28th Oct 2002, 10:17

I am the owner of a 1997 Sebring Convertible, bought it in early 1998, and the car now has 110,000 miles on it.

Every car this age may show some problems. These things went wrong with my car: (during the years there has also been numerous recalls and fixes, but I guess it is a good thing that Chrysler corrects design flaws. The recalls have always been handled well)

2000. The large circuit board, which is in the dashboard under the instruments, stopped working and had to be replaced.

2000. A cracking sound started to appear when I put the transmission in reverse and backed up. The sound seemed to come from the right front wheel, but the repair shop did not find anything wrong with the car. The warranty had expired, so I decided to live with the noise. A year later, the noise was gone.

2002. One day the transmission started to act up and would not change gears, but was stuck in second gear. This happened usually when I exited the freeway, slowing down to a full stop. I found out that if I stopped again and turned off the ignition, and then started the car again, the transmission would work fine. This problem continued for a couple of weeks, and then went away...

2002. The rear window started to become unglued from the convertible top. A crack also appeared in the glass. The right hand side electrical connection for the rear window defroster also fell off, the solder junction opened.

2002. The car would not start. I found that a 20A fuse for the ignition switch (located under the hood) was blown, and replaced it. The same thing happened several times a few days later. I will have to take the car to the workshop.

28th Oct 2002, 19:57

I am sorry to sound SO rude maam and/or sir, but it seems to me that you either DID buy a lemon, or you have not taken good care of your car. I have read many reviews for Sebring Convertibles, and I have a 1999 Sebring JXI Convertible myself, and nothing has gone wrong with it, ever. And out of ALL the reviews I have read, I have NEVER heard so many complaints and problems with the Sebring Convertible. Now like I said, you have either not taken good care of that car, or it is (like the other comment said from someone else) the ONLY lemon out there, if not the only, then one of the VERY few! And if this comment has not convinced you to quit complaining, then let me say this... I am a 17 year old teen, and you'd think that a teen would take LESS care of this car than an adult would, and I admit, I don't...I race it, I have many people in the car at all times, the are constantly climbing over my leather seats, but I've had it for 2 1/2 years, since it was new, and like I said, nothing has ever gone wrong.

7th Dec 2002, 03:02

My 1997 Sebring's convertible top is looking very bad. Does anyone know a place in Phoenix (preferably Chandler) to have this done at a reasonable price?

Karen

kdthelen@yahoo.com.

31st Jan 2003, 09:26

I have a 96 Sebring Convertible JX. I have had to have the transmission rebuilt, after 120k miles. Not too bad. I had the top replaced a few hundred miles after that. The circuit board for the dash needed replaced around 100k. Overall these repairs were made after most cars would need to be totally replaced. Right now the problem I have that I can't get resolved is the 20A fuse under the hood. It's blown time and again, just replace it and go. Now it's to the point where you replace and blow. The dealerships I've called all say they've never heard of this problem. I've read at least 6 reviews with the same exact problem. Has anyone ever discovered the cause of it? My poor car is just sitting because I refuse to take it somewhere to get repaired until I know what the cause is. Other than that, I'm happy with my convertible.

3rd Feb 2003, 18:03

I'm a proud owner of a 96 convertible...and, there has never... i repeat..never been a problem with the car. In eight years of ownership I have put on 120,000 km and driven it in every Canadian winter... it gets a tad cold sometimes!!!

I guess its one of two things, either you bought the only lemon on the market, or you just didn't look after it well... either case, don't disrespect the best car in the world please!!!

O yeah, I did get normal wear and tear items replaced, brakes once and that's it.

15th Feb 2003, 22:41

I am really sorry to hear about all the problems you have had with your car. I owned an 88 Le baron convertible and then was stupid enough to buy another one in 94. I should have learned my lesson from the first one. What can I say... It's a Chrysler product. The 88 was in the shop too many times to count. I put more money into it than I paid for it. The 94 was the same way. As usual with Chryslers it started smoking at 75K miles and the transmission slipped severely. I learned my lesson and bought a Honda Del Sol and it has never given me a problem aside from normal scheduled maintenence. The car now has 181K miles on it and is still perfect. I couldn't even imagine getting that many miles out of either of my Le barons.

28th Feb 2003, 09:18

Re blown fuses: I have a 1997 jxi with 137+ thousand miles on it. (Bought it from my nephew who took very good care of it, but let it sit in a garage for 6 months without preparing it properly for storage...) My fuses started to blow after a particularly cold day - when I took it to my neighborhood gas station, the guy said I needed a new starter - and he put one in. The guy has always been fair with me, so I figured he was telling the truth - although I thought that the starter just might be frozen and didn't really need replacement.

In any event, that was two months and many MANY colder days ago, and I've had no problems since. Therefore, I'm guessing that your fuse problem could be starter related... have someone you trust check it for you.

PS my car has a number of little annoying problems, but compared to the other cars I've owned (Buick, Ford, Chevy, Isuzu, Mazda, Fiat (holy cow! how did THAT get in there?!), Dodge, and Subaru) this little puppy is a champ!

14th Jun 2003, 18:26

I can certainly sympathize with you. I have had numerous problems with my 96 Sebring convertible. Just recently, I have had flooding problems. After doing extensive research, I will go to the dealership and have them correct this VERY COMMON problem... very stinky.

In the past, I've had to have the engine replaced (the same day I had it serviced), the driver's window replaced for a small piece of plastic ($500) (it still doesn't close correctly), the brakes done NUMEROUS times, and the instrument panel knobs have warped off due to moisture. I am sure I am missing many things. The two dealerships in Birmingham have been inconsistent at best. Unfortunately, I have lost ALL faith in the dealership where I bought the car.

My boss knows of my many woes with this car as I have to make arrangements for off time, etc. My friends and family constantly remind me of my mistake in purchasing a Chrysler product. After I bought mine, two of my siblings have bought Neons and my dad bought a Dodge truck. All are always being serviced. Their Hondas, Fords and Toyotas are running fine.

It is a beautiful car and when it runs it runs well. That's the only good thing I can say about it.