Best tires for the Chrysler PT Cruiser
Top picks across four categories for the Chrysler PT Cruiser, anchored to the current-generation OEM size 195/65R15. Every recommendation is selected from our 22,000-tire catalog by ranking on UTQG treadwear, mileage warranty, cabin-noise rating, and season class; no commission-weighted reordering.
Daily driver
Best all-season touring
Long warranty, low noise, balanced ride. The one-tire compromise that works for 80% of owners.
Bridgestone
Turanza QuietTrack
UTQG 800 with a 80,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Chrysler PT Cruiser owners.
Goodyear
Assurance MaxLife
UTQG 820 with a 85,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Chrysler PT Cruiser owners.
Michelin
CrossClimate 2
UTQG 640 with a 60,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Chrysler PT Cruiser owners.
Cooper
CS5 ultra touring
UTQG 800 with a 80,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Chrysler PT Cruiser owners.
Lowest cost per mile
Best budget
Best price-per-warranty-mile in this size. Trade-off is shorter warranty vs premium options, not safety.
Goodyear
Assurance MaxLife
820 UTQG with a 85,000-mile warranty works out to roughly 0.00¢ per 100 miles before install. Best price-per-mile in this size; no premium-brand markup.
Bridgestone
Turanza QuietTrack
800 UTQG with a 80,000-mile warranty works out to roughly 0.00¢ per 100 miles before install. Best price-per-mile in this size; no premium-brand markup.
Continental
TrueContact tour
Lowest sticker price in this size that still meets the OEM load index. Trade-off is shorter warranty vs premium options.
Cooper
CS5 ultra touring
800 UTQG with a 80,000-mile warranty works out to roughly 0.00¢ per 100 miles before install. Best price-per-mile in this size; no premium-brand markup.
Lowest cabin noise
Best quiet
Tread patterns engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning. Pick this if you commute long highway distances daily.
Bridgestone
Turanza QuietTrack
68 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; library-quiet. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Goodyear
Assurance MaxLife
70 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; library-quiet. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Cooper
CS5 ultra touring
70 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; library-quiet. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Hankook
Kinergy PT
70 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; library-quiet. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Cold-weather grip
Best winter
Dedicated winter or all-weather compounds that stay pliable below 7 °C. Necessary for >5 snow days a year.
Bridgestone
Blizzak WS90
Dedicated winter tire compound; stays pliable below 7 °C where summer/all-season rubber hardens. Recommended for Chrysler PT Cruiser drivers in cold or snowy regions.
Michelin
X-Ice snow
Dedicated winter tire compound; stays pliable below 7 °C where summer/all-season rubber hardens. Recommended for Chrysler PT Cruiser drivers in cold or snowy regions.
Side-by-side
Pick the trade-off that matches your driving
| All-season Bridgestone Turanza QuietTrack | Best budget Goodyear Assurance MaxLife | Best winter Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| UTQG treadwear | 800 | 820 | - |
| Mileage warranty | 80,000 mi | 85,000 mi | - |
| Cabin noise | 68 dB | 70 dB | 71 dB |
| Season class | all-season | all-season | winter |
| Type | touring | touring | passenger |
OEM tire sizes by year
What size does the chrysler PT cruiser use?
Recommendations on this page are anchored to the latest model-year's OEM size. Confirm yours against the driver-door placard before purchase.
| Year | OEM size | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 195/65R15 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2001–2004 | 205/55R16 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2005–2008 | 195/65R15 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2009–2010 | 205/55R16 | Year-specific fitment → |
How we ranked these tires for the chrysler PT cruiser
We started with the latest model-year's OEM tire size; 195/65R15; and filtered our catalog of 22,000+ tires to those offered in that exact size. From there, four parallel rankings:
- Best all-season ranks on a weighted score: tire type matches passenger car segment, season is "all-season", premium brand bonus (Michelin / Continental / Bridgestone / Pirelli / Goodyear / Nokian).
- Best budget ranks on cost-per-warranty-mile; the lower the better. Premium brands get no bonus here.
- Best quiet ranks on the EU tire-label dB rating; lower is quieter.
- Best winter filters to tires marked 3PMSF severe-snow rated or all-weather class, with a small premium-brand bonus because winter-compound R&D is capital-intensive.
For sedans and compacts, the all-season touring tire below is the best default; long warranty, low cabin noise, reasonable cost per mile. Switch to the quiet pick if highway droning is a deal-breaker; switch to the winter pick if you see significant snow each year. Use the side-by-side comparison above to weigh the trade-offs against your specific driving; highway-heavy, winter-state, performance-oriented, or budget-constrained.
