Faults:
Transmission speed sensor out at about 30k miles
Brakes got very lumpy by 50k miles
Replacing pads AND rotors fixed it, but only for about 15k miles
Became difficult to get good wheel balance around 50k miles
Fuel Pump out at about 70k miles
Dealer mistakenly replaced distributor because could not diagnose fuel pump clearly.
General Comments:
I tried BMW Z3 and Miata, but decided that I needed the room of a full back seat. If there were three belts in the back, it would fit three kids easily. It's a very roomy car for a convertible. Elongated rear end gives very decent trunk space. The JXi model includes many performance features including disk brakes, anti-sway bars, ABS, traction control, etc. and a really fine magnetic compass in addition to the trip computer. Infinity sound system was a winner.
The car corners hard with little or no roll, when equipped with anti-sway bars as the JXi is. The steering is amazingly neutral for a FWD car with a longish snout beyond the front wheels. Steering feel is almost completely numb, and the ride is soft and got softer with age. Auto (only) transmission is slow to shift down, but otherwise smooth. Overall feel is very smooth and civilized; this is no hard-tail sporting car.
The top operated easily, was very well made, and showed no wear before a vandal tore it up and I had to replace it. The leather seats were not the most comfortable, slightly undersized, and deteriorated prematurely. The passenger seat mechanism jammed frequently. Exterior finish held up well. The mid-low profile tires and 5 spoke alloy rims were pretty good looking. I finally ditched the car when the dealer could not properly diagnose a fuel pump failure, and replaced the distributor needlessly. I also learned that the V6 is one that will tear up valves if the cam timing belt fails. Now I'm driving a used BMW 330 convertible.
14th Apr 2011, 11:23
I couldn't agree with you more! I've had my Sebring for 5 years and haven't felt safe in it after the first year of owning it. I've had all of your problems and more:
Back window defrost went out.
Transmission has been up and down with leaking to severely missing gears.
The soft top shakes and squeals horribly to the point where I have to blare the radio just to tone it out.
The suspension is shot.
Lower ball joints and tie rod are shot as well.
It leaks majorly, especially when I took it through the car wash when I first got it, not thinking about it actually leaking on me. Water was pouring in through the rubber lining like I was submerging into a body of water.
The front lights are so dim I can hardly see at night.
I can really only say one positive thing about this car and that's its stereo system. No matter what problems you have, you can always tune them out with the radio. LOL.