Faults:

Battery died prematurely.

Side molding fell off.

General Comments:

Great car. Dealer took care of both previously mentioned issues free of charge. It handles very well. Trunk is very spacious. Back seat is comfortable. Engine runs like new with 95000 miles. Transmission shifts smoothly. No rust, paint still shines. I basically love my car.

Faults:

1. Drivers door had to be adjusted at 56,000 miles to allow it to open properly. Poor design in that it is at.

2. Ball joint recall.

3. Plastic fascia had to be fixed under recall. Design resulted in the repair noted above being done. If there was no fascia or designed better the door probably would have been OK.

4. Dented rim needed a lot of balancing.

5. Warped rotors at 30,000 miles.

General Comments:

This car is mixed bag.

Handling is very good at speed and it is very comfortable on 3+ hour trips. The brakes, especially when new, were fantastic comparing well to a BMW M3 that I drove for awhile. Full stop literally threw you into the restraint harness (under 100 feet from 60 mph!) Good ergonomics and good back seat and trunk space. Overall a good open road GT to carry gear for a weekend. Good looks too.

Now the not so good.

Engine HP and torque is weak for a car this size, especially from a standing start. The transmission shift points add to this problem. Older versions like the Laser had a dual range selector to allow for mileage or performance The front end plastic is too low and results in banging into curbs etc. The plastic side panels are a curse to fix and really do not make the car look any better. Doors should have a three point attachment and not two. This would reduce the door sag. Replaced two batteries which seems above average. The battery and tire sizes are odd so that you are stuck with Chrysler parts. Poor turning radius.

I good faith, the car never left me stranded, although I did not go into high mileage. The rim denting issue is really more the reality of too low profile tires combined with too large rims on small cars. I went to higher sidewall height and smaller wheels on my new car. I think a lot of people may do the same after their first experience with low profile stuff.

What many of the critics of this car miss when they lament their last Toyota or Nissan is that this is a Japanese car (Mitsubishi) and is not reflective of Chrysler's own products. (Daimler/Chrysler wisdom in carrying this product may questioned1)

Faults:

I bought the car in Arizona, and it seemed to run pretty good, had no problems whatsoever. In early 2001, I moved to Minnesota where the weather was a total change, I did receive the ball joint recall in the mail and took it a local Chrysler dealer where it was replaced at no charge.

Around Sept 2001, I was driving on the freeway in Minnesota when all of a sudden the car wouldn't shift and the check engine light came on. I took it into Chrysler where the speed sensor was replaced.

On Dec 2001, I was driving on the freeway when all of a sudden the car just died, thankfully I pulled over quickly to the side of the road and had to call a tow truck and taken to the same Chrysler dealer.

Almost a year went by with no problems. On Sept. 2002 after coming home from a party, the car began to stall and the check engine light came back on. I took it into the same Chrysler dealer where they performed a diagnostic test and were telling me it was "transmission" related problems. I was telling them what does it have to do with the transmission, if the car is stalling. So I took the car to an independent mechanic where they told me it was the E.G.R. valve. Can you believe it?? An independant mechanic doing a better job than Chrysler experts.

A few weeks later I received a call from Chrysler questioning me about their service, and I gave them negative comments about the service and the car.

On March 2003, the driver side door handle broke, I still haven't replaced it and I am not rushing to do so, since it barely happened this morning. Well, this is my review of the 1998 Chrysler Sebring LXI, I am considering getting a 2003 Honda Accord Coupe and trading in the Chrysler. I don't want to sell the Chrysler as a private party since I have attempted three times and it was in the Auto Trader over a month and only received one call. Also I don't want to get no upset calls from the new owner.

General Comments:

The only good thing about the Sebring is the style, it looks like an upscale luxury sedan.

Performance-wise??? 163 HP for a V6 is not enough.