NHTSA-reported issues for chrysler PT cruiser
Top issue category: Tires (General)
Most reported: Tires (General) (1) · TPMS (1)
Reported across: 2010 – 2010 (1 year)
What owners described
Blowout or sudden deflation is the most common description, in 15% of these reports. Percentages are shares of the 71 reports covering every model year of the Chrysler PT Cruiser that include a written account; a single report can describe more than one problem, so they do not total 100%.
| Reported problem | This subject | All tire complaints | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blowout or sudden deflation | 15% | 20% | 0.8× |
| Sidewall failure | 13% | 15% | 0.9× |
| Bubble or bulge in the tire | 13% | 6% | 2.1× |
| Cracking or dry rot | 13% | 9% | 1.4× |
| Tread or belt separation | 6% | 13% | 0.4× |
| Loss of control, rollover or collision | 4% | 8% | 0.5× |
Mileage at failure
31 of these reports state an odometer reading. The middle report is at 20,000 miles, with 8 in 10 falling between 6,000 and 92,481 miles.
In owners' own words
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA about Chrysler PT Cruiser. Reports are published by NHTSA as filed and are lightly cleaned here only to remove intake codes.
THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER EQUIPPED WITH GOODYEAR EAGLE LS TIRES, SIZE P205/55/R16. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH, THE VEHICLE SHOOK VIOLENTLY. AFTER INSPECTING THE VEHICLE, THE CONTACT NOTICED A BUBBLE HAD DEVELOPED ON THE PASSENGER FRONT TIRE TREAD. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHO STATED THAT THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE TIRE TREAD BELT WAS SEPARATING AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE TWO FRONT TIRES WERE REPLACED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 30,000 AND THE VEHICLE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 90,825.
I PURCHASED 4 NEW DOUGLAS EXTRA-TRAK II TIRES AT WALMART AND WITHIN ONLY A FEW MONTHS WAS HAVING MAJOR "ALIGNMENT" TYPE ISSUES. I THOUGHT MAYBE THE TIRES NEEDED TO BE BALANCED AND ROTATED AND HAVE THE PRESSURE CHECKED. WALMART TECH HAD ONE OF MY TIRES THAT WAS A FEW LBS LOW AND IT BLEW OUT AFTER HE PUT IT BACK UP TO APPROPRIATE LEVELS. BLOW OUT WAS OUT THE SIDE AND NOT VISIBLE FROM THE OUTSIDE OF THE TIRE. OTHER SIDE BULGES WERE FOUND ON THE OTHER TIRES. SINCE THE TIRES HAD BEEN DRIVEN, WALMART ONLY GAVE ME A "DISCOUNT" ON REPLACING THE ONE THAT BLEW OUT - THE OTHERS WERE MY PROBLEM ACCORDING TO THEM. THESE TIRES ARE OBVIOUSLY DEFECTIVE AND NOT SAFE.
The contact owns a 2003 Chrysler equipped with Douglas, Tire line: Dug Xtra-Trac II, Tire size: 205/55R/16 91T and DOT number: N60FN11R. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact noticed that the vehicle started to perform slowly when the front passenger side tire inadvertently exploded. No warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to Walmart where the tire was replaced. The contact stated that the front passenger side tire started to leak air. The contact then stated that she noticed that a bubble had developed on the sidewall of the tire. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 157920.
VEHICLE WAS PARKED AND CONSUMER NOTICED THAT TREAD HAD BEGAN TO SEPARATE FROM GOODYEAR REAR PASSENGER TIRE. GOODYEAR WAS NOTIFIED.*AK GOODYEAR INFORMED CONSUMER THAT TIRE HAD KNOT DUE TO IMPACT HIT, DEALERSHIP STATED PROBLEM WAS DUE TO TREAD SEPARATION AND NOT AN IMPACT, FINALLY A GOODYEAR TIRE STORE SPLIT THE COST 50/50, THE GOODYEAR TIRE SIZE WAS P205/55R15, DOT NUMBER MKT2 BMDR 080. *SLC
Complaints are voluntarily submitted to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation and are not verified by NHTSA; they represent owner-reported problems, not proven defects. Counts can be useful as a relative quality signal across comparable tires or vehicles.
Tire recalls & safety complaints for the Chrysler PT Cruiser →
FAQ
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Last verified 2026-10-07.