Slashdot PT Cruiser Spotted In the Wild

At least it wasn't an Aztek by NFN_NLN · 2014-01-29 06:51 · Score: 2

PT Cruiser... that's one step up from the Pontiac Aztek at least.

Re:At least it wasn't an Aztek by ackthpt · 2014-01-29 07:15 · Score: 4, Insightful

PT Cruiser... that's one step up from the Pontiac Aztek at least.
Years back when I blew a heater hose on California 17, heading home from Santa Clara, I chatted with the tow truck driver. "Which cars do you tow the most?" "Oh, PT cruisers, I get a couple every day, they break down a lot." I'm sure they have the issues sorted by now, but tow truck drivers area great people to ask about what not to buy at the present.

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Re:At least it wasn't an Aztek by drainbramage · 2014-01-29 07:26 · Score: 2, Funny

I thought you were going to tell us about the time you blew a seal.
Or was that a walrus?

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No brain, no pain.
Re:At least it wasn't an Aztek by tompaulco · 2014-01-29 07:50 · Score: 1

Well, of course, PT Cruisers come free with three boxtops from Cheerios, so there probably would be rather a lot of them getting towed. You would have to compare the relative frequency with the number of that vehicle out there.

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Re:At least it wasn't an Aztek by SpzToid · 2014-01-29 08:17 · Score: 2

Babe Magnet Deluxe if ever I saw one!

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Re:At least it wasn't an Aztek by Rob+the+Bold · 2014-01-29 08:19 · Score: 2

I thought you were going to tell us about the time you blew a seal. Or was that a walrus?
Just fix the damn thing and leave his private life outta this, OK, Pal?

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I am not a crackpot.
Re:At least it wasn't an Aztek by Rob+the+Bold · 2014-01-29 08:34 · Score: 1

PT Cruiser... that's one step up from the Pontiac Aztek at least.
The Aztek: what happens when a Grand Prix gets crushed by a falling Sunfire.

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I am not a crackpot.
Re:At least it wasn't an Aztek by ttucker · 2014-01-29 08:40 · Score: 1

What other car comes with a center console that is also a removable cooler?!?
Re:At least it wasn't an Aztek by sgrover · 2014-01-29 09:07 · Score: 1

I was told something similar about Ford/Mercury Sables a few years back. I think it has a lot to do with how many of the cars were sold in a given year, and how long that model can expect before a break down. If there were a LOT of PT Cruisers sold in a given year, and we could expect a 5 year average (for example) before a significant malfunction, then in that 5th year tow truck drivers would see a significant number of PT Cruisers on their hoists - regardless of the quality of the vehicle.
Re:At least it wasn't an Aztek by Guy+Harris · 2014-01-29 09:17 · Score: 2

I thought you were going to tell us about the time you blew a seal.
No, it was just ice cream.
Re:At least it wasn't an Aztek by coolmoose25 · 2014-01-29 09:54 · Score: 1

I bought a PT Cruiser for my daughter when she was in high school. It is a convertible. Her requirement was "convertible." It was by far the cheapest available. Bought it new for $17,500. It was the last one they had in Connecticut. Other than me breaking the seat belt buckle, which caused the airbag system to fail, and a crankcase sensor that needed to be replaced, it has been uber reliable and trouble free. Never stranded anyone, ever. Has 60,000 miles on it now, and have only done brakes, tires and oil changes. Maybe I got the only good one.

We call it the "Barbie Car" because it looks like one, especially when you drop the top and the roll bar sticks out like a barbie car handle. A friend said that every time he sees it, a little piece of him dies in side. It is a very maligned car. Yet it's basically a Neon with different side panels. And she won the category of "coolest car" in her high school year book. All in all, money well spent.

(and one more "perk"... it is a 2008 bought in 2009, right before Chrysler went belly up. So it has an unlimited powertrain warranty. I plan on keeping that car until the only thing that is left is the engine and transmission. Hopefully I'll bankrupt Chrysler with engine/transmission replacements through 2035)

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Re:At least it wasn't an Aztek by Darinbob · 2014-01-29 09:58 · Score: 1

You'll have to get him drunker than that to hear the story.
Re:At least it wasn't an Aztek by David_Hart · 2014-01-29 10:16 · Score: 1

PT Cruiser... that's one step up from the Pontiac Aztek at least.
Nope, a step down...
The Aztek was just ugly, much like the Nissan Cube, but was fairly reliable. The PT Cruiser, on the other hand, was the cheapest piece-o-cr4p. Shortly after they first came out, I rented one while in Florida for a day before we went on a cruise. It was like riding in a tin can.
Re:At least it wasn't an Aztek by ackthpt · 2014-01-29 12:12 · Score: 1

PT Cruiser... that's one step up from the Pontiac Aztek at least.
Nope, a step down...
The Aztek was just ugly, much like the Nissan Cube, but was fairly reliable. The PT Cruiser, on the other hand, was the cheapest piece-o-cr4p. Shortly after they first came out, I rented one while in Florida for a day before we went on a cruise. It was like riding in a tin can.
My assessment of the Fiat 500. People think they are 'cute'. They don't like to do 80, so not your best before any state with that limit on the highways. Noisy, too.

