This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Purchased vehicle a couple of years ago with about 32,000 miles, everything has been great until a couple of weeks ago. At about 41,000 vehicle has started stalling when moving, horn will not quit, starting issues and dash lights flash on and off. This is a very dangerous issue and I have read most of the prior 60 complaints dating back to 2010 and nothing has been done by Chrysler. I have heard on the national news that there is finally a recall with this vehicle but my VIN # is not included for some reason.
This is the 2nd PT CRUISER that I have owned. The first one was great! but...this one!! ongoing problems since we have owned the car!!!! seat belt wouldn't unlock couldn't get out of car. I was locked in. Someone had to open door from outside. Lights always flickering. Loss power. Acts up while driving. Finally got so bad that the car would just stall out. Took to dealership and was told they couldn't find anything wrong. They said...and I quote "remember we didn't do anything." Why would they say that" the latest... lights flickering, radio going on and off stopped at a store. When I came couldn't unlock the car with my remote. Had to use key to get in, alarm went off, had to jump in and start car to turn alarm off. Pulled out into traffic and the car quit. Completely stalled out. Turned everything off, put in park and it started up but I parked it at a friends that lived one block away. Was afraid to drive it. 3 hours later went to pick car up and nothing worked. No lights no juice no click no nothing got it jumped started. Went straight to advanced auto because it was late. Alternator ok battery ok I just want to get rid of it but don't want someone else stuck with this lemon what do I do????"
The contact owns a 2009 Chrysler PT CRUISER. While driving various speeds, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The failure recurred on numerous occasions. The dealer was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was unavailable. The approximate failure mileage was 41,000. Updated 12/03/14 updated 8/31/2017
Travelling at about 60 mph on the freeway, suddenly I noticed all the warning lights on the instrument panel coming on at once, for about 2 or 3 seconds, then going off again. I also noticed the fuel gauge and tachometer needles dancing around at the same time, before stabilizing. This happened several times within approximately 40 minutes of driving. I was afraid that the engine could stall but luckily the motor kept running without any indication of stalling. I have read several other posts and descriptions of people with identical problems and some of them described the engine stalling. Many of these state that dealerships are unable to find the problem and that Chrysler has not publicly acknowledged it. I find this difficult to believe as this has the potential of a major lawsuit waiting to happen as soon as someone gets hurt as a result. There are just too many of these descriptions to believe that this issue has not been identified.
The contact owns a 2009 Chrysler PT CRUISER. The contact stated that while driving various speeds the instrument panel malfunctioned. The failure occurred on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who could not duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 57,639.
While driving the car will just stop, the gauges will flicker on and off and the gas gauge will drop to empty. After it shuts off, it will start back up as if nothing happened. You might be okay for a few days or months before it happens again. We have had the car back in with the dealer at least 5 times and they can't seem to duplicate the issue. Even after keeping the car for over a month or more. We then caught the gauges going crazy and recorded it for the dealer. They couldn't find a code for the issue. We had the battery replaced and it didn't fix the issue. Now they think it might be the ignition switch. We are having that replaced now. This same issue is affecting many 2009 PT CRUISER owners and chrsyler has not stepped up to address the problem. It is extremely dangerous to be driving a car that just comes to a complete stop whether you are on the highway or a residential street. My hope is that there is not a loss of life or limb before something is done.
After driving for about 5 minutes and going about 35 mph the lights on the instrument panel went on and all the gauges went to zero. I didn't totally lost power but slowed down and the gauges popped back and the instrument lights came back on. It has continued to run ok for the last 3 days. Took it to the dealer and was told nothing could be done unless they could duplicate the problem. This exact same thing occurred on September 8, 2013 at a mileage of about 39,100. The car has run ok since up to this latest incident on June 1, 2014.
While driving all dash lights going crazy, car engine shut down, driving approx. 55 miles per hour. This has happened approximately 3 times. Took to Chrysler dealership. Unable to replicate the problem. I was directly in front of 18 wheeler when engine just shut down.
