Front Suspension Control Arm Problems of Chrysler Pt Cruiser

Tl-the contact owns a 2002 Chrysler Pt Cruiser. The contact stated that while driving approximately 5 mph and made a right turn into a parking lot, the vehicle came to an abrupt stop. The contact got out of the vehicle and discovered that the front passenger side sub frame had excessive rust and fractured. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic and was diagnosed that the front passenger frame, cv axles and lower control arms with ball joint and stabilizer link had fractures. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 84,000. Sw.

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While driving the vehicle pulled the steering wheel hard to the right. We were driving slow in town, had this happened at highway speed a wreck would have been unavoidable . Got the vehicle towed home and took a look at it . Found the front sub frame (to which the steering gear, lower control arms and such are bolted to) had rusted to the point that it cracked , on the right hand side. This allowed the right lower control arm to shift backward causing the death pull to the right.

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I bought a car from north coast auto mall and it had a lot of suspension problems. They ensured me that they would fix these issues if I bought the car. After buying the car, they have had me in and out of their shop 4 or 5 times to which they only lube the parts or lie to me claiming that the car has been fixed. I feel that this business practice is unsafe and misleading. They claimed to have replaced a control arm to which goodyear later (when I was buying tires) informed me that my control arms were bad. I was surprised to hear this. North coast should be investigated as they are selling unsafe cars, claiming to repair issues and then putting me in an unsafe car. 30 claims have been made about similar issues via the better business bureau, the federal trade commission and the ohio attorney general. I feel that they should be investigated for safety reasons.

Front lower control arm bushings failed on both sides of car. Reported by dealer repair tech while replacing failed head gasket. Both lower control arms replaced. Dealer reports entire control arm must be replaced when bushings fail.

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Front control arm bushings need to be replaced. Car has only 39,000 miles on it. I purchased this vehicle used as a rental return with only 389 miles on it. Seems that the bushings shouldn't be going out with less than 40,000 miles on a vehicle. Vehicle has had all required maintenance and new tires - I baby this car. Also, panel with controls on left side of drivers seat has detached. I have tried to reattach many times with no success. I will need to bring to the dealership to fix. Unfortunately both of these items happened just after my 36/36 warranty was up and is not covered by my lifetime powertrain warranty. Have been quoted nearly $1000 to fix both.

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Control arm bushings are bad. Now the control arm hits the subframe while driving. The car wobles at all speeds and pulls to the right, only 48,000 miles. Very disapointing.

The contact owns a 2007 Chrysler Pt Cruiser. The contact stated while the tires were being rotated the mechanic noticed the front control arm bushings were worn which could cause the wheel alignment to fail. The mechanic recommended having the bushings replaced and advised if they were not, it could potentially cause a crash. The failure mileage was 6,455 and the current was unknown.

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Informed, during a state required annual vehicle safety inspection that, after only 3 years and 37,000 miles, that the lower control arm bushings on the car are completely gone metal is rubbing metal. The wearing was not noticed by a Chrysler dealer when I had a brake repair done 5 months ago. I feel this may have been intentional so that the repair would not be covered by the warranty. I was informed by the dealer that my warranty expired 1,000 miles ago and 10 days. I was also told that this is a common issue with the Pt Cruiser but was never issued a TSB or a recall.

Have replaced control arm bushings three times, starting at 28,000. Car has 74,000 now. I have the extended warranty because of this well known problem. Breaks have to be changed every year. I have also experienced a broken axle. I have owned many cars and never broke an axle!! this car is too heavy for it's mediocre and unsafe suspension.

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Lower control arm bushings are bad at 60,000 miles and the car is wandering on the road. Chrysler needs to address this known issue before someone is hurt or killed.

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2004 Chrysler Pt Cruiser - this is the 3rd repair to control arms in 5 years. I learned of the latest issue through a state car inspection. The control arms collapsed and now the mechanism is using the car frame for support.