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A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Re:At least it wasn't an Aztek by toddestan · 2014-01-29 14:18 · Score: 1

Hey, at least the Aztek was trying to do something different, even if it didn't "click" with car buyers. I consider it a much more interesting vehicle than the boring, ugly, and utterly generic CUVs that now roam the streets.
Re:At least it wasn't an Aztek by mjwx · 2014-01-29 14:53 · Score: 1

I chatted with the tow truck driver. "Which cars do you tow the most?" "Oh, PT cruisers, I get a couple every day, they break down a lot."
I'd never touch a PT cruiser because they're ugly as sin. Lets ignore the pissweak engine.

But they're unreliable too.

I once saw a PT Cruiser Cabriolet, the one thing you can do to make the worlds ugliest car even uglier, is chop the roof off.

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Re:At least it wasn't an Aztek by ttucker · 2014-01-30 06:38 · Score: 1

It might not have been popular in the new market, but we never had a problem selling one in the used market. It was one of those vehicles before its time, and you really can see its influence in newer offerings.

So.... by AioKits · 2014-01-29 06:54 · Score: 1

... all units converge on Walnut Creek?

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Sadly I remember this by onyxruby · 2014-01-29 06:54 · Score: 1

Can we have a new contest to reimburse the owner and bury this sad memory once and for all? I nominate the Atari ET graveyard for a proper disposal facility myself.

Re:RIGHT ON!!!! by bob_super · 2014-01-29 06:57 · Score: 1

Draws crowds... who then run away when they see the new layout, saving them the realization that they can't understand half the headlines, let alone TFS, TFA, or any of the acronyms...

(not very low emissions, the PT cruiser has dreadful mileage for its size)

Not what Slashdot drives, but what drives Slashdot by jabberw0k · 2014-01-29 06:58 · Score: 3, Interesting

More importantly: Whatever happened to Slashcode, which is what [cue the In Soviet Russia jokes] drives Slashdot?The last version seems to date from nearly a decade ago now.

I see it now and then by crgrace · 2014-01-29 07:01 · Score: 2

I grew up close to Walnut Creek so I'm in the area periodically and I've seen the PT Cruiser now and then. I'm pretty sure it's green though. The picture makes it look blue!

I saw it in El Cerrito by linuxwrangler · 2014-01-29 07:05 · Score: 3, Informative

About a year ago: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9...

Like any good geek car, it was parked near a brewpub:
http://www.elevation66.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9...

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Re:I saw it in El Cerrito by Tablizer · 2014-01-29 10:22 · Score: 1

Naw, that's a dupe, a sloshdot tradition that extends to vehicles.

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Table-ized A.I.

Re:Not what Slashdot drives, but what drives Slash by cultiv8 · 2014-01-29 07:07 · Score: 1

If you disable AdBlock,there's a download now button in the right. *runs, ducks*

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Re:Not what Slashdot drives, but what drives Slash by game+kid · 2014-01-29 07:08 · Score: 1

But...that's...that's GPL!!! You want them to release code instead of making their new Beta version a handy proprietary Slashdot-only box!? Why, that's insane! That's heresy!

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Re:Ugly by lennier1 · 2014-01-29 07:10 · Score: 4, Informative

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F...

Re:Ugly by mendax · 2014-01-29 07:13 · Score: 1

The PT Cruiser is the ugliest vehicle ever made, hands down.

Then it's appropriate that my ex-wife got her purple PT Cruiser as part of the divorce settlement.

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Re:Ugly by SJHillman · 2014-01-29 07:15 · Score: 1

It's a pretty ugly vehicle, but there's some tough competition for "ever made". Even if you only count mass-produced cars.

http://www.edmunds.com/car-rev...

Re:Taco's twitter avatar pic by SJHillman · 2014-01-29 07:18 · Score: 1

So his face becomes the same color as the Slashdot PT Cruiser. Duh.

