24 Drivers Reveal How They Were Bestowed The Honor Of Driving A PT Cruiser
By hoK leahciM
1. It did the job and it did it well
The only thing I wanted when I was a young teenager was a Mini Cooper. I loved those fucking cars, I’d watched the remake of The Italian Job many times. On my 16th birthday my father told me that he had gotten me one of those cars I loved so much. I was beyond ecstatic, I was the happiest teenager in the world. A short bit later and a PT Cruiser is unveiled… Somehow my father had gotten them confused, he had thought that the PT Cruiser was the car I was dreaming about. After a brief moment of complete heartbreak I realized that while this wasn’t a Mini Cooper it was still a car given to me on my sixteenth birthday and that I was incredibly lucky to have it. I got over the disappointment, thanked my father, and drove the shit out of that PT Cruiser.
It wasn’t what I wanted but I was lucky to have it, it got me from place to place and could fit me + 3 friends and backpacks etc. It got the job done.
2. An incredibly sweet story
My dad graduated high school in 1951 and had a deep love for cars from the 40’s and 50’s. Always bought old decaying cars to fix up that he never finished before selling it to buy another old decaying car to fix up.
When the PT cruiser was originally unveiled as a concept car in the mid-90’s he loved it. The first car in decades to have anything resembling the body style of the cars of his youth. He had a framed picture of a PT Cruiser on the living room wall, and shelves with models. When they made it into a production model, He planned on buying one when he retired.
Before he had the chance, he got brain cancer and was gone in a year’s time. A few months later, my frail, tiny, non-car-loving mom bought a PT Cruiser with the works.
3. “Shaggin’ Wagon”
When I was in high school my grandfather gifted me a PT for my birthday so I didn’t have to keep borrowing my dad’s car. It was a white one with wood paneling complete with spinners. As lame as that car sounds, I was just super grateful to have a car of my own, plus the looks people would give me were priceless.
When I still had the spinners on them (I didn’t want to hurt my grandpa’s feelings by taking them off) people would actually point and laugh at my car, which made me laugh in return. My friends deemed it the shaggin’ wagon because it’s lameness was almost awesome in a way.
4. Passed down like an heirloom…
One of my friends got his from his recently deceased grandmother.
This is probably the case 50% of the time.
5. It’s becoming a trend
My grandma died, and we inherited it.
6. Nice one
I wanted a convertible that looked like a bathtub on wheels when the top was down.
7. Plot twist: they really wanted to get rid of the PT Cruiser
I bought an old Mazda from a small used car dealer when I was in my early 20s. The Mazda ended up being a lemon and literally needed an entirely new engine so instead of giving me my money back, they offered up a sweet PT Cruiser at well below retail. How could I say no? I had it for a couple years and then got rid of it. It wasn’t that bad. Ok it was.
8. The earth was flooded to get rid of this one car…
When I got my first job my parents were so happy that they offered to help me buy a used car. The PT Cruiser was the cheapest on the lot – but in really good shape. I had it for 8 years- lost it in a flood (Sandy). It was a good car and was an embarrassing car but it was paid off and always reminded me of how kind and happy my parents were when they helped me get it.
9. This one is adorable
Mine was gifted to me by my grandparents. It wasn’t my birthday and they didn’t already own it. It was used, 2 years old. I had no idea I was getting a car. Me and my mom had been sharing her 10 year old minivan. One day I was at their house and Papa walked me to the garage and opened the door. I flipped out, cried, thanked him profusely.
I was a 17-year-old girl, I had no idea that there was a stigma behind them, I thought, and still think it’s a very cute car and it hasn’t given me any sort of mechanical trouble yet, it’s a 2009. I’m extremely grateful to have him. His name is Perry.
10. We’re sorry, you won the grand prize
Won the stupid Showcase Showdown.
11. For shame, for shame
Confession time: When I was little, the PT Cruiser was my dream car…I had posters everywhere and everything, the dark purple with flames, I had probably ten miniature PT Cruisers of all shapes and sizes…I still cringe.
12. You don’t want your co-workers to call it that
My mother owned her PT Cruiser for about six months before selling the thing. She was so excited to own a sleek new car until she found out it was a piece of shit. Her’s was a brown-ish color, and her co-workers called it the penis-mobile.
13. “There must be a support group for this”
I thought it would be funny. People would be like haha look at that loser driving that stupid friggin car and then I’d get out and they’d be like nevermind that’s a pretty cool guy. Nobody says that. They just laugh. I haven’t got laid in a long time. I hate everything. I hope it explodes while I’m driving it
14. Best part: Cops won’t stop you
I don’t just have one, I have a wood paneled one.
I thought it was funny just how fucking tacky it was.
