Front end Problems
 

Hey, what is up?
I would like to first off say hello to everyone since I am new to the board. I have been checking out the boards and this seems like a very cool place.

Well first off, I Just bought a 2003 PT cruiser-touring edition on Dec 4 this year, so I am new to the PT cruiser world since it is my first one. It is from a reputable dealer with a very nice warranty.

A day after driving the vehicle off the lot, I observed the vehicle making very weird movements while driving the vehicle under normal conditions. Such as, what some would call bump steer, any bump in the road and any pavement indifferences would cause the PT to feel as if it was steering itself. It seemed very dangerous especially since it has been snowing. When I would drive through a patch of ice, snow, or slush it feels as if I am on a pair of skates and the car pulls from side to side, so I am usually white knuckled behind the wheel. I can drive a 1968 Camaro down a snow covered road at a pretty good rate of speed with no problems, and I have drove plenty of front wheel drive cars through the snow with no problems what so ever. Therefore, I am thinking that there is something wrong.

Therefore, I called the dealer and brought it in and, they said that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. Therefore, I went on to tell them that I thought that struts needed replaced and they said that they were fine. Therefore, I took the mechanic out to my cruiser and pushed up and down on the front end of the cruiser; it bounced very easily, and continued bouncing a few more times after I stopped pushing on it. Therefore, we both agreed that the struts were indeed bad. So they scheduled me for an appointment but it took them 3 weeks to get it in.

Therefore, during this time I took the PT to a reputable tire place to have 2 new tires put on since I did not have enough money to buy 4 tires yet. Therefore, the salesperson said that they have to put the new tires on the back because the better tires had to be on the back of the vehicle per policy. In case of an accident where, if I was to slam on the brakes, the rear-end could come around on me. Anyway, he said the old back tires where still decent and used them on the front, but suggested to get new tires as soon as possible.

So the dealer put the struts on free of charge. I was surprised about that, but they said that it still might not drive right since they did not think anything was wrong with it.

Therefore, we drive away and it still drives the same as far as bad bump steer problems. It seems be somewhat worse now since the front end is much tighter with the new struts. The struts are good now though, I can barley push the front end up and down now.

But since then, and a couple days before I was going to get 2 more tires, and a 4 wheel alignment. I crashed into the back end of my own van parked in my driveway after we got 4 inches of snow over night. I could not steer out of the way of it so I slammed on the brakes so it would be as slow as possible, and I hit it OMG WTF! Yeah

Well I drove it to the collision center and it is about $1,500 damage so it is not bad at all, I hit it doing about 5 miles an hour or less, but I hit the front driver fender right against the wheel and that is all cosmetic. Estimator said it is very little damage at all. However, I could not seem to steer out of the way, and I drive that same way every day without any problems? This is the third time we have had over 4 inches in the last month.

The collision center calls me back and said that they could not find anything wrong with the alignment, but the 2 front tires are completely toe in (completely bald on the inside both of them) And I can’t drive it like that. How in world would both tires be toe in if nothing is wrong? The tire's looked fine just a week ago after getting them put on there from the back end from a reputable tire dealer. I don’t think the tire guy would put them on there that in that condition. I know because, I looked at them before we agreed to buy the new tires I put on the back, and they looked fine.

The car dealer is also saying they would not sell a car with bad tires on it.

Therefore, what could be wrong?
I have not picked it up from the collision center yet well it’s not ready yet.

But don’t know what to do should I buy 2 decent used tires to put on the front just to see if it wears them out?

I think the dealer should pay my deductible and fix whets wrong and buy me two new tires.

Any comments are greatly appreciated.
Thanks James

Did they look at the lower control arms? They have a problem with the rubber splitting away from the mounts.

Found out that it was way out of whack on the alignment. After they alligned it she drove pretty good even with the bad tires. Now she has some new shoes she drives like a dream. A-1

Well now......How about the same deal for your "OH SO REPUTABLE" tire guy???? Who put tires on your car, but couldnt figure out why they were worn that way....

The tires were not worn like that when I had the new tires put on the back. So the tire guy had no idea the tires were wearing out like that. I took it to the tire place like 2-3 days after I drove it off the lot. So the tires did not have time to wear out yet, I think the dealer put old used tires on it to sell it because the tires were not that great but they were not toe in. It only took about 3 weeks of me driving of an average of about 50 miles a day for them to be toe in. So I think the dealer knew of the problem before selling me the car.

I have one like that! Rotated tires,replaced both control arms,sway bar links and outer tie rods! Then had an alignment done! Still drives like crap! Get on a little uneven pavement and it darts across the road! One motor mount too!

I`m tired of PT cruisers,trying to fix it for my nephew all the parts I`ve put on it and it still drives like ****! Doesn`t seem to be anyone her that has solution either! Never be another one in my shop!!!!