Then I peeked inside. Thatsa plastic ! Mattel Plasti-Goop style [if anyone remembers Creeple People molding kits of the 60s]. I never thought plastic could be THAT bad, [it all comes out of the same test tube].

The plastic instrument surround on my 63 Valiant is still intact after all these years. I don’t know that those pieces in the Avenger [AC vents, etc] would last 10.

This is really sad.

NickNick: maybe the suspension set up was a throwback to that “big car ride” of yore.That sounds like “Old School De-Troit” right there. Maybe they were trying for a “retro” style ride.

How noisy was it inside overall [wind, road, etc. I don't mind the sound of the engine either ] ? I’d really like to like this car.

The malaise in the JS cars comes from Daimler forcing Chrysler engineers to change software mid-design. Essentially, it was a clean-sheet redesign, halfway through– to use Mitsubishi hardpoints and further reduce costs.

These cars are not Chrysler’s incompetence showing through– they are a rushed, pinched design demanded by Daimler.

Dodge neglected to put any suspension effort at all into the 2.4L Avengers.

The SXT with the 2.7L V6 gets sway bars, a reworked suspension, and (I think) a slighty different 4-spd transmission. The SXT still is not a good car- it compares closely to a 2004 Buick Regal LS- but you won’t feel like it’s going to kill you.

really, this was a highway problem, so I should say “sweepers” not “corners.”

The car was a 2.4L I4. Noisy, but I don’t mind. Returned 33mpg.

My transmission worries were founded in Mopar’s reputation (deserved or not), but they were ratcheted up to honest fear levels when the transmission downshifted to third decending a hill and then stayed there on the flats. I disabled cruise control and nothing happened. I hit the brake and nothing happened. Only on resuming acceleration and then lifting off the accelerator did the transmission upshift. I projected future failure from present misbehavior. who knows? it might be bulletproof but fussy.

“It’s nearly impossible to hold a line in a curve”… could it be that the car had an alignment or other suspension problem? Not unusual if my rental experience is any indication. Also was the car a 4 pot or V6?

I’ve owned a number of Mopars from 1986 on and have never had a transmission failure except once, and that was a used convertible I bought. The tranny lost it at 135k miles. And it was the original first year 1990 Ultradrive. You know, the one that was absolutely, positively, guaranteed to break in 50k miles or less.

After hearing so many horrible things about the Sebring/Avenger, I was amazed to find that my first 10 miles had me thinking “this isn’t so bad. if this is the worst car on sale in america, we’ve got it so good and we don’t even know it!” Then I got above 60mph. This is the first sedan that had me worried more about its rollover rating than its offset crash score. It’s nearly impossible to hold a line in a curve, and it’s downright dangerous in 70mph freeway traffic.

The transmission downshifts to maintain speed going down mountains with cruise control on. fine. one time it got stuck in third. it’s a good thing i was paying attention. a distracted parent/driver would finish the trip wondering why the car returned 18mpg…and wondering why the tranny grenaded at 20K miles.

This car is sure to be deeply depreciated rental fleet fodder very soon. It will be tempting to pick one up for $8K with 20,000 miles. With the transmission repair liability of damocles hanging over your head, i recommend that you pay no more than $2K for even a new one. I’d rather pay $5K for a 10-year-old civic.