Mazda3 Hatchback vs. PT Cruiser?

[kramerica]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum but I hope you guys can help me out a bit. I'm in the market for a new hatchback, and I've pretty much narrowed my search to the Mazda3 Hatchback (5 speed manual) or a PT Cruiser Touring Edition (5 speed manual). I can get either at about the same price, around $16,500... even though the sticker price on the Mazda is about $18000, and the sticker price on the PT is about $22,500. It seems that the PT is a much better deal in this sense, but I'm wondering whether you guys could chime in a little bit as far as a comparison between the two cars, I could use a little advice...

Thanks,

- Lance

 

[tonkabui]

drive the PT first. then drive the mazda3. if you choose the PT cruiser, i'll eat tripe for dinner.

 

[razorblade kiss]

Yeah seriously. Drive both, you will pick the MZ3. If you don't, then I will eat the tripe that my man tonkabui pukes up.

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[tonkabui]

then i will snort the repuked tripe through my nose. here's a quick run down: the PT CRUISER IS A NEON! the seats are uncomfortable, the driving position is awkward, the steering feels numb and unresponsive, and the handling of the car is just god awful. and visibility is poor-- mind as well drive with no back windows at all. i rented a PT for three days once. it was a HUGE mistake.

 

[Tonys3]

then i will snort the repuked tripe through my nose. here's a quick run down: the PT CRUISER IS A NEON! the seats are uncomfortable, the driving position is awkward, the steering feels numb and unresponsive, and the handling of the car is just god awful. and visibility is poor-- mind as well drive with no back windows at all. i rented a PT for three days once. it was a HUGE mistake.

Hold On ! save some of that repuked tripe for me !!!!

 

[CHICO2003]

you guys with the anti-neon thing... kind've funny!!! most of us have PROTEGES which are very similar to a neon in many respects. Granted, they're superior, but not by the margin many of us like to think! Afterall, it's still an economy car!!

As far as choosing between the two... My vote is definitely for the Mazda but I an see some advantages of the PT. For example, if you get the GT model, you're getting one badass vehicle! It's essentially the SRT-4... more or less. I also like the fact that there's a convertible option. Though I'd doubt I'd ever go with that, it's cool to know it's available if you want it. I'm guessing there's a lot more cargo room in the PT not to mention the styling is a bit more... let's just say, love it or hate it. (whereas the mazda's definitely a more mainstream and better looking car... to most at least)

Anyway, asking a bunch of Mazda fanatics which car they prefer is sort've like askin a chicano whether he prefers women with big round bootys over flat ones. There's gonna be some bias there!!! though the 3 IS a superior car... you definitely should look at all the angles first and not simply go by how many guys say "neons suck" on a mazda message board. L8R

 

[ddogg777]

I can give a non biased opinion. I drove the PT for a couple days before I even new the Protege5 existed (what I currently have). The PT was so LAME! There was nothing I liked about it, nothing!

 

[Da 6]

you are better off geting the Neon R/T unless you like the neon station waggon...I had fun with my neon but I just don't like the PT at all. drive both and then decide (Open and shut case )

 

[tonkabui]

you guys with the anti-neon thing... kind've funny!!! most of us have PROTEGES which are very similar to a neon in many respects. Granted, they're superior, but not by the margin many of us like to think! Afterall, it's still an economy car!!

As far as choosing between the two... My vote is definitely for the Mazda but I an see some advantages of the PT. For example, if you get the GT model, you're getting one badass vehicle! It's essentially the SRT-4... more or less. I also like the fact that there's a convertible option. Though I'd doubt I'd ever go with that, it's cool to know it's available if you want it. I'm guessing there's a lot more cargo room in the PT not to mention the styling is a bit more... let's just say, love it or hate it. (whereas the mazda's definitely a more mainstream and better looking car... to most at least)

