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.
Sporadic instrument cluster powers on and off illuminating all lights. When condition occurs it is vastly distracting unable to determine vehicle speed accurately. When the issue is present the engine will typically shut off. This seems like an incredibly bad condition to allow in a vehicle and contacting Chrysler led to no solution for resolving. Internet search suggests this is not a one off situation and exists across several model years. Chrysler does have a recall notice "01V288000" for model year 2001 which appears to be very similar in nature. Due to the highly distracting nature of this condition and frequency of similar owner reports it seems particularly egregious that a recall notice does not exist.
While running at 45 mph all the warning lights came on, the gauges went to zero, and the motor started stumbling. Trying to nurse it home, I stopped at a red light where the previous things happened again but also the motor completely shut off. This left me stopped in the middle of a busy 4 lane highway. Engine finally restarted where I drove it home. This is the 3rd time this has happened and I see where online this has been complained about over and over. I can not afford to throw thousands of dollars at it and Chrysler doesn't care.
While driving all the warning light come on engine stalls even at freeway speeds. Car has to stopped, key turned off and restarted and the errors clear. It has done since it was new.. it has been researched by dealer while in for service. Never fixed it is still doing it..
Intermittently all dash lights come on and all gauges begin fluctuating and the car will begin to sputter and sometimes dies and then it doesn't do it again for miles
More often than not, all the lights on dash illuminate when the car is first started, sometimes flashing on and then off when driving. If driving, sometimes the car will either accelerate or slow down. Because the speedometer goes back and forth, I have no idea how fast I'm going. If I slow down when approaching a red light or to make a turn, the car has cut off. Looking online, this appears to be a common problem of PT CRUISER owners, yet I've never seen a recall. Diagnostics ran a few times and no reading shows up. Only told, it appears to be an electrical issue.
- Greenbelt, MD, USA
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I purchased the vehicle in December of 2016. The odometer reading was 74,000 miles at that time. It functioned without problems until March 2018. The car was driven about 2 miles and then was parked for about 5 hours. I started the car and drove about 2 blocks at about 25 mph when all the dashboard lights came on, the gas gauge went to empty and I felt a loss of power. It recovered after a few seconds. It happened again about 1 minute later. I coasted to a stop sign and turned off the engine. I turned it back on about 30 seconds later and drove on. I turned onto a busy street and after driving a few blocks in traffic the power loss happened again. It recovered on its own after about 5 seconds. I got off the busy S street and onto a side street. It happened again after driving a few blocks and did not recover. I coasted into a parking spot and turned off the ignition. After about 5 minutes I started the car and drove about 1.5 miles to my house without incident. The car spent several weeks in a reputable local repair shop. They could not replicate the problem, so could not diagnose. I then drove the car for about 2 months without incident. It has started doing it again. I do not believe I can safely drive it on a busy street or a freeway.
The contact owns a 2009 Chrysler PT CRUISER. The contact stated that the air bag indicator turned on and off by itself while driving 20 mph. Also, the horn did not work due to the air bag indicator that was wired into the horn. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing or repairs. The contact called hilltop Chrysler dealer and was advised that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The dealer stated that if there was a failure with the horn or air bag, the repairs would be at the contact's expense. The failure mileage was 77,000.
I was in a hwy. All of a sudden, all the gauges light up and I lost power. I push the gas pedal but no acceleration. I managed to park on the side. I turned off the engine and restarted the car again. This happened just 3 weeks after I bought the car. It happened again one month later. It has been now one week later. I am afraid it is going to happen again. It is a very safety hazard since I always travel on a busy highway.
My vehicle shuts off randomly while driving 2 mph and while on the highway going 65 mph. Very scary, do not feel safe in my own car. Fear for the safety of my family.
The contact owns a 2009 Chrysler PT CRUISER. While driving 65 mph, all the warning lights illuminated, the gauge readings fluctuated, and the vehicle stalled. The failures recurred multiple times. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the vehicle had "an electronics problem." The contact did not know what parts needed to be repaired or replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred multiple times. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The approximate failure mileage was 40,000.
All warning lights flash while driving, car dies then restarts, very dangerous in traffic. Chrysler can't find the issue, took it mechanics they can't find the issue. Seems like there are 100's of issues with many different years of the PT CRUISER however Chrysler is ignoring and there is nothing to fix. Some days this happens a lot then it will go 3 or 4 days without.
I've had my PT CRUISER for atleast 3 years now. Today as I was driving all the lights started going on and off on the dash board and was acting as if it were going to stall out. However, every time I hit the gas the mph gauge would go up. However my gauges on my dash board had stopped working until I'd hit the gas petal again. It did this for at least a few minutes I was on a busy road when it happened and was not able to pull off the road. I've been hearing a lot of rumors going on about PT CRUISER losing power and locking up on people and bad things happening I think Chrysler needs to get on the ball and fix these issues with their vehicles since we are only the ones that buy them under faith of safety. I had this happen one other time when I first got it but I didn't think nothing of it. The issue seems to be happening more and more often. It's not even at 100,000 miles yet and I am having this many issues. This PT CRUISER needs to be recalled! me or my children best not get hurt it this thing due to Chrysler's neglect on this issue. I've seen many people complain about this issue and nothing being done. Who has to die before it's resolved"!" I would've had pictures but the lights turned off and it went back to normal before I was able to take a snap shot or video of it. Because if I lose power again and it malfunctions and me or my kids get hurt when Chrysler has been notified and they don't do anything there will be a law suit. If I had known this issue would occur I would have never bought it, infact I'm still paying on it for another 2 yrs.
