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Actually Toyota wants "proof of oil changes" to qualify for motor replacement reimbursement in this excerpt:Toyota's new policy is a dramatic change from a so-called Special Policy Adjustment begun in February. Amid increasing criticism for refusing to deal with the problem, Toyota notified 3.3 million owners of the affected engines that sludge-related repairs would be covered for one year, as long as they proved the oil had been changed at least once in the previous year.
i got from:http://www.autosafety.org/article.php?scid=150&did=1090
Engine light turned out to be a problem with the seat belt (warranty on two occassions)
Engine light turned out to be a problem with the gas tank vacuum line (warranty)
Rear window defogger does not work. When you put the top down, the wire breaks. Mechanic says it is a poor design, when they fix it it breaks. I gave up.
Electric windows make screeching sound.
Door hinges klunk badly.
Speakers died early and had to be replaced.
Snaps that hold the back of the top down are coming out of their holders.
It leaks oil from around the oil pan gasket. It looks like Chrysler uses a liquid gasket compound rather than a real gasket. It doesn't appear as though it was applied correctly.
The unlock button popped out of the key remote.
The airbag light comes on intermittently.
The front brake rotors are warped (I have not used the brakes in a manner that would have caused this).
I am surprised as my other car is a 98 Grand Caravan with 184,000 miles and I have had very few problems with it. Overall, I still like driving the Sebring but feel Chrysler quality is just not there anymore though the styling is great. In the future I will likely try a Toyota. What has happened to Chrysler???
Good luck.
Surely, we're not the only Sebring owner to ever have this happen. The dealer says he has had other Sebrings do this, but replacing the strut fixed the problem.
Thanks
PS: Glad to hear from the earlier post he is having no problems. I wish I could say the same. :lemon:
Any thoughts? :confuse:
Looks like no response -- must be a hit and run poster.
-Loren
Jackie
Here is a site for crash test data. I have data on death rates for a lot of cars. Often those differ from the safety data, as they relate to how typical cars are driven, and how they hold up in the real world crashes. An example is the Mustang, which is a safer car, has a higher death rate. Insurance will be higher, and they are considered less safe for kids to drive.
Here is the crash test link:
http://www.safercar.gov/
The other link I can not find.
this site: http://www.iihs.org/ use to have the data on death rates.
I looked up the Sebring & it is a 98. An 87 rate is the norm. Makes the convertible a little less than average, but not too bad. The Miata is 80, the Mustang a 91 and the BMW Z3 is a 58. Best score was the Mercedes E class at 10. The thing is most of the convertible Mustangs and Sebrings are not being driven by new drivers. And heavens no on a Miata or Z3 for a first car! Get some slower FWD car, but don't tell her I said that! If you do go RWD, be sure the driving lessons include RWD (rear wheel drive) cars.
-Loren
I just bought a 2003 Sebring Ltd convertible and have some questions: [some were answered when I bought the manuals]
1- Why are the running lights ONLY for Canada?
2- Can we make them work ourselves? I checked the two fuse boxes and the fuse and relay seem to be there.
3- It only had 1 key, so I paid a dealer $65 for an unprogrammed key. They want another $40 to program it. The manual says it takes ~ 40 seconds if you have 2 good keys. So, besides the extortion, Is there a way to program a key ourselves with only 1 good key?
4- The left front has a varying shake. Sometimes the whole cowl/windshield seem to be shifting. Otherwise, it feels solid. Anyone else have that problem? :confuse:
2. No Clue, but maybe.
3. Try google, but I believe you touch the tips of the keys together for like a minute. What colors are your keys grey or black?
4. I think the shake is common.
thanks
This is my very first post. I'm going to be buying a car in a about a month or two. I'm torn between the Sebring and Toyota Solara convertible. I've always been a BIG believer in Toyota and Honda. Their cars last forever. My boyfriend is a mechanic and he says that the Toyota is the better car. But for what I would pay for a 2002 Toyota Solara Convertible, I can get like a 2005 Chrysler Sebring convertible. Can someone please tell me if you have any knowledge about how these two compare???? Should I spend the extra money to get the Toyota?
He later got a Sebring convertible, which experienced transmission problems, random stalling when putting the car in reverse, and a front suspension that needed rebuilding at 35k miles. He got rid of it with the suspension problem, right before the warranty ran out. They are BEAUTIFUL automobiles (the older 2 generations of Sebring Convertible anyway, I'm not a fan of the new style), but they aren't worth the tires they're riding on as far as our reliability experiences proved.
He's been back with Hondas ever since.
I'm a big believe in the Honda/Toyota reliability notion, and an even stronger believer that you get what you pay for. Be VERY CAREFUL if you buy a Chrysler, and make sure you get a warranty, and make friends that can carry you to work.
smelde@comcast.net
I realize, that our experience may have been particularly bad luck, but Consumer Reports really backed up our findings.
And two vehicles, with different designs, different transmissions, and different engines (the '94 LeBaron was a 3.0L Mitsubishi-made V6, the Sebring was a 2.4L I-4 from the Stratus sedan), and they STILL had similar problems - which just seemed a little too scary to go back to Chrysler Corp for us.
1) Just after the warranty ran out the head gasket went out. The dealer who fixed it told me that Chrysler has known about this problem as the gasket needs to be redesigned and they did not want to do a recall.
2) at 60,000 miles, the transmission conked out. Cost me a ton of money to fix and I then just gave up and got rid of it.
I got a Honda S2000, which is solid and reliable. But I now want a 4-seater convertible and I am seriously thinking about the Toyota simply because of the reliability. Toyota is poor in styling but the hassles may not be worth it.
I don't believe Chrysler / Benz can build cars that stay trouble free. The only thing they can do is come up with gizmos and style. The companies are run by finance and marketing people not engineers and they can't seem to get anything to work right.
The final reason is that even their Mercedes cars are unreliable. My friends who bought S class sedans have had it and now buy Lexus or Acura.
This is more my price range for a "fun" car.
Someone said it might be a head gasket around the air intake plenum, and it'll cost me about $700 to fix. Huh? I'm a car guy of sorts and I never heard of oil leaking into an air intake???
What should I do? Should I just walk into my local Chrysler dealer backwards holding my ankles while wincing? Any help will be appreciated! Thanks, Pete
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New to the forum, but was hoping to find a Sebring Fan Club since I just obtained an 02 Limited Convertible. I am looking to improve engine performance and would like to raise it off the ground, more old school muscle car look if possible. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
cwill
Does anyone know where the location of the BCM( body control module) is? I have a 1997 Chsyler Sebring convertible and the digital mileage count on the dash, I think its called the tachometer and the rpm gauge have stopped functioning. I was told that the BCM might be the problem and looking at a lot of other web sites I think thats what its gonna be. I want to do it myself, I was told it was behind the dasn board or by the fuse box. So if anyone can help me please, let me know where its located at so I know what it looks like and go get the part. thanks
Took me about a month to find the driving light switch too, its on the light switch, pull the knob out, but they only work in low beam.
OK OK actually my kid found it.
The switch on the stalk is not for the DRL, but for the FOG lights. I'd like to use them with high beams too, but that isn't an option.
As far as the DRL, the dealer could NOT activate them despite telling the car it was made in Canada or with a forced override. A needed relay is left out of US cars. I found it online for $60 to $90. So I'm doing without!
thanks,
Neil
neillondon@hotmail.com
The mechanic advised me to unhook the positive terminal to the battery to reset the check engine light and gas gauge.
I disconnected the wires of the postive connection of the remote battery terminals under the hood and then reconnected. Now the engine will not start. The windows and A/C work, but no other electric output. Any ideas?
Thanks!