I have a 2003 Pt Cruiser, I have 53,000 miles on this car, and the control arms need to be replaced. I have gone to the chyrsler forums, and there is a lot of complaints by alot of owners of Chrysler having the same exact problems. Some with less miles than mine. Chrysler needs to step up to the plate and recall this part. Thanks, darlene smith.

I own a 02 and 03 Pt Cruiser. Both cars have had to have control arms replaced as well as idler arms. Were considered dangerous at less then 50,000 miles. Chrysler is aware of this situation-all over the net, refuses to do anything, says it's normal wear.

I own two Pt Cruisers, both have had control arm bushing failures at 45k miles. This is a known problem to Chrysler, all over internet, failures at earlier mileage as well. They do nothing. $650/car to replace control arm.

-steering wheel began shaking while driving car and steering became very loose. Pulled into a pep boys and was told that the front control arms and bearings needed to be replaced (the car had 75k miles). I was told that this was a very common defect with these cars and that a recall should have been warranted. $1200 repair and car started shaking again 50k miles later. -continuous oil consumption. I put a quart of oil every two weeks in the car. I have had the car completely tuned by a family member who is a certified mechanic, and it still eats oil. I mentioned this to the repair technician who did the controls arms and bearings, and he confirmed that this was also a common problem with these cars. Many of the websites I went on to research this have hundreds of the same comments for both issues.

The contact owns a 2003 Chrysler Pt Cruiser. While driving approximately 40 mph, the contact felt roughness and vibrating. The vehicle was not operating properly. There were no prior warnings. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and it was discovered that the front end control arm bushings failed. The vehicle was repaired for the malfunction. The failure mileage was 39,300 and current mileage was 39,330.

Pt cruiser lower control arm bushings need replacing at 60k miles. Have been told by mechanic that this is a common problem with this model and could cause loss of control of vehicle, added wear to brakes and tires, scraping of front end of car on pavement.

My 2002 Pt Cruiser has had two sets of front control arms replaced at 90,000 miles due to the control arm bushing failing. The first time the bushing came out completely. The second time it was still in place but torn. Both repair shops indicate this is a known and very common problem with these vehicles and a safety concern.

Control arm bushings worn out at 37000 miles. Excessive tire wear and difficult steering.

The lower control bushings have been replaced 3 times in 46,197 miles over 12 years. The last time control arm and bushing were replaced. First time was 5-21-07 with 20,204 miles on the car. Second time was 5-21-08, only one year later, 22,309 miles on the vehicle, just over 2000 miles from a year ago when it was done. The dealer covered it because it was warranty from a year ago. Wonder if it was ever done the first or second time. We just had the control arm and bushings replaced 5-27-2015 at 46,197 miles. Now the dealer originally told my wife this does not happen until the vehicle has about 80,000. Wow looks like a major issue for them.

Premature failure of front lower control arm bushings. This vehicle had 37,000 miles with both right and left bushings failed. Without replacement, this can lead to additional suspension wear and in an extreme case, loss of control. Bushings of this type in typical vehicles lasts the life of the vehicle. According to my independent garage this component shows an inordinately high failure rate, as evidenced by their experience in replacing them in many pt crusiers. They see them at a rate of one every two weeks, and this was an independent garage, not a Chrysler dealership. This problem was caught at pennsylvania annual state inspection.

I went to have my brakes checked and was told my right and left lower control arm bushings were broken. I took the car to the dealership (towed in because the transmission went out) and the bushings were replaced. The mechanic said he has very seldom seen bushings in the suspension break with only 60,000 miles on the car. My car is a 2003 Chrysler Pt Cruiser. I complained numerous times about the transmission but was not acknowledged until the car was inoperable. I am quite happy that the mechanic who does my brakes noticed the control arms. I asked Chrysler to check them while my transmission was being repaired, if not, they would never have checked. The suspension is of course, not covered by the warranty any longer. Repair costs were nearly $600.