In Germany... by Quila · 2014-01-29 07:20 · Score: 4, Informative

You have the ADAC, the national automobile club. They have yellow cars and trucks running up and down the roads constantly, and in a breakdown you call them and get helped fairly fast. They publish a yearly list of the cars they have to rescue the most. It's more helpful than any other metric of reliability. It's like getting that tow truck driver advice from most of the tow truck drivers in the country at one time.

Re:In Germany... by Algae_94 · 2014-01-29 08:45 · Score: 2

It's also important to factor in the number of miles driven by each model of car. For example, if the data said car A broke down twice as much as car B, you would think car B is better. If car A was actually driven a combined mileage that was 10x car B's mileage, car A would have less break downs per mile driven.
Re:In Germany... by Quila · 2014-01-29 09:47 · Score: 1, Offtopic

None of those are among the most popular brands of car in Germany.
Re:In Germany... by Algae_94 · 2014-01-29 11:57 · Score: 1

I was under the assumption that posters on /. understood the concept of a variable. My mistake.
Re:In Germany... by mjwx · 2014-01-29 15:32 · Score: 1

It's also important to factor in the number of miles driven by each model of car. For example, if the data said car A broke down twice as much as car B, you would think car B is better. If car A was actually driven a combined mileage that was 10x car B's mileage, car A would have less break downs per mile driven.
One of the biggest myths in buying a car is that mileage matters.

Mileage is by no means an indication of reliablity. A car with more KM's on the clock may be more unreliable as a car with half the KM's because it's been looked after. The biggest indication when buying a used car for reliability is the service history. A car that is regularly serviced, gets parts replaced when needed, has had all the oil/brakes/belts changed on time is going to be more reliable than a car that hasn't but has half the K's on the odometer.

With models that have a good reputation for reliability (I.E. Honda Civic's, Toyota Corolla's) if you keep them serviced regularly, they'll happily run for over 600,000 KM on mostly original parts. The only things you'll end up having to replace will be things made of rubber (engine mounts, timing belt (which should get done every X thousand KM's as per manufacturer service schedules), aux belt, arm bushes and so forth) which are usually pretty cheap but after 12-15 years rubber does degrade.

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Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Re:In Germany... by Mr+Z · 2014-01-29 17:42 · Score: 1

Not just mileage, but also number of cars, and age at time of breakdown. If you have a bunch of 20 year old cars of Brand X dying along the side of the road, the fact they're 20 years old is more an endorsement than an indictment.

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Re:In Germany... by gentryx · 2014-02-08 09:01 · Score: 1

...or humor.

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PT Crapper by jvschwarz · 2014-01-29 08:04 · Score: 1

Ended up renting the PT Cruiser a couple of times, while on work trips, and hated them... they really should be called the PT Crapper.

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Re:PT Crapper by ttucker · 2014-01-29 08:41 · Score: 1

They have this motor mount that breaks all the time, and you can easily see it from the top of the engine. Only much later do you realize that it is a five hour job to change it. Most PT Cruisers have a lot of engine vibration...

At Walnut Creek? by Mikkeles · 2014-01-29 08:06 · Score: 3, Funny

So, is it used to cart CD-ROMs around?

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Re:At Walnut Creek? by Dogtanian · 2014-01-29 08:50 · Score: 1

At Walnut Creek? So, is it used to cart CD-ROMs around?
I'm sure I still have that purple Aminet CD kicking around somewhere...

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Re:At Walnut Creek? by gmhowell · 2014-02-10 15:59 · Score: 1

The sherrif is nearer.

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Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon

Re:Pre-Teen cruiser.. by larry+bagina · 2014-01-29 09:10 · Score: 1

Pre-Teen? I thought it was Potty Trained. Though, when I interned at the geek compound, piss/shit play seemed to be pretty popular.

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Do you even lift?

These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

Re:link? by larry+bagina · 2014-01-29 09:22 · Score: 1

I think trollaxor has the full story on his site. the short version is, Bendover.net (or maybe it was VA Lunix?) were going to have a contest and gave away the /. PT Cruiser. There was an incident at the geek compound, the car was impounded, the contest was canceled. For a while, anyone posted about it was hit with bitchslap.pl.

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Do you even lift?

These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

PT Cruiser? by sootman · 2014-01-29 09:26 · Score: 5, Funny

No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame.

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Re:Ugly by amicusNYCL · 2014-01-29 09:47 · Score: 4, Funny

Please put a warning when you're posting links like that, some of us are at work.

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Re:Ugly by Darinbob · 2014-01-29 10:02 · Score: 1

Anything by Scion should be in that list, especially the xB.

