chrysler sebring convertible

[crazyboutwagons]

Looking for any feedback on the 2010 Chrysler sebring convertible. My wife wants to buy a convertible to drive on nice days she doesn't want a older one,she wants one with all the modern day options she has been looking online and really likes the looks of the 2010 sebring. I would prefer the hardtop convertible as we only have a one car garage were the wagon resides. I think the hardtop would be better sitting outside in the Pittsburgh winters. She would like a darker color(Inferno red 1st choice). anything in particular we should be looking for in the way of problem areas. She wants to spend around $7500.00 and wants something a little bit bigger(midsize)

 

[Polara_500]

My wife has a 10 Sebring hardtop convertible and loves it except in the winter. She's looking for an SUV to replace it simply cause we live in the NW corner of Minniesnowta and there's too many days she's not comfortable driving it the two miles of unplowed gravel roads to get to town. She doesn't have 50K on the clock yet and it's immaculate, but she's got an itch, so......... Inferno red, off white interior, 3.5l.

 

[crazyboutwagons]

So does that mean hers is for sale soon.

 

[Polara_500]

Could be, hard to tell with her, she's been looking most of the winter and I just don't know. Don't think she's even decided what she wants to replace it with..............

 

[The Goose]

One word of advice. Beware of ex rental cars. They’re out there and they’re a problem you don’t want. My wife had an ‘05 she loved it until she got tired of all the wind. We gave it to my buddy’s 17 year old daughter last year. Now she loves it too. Fun car w no drama.

 

[CBODY67]

I know that many have repeated the "ex-rental car" comment over the years, BUT there are some pluses to them. Of course, it can depend upon the rental car/lease company that had them, I suspect. National chains vs. local/regional companies, for example.

One plus is that they will not be "stripped", but nicely equipped. Generally not leather, but cloth/vinyl. Generally the upgrade stereo, but probably not all the way to HD radio. And you know that they should be getting regular maintenance.

But one of the best things is that as they had that car in their fleet, it CAN be a sign that the car is pretty reliable and trouble-free. A "broke car" makes them NO money, so getting the model and equipment "right" keeps everybody happy. But they'll also usually "turn them" at less than 20K miles, which can limit their exposure to potential "ill use".

In prior times, if they got "run hard" too much, it would usually impact their ultimate reliability/longevity. Not quite that way with the newer stuff. The ECM will not let the driver so some things which would have caused earlier powertrains to fail, for example.

I believe that under the OEM agreements, when the cars come back in, they have to meet certain standards. If not, they are repaired to make them compliant. Then they usually go to the OEM dealer auctions, rather than normal used car auctions. If they get a significant wreck, then they probably get fixed and turned, I suspect.

If the car had always been in private use, then any dealer can pull up the warranty repair records for that VIN. Which can also serve to verify the mileage. hehe Plus any maintenance done on a "full maintenance" program, extended warranty package, or otherwise. Yes, the rental car might have seen some more intense use, but at least you know it been serviced regularly.

Anyway, do due diligence on any purchase.

CBODY67

 

[gyknot]

I bought my 2008 sebring convertible in Dec '08 as a used rental return car. Had about 18K miles on it. Lots of miles in a short amount of time but it was a dealer serviced and sold car.
In the over 10 yrs I've had it, I have done nothing other than maintenance to it. No issues at all. I only have about 45K miles on it now as I only drive it occasionally in the summertime.
There is some wind noise but I've never owned another convertible to compare it to.
Mine has always been under a roof. I'm not sure if I'd buy a convertible if it had to be parked outside. At least not where you get snow.

 

[The Goose]

Mr brother worked for a national chain at Sky Harbor for a long time. The garage faked the maintenance and some cars never had an oil change from new until they sold them off. 40k is a long time between oil swaps. Story was they dumped new oil down the traps and pencil whipped the paperwork. He had quite a story to tell the night most of the garage was fired. They went so far as to write the date on oil filters and the guys would erase it w wd40 to make it jive. He said everybody guessed what was going on for years but it wasn’t confirmed until they fired everybody. He was a yard guy and he got smoking deals on rentals but we’d only do it thru them if the car was brand new. I didn’t know what was up so I’d always ***** about why a brand new car? The broken in ones got waaaay better mileage. It’s a long drive from Phoenix to Vegas so he was just making sure we’d get there.

What did they say, nothing handles, revs, offroads or peels out quite like a rental car. Buyer beware.

 

[commando1]

Tons of ex-rentals down here in Florida, as you would expect.
A Florida ex-rental is your best bet because none of them got over 50 mph because of all the traffic here. Just ask @cantflip...

 

[crazyboutwagons]

I was going to look at a 2010 from Florida yesterday guy bought 2 years ago kept it at his place there then brought to Pa, pictures of underneath were like new . Someone beat me to it by 1/2 hour. still looking

 

[cantflip]

Tons of ex-rentals down here in Florida, as you would expect.
A Florida ex-rental is your best bet because none of them got over 50 mph because of all the traffic here. Just ask @cantflip...

They do at least 90 in your residential 25 zones...

It makes the speed bumps feel like pebbles as the tires seldom touch the ground...

 

[cantflip]

Mr brother worked for a national chain at Sky Harbor for a long time. The garage faked the maintenance and some cars never had an oil change from new until they sold them off. 40k is a long time between oil swaps. Story was they dumped new oil down the traps and pencil whipped the paperwork. He had quite a story to tell the night most of the garage was fired. They went so far as to write the date on oil filters and the guys would erase it w wd40 to make it jive. He said everybody guessed what was going on for years but it wasn’t confirmed until they fired everybody. He was a yard guy and he got smoking deals on rentals but we’d only do it thru them if the car was brand new. I didn’t know what was up so I’d always ***** about why a brand new car? The broken in ones got waaaay better mileage. It’s a long drive from Phoenix to Vegas so he was just making sure we’d get there.

What did they say, nothing handles, revs, offroads or peels out quite like a rental car. Buyer beware.

Former rentals are a mixed bag... back when... most of the fleet I worked on, changed out at 6mos or 30k, whichever came first. Some cars were cherry, some had been wrecked repeatedly. We had the lube guy who double gasketed an oil filter at least once a week, so our fleet had lots of cars that had run without oil for a while... only ever seized one engine, so the rest made it to someone's garage.

A thorough inspection should catch the majority of problems. All of ours went to dealer auctions, so think twice next time you shop a used lot. There just isn't a way to put auction cars on a lift prior to purchase, so a well camouflaged repair can be tough to spot. Most of the buyers I knew, just crunched numbers and most cars got nothing but cosmetic "help it sell" work done to them once bought by a dealer.

BTW, Florida is a big market and hates old cars. We have no safety, nor emissions inspections. That makes us a great dumping ground for the "natural disaster vehicles" every time it floods someplace else. I have seen truck loads of cars come in from other states to be sold here, very pretty bodywork, but very messed up cars underneath it all. The last dealer I worked for had a used car manager buy 2 or 3 truckloads of pretty, low mileage, rebuilt, late model cars. He was thrilled at the deal and wanted them all to sell under the factory used car extended program. I disqualified every one of them... which didn't change a thing as they forged the paperwork and sold them anyhow. At least he made sure I didn't have to work on anymore of the junk he'd bring back from auction.