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April 6, 2011 1:48 p.m. petegossett SuperDork

My step-son needs a cheap car to get him 50mi/day to school every day. A local mechanic(and guy I've known since school - not that it's necessarily a selling point) has a '98 Chrysler Sebring JXi convertible with a V6 for $2000. 125,000 on the odo.

I looked at it briefly last night. The top looks new, the interior is good except for the driver's door card is split in two, exterior is clean except for one small dent & an average amount of dings. New struts & brakes, tires are nearly new.

I'm going to have him put it on the rack for me to check out, then take it for a drive tonight. KBB says $2900 fair condition private-party value. I'm not a fan of Chrysler products, I've chased down way too many weird electrical problems on them, but does this sound like a good deal, or is there something about these cars I don't know that should cause me to run away?
April 6, 2011 1:55 p.m. Donebrokeit Reader

This car has TWO weak links the first is the trans as most people know, the second is the distributor it has the cam sensor ,coil and something else inside this thing is BIG berkeleying money !! I want to say the last one I put in was something like $1300 (no labor)

Other than that the cars are not bad just the regular stuff like brakes and front end work. The engine is over all very good its just the dam distributor that kills that engine.

Hope this helps.

Paul B
April 6, 2011 2:02 p.m. LordTurbonia New Reader

My main concern is that it's a Sebring. What, were they out of four cylinder auto Camrys?

I'm only hands-on familiar with the LH platform, but anecdotal evidence suggests everything but the trans is solid in the Mitsu-Dodges.
April 6, 2011 2:06 p.m. MadScientistMatt Dork

The convertable Sebrings that year were cloud cars, so it's a Mopar chassis with a Mitsubishi engine.

Like any older convertible, what shape is the top in? Chryslers from that era can have enough interior electrical weirdness without water leaks.
April 6, 2011 2:19 p.m. John Brown SuperDork

aaauuuurrrrrrggggghhhhhhhh RUN AWAY!

No really, Sebring verts are like Godzilla and your wallet is Tokyo.
April 6, 2011 3:29 p.m. ronholm New Reader

The wife drives one every day... We bought it about 6-7 years ago with 30K on it.. a little old lady owned it.. Pulled out and hit the side of a truck as it drove past.. Picked it up for nothing... and a parts car that was put back together with aftermarket steel and sold made the car nearly free...

it has 140K + on it now... and I still haven't done the timing belt.

It is a real PIA job.. same for the waterpump... (which you pretty much go through to get to the belt) The radiator developed a leak somewhere along the way... but I can't remember if it was the radiator from the accident or the parts car radiator in the car... That was kinda a pain to replace because at the time I didn't want to disconnect the A/C...

It has a very small oil leak somewhere.. and a time or two the oil filter has backed off and created a leak... (not sure where the blame goes on that one)

The door switch acted up for a while... but that was due to some lovely lady smashing the seat belt latch into the door jamb...

Oh... Being a vert... It drains through the rockers... Make sure the little openings at the pinch welds are open.. they tend to get plugged over the years.. The wife has come home once or twice complaining that the car was sloshing... and it was..

But all in all... Since I have basically had to fix nothing... I have no complaints... I enjoy driving it.. It could use a little more power... but for what it is handles alright...

No major repairs.. just lots of miles.. and it owes me nothing...
April 6, 2011 3:38 p.m. Lugnut HalfDork

I bought my Sebring convertible for $500. It was a complete heap - the timing was off, it smelled like moldy ass, the dash would black out on alternating road bumps... But the damn thing was a trooper! It was a great car. It certainly scratched my convertible itch a few years ago. And it fit a handful of actual people comfortably. But that is huge money for a 125k Sebring.