2008 Chrysler PT Cruiser Problems

What owners report

Owners of this model year most often describe electrical symptoms: the dashboard lights flash, gauges drop or bounce, and the car sometimes stalls or shuts off, often with no stored codes and no clear diagnosis. A second cluster of complaints concerns air bag warning lights and, in several cases, air bags that did not deploy in a crash. Reports span a wide mileage range, from under 20,000 to over 150,000 miles.

1. 1
   Electrical system

   Dash lights flash, gauges drop, engine stalls or shuts off

   • 40 complaints (35%)
   • median 54,600 mi at 6.0 yrs old (35 state mileage)
   • 1 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2008–2023

   Owners describe warning lights across the instrument panel lighting up, gauges dropping to zero or bouncing, and the engine faltering or cutting out, sometimes while driving at highway speed. Several report that the car restarts after a moment and then repeats the same behavior later. Complaints say dealers and independent shops often found no error codes and could not reproduce or diagnose the fault; some describe an instrument cluster replacement that did not stop it. Reported from roughly 42,000 to 106,000 miles in the sample, at various speeds and with no clear weather pattern.

   2 related service bulletins

   What to check: Test drive at highway speed and watch the cluster and gauges; ask the seller whether the ignition switch, battery cables and grounds have been checked or replaced. A pre-purchase scan for stored codes is worth doing, though complaints note codes are often absent.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “When driving the car, dashboard lights start flickering, gauges start bouncing. Sometimes this is all that happens, other times it's as if the car stalls as I have no acceleration. A couple of times, the engine has shut itself off. In researching this online, I find dozens and dozens of instances of this same thing happening with pt cruisers.”

   NHTSA complaint #10548320, filed 2013-10, 75,000 miles

   “This has happened about 3-4 times while driving and at starting the car..lights start flashing and bells ring on the dash indicating trouble with the steering control, seat belts, oil, etc...the engine has not died yet, but now that I have read that this appears to be a happening to a lot of cars I am leary of taking the car a long distance. I have not made a complaint to the dealer , but intend to do so this week..my car only has 42,000 miles.”

   NHTSA complaint #10713271, filed 2015-04, 42,000 miles
2. 2
   Air bags

   Air bag warning light stays on or air bags fail to deploy

   • 27 complaints (23%)
   • median 72,000 mi at 7.5 yrs old (21 state mileage)
   • 10 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2009–2020

   Owners report the air bag warning light and chime coming on and staying on, sometimes with no one in the passenger seat. Some complaints describe air bags that did not deploy in front-end collisions, and a few describe spontaneous deployment at very low speed. Where a dealer diagnosis is mentioned, owners were told a seat belt buckle or occupant sensor code was set and that parts were on backorder; others were told to contact the manufacturer. Spread from about 43,000 to 172,000 miles, including several crashes at moderate speeds.

   2 related service bulletins

   What to check: Turn the key to on and confirm the air bag light does not stay lit, and check that the passenger air bag indicator responds to weight in the seat. Ask whether any seat belt buckle or occupant sensor work has been done.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “On april 8th, this year, I was in an auto accident in my 2008 Chrysler Pt Cruiser and broke my back; there is a chance I may not be able to work as a hospital inpatient nurse ever again because I have to be able to lift 100 pounds. My 6 air bags did not deploy and my seat belt malfunctioned (it lengthened during the flipping of the car) allowing my body to turn around, facing the rear, and crushed my spine against the steering wheel. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10273235, filed 2009-06, 10,147 miles

   “At 10:15am on thursday, 8/14/2014, the driver side front airbag spontaneously deployed while I was traveling <5mph pulling into a parking space. The vehicle has never been in any kind of accident nor has sustained any other damage, including from potholes (my family took original delivery of the vehicle in 2008). The local Chrysler dealership declined to look at the vehicle, and instead provided a phone number for the Chrysler customer assistance center (ccac). …”

   NHTSA complaint #10659773, filed 2014-11, 57,841 miles
3. 3
   Engine

   Stalling, jerking and power loss while driving

   • 35 complaints (30%)
   • median 71,000 mi at 6.3 yrs old (33 state mileage)
   • 3 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2009–2023

   Owners describe the car jerking, hesitating or stalling at speed, sometimes with lost power steering and braking once the engine quits. Several note rough idling and that the vehicle would not reliably accelerate. Complaints mention dealers performing a PCM flash or replacing the PCM/TCM without a firm guarantee the fault was resolved. Mostly reported between about 88,000 and 150,000 miles in the sample, at highway and in-town speeds.

