2002 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 495 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (61 complaints · 12.3%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 40
  • Fires 34
  • Injuries 50
  • Deaths 2
Compare with 2001 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution ELECTRICAL SYSTEM appears in 61 of 495 owner complaints (12.3%) in this vehicle snapshot. ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 61 complaints, 12.3% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 61 · 12.3% · 1 crash reports 6 fire reports STRUCTURE: 60 complaints, 12.1% of reports STRUCTURE 60 · 12.1% EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 51 complaints, 10.3% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 51 · 10.3% · 2 fire reports ENGINE: 48 complaints, 9.7% of reports ENGINE 48 · 9.7% · 11 fire reports STEERING: 38 complaints, 7.7% of reports STEERING 38 · 7.7% · 1 crash reports 6 fire reports AIR BAGS: 37 complaints, 7.5% of reports AIR BAGS 37 · 7.5% · 28 crash reports SUSPENSION: 31 complaints, 6.3% of reports SUSPENSION 31 · 6.3% · 2 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 30 complaints, 6.1% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 30 · 6.1% · 3 crash reports 2 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 26 complaints, 5.3% of reports POWER TRAIN 26 · 5.3% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 278 complaints, 56.2% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 278 · 56.2% · 22 crash reports 20 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 61 12.3% 1 crashes · 6 fires
STRUCTURE 60 12.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 51 10.3% 0 crashes · 2 fires
ENGINE 48 9.7% 0 crashes · 11 fires
STEERING 38 7.7% 1 crashes · 6 fires
AIR BAGS 37 7.5% 28 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 31 6.3% 2 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 30 6.1% 3 crashes · 2 fires
POWER TRAIN 26 5.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 278 56.2% 22 crashes · 20 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jul 2001. 2001-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2002-Q1: 10 owner reports 10 2002-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 2002-Q3: 11 owner reports 11 2002-Q4: 12 owner reports 12 2003-Q1: 14 owner reports 14 2003-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2003-Q3: 17 owner reports 17 2003-Q4: 10 owner reports 10 2004-Q1: 20 owner reports 20 2004-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 2004-Q3: 14 owner reports 14 2004-Q4: 12 owner reports 12 2005-Q1: 12 owner reports 12 2005-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 2005-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 2005-Q4: 12 owner reports 12 2006-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2006-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2006-Q3: 12 owner reports 12 2006-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2007-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2007-Q2: 36 owner reports 36 2007-Q3: 13 owner reports 13 2007-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2008-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 2008-Q2: 14 owner reports 14 2008-Q3: 13 owner reports 13 2008-Q4: 13 owner reports 13 2009-Q1: 10 owner reports 10 2009-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2009-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2009-Q4: 10 owner reports 10 2010-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2010-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2010-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2010-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2011-Q1: 10 owner reports 10 2011-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2011-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 2011-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2012-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2012-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2013-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2014-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2014-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2014-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2014-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2015-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2015-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2015-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2015-Q4: 9 owner reports 9 2016-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2016-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2017-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2018-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2019-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2019-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2023-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2023-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2024-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jul 2001 Apr 2024 Investigation PE02082 ● Investigation PE02082 Investigation PE04028 ● Investigation PE04028
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2001-Q3 Owner reports 1
2001-Q4 Owner reports 5
2002-Q1 Owner reports 10
2002-Q2 Owner reports 9
2002-Q3 Owner reports 11
2002-Q4 Owner reports 12
2003-Q1 Owner reports 14
2003-Q2 Owner reports 10
2003-Q3 Owner reports 17
2003-Q4 Owner reports 10
2004-Q1 Owner reports 20
2004-Q2 Owner reports 9
2004-Q3 Owner reports 14
2004-Q4 Owner reports 12
2005-Q1 Owner reports 12
2005-Q2 Owner reports 9
2005-Q3 Owner reports 8
2005-Q4 Owner reports 12
2006-Q1 Owner reports 4
2006-Q2 Owner reports 10
2006-Q3 Owner reports 12
2006-Q4 Owner reports 6
2007-Q1 Owner reports 5
2007-Q2 Owner reports 36
2007-Q3 Owner reports 13
2007-Q4 Owner reports 8
2008-Q1 Owner reports 9
2008-Q2 Owner reports 14
2008-Q3 Owner reports 13
2008-Q4 Owner reports 13
2009-Q1 Owner reports 10
2009-Q2 Owner reports 8
2009-Q3 Owner reports 3
2009-Q4 Owner reports 10
2010-Q1 Owner reports 4
2010-Q2 Owner reports 6
2010-Q3 Owner reports 4
2010-Q4 Owner reports 3
2011-Q1 Owner reports 10
2011-Q2 Owner reports 5
2011-Q3 Owner reports 9
2011-Q4 Owner reports 6
2012-Q2 Owner reports 1
2012-Q3 Owner reports 5
2012-Q4 Owner reports 1
2013-Q1 Owner reports 1
2013-Q2 Owner reports 4
2013-Q3 Owner reports 3
2014-Q1 Owner reports 3
2014-Q2 Owner reports 6
2014-Q3 Owner reports 4
2014-Q4 Owner reports 3
2015-Q1 Owner reports 2
2015-Q2 Owner reports 4
2015-Q3 Owner reports 6
2015-Q4 Owner reports 9
2016-Q1 Owner reports 1
2016-Q2 Owner reports 3
2016-Q3 Owner reports 1
2016-Q4 Owner reports 4
2017-Q1 Owner reports 2
2017-Q2 Owner reports 1
2017-Q4 Owner reports 2
2018-Q1 Owner reports 1
2019-Q1 Owner reports 1
2019-Q2 Owner reports 2
2019-Q3 Owner reports 2
2019-Q4 Owner reports 1
2021-Q1 Owner reports 1
2021-Q3 Owner reports 1
2021-Q4 Owner reports 1
2023-Q2 Owner reports 1
2023-Q3 Owner reports 1
2024-Q2 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 PE02082
Defect investigation 1 PE04028
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA records.

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 495 complaints · page 1 of 20

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources