The D NEWZ Sebring Page

Here's my toy -- a 1998 Chrysler Sebring LXi. I bought it on Sunday, May 17, 1998, and am enjoying every minute of driving. It has the performance of a sports car with the look of a luxury coupe. This is a list of just some of what it has:

2.5 Liter V-6 -- 163 Horsepower
4-Speed Automatic Transmission with electronic overdrive
Anti-Lock Brakes -- four-wheel disc
17" Wheels -- P215/50HR17 Goodyear RS-A tires
Dual Air Bags
AM/FM Cassette/CD/Equalizer
Power Windows
Power Door Locks
Power Driver Seat
Cruise Control
Tilt Wheel

Service & Repairs to Date

(Oil Changes every 3,000 miles, Tire Rotations every 6,000 miles, and Air Filter Replacements every 10,000 miles not listed unless noteworthy. Also I use a bottle of fuel system treatment every 5,000 miles.)

1,500 miles - June 14, 1998: Passenger door panel came loose, got mis-aligned, and was bent when passenger door was opened. Dealer ordered new panel and, per Chrysler service bulletin (7/10/98) replaced all door panel clips as well. No charge.
2,500 miles - July 7, 1998: Car had a right drift. Dealer performed alignment and tire rotation. Problem solved. No charge.
4,062 miles - August 11, 1998: Right rear tire found unfriendly nail. Tire had to be replaced. Covered under Chrysler Maximum Care Warranty with Road Hazard Coverage. FYI, cost of a new Goodyear RS-A P215/50HR17 is in the order of $115 per tire.
6,200 miles - November 8, 1998: That darn door panel came off again. I removed it this time before it got bent up. Dealer put it back in place with new clips. Let's hope it holds for good this time.
7,519 miles - December 11, 1998: Had been noticing slight vibration at freeway speeds. Was occurring at time of drift, but thought re-alignment had solved it. Not a major problem, but the car didn't feel quite right. Had three tires re-balanced at Discount Tire for $18 (fourth tire was balanced when it was bought as a replacement), and vibration appears to be gone.
12,856 miles - April 2, 1999: The vibration wasn't gone, so I had Discount Tire re-balance all four tires. The balances were perfect, but the right rear rim was bent, which accounted for the shimmying.
13,900 miles - April 29, 1999: Had the bent rim fixed by a company called NuWheel here in the Phoenix area that specializes in the repair and refinishing of aluminum wheels. I had to drive on the spare for two days while the rim was being fixed. Vibration is now gone. Cost: $100 to NuWheel and $12.50 to Discount Tire for mounting and balancing.
16,163 miles - June 21, 1999:
A) Braking was not smooth, as if the rotors were warped. Dealer resurfaced both front rotors at no charge under warranty, and braking is now smooth and the pedal rides a little higher than before.
B) Heard a whistling noise about 65mph as if the seal around the windshield was not tight. Dealer pulled the windshield and resealed it, no charge.
C) Air conditioner would blow warm or hot air while the car idled at a traffic light, although it would blow very cold air while the vehicle was moving. The expansion valve apparently failed. They evacuated the system, replaced the valve, and charged the system. Covered under warranty.
D) Vibration still not completely gone. Dealer found I had yet another bent rim, this time the left front. Something else to fix to regain the perfectly smooth ride.
E) As regular maintenance, the dealer did a complete auto transmission service, flushing and replacing the fluid and adding fluid conditioners. Cost: $119.95.
18,124 miles - September 14, 1999:
A) The high-pitched noise which I thought was a wind/whistling sound around 65mph turned out to be coming from the transmission. The dealer replaced the transmission, although it took a week because the part had to be shipped in from warehouse in Illinois. Parts, labor, and rental car were covered under warranty.
B) The passenger door window was not closing flush with the rubber molding and body. Dealer adjusted the door glass and door assembly, no charge.
C) On rare occasions, the air conditioner would still blow warm air while the car idled at a traffic light after running for several miles. Dealer recharged the system, no charge.
D) As regular maintenance, the dealer replaced the fuel filter. Cost: $101.80.
22,492 miles - May 4, 2000:
A) Braking was not smooth. Dealer resurfaced rotors for the second time (first done back at 16,100 miles). This car is known for chewing up brake rotors. Foresee needing to deal with this problem again within the next year. No charge.
B) It's hot again here in the desert southwest, and the air conditioner again started to blow warm air while the car idled at a traffic light after running for several miles. Dealer recharged the system, no charge.
C) The whistling noise at about 65 mph was not gone. Dealer found an air leak to fix, no charge.
D) Noticed occasional drip leak coming from under the front hood area of what appeared to be radiator coolant. Dealer replaced cracking hoses and recovery tank, no charge.
E) After fixing the radiator hose leak, dealer was unable to get the car to start. Never had starter problems previously. Dealer replaced the battery, no charge.
24,733 miles - July 14, 2000:
A) Replaced front brake pads and resurfaced rotors. Cost: $232.55.
B) Still dealing with air conditioning not blowing truly cold. Dealer replaced the air conditioner condenser coil assembly and dryer and evacuated and recharged the air conditioning system, no charge.
24,950 miles - July 17, 2000: Replaced wiper blades.
29,863 miles - January 18, 2001:
A) Braking again not smooth, as if rotors are warping again. Indeed they were. Dealer replaced both front rotors, no charge.
B) Headliner was coming loose near the rear window. Dealer removed the headliner, re-glued retainer brackets on the headliner, and reinstalled, no charge.
C) Left map light was not functioning, either as map light or on opening of passenger door. Dealer repaired loose contacts to bulb holder and reinstalled, no charge.
D) Both driver and passenger doors were out of adjustment. Dealer adjusted both doors, no charge.
E) Rear view mirror is becoming distorted, as if the layers in the auto-chrome day-night mirror are separating. Part is on order, not yet replaced.
F) Received a recall notice regarding the door garnish moldings. Part is on order, not yet fixed.
30,138 miles - January 26, 2001: Basic 30,000-mile maintenance (transmission flush, cooling system flush, fuel filter replaced, throttle body service, plus oil change and air filter replacement). Cost: $356.52.
32,354 miles - April 2, 2001:
A) Replaced door cladding panel clips and glued retainers. This was a recall item, no charge.
B) Replaced rear view mirror (see Jan. 18 ’01 entry, no charge).
C) Passenger door was still out of adjustment, as the glass was not closing flush with the rubber moldings. Adjusted right door glass, no charge.
32,800 miles - April 23, 2001: Battery died. Got jump-started to get to and from work. Bought new 8-year battery with a 3-year free replacement at AutoZone. Cost: $69.99 plus tax, free installation.
33,500 miles - May 17, 2001: Factory tires needed to be replaced. Bought set of similar tires, Goodyear LS P215/50HR17, at Discount Tire. Cost: $776.21 plus $92.45 road hazard replacement protection..
34,320 miles - June 20, 2001:
A) Replaced left map light bulb, no charge.
B) Air conditioning still blowing warm at idle. Dealer found air conditioning system was contaminated and restricted from compressor failure. Tested and replaced internally failed compressor and replaced contaminated receiver/drier, expansion valve, evaporative coil, and condenser. Discharged air conditioning lines that were restricted and causing air conditioning head pressure to go too high, all related to the fact that the condenser and radiator cooling fans not coming on at high speed. Shorted wire going in wiring harness and shorted out PCM found a shorted wire going to all three hi speed fan relays on Terminal 1. Found voltage on terminals, replaced junction box wiring harness assembly and voltage was gone. No ground signal at Terminal 1 from PCM. Checked continuity and found to be good. Found PCM to be faulty. Replaced internally shorted PCM. Warranty work, no charge.
C) As regular maintenance, the dealer flushed the power steering system and did a complete fluid exchange. Cost: $80.00.
39,035 miles - October 30, 2001: Got tired of the continually warping factory front rotors. On recommendation of several Sebring owners, bought after-market slotted rotors and pads (Power Stop rotors JBR518SL & JBR518SR and Axxis pads, contact: Ralph Bull, Olympic Imported Parts Corp, olympic@forparts.com). Cost: $248.80 plus $90 local auto repair shop installation.
45,014 miles - May 21, 2002: Replaced upper and lower radiator hoses. Cost: $148.41.
45,780 miles - June 14, 2002: Getting wind/air leak noise. Dealer assessed as coming from the windshield. Had windshield resealed by GlasPro. Cost: $35.00.
45,900 miles - June 19, 2002: Window tinting, 38% side windows, 18% rear window. Cost: $196.26.

