1999 Chrysler Sebring Convertible JXi review from North America

Transmission speed sensor out at about 30k miles

Brakes got very lumpy by 50k miles

Replacing pads AND rotors fixed it, but only for about 15k miles

Became difficult to get good wheel balance around 50k miles

Fuel Pump out at about 70k miles

Dealer mistakenly replaced distributor because could not diagnose fuel pump clearly.

I tried BMW Z3 and Miata, but decided that I needed the room of a full back seat. If there were three belts in the back, it would fit three kids easily. It's a very roomy car for a convertible. Elongated rear end gives very decent trunk space. The JXi model includes many performance features including disk brakes, anti-sway bars, ABS, traction control, etc. and a really fine magnetic compass in addition to the trip computer. Infinity sound system was a winner.

The car corners hard with little or no roll, when equipped with anti-sway bars as the JXi is. The steering is amazingly neutral for a FWD car with a longish snout beyond the front wheels. Steering feel is almost completely numb, and the ride is soft and got softer with age. Auto (only) transmission is slow to shift down, but otherwise smooth. Overall feel is very smooth and civilized; this is no hard-tail sporting car.

The top operated easily, was very well made, and showed no wear before a vandal tore it up and I had to replace it. The leather seats were not the most comfortable, slightly undersized, and deteriorated prematurely. The passenger seat mechanism jammed frequently. Exterior finish held up well. The mid-low profile tires and 5 spoke alloy rims were pretty good looking. I finally ditched the car when the dealer could not properly diagnose a fuel pump failure, and replaced the distributor needlessly. I also learned that the V6 is one that will tear up valves if the cam timing belt fails. Now I'm driving a used BMW 330 convertible.