This occurs all the time wether I am driving on residental road or on a highway going 70 mph. My car feels like it is losing power which it is. All the lights on my dash are lit up like a christmas tree and I have to pull over to the side of the road very carefully as I lose steering as well. Sometimes I can just restart the car and everything is fine, sometimes it is a few minutes and a few times it has taken a few hours. I have taken the car in to get the codes read but they tell me it is either the gas cap is loose or another issue with the fuel. I took it to my mechanic and they put it on their computer and got different readings. I was told it was a fuel vacuum problem which was corrected. I still have the issues. Now sometimes the engine jerks and pulls but I don't loose power. Mechanic is unable to find problem. Did not take to dealership after reading all the horror stories about paying dealers tons of money and still not having a working car. Also if I have more then one key on my keyring then the ignition switch doesn't work. If I limit my keyring to just my car key and house key then my car starts everytime and no cutting out while at complete stop like it has in the past. We bought the car used in July 2011 and it now has aprox. 66,000 miles.
I purchased this 2009 PT CRUISER in 2012 with about 45000 miles. Since the odometer has reached about 80000 this problem has been recurring. While driving at any speed or even when parked and during all types of weather, all warning lights flash on and off. Then all gauges go up and down dramatically. Sometimes this is all that happens. However if it happens too many times in a short period of time, the car's engine just stops. It comes back but it is jerking the transmission violently. I have pulled off of the road and turned the car off, waited a couple of minutes, and then turned it back on. So far I have been lucky that it hasn't stopped at high speed and have been able to get out of traffic fairly easily. However this is very dangerous. This is our only vehicle, so we have to use it, but we are unwilling to leave town with it doing this.
After starting and running normally for about 20 minutes, the vehicle will begin to exhibit electrical issues. The gauges will drop to zero and then slowly return, the warning lights will flash, and the warning chime will sound repeatedly. It seems like when this happens the engine goes through a start cycle. Most of the time, this problem is otherwise asymptomatic, but occasionally it results in sudden power loss to the engine. It does not seem to matter if the vehicle is moving or not; it happens if the vehicle is stopped, moving slowly, moving quickly, etc. The engine has lost power more than once at a critical moment (turning left, clearing an intersection) and multiple times in moving traffic.
Driving at various speeds, all warning lights flash on and off, then all guages go up and down dramatically, the loss of power, car comes to stop but engine doesn't die. Turn off engine, then on then same thing 2-3 more X on way home. Dangerous. Due to faulty tipm made by Chrysler? this has happened 20 different days in last month, also battery dead once, engine cooling fan failed twice, rear taillights blew from electrical surges 3X, twice power window wouldn't go. Taken into shop two diff. Occasions but can't repeat problem so they can't fix it. Help! car was on highway several times and on 30-40 mph streets other times.
I'm driving the car and all the dash lights instrument cluster lights come on & off blinking. All the hands like fuel hand and RPM start blinking up and down. It drops in speed. So I press on the gas. It comes back up but it guns the engine and starts jerking. Every time warning light comes on all the hands start blinking again and it drops in speed but this time it cuts off! in the middle of the highway! I coast to the side and crank the car again. The dash lights and all the hand gauges blinging but this time it didn't cut off. I purchased this vehicle on 2009! if I had known that pt's were faulty, I would never have bought it. This incident has happened numerous times since. Sometimes at higher speeds sometimes at lower speeds. Sometime just sitting parked it cuts off! from the research I've done since, there have been a lot of the same complaints about the pt. It's not safe! it's not safe when you're going 70 in heavy traffic and the car cuts off!
The contact owns a 2009 Chrysler PT CRUISER. While driving at various speeds, the speedometer and fuel gauge fluctuated and the engine stalled. The failures recurred numerous times. The dealer diagnosed that the camshaft, alternator, battery post, and battery needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failures. The failure mileage was approximately 98,000.
I'm driving the car and all the lights come on in the middle. All the hands like fuel hand and RPM start bobbing up and down. It drops in speed. So I press on the gas. It comes back up in speed but it guns the engine and starts jerking. Every warning light comes on again all the hands start bobbing again and it drops in speed but this time it cuts off! in the middle of the highway! I coast to the side and crank the car again. It starts doing the warning lights and the hand gauges bobbing but this time it didn't cut off. This was the first incident on 12/23/2014. I purchased this vehicle on 11/22/2014! if I had known that pt's were faulty, I would never have bought it. This incident has happened numerous times since. Sometimes at higher speeds sometimes at lower speeds. Sometime just sitting parked it cuts off! from the research I've done since, their have been alot of the same complaints about the pt. It's not safe! you know it's not safe when you're going 70 on the interstate in heavy traffic and the car cutts off! this is not good.
Engine dies at speed, and will restart in a second or two (manual transmission). Gauges go haywire. Can sometimes reset condition for a while (minutes to an hour) by turning key off-on, or restarting while at speed - sometime not. Has gotten much worse, car now has 185,000 miles. Replaced engine PCM - no effect. Replaced engine tipm - no effect. Kind of scary when this happens pulling out into traffic. Software design defect?
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Rockwall, TX, USA