Anyway, asking a bunch of Mazda fanatics which car they prefer is sort've like askin a chicano whether he prefers women with big round bootys over flat ones. There's gonna be some bias there!!! though the 3 IS a superior car... you definitely should look at all the angles first and not simply go by how many guys say "neons suck" on a mazda message board. L8R

wow, have you ever sat in a neon? i rented a neon with my gf this one time, and even for a car with only 4K miles on it, the interior rattled like mad. the back windows are cranks. the back seat feels worse than southwest airline seats. and handling on the rental sucked balls. perhaps the R/T version is better. can't see out the back, either. the butt sticks up in the air.

as for the PT cruiser, you pay for the nostalgic value. the GT can hit 60 in 7 seconds stock. that's with a bigass turbo. the back seat is as uncomfortable as the neon's. the steering is buick-like in comparison to the protege. think of it like driving an dodge intrepid vs. a bmw. now shrink it down to the economy size.

and unless you get the GT, expect the car to be a dog... 0-60 comes in about 10 seconds.

 

[kramerica]

Thanks!

thanks for the advice guys - I actually hadn't had the chance to drive the PT with a 5-speed yet, because they had it on a lot out of town, so I had no real way to compare the two cars. Looks like if the dealer in town can get a hold of a Mazda3 hatch with the right options for me, I think I'll go with that... quick question - I'm looking for the hatch and the only option as the Side airbag/ABS package...the prices I've been quoted have hovered around $400 under invoice for the Mazda... is this about on par with your experiences?

 

[RonH]

I really can give you an unbiased opinion because I own both a PT Cruiser and a Mazda 5 door.
Don't believe that old, worn out lie that the PT Cruiser is a Neon, because it's not. When DaimlerChrysler built the Pronto it was on a Neon Platform. But, when the Pt Cruiser came out it has it's own platform. The wheel base is different, the suspension is different and the 2 cars only share 17% parts, and most of them are bolts, screws and knobs. The Cruiser uses the base engine from the Mopar mini vans, 2.4L. The Neon has a 2.0L. Now the Neon SRT-4 does use the Cruiser 2.4L turbo. That Neon is using Cruiser parts (drive train) not the other way around.

I've owned my Cruiser for over 2 years and love it. Yes it's not a hotrod, it's a cruiser as the name says. The Touring Model you're looking at also has a turbo but only 180HP vs 215hp for the GT. I personally like the Cruiser for it's comfort and the way it looks since I was around when there were still a lot of fat fender cars still on the road. It weighs 3200lbs and rides much smoother than the MZ3 of mine. It also can carry a lot more stuff if that's what you need it for. I know of a guy who carried a 30" stainless steel stove in his Cruiser from the store. The Cruiser also has a superior A/C than the MZ3.

Now back to the Mazda. I've owned my MZ3 Hatchback since 2/7 and love it also. It handles better, gets better gas mileage, stops better, is faster and more fun to drive than my Cruiser. I've seen more PT Cruiser hatred on Mazda sites than I ever ran across on the many ZX2 sites I visit. The PT Cruiser is a hate/love car. There are over a half million Cruisers on the road world wide, so there must be something good about it to have that many fans. There is almost a cult following for the Cruiser, almost like the Harley Davidson cult. There are 16 to 60 year olds driving it but most are older people like myself.

Drive both cars and make up your mind which one is for you. I drive both of my cars an equal amount of time and as I said earlier, I love them both.

 

[Replica]

The Turbo'ed PT still runs a 15.9....yuck.

 

[MazdaDryvr]

Never cared for the PT, I don't hate em, just wouldnt buy one.

 

[Kain]

You know, not everyone cares about 1/4 times or lateral grip. If he wants a classic-looking highway cruiser, then the PT is a good buy. The 3 is more sporty. Myself, I would buy the 3 because it suits me better.

 

[razorblade kiss]

Hey guys I have a question. Should I snort bleach through a straw, or eat a hot juicy steak with A1 sauce?

 

[Kain]

If you even think about adding sauce to a steak, then you should snort bleach through a straw.

A real steak doesn't need sauce.

