing the horror stories FROM THE ACTUAL OWNERS) and with the experience of driving my friend's to have come to this conclusion.
A quick, and admittedly unscientific look on
http://www.carsurvey.org/ at customer satisfaction for both the Neon and the PT shows me many more dissatisfied Neon owners than PT owners. It's very easy to say the PT has "horror stories" but it's carefully skipping over the Neon's "horror stories" in order to illustrate your point. I call this bias.
The fact that it is even in this thread when it is junk and more importantly AN OLD car should squarely nullify it. Its been 100% unchanged from 2001 to 2009. EIGHT years, at least the Neon had two facelifts.
Why does it's presence in this thread annoy you so much? I'm sure YSSMAN will attest the concept is just a bit of fun, if you really, really hate the PT so much then don't vote for it in the next round! Or are you scared the underground support will carry it through? I don't expect it to, but given how much you hate the car it'd make me laugh harder than I've laughed in ages.
Oh, and the PT has had a facelift in that time, the interior has been changed and engines have been added and updated. Do your research 👍
I stand behind my opinion that the PT Cruiser is the worst car ever made by an American company.
And I stand by my opinion that you're very, very wrong.