Other Noteworthy Items

Top Speed Achieved: 120 mph. This speed was reached on a two-lane road on the Gila River Indian Reservation coming back from a losing night at the casino. The car appears to have some kind of governor on the speed. At 115mph, at around 4500rpm, the car upshifted and didn't want to accelerate much more.
Quarter-Mile: With the local chapter of the Avenger-Sebring Owners Group, I took the DNewzmobile to Speedworld Motorplex northwest of Phoenix for club day. My best run: 17.335 seconds, 80.521 MPH. Considering my car is completely stock and has had no modifications, I was reasonably competitive with the other Avengers and Sebrings.
Fuel Economy based on records kept of every tank of fuel since vehicle purchase: 23.4 Miles Per Gallon.
Best Story So Far: On the day I bought the car, I drove by a convenience store which had been robbed about an hour earlier. Car description matched my Sebring down to the temporary license plate. Fortunately, I'm not 5-foot-6 and I don't have a mustache or a goatee.
Road Trip: Took the Sebring to San Diego. 1,000 miles in 4 days. On the stretch of I-10 from Phoenix to Indio, the car got just over 31 miles per gallon, despite an average speed of 80-85 mph. However, on the run from Indio to San Diego through the Cleveland National Forest, where the roads are very curvy and steep in some cases, the car only got a little over 20 miles per gallon. It did very well, though, in holding those curves, even at 50-70 mph. On the return, the car turned 10,000 miles.

I'm always looking to hear from other Sebring owners, especially fellow '98 Sebring LXi owners, and exchange experiences and information on the car. If you own a Sebring, please e-mail me or sign my guestbook.

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This page was created and is maintained by Dan Siegel. Page last modified November 1, 2002.