Beauty or Beast?

[Betaphile]

I think the thing to bear in mind is that it is a pretty bottom-rung US car, basic transportation, a cheap Chrysler. It'll have wobbly trim and feel a bit rubbish, on the other hand it'll probably do the average 15K/year that Americans do without much complaint. Think of it as the American equivalent of a Punto/Fiesta/Clio - a fairly cheap car for people who don't really care. Put fuel in it, drive around playing CDs and turn the aircon to full blast. They make some sense over there.

This might be true, except for two things: 1) You can get MUCH better for the same money (or less); and2) The Sebring is actually quite 'special' in that it is so piss-poor that even people with zero interest in cars notice that this is not how a 21st-century product is supposed to look, feel or drive.

[Guest]

It's true, hence why the US-built Camry has been the best-selling car there for yonks.But if people will buy the Sebring, they might as well sell it.

[Betaphile]

I see where you're coming from, but I genuinely don't think you appreciate just how bad these things are. I'm not engaging in hyperbole when I say that the general levels of material quality, fit and finish and driving dynamics exhibited in a Sebring would have been borderline unacceptable in an '80s repmobile. Say what you like about Camrys, but they are properly developed and meticulously tested (throttle assemblies aside) by a competent manufacturer. That's why Toyota shifted 312k Camrys in the US last year (to the end of November) and Chrysler sold, over the same period......23k Sebrings. That's not a typo. For a mid-size sedan in the world's biggest car market from one of the former Big Three, that's a Tagora-style sales failure.

[Guest]

Those figures are pretty poor, I thought it'd be doing a bit better than that to be honest. Poor old Chrysler eh.Didn't say the Camrys were bad, they seem to be very good cars and thoroughly deserving of their place. It's surprising how cheap they can be knocked out considering the quality level - I remember seeing an ad in the US in the late 90s where they were selling Camry for an absolutely ridiculous price, roughly equivalent to what you'd pay here for a decent-spec Fiesta. But these were fullsize cars with V6s and the likes!Never driven a Sebring, but I have driven some cars which people have rated incredibly badly and not seen much of a problem. I imagine it to be a bit lazy and cheap-feeling, probably somewhat dated but I'm sure it'll drive alright - as in I'd drive it around, someone would ask me my opinion and I'd go "Drives alright".Suppose my standards when it comes to new cars are pretty low - I've heard people on here go absolutely mental about things like Mondeos and Vectras, but they always seem to drive fine to me. And I never could bring myself to be bothered about the quality of interior plastics, fit and finish, etc. Some people can get into a right state about it.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Those Sebrings are spectacularly shit in all respects, i saw an 09-plate soft top one the other day and nearly laughed my knackers off!!! WTF would anyone buy one of those for, the mind boggles.When a car company is turning out such utter turds as those things, it deseves to get taken over by the gucci handbag carriers

[pogweasel]

It looks to be the sort of thing that I would deliberately select as a company car, if I ever had the option. "What would you like?""Whatever is least appealing and fastest depreciating please, just to piss you off"

[Guest]

The Hirst Corp company car park would be a sea of Sebrings, Sonatas and Epicas. And a chauffeur-driven Grandeur for me.They'd all be petrol ones too.

[Lukas]

Don´t compare a Sonata or a Grandeur with this rediculous Sebring. Just don´t, please!

[Guest]

The Sebrings would be given to people who have a Sonata and ask for something more flashy.

[Lukas]

I´ll sit in my Camry and cry for an hour now. See you.

[Guest]

You misunderstand - it would be to make them appreciate what they've got! If they start moaning about having a Sebring, I'll special-import some of those Iranian Peugeot 405s.

[UglyAmerican]

You misunderstand - it would be to make them appreciate what they've got! If they start moaning about having a Sebring, I'll special-import some of those Iranian Peugeot 405s.

I'd much much rather have an Iranian Peugeot 405 than a Sebring!

[AnthonyG]

 

Didn't say the Camrys were bad, they seem to be very good cars and thoroughly deserving of their place. It's surprising how cheap they can be knocked out considering the quality level

 

 

Ah.. US Camrys (or any non Japanese built Toyota) aren't built to the same level or quality as the 1980s/90s Japanese ones we got. This is at the heart of the current drive-by-wire accelerator pedal problem Toyota have.

 

Understand I'm not saying Toyotas are badly built, not at all, but they are not built to the same quality standards Toyota adhered to in the 1980s and early 1990s.

 

Back to the Sebring, it is a very poor car, not just to European buyers, but in the context of the US market.

 

US buyers know that Sebrings are terrible, designed at a time when Daimler were trying to get shot of the whole lot.

 

Compare a Chevy Malibu or a Ford Fusion to a Sebring (basically the same type of car but both much better) and you will see why Chrysler are now basically owned by Fiat.

[warren t claim]

I would buy it........It probably drives ok for what I would want it to do. Anyway, I like American tin. There is no way I would spend money on a Pug 107 when I could have this for the same money. Mind you I'm easily pleased! I even like the Matiz!

[boobydoo]

Well! After such vitriol, I just had to drive it myself and see. Surely it couldn't be THAT horrendous?I drove it for 10 minutes. Believe me, I wanted to like the car ........but there is no way I could drive that day in day out. Yes, I could live with the cheap, flimsy plastics etc..its 8k for christ-sake. But the seats give no support...NONE! You virtually slide off going round a roundabout!The auto gear change is clonky....you come to a stop and it sort of judders?! The engine whines..... there is just no sense of driving. The steering is dead. It's what I imagine being at the helm of Titanic would be like.Guys....I'm disappointed.On paper it looks incredible value for money..but as a daily driver...no.The fact that Chrysler UK have deleted new Sebrings, Avengers AND Calibers from their UK range..leaving just 300C as the sole saloon car available speaks for itself I guess.....