   6 related service bulletins

   What to check: Drive the car long enough to reach highway speed and watch for hesitation or stutter, and ask whether any PCM software updates have been applied. A compression or misfire check on a high-mileage example is reasonable.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “The car tends to stall when driving in excess of 50, it will jerk a couple of times before going forward. It has been doing this for two weeks, I bought this car about a month ago. When going online to see if others were having this problem, I found it to be a common problem with people seeking and trying all types of solutions. Even taking the car back to the dealership and still having the same stall and rough idling. It appears to be a defect in the manufacturing.”

   NHTSA complaint #10472115, filed 2012-08, 133,450 miles

   “My 2008 Pt Cruiser has a bad #3 valve. I had the car tuned up due to a misfire code of the #3 valve. After driving for two days with new spark plugs and wires, the car idled rough and the same code for #3 misfire valve came up on the dash. My mechanic checked the pressure in the valve and #1,2, & 4 had a pressure of 175 with # 3 having pressure of 110. My car only has 77,135 miles on it. I found another complaint with the same valve on the same year and their car only had 38000. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10404574, filed 2011-06, 77,135 miles
4. 4
   Transmission and drivetrain

   Transmission rough shifting or not engaging, shift problems

   • 15 complaints (13%)
   • median 56,000 mi at 6.9 yrs old (13 state mileage)
   • 2 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2009–2018

   Complaints describe the transmission refusing to shift into higher gears at highway speed, holding high rpm, and loss of power on inclines. Some owners report hard shifting, a knocking noise, or a broken shift selector cable that left the car unable to move. Where dealers are mentioned, a software flash or module replacement was suggested, in one case with the cost quoted to the owner. Reported from about 35,000 up to 147,000 miles; one owner linked hard shifting to hot weather above 100 degrees.

   4 related service bulletins

   What to check: Test all gear changes cold and warm, including a highway upshift, and ask about transmission fluid service history and any control module flash. Check that the shifter moves cleanly through every position.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “Have a 2008 Pt Cruiser. I had a issue with transmission. I was told by mechanic that there is a alert that the car needs a computer software update ($150). Car is shaking. Was told that this happens to all the Pt Cruiser that several bushing around the engine very fast wear out. Passenger window sometimes does not go all the way up. These are safety issue that Chrysler knows about but do not do anything. It is not like battery or tire that wear out. Do they want to people get injured or die before they do anything?”

   NHTSA complaint #10389678, filed 2011-03, 56,000 miles

   “The clutch started to make it hard to shift the transmission. This is arizona so it starts to warm up to about 100 degrees around this time (end of april). This then occurred again in 2011 and 2012 from april to the end of october (when it starts to cool off below 100 degrees). Every year it has become progressively worse and today it is almost impossible to shift. There should be a recall since this an ongoing issue with all warm weather located pt's.”

   NHTSA complaint #10509985, filed 2013-04, 30,000 miles

Buying note. A pre-purchase inspection focused on the electrical system, including a code scan, a highway test drive and a check of the air bag and lock functions, would cover the areas owners report most. Service records showing recent battery, cable and ignition work help, since many complaints describe faults that were hard for shops to reproduce or diagnose.

Summary written with AI from a sample of 60 NHTSA complaints for this model year (picked at random, with complaints that state a mileage and recent ones taken first), then checked automatically against the source records. Where a problem shows a complaint count, every complaint for this model year was matched with fixed keyword rules (written with AI and tested against the sample), and the mileage, age and repair figures are calculated from those complaints; owners' figures are as stated, not verified. Other counts refer to the sample. The excerpts come from NHTSA's public complaint records and are unverified; capitalisation is normalised, NHTSA staff notes are removed, and shortened text ends with “…”. Something wrong? Request a correction.