Is a 97 or 98 Chrysler Sebring conv a good choice for under $3000?

Question

The sellers all say that the cars have "no problems", but I feel a little suspicious. Advice is well appreciated.

Answer 1

I was looking at buying a Sebring myself last year (I think it was a 2002 though) and I spoke with a coworker who used to work for a rental car company that rented out the Sebring convertibles. His advice was that it was a fun car, and that for the most part people loved, BUT the maintenance costs can run high. Because I didnt want something I was going to be taking in for maintenance on it, I passed on the deal, plus the one I was looking at was A LOT more than $3,000.
You may want to have a 3rd party mechanic take a look at the car before you agree to purchase. Many areas will offer a mobile service that will come out and take a look at the car to determine whether or not there are any serious mechanical issues with it - in my area (Northern California) I think its called Lemon Busters or something very similar. Also, get the VIN # from the seller and pull up the title history on Carfax.com if you see that the car has had a high number of owners that may tip you off that theres something wrong with it and people keep dumping it off on someone else.

Answer 2

That price seems a bit too good to be true... True, there isn't much that goes wrong with these cars, but, be wareful of timing belts, that must be replaced at 100,000 miles. If the belt breaks while driving, with the 2.5 V6, the valves chew themselves to bits (i.e. $$$$$$$$$$$$). A working belt replacement by itself costs about $400 at the dealer (i.e. ¢¢¢). When I did mine, they replaced the spark plugs, transmission service, and did a myriad of other stuff too. Runs like new again!

Get a CarFax and read it through carefully and take it with a grain of salt. For instance, my friend has owned his '04 VW Golf since new, yet CarFax claims it's had 4 owners - when it's had 4 addresses, not all out owners...

I always tell people, when looking at a car at that kinda money, look to spend about $1000 in the first year in "stuff". Give it a good test - make sure the tranny shifts neatly and at the proper time. You may end up with a nice car, cheap. Good luck!

Answer 3

Before you buy it maybe you should take a look at it and make sure everything looks good inside the interior and everything and ask if you can take it for a test drive and if everything looks good it sounds like a good investment. About 3 years ago I bought a 1997 dodge stratus 4 doors looked brand new for about $3,500 dollars, it had 42,000 miles on it. I still have it and had to fix minor things on it only has 100,000 miles now and runs pretty great still. Have someone who knows a about cars look at it so they can tell you if its a good deal or not. I was going to buy a convertible for $3,000 dollars from the neighbors across the street when I was 16 and my dad looked and the roof of the convertible was starting to rust and water was leeking in, so good thing we checked it out first. Goodluck! HOpe this helped.

Answer 4

have it checked out , there should be a auto association that does inspections only , they will give you a true condition report . good luck