Today (April 6th) marks the 500th day I've owned my 2002 Chrysler Sebring LX. The car is equipped with the 2.4L four cylinder. So far, so good. Here are my thoughts.
I certainly enjoy the car's quiet, smooth ride. It's very easy to carry on conversations with passengers or listen to music. However, I'm considering adding stiffer springs to reduce the car's motion over bumpy roads. The car tracks straight on most surfaces, but on pavement where there are tire grooves, it does move around a little.
I find the car corners well without too much body lean. However, a rear sway bar would be a worthwhile addition.
The four-cylinder makes adequate power for highway cruising, but gets a little noisy over 4k rpm under acceleration. Over 17,000 km, the Sebring is averaging 9.6L/100km or 29 mpg. The 4 speed automatic transmission is a little slow to downshift but, otherwise, gives trouble-free performance.
The brakes are excellent. Four-wheel discs were standard on the LX in 2002 and they do a great job in bringing the Sebring to a halt. They're easy to modulate, too.
I find the OEM Michelin's to be quite noisy on some surfaces, but provide adequate grip. The Goodyear Nordic winter tires made a huge difference in ice 'n' snow traction and handling. I like their gradual breakaway on snowy surfaces.
The dash features easy to read guages that have highway speeds at the top. I still haven't figured out why Chrysler put a 240 km/h speedo in the car when it's limited to 180 km/h. All controls are legible and easy to use. I like having the cruise control buttons on the steering wheel. Occasionally, I have difficulty finding the horn button's sweet spot.
The ventilation system works very well and has no problem keeping the windows clear in the winter or keeping the interior cool in the summer. The fan gets noisy on the 3rd out of 4 positions, but you seldom have to turn it that high. The interior switches are easy to manipulate with gloves on.
The seats are very comfortable. The power driver's seat is a god send for someone like me with a bad back. Road trips are a piece of cake as I can speed hours behind the wheel with no grief. The tilt-steering, combined with the power seat, doesn't make me wish the car had a telescoping wheel. There's plenty of room in the back seat, enough that my father and brother didn't complain during a two-hour road trip.
The biggest interior gripe I have is with the cup-holders: they're too low, too far forward and tall drinks don't fit too well.
Overall, the interior is a nice place to be. It's well put together with soft touch plastics and the fake wood trim isn't offensive. Visibility is excellent with all the glass. However, all that glass has me considering applying some tinting.
The Sebring came with keyless entry. Now that I've used it, I don't think I'll purchase another car without it. It's very handy when I'm walking toward or away from the car with an arm-load of groceries.
The trunk is huge with enough space to handle the luggage and food for 4 adults heading on a weekend getaway. The rear seats fold down allowing enough space to throw in my bicycle.
My 2002 Sebring is an attractive car with nice proportions. I'm pleased with my purchase of this competent, reliable automobile. I kept my last car until it was 23 years old. Hopefully, the Sebring will last another 15 years until I retire. Considering I drive about 12,000 km per year, I have no reason to doubt that it will. (Total mileage currently: approx 65,000 km)
