#ChryslerPtCruiser

In the market and shopping for a used car? Consumer Reports has released a list of 20 used vehicles to stay away from as they have a reputation for causing trouble. Listed is a top 20 list of used cars from 2003 to 2012 model year to avoid in alphabetical order. These vehicles had multiple years of much-worse-than-average overall reliability, according to Consumer Reports’ Annual Auto Survey.

A man in East St. Louis, Illinois, went on a shooting rampage, armed only with an AK-47, a Chrysler PT Cruiser convertible and his birthday suit. The PT Cruiser ended up rolled over after the thief crashed it and used it as cover while he fired at police officers attempting to arrest him.

While harming civillians and law enforcement officials is totally reprehensible, this might be the most badass action ever committed with a PT Cruiser. The PT Cruiser’s distant relative, the Chrysler Lebaron convertible, also had a bit of urban noteriety when Eazy-E commandeered one in the “ Straight Outta Compton” video.

Video after the jump.

[Source: Jalopnik]

In the past, if you haven’t been picky about the rental car you’re driving, perhaps you should be. You may be surprised to learn that your rental has been recalled – so why is it still on the road?

This information comes to use via ABC News, which reports these findings after a recent lawsuit against Enterprise. The case in question involved the death of two California women who were killed after their rental Chrysler PT Cruiser caught fire and struck an oncoming semi. Unexpectedly, Enterprise came out and admitted that the company routinely rents out vehicles that are under recall and haven’t been repaired. The PT Cruiser was recalled in September of 2004, because there was a chance that the power steering unit could leak, causing an engine fire.

Even though they received the recall notice a month before, Enterprise rented the vehicle to Raechel Houck, 24, and her sister, Jacquie, 20, who were on their way to visit their parents. In this case, a jury awarded the Houcks a $15 million settlement.

In further testimony, it was revealed that Enterprise often rents out vehicles under recall, and that the company has no standing policy against doing so. ABC News also indicates that other major companies like Hertz and Avis also carry out the same practice.

“When demand called, we rented out recalled vehicles, it happened, I won’t lie,” said Mark Matias, a former Enterprise area manager in San Francisco. “If all you have are recalled vehicles on the lot, you rent them out. It was a given. The whole company did it. Enterprise’s corporate offices look the other way regarding this fact.”

Other Enterprise executives testified that there was no company-wide policy requiring cars under recall to be held back from rental.

Watch the ABC News video report after the jump.

[Source: ABCNews]

There’s no real story here – just some awful looking Chrysler PT Cruisers. While cruising the web one day, this came across an Autoguide staffer’s browser. Some of these vehicles are so awful that they must truly be seen to believed. We feel especially sorry for #6, whose owner must bear the ignominy of having his face plastered all across the web while driving the most wretched variant of an awful car.

For such a poorly built and engineered car, the Chrysler PT Cruiser was well regarded by many. Consumers loved its retro styling (well, for a little bit at least), Car and Driver named it to its 10 Best List and it won North American Car of the Year.

Consumer watchdog, Consumer Reports has released its list of 2010 cars, which includes the Hyundai Accent and the Chevrolet Aveo, that do not come with the electronic stability control (ESC) safety feature.

Last week Fiat/Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne set out a long-winded plan for the future of the American automaker and how its future will be closely tied to its new Italian parent company. There was a lot to digest at the seven hour press conference and so we thought a model by model breakdown would be helpful and would shed some light on what appears to be the general plan to eliminate old Chrysler products and replace them with new Chrysler Group-branded Fiat models. So let’s start with Dodge…

A week ahead of a planned Fiat/Chrysler press conference in which Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of both automakers, was to outline the future of Chrysler, much of the information has been revealed in an in-depth report in the Wall Street Journal. But before we get to the new products that the Italian-owned automaker is planning to bring into the North American marketplace, it’s time to learn the fate of the vehicles being axed. And judging from the list, it appears as though Fiat is intent on moving its products in and Chrysler’s products out.