zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Buying
/
At $2,900, Will This 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser Convertible Cruise To An Easy Win?
At $2,900, Will This 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser Convertible Cruise To An Easy Win?-September 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:09:27

Nice Price or No Die 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser

It’s true that PT Cruisers like today’s candidate have long been polarizing cars. Let’s find out which Cruise crowd you belong to and whether this low-mileage convertible’s price is equally polarizing.

I don’t know whether you actually watched the walk-around video of last Friday’s or simply fired up the torches and sharpened the pitchforks after just looking at the pictures. If the latter, then I think you may have missed the bigger picture of the car and the gentleman that built it. Was the end result to everyone’s taste? No. No, it was not. But it was undeniably a mad scientist effort and the dude in the video looks like someone I’d be happy to hoist a few beers with, which is my gauge of a project’s success. His acumen on both pricing and ad creation, however, was apparently lacking, as both came under attack in the comments. The $11,000 asking found little to no favor in the voting as well, dropping in a 73 percent No Dice loss.

Image for article titled At $2,900, Will This 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser Convertible Cruise To An Easy Win?

As I noted mere seconds ago, Chrysler’s PT Cruiser is a car that people either love or hate. Some people actually love to hate them. Strangely, I’ve never met anyone who has admitted to hating to love them.

The funny thing is, PT Cruisers are not actually cars at all, as Chrysler got the government to classify them as light trucks. That was to help the company meet its Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) goals and, honestly, doesn’t mean diddly squat to owners or anyone else outside of the fine folks at Chrysler and a few NHTSA wonks.

Chrysler built the PT Cruiser on the well-regarded Neon platform, giving the car a modern FWD layout that was seemingly at odds with its cheeky retro styling. The model was originally going to be branded as a Plymouth but was adopted under the Chrysler marque when Plymouth was unceremoniously given the Old Yeller treatment.

Image for article titled At $2,900, Will This 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser Convertible Cruise To An Easy Win?

Under the Chrysler badge, it may have seemed an odd duck in relation to the brand’s other models. The PT Cruiser, however, soon found fans in owners who appreciated the tall retro styling and the interior room afforded by that design. So successful was the five-door model that Chrysler appended it with a two-door convertible baby brother.That model carried the same retro themes and still was a truck.

This offers that roof for the tragically indecisive and, at 92,000, also reasonably low mileage. It looks to be decked out with pretty much all the standard accouterments you might expect as well — electric windows and locks, air-con, and an automatic transmission. That all should make it a reasonably comfortable cruiser, but there’s nothing exciting beyond that.

Image for article titled At $2,900, Will This 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser Convertible Cruise To An Easy Win?

The thing about it is, for a lot of people, that’s all they ever need or really want. What this is not, by any stretch of the imagination, is an enthusiast’s car. Expecting it to be so will only end in disappointment and internalized fisticuffs for having made such a grave error in judgment.

For those with less of a need for speed or smoothness, the PT should serve just fine and its 150 horsepower DOHC inline-four and four-speed automatic powertrain will be reasonably economical. Add to that the low miles and a fairly decent presentation in the dealership’s ad and there’s a lot to like here. The title is clean and the seller says the car “Runs and drives excellent” and claims it to be “very mechanically sound” with “all maintenance up-to-date.” On top of that is (literally) a top that goes up and down coveringa roll bar that allows for proper seat belt mounts.

All this could be someone’s pride and joy (not yours, mind you, you crazy car nut) for a cost of $2,900.

What’s your take on this PT Cruiser convertible and that $2,900 price? Does that seem like a deal for a car you wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole? Or, is even that amount too much for any PT?

You decide!

Seattle, Washington, , or go if the ad disappears.

H/T to Don H. for the hookup!

Help me out with NPOND. Hit me up at and send me a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your Kinja handle.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Buying
Why Is Car Buying Especially Terrible For Women And What Should Be Done About It?
Why Is Car Buying Especially Terrible For Women And What Should Be Done About It?
As Jalopnik’s resident car buying expert and professional car shopper, I get emails. Lots of emails. I’ve decided to pick a few questions and try to help out. This week we are discussing why dealerships especially suck for women, the best off-lease sedans, and the choice between a new...
Sep 23, 2024
At $7,000, Could This 1985 BMW 635CSi Turn You Into A Coupé Connoisseur?
At $7,000, Could This 1985 BMW 635CSi Turn You Into A Coupé Connoisseur?
If your motto has always been “go big or go home” then you’ll love today’s “big coupe” Bimmer. Let’s find out if this Teutonic two-door’s price tag is also kind of a big deal. Working on cars can be fun. I mean, if it’s not raining. Yesterday’s needed some...
Sep 23, 2024
If You Are Going To Buy A Family Car, Don’t Forget The Family Part
If You Are Going To Buy A Family Car, Don’t Forget The Family Part
People buy vehicles for all kinds of reasons. Some of them are rational, and some of them are emotional. There is nothing wrong with buying a car because it’s fast, or stylish, or it just makes you feel good when you drive it. However, when the primary objective is...
Sep 23, 2024
Would You Drop $249,900 On Carroll Shelby’s 1983 De Tomaso Pantera GTS?
Would You Drop $249,900 On Carroll Shelby’s 1983 De Tomaso Pantera GTS?
Being a “one-owner” car holds special cachet in the used car market. Having that one owner be the late great Carroll Shelby as is the case of today’s Pantera turns that cachet into holy crap! Let’s see what being ‘Ol Shel’s car might just be worth. This past weekend...
Sep 23, 2024
The 2019 Lincoln Navigator Is A Glorious Return To American Opulence
The 2019 Lincoln Navigator Is A Glorious Return To American Opulence
We never had kings or queens here in America. (Well, we did before we were our own country, but we showed those fools what we really thought of them.) If we did, though, they’d all be driving 2019 . The car is flush with splendor, rich with opulence and...
Sep 23, 2024
I'm Looking For a Radwood-Style Car For The Occasional Track Day For Under $10,000! What Should I Buy?
I'm Looking For a Radwood-Style Car For The Occasional Track Day For Under $10,000! What Should I Buy?
Mike is looking for an inexpensive car that can handle some track days, but he wants a cool ride from the ‘80s or ‘90s. Ideally, it would have a manual and rear-wheel-drive, but he isn’t too picky. However, he doesn’t have a ton of cash to spend and #Radwood...
Sep 23, 2024
Copyright 2023-2024 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved