07-28-2008, 10:52 AM
We spent a week in California so I opted to rent a convertible. Visions of a semi-decent car were dashed when I was presented with the keys to a Chrysler Sebring. I drove it for a week, or about 500 miles, and here are my thoughts.
The Bad
-Horrible, horrible body flex. When you drive down the road at 65 mph, the thing darts all over the highway as it twists in the wind.
-The seats are way too hard. Andy couldn't help but bitch during the hour drive down to Laguna, although he had no problem sleeping in it on the way home. FWIW, my wife's grandmother loved them for "their support" so that might say something about their target demographic.
-The steering was like trying to walk on pudding. It was mushy and offered no real resistance or feedback.
-The interior, while better than previous versions, still felt plastic. To quote Andy, "Sitting in this car, you can't help but see why Chrysler is failing."
-The brakes. See steering.
-Security, or lack there of. You want to grab a bite to eat but not waste 30 seconds putting the top back up. You put your stuff in the trunk so it won't be stolen but then realize there's a trunk release button high up on the dash, right next to the driver's window. Does the button get disabled when you lock the doors and/or have the top down? Of course not. So while your stuff is out of sight, it's never out of reach of persistent thieves.
-Road noise was pretty loud with the top up. I haven't been in many convertibles so I can't comment if that's par for the course.
-To go from carrying luggage to having the top down, you have to open the trunk and flip down a barrier. It's supposed to tell you how much luggage you can put in when the top is down but in the up position, it prevents the top from lowering.
-There is no internal hand hold to help with closing the trunk. This wouldn't be a problem except that when it's open, the top of the lid is about 6.5-7' off the ground. Not a big deal if you're a 5'10" guy but definitely a problem if you're a 5'4" woman.
The Good
+The fully automatic top was nice and did what we asked of it.
+Gas mileage was in the high 20s in mixed driving. Considering the hills of California and the wildly inefficient tranny, I was surprised by this.
The Bottom Line
It worked for a week and served its purpose as convertible transportation, but I can't imagine being cursed with it for much longer than that. It feels like Chrysler didn't think everything out, or no one that designs the car has actually driven one for any length of time. I can understand that it's a cheap car for the masses, so I'd forgive the non-enthusiast things like brakes and steering, but I really can't excuse "the little things" that add up to make for a poorly designed car.
The Bad
-Horrible, horrible body flex. When you drive down the road at 65 mph, the thing darts all over the highway as it twists in the wind.
-The seats are way too hard. Andy couldn't help but bitch during the hour drive down to Laguna, although he had no problem sleeping in it on the way home. FWIW, my wife's grandmother loved them for "their support" so that might say something about their target demographic.
-The steering was like trying to walk on pudding. It was mushy and offered no real resistance or feedback.
-The interior, while better than previous versions, still felt plastic. To quote Andy, "Sitting in this car, you can't help but see why Chrysler is failing."
-The brakes. See steering.
-Security, or lack there of. You want to grab a bite to eat but not waste 30 seconds putting the top back up. You put your stuff in the trunk so it won't be stolen but then realize there's a trunk release button high up on the dash, right next to the driver's window. Does the button get disabled when you lock the doors and/or have the top down? Of course not. So while your stuff is out of sight, it's never out of reach of persistent thieves.
-Road noise was pretty loud with the top up. I haven't been in many convertibles so I can't comment if that's par for the course.
-To go from carrying luggage to having the top down, you have to open the trunk and flip down a barrier. It's supposed to tell you how much luggage you can put in when the top is down but in the up position, it prevents the top from lowering.
-There is no internal hand hold to help with closing the trunk. This wouldn't be a problem except that when it's open, the top of the lid is about 6.5-7' off the ground. Not a big deal if you're a 5'10" guy but definitely a problem if you're a 5'4" woman.
The Good
+The fully automatic top was nice and did what we asked of it.
+Gas mileage was in the high 20s in mixed driving. Considering the hills of California and the wildly inefficient tranny, I was surprised by this.
The Bottom Line
It worked for a week and served its purpose as convertible transportation, but I can't imagine being cursed with it for much longer than that. It feels like Chrysler didn't think everything out, or no one that designs the car has actually driven one for any length of time. I can understand that it's a cheap car for the masses, so I'd forgive the non-enthusiast things like brakes and steering, but I really can't excuse "the little things" that add up to make for a poorly designed car.
'76 911S | '14 328xi | '17 GTI | In memoriam: '08 848, '85 944
"Here, at last, is the cure for texting while driving. The millions of deaths which occur every year due to the iPhone’s ability to stream the Kim K/Ray-J video in 4G could all be avoided, every last one of them, if the government issued everyone a Seventies 911 and made sure they always left the house five minutes later than they’d wanted to. It would help if it could be made to rain as well. Full attention on the road. Guaranteed." -Jack Baruth
"Here, at last, is the cure for texting while driving. The millions of deaths which occur every year due to the iPhone’s ability to stream the Kim K/Ray-J video in 4G could all be avoided, every last one of them, if the government issued everyone a Seventies 911 and made sure they always left the house five minutes later than they’d wanted to. It would help if it could be made to rain as well. Full attention on the road. Guaranteed." -Jack Baruth