The contact owns a 2002 Chrysler pt crusier. The contact stated that both lower control arms and the bushings failed and had to be replaced every year since the vehicle was purchased in 2005. After each failure, the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for repair. The manufacturer was notified, but offered no assistance and stated that there were no recalls or warranties addressing the failures. The failure mileage was 35,000 and the current mileage was 121,000.

: the contact stated during an annual inspection the dealership determined the front control arm bushing was cracked. There was not a noticeable problem while driving the vehicle. An independent repair shop replaced the front control arm. Updated 6/19/2006 - the consumer feels that the rubber of the bushing poorly bonds to the steel outer ring causing failure.

I was informed by service advisor james quinn at brunswick auto mall in brunswick, ohio (330-273-3300) that the rear control arm(rubber bushings on my 2002 Chrysler Pt Cruiser were worn out and need to be replaced at 44,971 miles. I did a web search and found numerous Pt Cruiser user forums and found references to Chrysler changing the supplier of the bushings sometime after my vehicle was built. Chrysler changed the bushings supplier due to very early failure and also upgraded the quality of the bushings. My bushings failed due to having the older style bushings. 45k miles is very early for control arm bushings to wear out. I contacted chrylser warranty at 800-992-1997 to complain and was assigned reference number 14736996. After explaining the situation, the chrylser representative informed me that Chrysler would offer no customer good-will assistance with paying for the repairs since I was 1 year and 4 months out of warranty. The Chrysler service representative also informed me that I should have bought the Chrysler extended warranty in anticipation of unanticipated vehicle repair problems like my bushings. The "unanticipated" early failure of rear control arm bushings on older model Pt Cruiser bushings is a severe safety threat to consumers who expect quality parts in their vehicles that should normally last at least 100,000 miles. The unanticipated failure of the Pt Cruiser bushing can easily result in loss of control of the vehicle, accidents, or much worse. Thank you for taking the time to read my complaint. Best regards.

I have a 2002 Pt Cruiser and took it in for an oil change and they said: bushings (both lower-front) remove & replace control arm shaft and bushings, lower both control arm. Bearing & seals. From what I am reading it seems to be a common problem with Pt Cruisers.

: the contact stated the rear front bushing on the control arm fractured. The vehicle was making a humming sound when turning to the right. The bushing fracture was discovered by an independent mechanic during normal routine maintenance. The local dealership was contacted; however they have been unsuccessful in getting the part from the manufacturer.

Front control arm bushings were replaced in Feb of 2005 3 months they were replaced again and now November the noise that caused them to be replaced is present again. 2001 Pt Cruiser touring 60,000 miles.

The front suspension bushing on all Chrysler Pt Cruisers are designed in such a manner that they can dislodge from their positions without warning, causing the front suspension to lose it's alignment. The bushing failure is covered with Chrysler's warranty but the excessive tire wear associated with it, is not. The tire damage happens so fast that the tires cannot be salvaged. This is a common problem with Pt Cruisers. The dealers refuse to accommodate for the tire wear caused by their problem.

Tl * the contact owns a 2005 Chrysler Pt Cruiser. While driving at approximately 40 mph, the driver experienced vibration from the front end of the vehicle which was caused by defective control arm bushings. He experienced the failure on three different occasions and took the vehicle to the dealership three times to have the bushings repaired. However, the contact still experienced the problem even after the three repairs. The current and failure mileages were approximately 51,000. Updated 6/21/10 updated 07/19/jb.

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Consumer's vehicle was involved in a minor accident. Was in a small accident. Took vehicle to a repair shop, a repair shop, and they referred him to a dealership. They said that the bushing has been forced out of the control arm. Previously, the steering wheel shimmied and rattled back and forth. The consumer had the accident repair work done. But not the bushing and the control arm. This problem occurred for about a year.

Consumer states that the control arm bushing is defective causing tires to wear fast. Ts.