2004 PT Cruiser GT Turbo

by Kenny
(Diamond Bar,CA)

Question: I'm planning on buying a 2004 PT Cruiser GT Turbo that has only 5000 miles on it. The problem is since the car is pretty much new that the seller has not done any service, nor an oil change since it was new in 2004.

Will it affect the engine and transmission since it has never had any service before? The car simply sat in the garage for over 6 yrs. The seller only drove it on the weekend around the block to warm the engine up.

Please advise whether I should buy it or not. The car seems like it is in perfect condition. The only concern is I'm taking a chance. What is the chance the engine and transmission might go bad?




Answer: Hi Kenny. Wow, 5000 miles on an '04! That's pretty rare that you find a car (that's not a high end luxury car) that's got less than 1000 miles per year on it.

I don't think you'd have to worry about the engine or transmission going bad on this car as there are just too few miles to have done any major damage. You'd almost have to drive it with no oil in it for 5000 miles before you could blow the engine (little bit of an extreme analogy, but I think you get the point).

As for the transmission, those rarely need to be serviced and in fact, in newer cars these days the transmission is sealed and doesn't need to be serviced.

What I'd suggest you do is to take the car to a certified mechanic and pay the $50-$75 it costs to have an inspection done. Preferably a Chrysler dealer.

If you do end up buying the car, I'd say that one of the first things you should do is have the oil changed as this should be done every 3000 miles or 3 months to 5000 miles or 5 months (depends on manufacturers recommendations).

You could have found a real steal of a deal here, but do not skip the mechanic inspection step I mentioned above. Cars that sit for long periods of time can run into other problems, just from sitting so long.

Hope this helps,
Justin