Oh yeah, I remember. by ShaunC · 2014-01-29 10:07 · Score: 1

It was hard to browse at -1 for awhile without seeing dozens upon dozens of

CRUISIN' FOR PRETEENS IN MY SLASHDOT PT CRUISER!

I thought I'd forgotten that particular troll.

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Re:Not what Slashdot drives, but what drives Slash by ShaunC · 2014-01-29 10:13 · Score: 1

Even if it was GPL ... Slashdot is a web application and doesn't redistribute code, yes? How does the GPL help?

Slashcode, the web application that runs Slashdot, is GPL'd and for awhile there were a lot of other websites running their own tweaked versions. There was a Japanese version, there was MacSlash, etc. You can still download Slashcode, install it on your own web server, and run your own discussion site with it.

I don't know if there are any sites still using the code, seeing as how it hasn't been updated in ages, and much newer options are available - for example Reddit's code is open source and you could use that instead.

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Re:Not what Slashdot drives, but what drives Slash by Lehk228 · 2014-01-29 10:46 · Score: 1

reddit's vote logic isn't very good, by allowing unlimited up and down voting it promotes groupthink and circlejerking far more than slashcode

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Re:Not what Slashdot drives, but what drives Slash by wiredlogic · 2014-01-29 12:28 · Score: 1

Moreover, I'm sure Dice owns the copyright on the source code so they don't have to comply with the GPL anyway.

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Re:Ugly by cusco · 2014-01-29 15:34 · Score: 1

AMC Gremlin

AMC Pacer

Almost anything else ever made by AMC . . .

Although I have to admit I never thought I'd see an uglier vehicle mass produced than the Gremlin, the Fiat 500 is probably the most hideous thing I've seen on the highway. Perfect car for Jennifer Lopez to hype.

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Westley (Princess Bride) put it best by TheSeatOfMyPants · 2014-01-29 16:54 · Score: 1

"Dear God, what is that thing?!"

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Re:Westley (Princess Bride) put it best by 91degrees · 2014-01-29 20:05 · Score: 2

It does have its fans. The fact that it has a huge amount of interior space for its size and removable rear seats makes it very practical, and its proponents seem to like its ugliness.

Re:Pre-Teen cruiser.. by Mr+Z · 2014-01-29 17:39 · Score: 1

No, it was indeed the Slashdot Pre-Teen Cruiser. Naked petrified Natalie Portman approved. Comes a lifetime of hot grits down your pants.

Oh, and I love this item from the old Slashdot FAQ:

If you're not corporate drones, whose idea was the Slashdot PT Cruiser?

Marketing. Personally, we (Rob and Jeff) think the Slashdot Cruiser was a really stupid idea, and if they'd asked us about it, we'd have told them so. Usually the marketing department consults with us about promotional ideas, but they're not required to, and in this case they didn't. Given that the reaction to it has been largely negative, we expect they've learned their lesson.

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Wow by nitehawk214 · 2014-01-29 18:27 · Score: 1

There are actually 7+ year old PT Cruisers still on the road?

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Re:Ugly by dargaud · 2014-01-29 20:40 · Score: 1

Woah, that thing is ugly. And has serious mandibular prognathism problems. It looks like the vehicles we use to pick up dog shit.

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Re:Not what Slashdot drives, but what drives Slash by jones_supa · 2014-01-29 22:45 · Score: 1

Slashcode, the web application that runs Slashdot, is GPL'd and for awhile there were a lot of other websites running their own tweaked versions. There was a Japanese version, there was MacSlash, etc.

The Japanese version is still going at http://slashdot.jp/ . :)

Re:Not what Slashdot drives, but what drives Slash by jones_supa · 2014-01-29 22:46 · Score: 1

reddit's vote logic isn't very good, by allowing unlimited up and down voting it promotes groupthink and circlejerking far more than slashcode

Completely agree.

Re:Not what Slashdot drives, but what drives Slash by Lehk228 · 2014-01-30 10:16 · Score: 1

I just remembered one of the other things that makes reddit's software substandard, markdown formatting eats valid URLS if they are not manually escaped

how they managed to write commenting logic that allows weird unicode symbol drawing, but chews up wikipedia links i have no idea. also I prefer non-editable non-deletable comments but that is more personal preference than technical prowess

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Re:Not what Slashdot drives, but what drives Slash by gmhowell · 2014-02-10 15:57 · Score: 1

Surely you recall it was like pulling teeth to get Malda to post even that much code.

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Slashdot PT Cruiser Spotted In the Wild

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