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.
The contact owns a 2009 Chrysler PT CRUISER. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle exhibited a loud noise. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the front driver and passenger side wheel bearings and hubs needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer and the technician verified that the wheel bearing and hubs were defective once again. In addition, the contact stated that she had to replace the battery on three different occasions within a very small time frame. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but did not offer any assistance since the vehicle was no longer under warranty. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 42,000 and the current mileage was 69,000.
While driving to work the gauges all dip to zero then all the dash lights come like when the engine is first started. If the gauge dip is short then the engine continues to run. Lately (since Jan) the gauges have staying in the zero position longer and the engine loses power. Sometimes the engine will pick back up sometimes not. If it doesn't then I have put the car in neutral and it will restart. This happens several times in succession and sometimes just every once in a while but almost always 4 or 5 times in 45 miles. Once the car has had a chance to sit during the day I don't have the problem on the way home. It seems to have this issue the most on days when we have a heavy dew. Rain does not seem to be a problem. I think moisture is being pulled in during the cool down and causing this issue. I just don't know where. The dealer (after 4 days) can't seem to duplicate the problem. My biggest fear is if this should happen when pulling out in traffic or in a corner as I lose power steering.
Door will not open after car is in park, engine turned off, key is removed from ignition. I have to re-start engine to power down driver's window to reach through open window to open door from outside door latch. This has happened muliple occurrences with no obvious reasons. Should there be an emergency to exit vehicle, my concern is would I be able to get out.
While traveling down the qew highway in Ontario, the instrument panel on my pt 2009 cruiser started blinking on and off, the gauges went wild with up and down full-range swings, then blinking on and off on and off; I thought the seatbelt may be the problem since the fasten seatbelt indicator remained "on." It happened again a second time right away (less than 2 minutes) accompanied by loss of engine power. I heard sputtering, and then the engine died, and I had to guide it to a resting spot on the side of the road without power steering; not fun. I was in near hamilton, Ontario, and managed to get off the highway safely. I inspected under the hood and nothing seemed out of the ordinary at all. Engine restarted right away, and I was able to make it back to E. amherst NY. This is totally unsafe! I was concerned about getting my family home safely. And there is no way to know what is wrong with the vehicle! I cannot trust my car and that stinks! I had same type of problem with a Grand Caravan (1994?) and the mechanics could never locate the problem. Makes me wonder about Chrysler.
While driving down the road all the dash lights came on and the car started beeping, the gas gauge and mph and RPM dials go to zero. Can't pull a code and there seems to be no apparent problem that can be located by the dealer or a mechanic. This is very dangerous!
- Longview, TX, USA
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Dash lights start flashing motor starts to stall and lose power has happen several times in past year almost causing me to wreck brake lights exploded and shattered several times.
While driving on the highway, all the gauges on the dashboard light up, car loses power. Sometimes it will restart but sometimes I will have to pull over to the side of the road. I have had the battery replaced and wires checked. I am afraid to drive for fear of getting into an accident since the car just stops without warning. This is so unsafe and seems to be a common issue for this car.
While driving the dash lights flash and the gauges go up and down, the car dies. I put the car in park and it starts right up. This problem is intermittent and the dealer is unable to duplicate the problem. No codes are stored. This has happened to me several times, and most of them end with me having to pull over to the side of the road, turn the car off & back on. Twice it has happened to me while on a major highway...the car shuts off & I'm literally coasting on a major highway trying to get over for safety. This is dangerous and all the repair shop tells me is they can't fix it and don't know what causes it.
Driving vehicle on highway all warning lights on the dash light up and gauges fall the vehicle stalls. This is very dangerous when driving and could cause serious harm. I have taken it to the dealership and they have changed several items on the vehicle. They can't replicate the problem therefore the issue still exists. Chrysler is no help with solving the issue.
While driving on the interstate, my car's dash board started going haywire. All gauges (except fuel and temperature) would drop down to zero for a second, and then go right back up to where they should be. The car never actually stalled, but acted a couple times like it might. I gave it a little extra gas and it kept running. This continued for the entire trip on the interstate. (approximately 100 miles.)
