Northwest Cruisers PT Club

News Items About PT Cruisers or Our Club

Check out our newly added car care page containing tips and suggestions in caring for your Cruiser.

July 8, 2010: The end has come. An article in USA Today, this date, announced that the last PT Cruiser would roll off the assembly line tomorrow, July 9. The article painted this as a symbol of the auto industry's problems. We don't agree with that statement as it has been known for nearly two years the PT was being dropped, in fact being actually dropped in 2009 and resurrected for 2010. Other topics in the article were more correct, noting how popular it was initially, and the declining sales over time. In 2007 it still sold 99,585 units, but only 50,910 for 2009 and 8,591 for 2010 through June. Total sales for its life were about 1.5 million, certainly not a 'failure" in the auto market. The article correctly notes that Chrysler made no significant investment in it once released, and more damaging, applied numerous cost cutting measures to it, mostly embodied in with the 2006 remodel, which only served to "cheapen" the car in shopper's eyes. Having owned both pre and post 2006 models, I can agree that the "Gen II" models had cheaper aspects to them, but also some positive aspects. (See the PT history on this site for more details). I believe the changes did not impact the car mechanically, making the Gen II models as reliable as the Gen I models. The dropping of the turbo engines in 2008 (230hp) and 2009 (180hp) also made it less desirable. In truth, the PT has proven to be a very reliable car and will last many miles if properly maintained. As with any car whose design is out of the ordinary, it will have those people who really like it and those who dislike it just as emphatically. Each of us Cruiser fans has our own reasons we like the car and we tend to be very enthusiastic about our cars. We will do what we can to prolong the lives and usage of our cars and perhaps can inspire other PT owners to join with us and learn to preserve their cars as best possible. Now we can wait and see if the PT will eventually become a "classic" car. (see the PT history on this site for some conjecture).

February 22, 2010: We have confirmed the 2010 "Classic Cruiser" is being manufactured having seen two on the lot at one of our local dealers in January. The car come in one model only, with many former equipment options now standard equipment. There are some options available as well and numerous exterior color choices. The car is really just the same as the 2009 models but with the standard equipment and options re-arranged. Chrysler announced some time ago this will be the last year the PT is manufactured as production will be shutdown in late 2010 for factory retooling to produce a small car for North America based on the Fiat 500. You better get your new PT while you can.

August 21, 2009:  Further information about a 2010 Cruiser has been released by Chrysler on one of their web sites. They are listing a "PT Cruiser Classic" with an MSRP of $18,000. Other reports indicate the car will begin production on November 2nd and will be a Base model, but will be well equipped with with standard features such as automatic transaxle and 4-wheel disc antilock brakes. There will be some options available as well but there was no mention of a turbo engine.

August 6, 2009:  This news was not reported much in the mainstream media, but the automotive press carried it. In early July, Chrysler announced that plans have changed and they in fact will continue building the PT Cruiser into December 2010. They also plan to sell it into more International markets by allowing existing Fiat dealers to sell the PT. They don't plan any significant changes to the PT. Correspondents varied in their reactions, having both negative and positive opinions about this action. Opinions were offered that it should be good for Chrysler to do this as labor costs are low for the PT, and the tooling is fully amortized. Therefore, each PT sold carries significant profit, and there is no question Chrysler can use the money. It was noted that the PT was designed originally to have a break even level of just 25,000 PT's sold per year. It has greatly exceeded that. The most sold in any year was some 144,000, but that was an early production year and sales have declined each year since, to just under 50,000 in 2008 it was reported. Sales for 2009 are not known as of yet. Continuing the PT makes sense to us as Chrysler is in a "bridge" mode, meaning they have to continue selling existing product until new product can be brought to market. New owner Fiat will certainly have great influence over what new product is developed. With that in mind they stated that when they do cease PT production in December 2010, the plant will be shutdown for six months while being re-tooled to build a new small car for North America, probably based on an existing Fiat model. For now, we are just happy that the PT will continue for awhile yet.

January 15, 2009: It is ironic that the first news item on this page on our new web site is sad news for PT Cruiser fans. Chrysler Corporation confirmed rumors today that the PT Cruiser will cease production this summer at the normal end of the 2009 model year production. Speculation about this action has been prevalent for some time for several reasons. The PT Cruiser design goes back to 2000, which is a lifetime for a car style in the auto industry. It received a cosmetic makeover for 2006 that was not well received among Cruiser fans. The convertible was quietly dropped from production in December 2007. For the 2008 model year the GT was eliminated along with the High-Output turbo engine. Chrysler's current owners have been dropping slow selling models within all their brands. They had stated in recent years that they could not see how to redesign the Cruiser in a manner that would retain it's "niche" status, yet fit in with current manufacturing processes. Another factor was that the PT's engine is now only used in the PT. Auto manufacturing now dictates they be able to build several vehicle models on any given platform. These and other factors along with the severe economic downturn of late 2008 likely sealed the PT's fate. So, what do PT fans do now?

First of all, appreciate and take care of your Cruiser. If you have an older model and were considering a new one, this would be the time to buy it. No one knows what sort of status the PT will gain in the future. Will it become a collector car with it's own "cult" following? Or will it shuffle into auto history unremarked and ignored? Some of that will be influenced by this PT club, and the many other such clubs across the USA and around the world for that matter. Other popular cars have been discontinued before, and eventually have become very desirable garnering high prices. A few have had newly created models reintroduced recently to serve a "niche" market that exists. We are speculating that certain models of the PT will see demand for them increase in the next few years as PT fans scoop them up while they can. The basic PT models will likely fade away over time as their supply in the marketplace dwindles. It will also be interesting to see how the aftermarket industry continues to support the PT. It has had very good aftermarket support with all kinds of goodies available. It remains to be seen over time how that holds up.

All this means it is more important than before to "trick out" your PT if you wish, and to take proper care of it to make it last. The members of this club will be doing these things to their cars and we hope to provide information and ideas here for other owners to do the same. We suggest more than ever that you consider joining our club to share in our appreciation of the PT and ideas and techniques for moving forward from this point.