The car was in motion when passenger airbag off light on dash illuminated, and then all gauges on dash dropped to zero and reset several times in succession. This has occurred several times, often including a loss of acceleration or engine stalls (though engine has never shut completely off, often it is only revived with a press of the accelerator). As with other complaints on this site, the vehicle was taken a dealership on several occasions for diagnosis, but the issue was never replicated. It has occurred several times in the past years, the most common symptom being the passenger airbag light coming on (practically weekly), indicating my passenger has no airbag and could be jeopardy in the event of an accident. No one has ever found this issue, which as repeated even after battery, electrical system, and battery contacts have been replaced. The vehicle has undergone numerous repairs related to the electrical system but this hasn't stopped, and I don't have the money to replace this car. Please look into this, the lives of my family are at risk if the passenger airbag doesn't work!!
Last year (2013) I was driving around 35mph, all panel lights flash on and off intermittently for several days. Then one day it started again all panel lights came on again and all gauges dropped down, fuel tank gauge dropped to empty, etc and engine died. Placed car in park and thankful the car started up again. Took car to chapman dealership and no error codes appeared and they couldn't find the problem. Now it is April 2014 and the same problem is starting again all panel lights are blinking on and off and I am afraid the car will shut down while driving at a higher speed. I believe this is an safety issue.
The contact owns a 2009 Chrysler PT CRUISER. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, all of the lights on the instrument panel flickered followed by the vehicle completely stalling. The vehicle was diagnosed by two different dealers, who both stated that they could not duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 25,500. The current mileage was 66,000.
Driving down the road, all gauges go crazy, all dash warning lights come on and off, vehicle loses power and stalls, very dangerous while driving. Dealer unable to locate the problem despite numerous repairs and having the car for weeks at a time. I cannot express how unsafe this is.seems to be a problem reported by others but the dealer acts as if they have never heard of the issue before.
Driving in a snow storm when all dash lights came on - and gauges dropped. Repeatedly went off and on. Car eventually stalled. This happened repeatedly in spite of having many things replaced (battery alternator and ignition) when the weather warmed the problem seemed to be resolved but during the first snow this winter, it happened again. Now this occurs frequently. Seldom occurs before 20 minutes of driving. Randomly occurs making detection nearly impossible. No definitive answers from computer testing. Judging from other complaints, this appears to be a common problem.
Driving at 55mph and all the gauges (gas, speed, tach) went to zero and fluttered up and down, the vehicle stalled. Was fortunate enough to be able to pull over safely and restart the vehicle without incidence. The vehicle has repeated this on several occasions. I was able to record on my phone the instrument panel while it was acting up. Think I have isolated the problem to the key and ignition. I have found if I wiggle the key when this happens it stops. This could be very dangerous since you lose power to the vehicle while driving, it happens without warning. Several internet searches reveal alot of people with the same complaint. I think Chrysler should so be responsible for repair of this problem, they evidently produced a product with a defect that could potentially cause loss of life or bodily damage.
I just purchased this vehicle and had it for less then 3 weeks. I drove it a total of 5 times. When I was driving to work on a major highway, the car started to act up. The speedometer went from 55 to zero then back up to 80, I lost the ability to steer and accelerate, all of the lights came on the dash board, the car fuel gauges went up and down, and finally the car stalled. I was on a major highway which was a very scary. No codes were recorded for a mechanic to find out the problem. The problem is not fixed, and seems to be a problem with several PT CRUISER from what I have researched. I am working with the dealer attempting for a refund, as I feel my safety and the safety of others are at risk.
I was driving on a major highway, doing about 55mph. All of my gauges started to light up, the speedometer went from 55 to zero then up to 65, the lights flashed on and off, the car then started to slow down to about 40, would not accelerate, then eventually just shut off. I was driving on a major highway, but able to pull off to the right side lane. The wheels tightened so I could not steer, I shut the car off and left it for about 20 mins. It started again but struggles to go over 40 before it starts acting up again. I can not find the problem, no codes are recorded. I am convinced that this is a serious safety issue with PT CRUISER as I have read similar problems.
All the lights on the dash light up, dials start dropping, engine goes quiet and car starts coasting. Sometimes engine shuts off completely then turns on after a second or two; other times have to put the car in park, turn the ignition off and back on again- starts up normally. Has died at very low (sub 5mph) and very high (about 60mph) speeds; have blocked roads and intersections.
The contact owns a 2009 Chrysler PT CRUISER. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 mph, the speedometer fluctuated abnormally and the vehicle stalled. Once restarted, the vehicle was able to resume normally. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to various dealers for inspection, however they were unable to duplicate the problem. The manufacturer was not notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 22,441.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Gulf Breeze, FL, USA