The contact owns a 2009 Chrysler PT CRUISER. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, all of the gauges and warning lamps illuminated and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 35,000 and the current mileage was 47,000.
Purchased automobile 12/07/2010...repairs conducted on 1/21/11 (1) replacement drivers (outer) L panel driver seat switch bezel broken *same exists panel continually "breaks" down after sitting on drivers seat (2) power lock system L/R door would not lock/or/unlock * additional electrical problems with "late" automatic locking of automobile doors on 11/14/11 during oil-change (mechanic) discovered (1) broken motor mounts (upper/lower) rf engine (2) shock leaking...mechanic stated in 20 plus yrs of work as a mechanic he has "replaced" many PT CRUISER-broken motor mounts...myself, I documented all above in an email to Chrysler 11/14/2011. Suggesting "lemon" automobile & requested total compensation or (new automobile) replacement free of charge.
While driving at speed of 40 mph all lights on the console began blinking repeatedly, the tachometer and speedometer began going up and down, car began to rapidly decelerate and then died giving me just enough time to get off the side of the road before causing an accident. Turned off ignition and restarted the ignition car gave no indications of malfunction, drove home and have not drove since. If you google "PT CRUISER console going crazy" you will see multiple other owners are having the same issue. This is not just a simple malfunction this is a danger to not only the owner but to others on the roadway. Chrysler should be checking into the issue, but instead after contacting them and letting them know others are experiencing the same issue, they told me "unfortunately, we are unable to provide technical assistance to diagnose the situation you have outlined in your email...if you have been working with an authorized dealership but the problem is not yet resolved, seeking a second opinion from a different dealer may be a viable option." Which I take to mean take it to a dealership, get charged an outrageous amount for them to see if they know what is wrong, if they still don't know after charging you $600 then take it to another dealership which may know more about our cars than we do. this is an irresponsible, slipshoddy way to run a company. If we want to have a good reputation for cars then the companies that make them have to stand by them and not try to send their customers off to other dealerships after charging them an arm and a leg and still not knowing how to fix it. They should know their cars better than say a Honda dealership would. I hope other people have posted complaints so that Chrysler will fix this life threatening issue because going from 40 to 0 on a busy road is dangerous!
Purchased a used 2009 PT CRUISER in May 2011, with 37,000 miles. Approximately 2 months and 3,000 miles later the instrument cluster on the dash started to light up like a christmas tree. First the seatbelt light came on, then the whole cluster lit up and then the seatbelt light came on and went off. The speedometer and tachometer also dropped. I thought this might be an alternator problem, but it checked out ok and I did not have the problem again for a few more months. This time it flashed on and off approximately 3 times. Today, 10/29/11, at 49,000 it happened approximately 10 times. I did not lose power or acceleration, but at one point I did feel a hiccup in the acceleration. I have heard that several people have stalled out in traffic and that the dealerships cannot explain this. I looks like there is a problem and Chrysler needs to address it.
2009 PT CRUISER purchased 10/2010 from rental fleet. Had 40,000 miles then, has 45,000 now. While driving (mph not relevant), the instrument panel warning lights come on and go off within seconds. Sometimes it's just the driver seat belt light, sometimes it's the entire cluster. The gauge needles fall to zero then go back to current reading. Failure occurred sporadically since 10/2010, but issue never impaired the performance until 08/09/2011 when the vehicle shut down. Got it to curb (without getting hit from behind), turned off key, waited a few seconds, restarted, and has not occurred since. Took it to mechanic 08/13/2011; could not duplicate failure. Called Chrysler dealership, described issue; they want to put on computer which my mechanic just did. No repairs made. From what I've been reading online of similar electrical problems, I'm fearful Chrysler dealership service departments cannot resolve.
The contact owns a 2009 Chrysler PT CRUISER. While driving approximately 40 mph the instrument panel warning lights illuminated, began to flash and the reading on the gauges began to fluctuate. The contact stated the failure would occur erratically. The vehicle also stalled three times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer twice where the technicians were unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 25,000.
2009 PT CRUISER has a electrical problem that no one has been able to slove.while driving car all dashlights flashes off and on gauges dance up and down car looses power and shuts down while driving. Almost involved in many accidents due to this problem.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Ewa Beach , HI, USA