What year PT Cruiser would make the best used car?

[RF]

I want to buy a PT Cruiser, and wonder if anyone knows about the maintenance track record for the last few years. I think the earliest I'd want to go is 2004, since I plan to keep the car for a long time.

[sirjames]

the first year is always going to be a little cheaper.

[deano]

who cares they are all safe and ugly

[meauxdie]

Cruisers look like the roaring twenties auto. When that style comes back - - as all styles usually do - - that would be a good time to sell.
As far as how long they last - - check out the junk yards. See how many you see there. Don't count the wrecked ones. If you see a lot of ones from the same year - - stay away.

[Gabriel S]

According to the Consumer Reports Buying Guide 2007, it looks like the best year is 2002 for the non turbo model. The other years have just average reliability, but the 2002 model is considered better than average overall. Brakes appear to be a problem across the board for most years.

I have a 2004 Touring Model that I bought last August. I absolutely love this car! As many as there are on the road, I had a guy three days ago stop and tell me how much he liked my car. It's comfortable and pretty inexpensive to maintain. Gas mileage is a little disappointing, but I only paid $7,200 for a Chrysler Certified PT with 34K on the odometer - I'm happy!

[mightyjuansolo]

2003 would be the earliest year model I would suggest. I leased a 2003 GT Turbo model and the little car whooped the regular model's rear. At the same time, my father purchased a 2002 Classic Edition and even while both cars were brand new, you could easily tell that the '03 models had a good number of refinements made to it. My GT had a much better ride, the doors felt sturdier, and the car in general just felt better built.
The rear brake issue is something I'm not to familiar with only because the GT comes with 4wheel disc brakes, and they were never a problem (trust me, I was more than a bit rough on my GT) however my father's rear drum brakes started making horrible grinding sounds when that car was just two years old and they've continued ever since.
Since then I've updated and leased an '06 GT High Output Turbo (230hp) and I'm loving the car. I've had it for a year now and I have no complaints whatsoever.
In the end, if you can afford it, I would recommend any year GT model (they start at '03) simply for the power and the fact that the car as a whole seems more refined than the other models. Gas mileage is a bit worse than the regular GT...unless you stand on the accelerator like I usually do which means you'll be burning gas like a you've got a small V6 under the hood.
Content provided by Yahoo Answers.

[haree]

Yes the first year was just the cheaper and rather than the first year I believe all the year going toward the recession,,