2005 sebring w/126K good or bad? Kids car?

Looking at a 05 sebring 4 door for my kids 1st car. friends mom has it with 126k on it. Any concerns on these? price is good IMO at 1500.

BTW not looking at a WIW post. Just looking at any known issues with these years? Suppose to be well maintained. With it being a mom a feel better than if it was say some guy who owned it.

You are rolling the dice with the 2.7L. My family has generally had good luck with them but we are the minority. Dad's Intrepid went 230k before the 2.7 went south. His 05 Sebring is currently at 186k and he has never had a problem with it...until 3 days before his retirement. It started making a knocking noise out of nowhere. We think it's the timing chain but aren't 100% sure. Just the parts to install the chain ourselves is in the $1200 area. The car has been sitting in the garage since October.

Drive over here with a trailer and you could have this one for a lot less. Body and interior(leather) are nice.

i had an '02 2.7 'vert. the double overhead cam engine was good. trans was a little weird but didn't break. a lot of engine light on stuff. car was always garaged and kept out of salt and water; still rusted out!

Thanks guys. Got my dad running the VIN at the dealership to see if can find any history out on car through chrysler. Thanks

Depends on how it was maintained, or not.

if it hasn't had a water pump done, do it.
That's the biggest weak link.
They leak internally and wipe out bearings.
Not a fun or cheap job. but not terrible if your so inclined

quality parts for it can be bought in the $400 range and it's about an 8 hour or so job , more if you've never had one apart before

IIRC I was quoted around $1200 for water pump, chain, tensioners exc from Chrysler. I assume you aren't getting your parts from them? I've heard there are some crappy chains/tensioners on the market for the 2.7. I guess I assumed you needed to buy the parts from Chrysler in this instance. No?

$400 is more reasonable. I might consider tearing into dad's car for that price. He was going to give me the car before the noise started.

Being in the car business i can state unequivocally the 2.7 has maybe the worst reputation of any production car motor.
You go to an auction,, hood goes up and it isnt the 4 banger, people run.
Many extended warranty companies exclude anything with a 2.7
My advice. Pass

If your paying parts and labor, thats about right.
I do my own work so all I pay is parts. Got it ll thru my local KOI auto parts chain. Dont remember brands
Pizzer is about a year after I did it, she got hit in the side and they totaled it.

The 2.7 is certainly not one of the best engines Mopar has put out. But they made some changes about 2000, and there have been noticeably less problems with the engine since then.

As to rust problems mentioned earlier, the convertible is a Japan based body while the sedan is a US based body. Totally different.

If you have a good Dodge dealer local, you may have them go over the car and see what they think. The 2.7 would not be my first choice, but as noted we see some of them go 200k or more. Our local police had some Intrepids with 2.7s that went almost 200k before they replaced them.

For $1,500, if the kid got a year or two out of it, that might not be too bad.

i've seen "moms" beat on cars worse than the kids do !

I just rebuilt the front end in my daughters 02. I've heard the ball joints and end links are the weak link up front. I just did the whole front end for 550 dollars worth of parts from rockauto, on my time. Struts, upper and lower control arms and tie rods/end links. Around here they wanted between 1500 and 2000 dollars for that job, needless to say that was all I needed to hear.

Not entirely accurate.
1996 thru 2000 The Sebring conv is US based but Mitsubishi power train ( V6 only btw )

Beginning in I think 2001 the Sebring conv ( and later 200 convertibles) are Mopar based cars. Same as the 4 door cars


On the other hand , the 2 door Sebring is Japan / Mitsubishi based

Thanks guys. Got up this am and they sold it while I was at work last night. Based on everyone's comments I was willing to chance 1k ro do the wok myself and get him something that maybe we got a year or 2 out of. On to the next one I guess. thanks again!!

Not to worry: there are plenty of inexpensive, reliable cars out there; Neons, or Mustangs from 1985 - 2004, 3rd-gen Camaros, Crown Vics, etc if it doesn't have to be a Mopar.
I've got over 275,000 on my '96 Breeze, nothing more than maintenance items and the occasional expected repair...at this point, I'm curious as to whether it'll outlive me.

It would be a great kids car. Great in that they will never get hurt in it because it will spend more time in the shop than on the road! Seriously though, you're better off that it's gone.



Most moms I know drive the car until it quits, blind and deaf to all noises and problems until a tow is needed.

Look for a clean little neon
I would try to stay in the 2003- 2005 model years myself. They are very similar to the Stratus. Sebring platform.
But much easier to work on and parts are cheap.
Look for rust in the rockers and front lower K frame, lower control arm bushings are an issue.
If you go this route, and unless its been done recently. Do a timing belt/water pump kit is about $100 and takes an afternnon to do with common tools.
Otherwise these cars are easy to maintain, cheap to get parts for and easy to upgrade if they so desire as far as power train or suspension / body mods

Bought my youngest daughter a 2004 a couple years ago. Solar Yellow, 2.0 Auto, sunroof car. Absolutely rust free , But Needed trans gone thru , which I did myself. Ive got right about $2000 total in the car. And that was almost 3 years ago. And this $ includes putting 4 tires on it this past fall

Odds are you can find the same car today for under $2000 and have a car thats easier/cheaper to maintain without the potential 2.7 issues