Plan on driving a new car on a 3000mile highway trip. Bad idea?

They do not.

 

When Chrysler brought out the PT Cruiser,they designed it as a "light
truck" so it would not have to meet stricter passenger car standards for
fuel economy.(CAFE)

see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_PT_Cruiser;

It is a front-wheel drive 5-passenger vehicle, classified as a truck by the
NHTSA for CAFE fuel economy calculations but as a car by most other
metrics. Indeed, Chrysler specifically designed the PT Cruiser to fit the
NHTSA criteria for a light truck in order to bring the average fuel
efficiency of the company's light truck fleet into compliance with CAFE
standards.[2]

 

Right. It was a conscious decision by Chrysler, not something done by
an idiotic government panel.

Chrysler used the rules to their advantage.

 

yes,they designed the PT to -fit into- the *GOV'T* classification of "light
truck";the criteria is the government's.

 

Which means that the US Government classifies a PT Cruiser as a "Truck."
But the convertible, which has a "trunk" rather than a "load bed" is a
"Car."

 

I guess the PT ragtop doesn't count towards Chrysler's truck CAFE.

 

Do you work for Detroit? They gamed the system to save some money.
They did the sme thing with safety features like steel beams in doors -
left them out of their "light trucks" like at least one minivan that was
being marketed as a family car.