I make six figures but drive a 14 year old PT cruiser. I bought it with cash and my insurance is like 40 bucks a month. Now I’m just driving it until it dies. I also live in not the greatest town and it’s perfect white trash camouflage.
15. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
It complemented my fedora.
16. A Christmas miracle!
My grandma bought my aunts PT Cruiser from her to give to my mom and dad since their car had died and they couldn’t afford a new one. We called it the PT Pooper. It died in the middle of the high way around Christmas last year.
17. It surprised me that there’s a club for PT Cruiser owners
My father had a friend who was part of a club–an actual club for these cars–and we bought one. We decorated it patriotic-style and put it in shows. I now have inherited it. It fails to shut down after 14 years. I am content with it.
18. Driving with your head down
I’m a-37 year-old dad who drives a 2004 Purple PT cruiser with a Hello Kitty metal decal on the back. I’ve pushed through the depression, and now I’m in the “enjoying the irony” phase.
My last car was a BMW X3.
The 2008 economy happened. I inherited my little sister’s car when she moved to Brooklyn.
I feel like I’ve paid my karmic penance 5X over and I deserve something better, now.
19. Fuckin’ badass
20. No fucking options?
So, I had this fucking 2002 Ford Taurus. This was around 2006, and the car was not so old. It only had 30k miles on it. I got it for a steal, from a dealership, who said they had run a full inspection. No problems. No issues. All 674 inspection points good. I paid cash, and drove home.
Fast forward 4 months. I move out of state to take a new job. Driving the fucking Ford. Things seem good. Going over the smoky mountains, when the car starts to overheat. Early spring, cold outside, I was a bit surprised the car was overheating. Pulled over. Popped hood. No fluid. Not one fucking drop. Oh well, pour in water and did the only thing I could do. Kept driving.
Fast forward two more weeks. Driving to my new job. Excited. Life going well. Blew through all of my money moving, but I know I made the right decision. Suddenly, there is this loud exploding sound. A bit of smoke. A fuck ton of smoke. Maybe a little fire, maybe not. Hard to tell through all the goddamn smoke.
Pull over. Pop Hood. Almost die from the heat and smoke and maybe fire. Now I am no mechanic. Not by a mile. However, I look down, and notice a huge fucking hole in my engine. I mean, like, a real-full on-fucking-hole. Long story short, my thermostat was blown, no way to know, head had been blown, car was way over heating, but no way to really tell because of bad thermostat. The engine got so hot the spark plugs exploded out of the engine. That was the huge hole. Cracked the block too. All the pistons locked. Bad fucking news.
So, and I swear this is all coming together, I just moved for a new job that I now might lose because I can no longer drive to said job. Fucked. I am so fucked. Go to a dealership. I don’t want a used car again. Really I don’t. However, my credit is not old enough to qualify for a full loan yet.
“However!”, this weasly little fuck tells me, “the dealership might be able to work something out.” I ask what he is on about.
“what are you on about?”
“Well we would be willing to extend you credit from our institution, but our selection is limited.”
“Why?”
“They are used cars that were traded in for, but we can’t move them. We make more through selling and financing them than whole-selling them.”
Three cars to choose from. A black PT. A Silver PT. A White PT. Swear to God. No options.
I have been driving it since 2007, no regrets. No problems. Paid it off quite awhile ago. The only bad part is that I am a high school teacher in an automotive academy, and my kids give me unbelievable amounts of shit for it.
21. Nice one
Mine is actually a prescription PT Cruiser. I have a condition known as Hyper-Fertility, which means my sperm are so fertile, they can actually damage a women’s internal organs. Doctor’s prescribe PT Cruisers to hyper-fertiles like me, so all women are repelled, and there’s no danger of temptation.
22. Even when she’s asleep, she knows
My girlfriend talks in her sleep. I’m a light sleeper, so everytime she talks I wake up. She’s always in that sort of twilight state where she will say something, I can reply, and she’ll answer.
So one night she says “They are horrible, I hate them.” I said “What’s horrible?” She replied “PT Cruisers,” and went back to sleep without saying anything else.
23. Damn, that’s harsh
My mom’s neighbor has owned multiple, let me repeat that, MULTIPLE PT cruisers. She gets a new one when she pays off the old one. Her husband worked for Chrysler, so they get a hell of a discount on pretty much anything they want and she refuses to get anything different.
I honestly have no idea if they still make them, but a brand new one, without fail, appears every five years.
I can only assume they simply materialize as some form of punishment for past wrongdoings. Like she sees it in her garage in the morning, hangs her head and says, “I thought I really got my shit together this year.”
24. People think PT Cruiser drivers are pushovers
I was in a 3 car accident. I had a PT Cruiser rental for two weeks. People wouldn’t let me merge.