Chrysler Sebring--Pleasant Surprise

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Chrysler Sebring--Pleasant Surprise
01/10/2010



I'll confess to being less than enthused at the prospect of spending Christmas vacation in the somewhat ugly duckling unloved Chrysler Sebring (it's a bit less homely this year with the removal of the hood corrugations), but every now and then a low-expectation car manages to over-deliver so impressively that I end up feeling almost guilty for my earlier prejudices.




This Deep Water Blue Sebring Limited was certainly one of those cars. Priced at $29,975 (and possibly available for a good bit less), the car's interior trim and fittings were the first surprise. I didn't realize that the tortoise shell trim I so love in my Dad's 300C had migrated to the midsize class, but so it did as an option for 2010. It looks and feels classy on the steering wheel, dash, and door trim. Vents that close flush like a VW's also seem classier than what I'd remembered in Sebrings past, and the dash graining and softness were also pleasing to the eye and fingertips. A new instrument panel gauge cluster and the Limited model's all LED interior lighting also look pricier.

Remote start and one-touch automatic starting (new last year) are much appreciated features in the frigid Detroit winter, and the heated seats afforded long-haul comfort without the forward-jutting headrest that many new mid- and lower-priced cars feature. High-tech Bosch aeroblade wipers stay pressed to the glass for optimal performance at any speed in salt-spray season. The 3.5-liter V-6 provides plenty of passing power and launches briskly from a stop, but still managed to return 26.1 mpg on our winter road trip to central Michigan--that's impressively near the top of the 16/27 mpg city/highway EPA fuel economy range. It even has a hand brake (to facilitate Finnish cornering on snowy roads)!

Chrysler Sebring rear

I won't tell you I'd race out and buy one tomorrow if I fell off the press-car gravy train, but I have newfound respect for the Sebring and I'd no longer question the sanity of friends who might consider buying one.

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Chrysler Sebring--Pleasant Surprise | Car News Blog at Motor Trend