 

[Da 6]

could have sworn the pt neon and the srt-4 was PL platform....pt and srt have same wheel specs but n/a neon differs on that......all the rims are 6 inches wide as well (Chrysler Trademark) And yes the Mexican Plant Built Mercedes 2.4L Turbo I engine is shared by the 1st gen SRT-4(2nd gen neon). Either way even dealers say the pt is basicly a neon hatch.....unless you can provide some other documentation that the PT won't run the N/A neon and PT Turbo won't run the TC Neon (SRT-4).....back to topic...I'd get a 3 all the way cause there isn't as bad of an issue of massive oil draining from pcv valve into intake mani(Chrysler won't claim that mistake. or the cylinder walls 1 and 4 needing to be revised under march 2003 guilds notes...(they made a revised head and pistons for that fix) Basicly if you went in for service mazda will fix it right the 1st time where chrysler won't fix it till the warrenty period is up for good.

 

[razorblade kiss]

If you even think about adding sauce to a steak, then you should snort bleach through a straw.

A real steak doesn't need sauce.

But I suck at cooking steak, so I use sauce to mask my horriblecookingness. lol. Once I had a steak cooked medium at a nice restraunt near me, and the thing tasted like sex. A mazda 3 steak would taste like sex also. But a PT Cruiser steak would taste like swamp ass, crotch rot.

 

[RonH]

could have sworn the pt neon and the srt-4 was PL platform....pt and srt have same wheel specs but n/a neon differs on that......all the rims are 6 inches wide as well (Chrysler Trademark) And yes the Mexican Plant Built Mercedes 2.4L Turbo I engine is shared by the 1st gen SRT-4(2nd gen neon). Either way even dealers say the pt is basicly a neon hatch.....unless you can provide some other documentation that the PT won't run the N/A neon and PT Turbo won't run the TC Neon (SRT-4).....back to topic...I'd get a 3 all the way cause there isn't as bad of an issue of massive oil draining from pcv valve into intake mani(Chrysler won't claim that mistake. or the cylinder walls 1 and 4 needing to be revised under march 2003 guilds notes...(they made a revised head and pistons for that fix) Basicly if you went in for service mazda will fix it right the 1st time where chrysler won't fix it till the warrenty period is up for good.

I can't provide any documentation but have followed the rumor for 2 1/2 years of owning the Cruiser. The concept was the Pronto and they used a Neon platform. The Pronto was a 3 door. After they decided to build it, they found the Neon platform wouldn't work. They couldn't get the rear Watts linkage suspension to work with the neon platform so had to develop a different one for the Cruiser. They wanted to get the rear shock towers out the rear for a wider opening. I believe the front suspension's are the same, but not positive. The wheel base is 2" (Cruiser 103" and Neon 105") difference, the Cruiser is 4 inches shorter than the Neon. Now I don't know about the SRT-4 Neon's platform. They both are to get new platforms based on a Mitsubishi future platform.

 

[Da 6]

I can't provide any documentation but have followed the rumor for 2 1/2 years of owning the Cruiser. The concept was the Pronto and they used a Neon platform. The Pronto was a 3 door. After they decided to build it, they found the Neon platform wouldn't work. They couldn't get the rear Watts linkage suspension to work with the neon platform so had to develop a different one for the Cruiser. They wanted to get the rear shock towers out the rear for a wider opening. I believe the front suspension's are the same, but not positive. The wheel base is 2" (Cruiser 103" and Neon 105") difference, the Cruiser is 4 inches shorter than the Neon. Now I don't know about the SRT-4 Neon's platform. They both are to get new platforms based on a Mitsubishi future platform.

You are refering to the 2006 neon replacement.....yeah that looks to be a chrysler/hyundai joint project.....mits is going under and chrysler said F' Em and sold their shares (Beleved to be 32% IIRC) so maybe they might keep the 2 door lancer idea or something else...yep srt is pl...every part can and will fit a neon. the 2.4 is also going into the slingshot....and neon is supose to branch off to be a suv... Back to original topic.....test drive them both since thats a BIG factor on making a decision.