Folks who buy a convertible usually are looking to add some spice, some adventure to their lives. To suggest that the new Chrysler Sebring is the safe choice for convertible buyers doesn’t make much sense.
Yet such buyers do exist – those looking for just a pinch of spice, something that’s just a tad adventurous. And the Sebring convertible, an early arriving 2008 model, might be the best choice for them.
It has some eye appeal and certainly offers top-down driving fun, but it’s far from the class of its class.
Not that it’s much of a class. In the $25,000 to $35,000 price range, where most people buy their new cars, the choice of four-passenger convertibles is limited to five models. The Chrysler PT Cruiser and Toyota Camry Solara are long past their expiration dates, and need to be updated. (And the Cruiser comes with only a four-cylinder engine, while the others offer fours and sixes or just sixes or sixes and eights.) Both the Ford Mustang and Pontiac G6 are of more recent vintage, but neither car is to everyone’s taste, with the Mustang too focused on head-strong youths and the G6 not traveling far enough from its Grand Am past. My favorite in this class, the also-new VW Eos, is a much smaller car.
So, from that perspective, there’s nothing seriously wrong with the new Sebring convertible. Its exterior better suits a convertible, where it seems mildly sporty, than the sedan version that arrived last year, where it came off as childish or ill-conceived. That top-line engine, a 3.5-liter V-6 that makes 235 horsepower, is more than adequate for Sunday touring of the Bay Area.
And the Sebring’s cabin – our test model was a garish bright blue outside (marathon blue pearl coat) but a very inviting white on the inside (medium pebble beige and cream) with sturdy leather seats – is top notch. I loved the use of both brushed satin silver trim and fake tortoise-shell trim, including on the steering wheel.
Still, the back seat is far from spacious, some of the interior bits, such as back-seat armrests, have this weird plastic-molded look to them, and an already-coming-loose passenger carpet marred the look.
Put together, the new Sebring convertible is less than the sum of its parts. It looks better standing still than it drives moving.
This isn’t a past-generation convertible with tons of cowl shake, but there remain grunts and groans as the car changes direction or moves from reverse to drive. The power top operates efficiently, but a little herky-jerkily in this era of mostly smooth convertible tops.
Indeed, the top is the big story of this redone Sebring. Buyers can pick from three different roofs to cover (or uncover) their heads. There’s a vinyl top, a cloth top and a body-color retractable hardtop. Our Limited model had a pebble beige cloth top to match the interior.
Three seems to be a key number when considering the Sebring convertible. Buyers can pick from three engines: a 173-horsepower, 2.4-liter four; a 189-horsepower, 2.7-liter V-6; and a 235-horsepower, 3.5-liter V-6. The four and the lesser six get four-speed automatics, while the big V-6 gets a more modern six-speed automatic.
Naturally, as engine size grows, fuel economy goes down. While the four gets 29 mpg on the highway, the bigger six gets 26. City mileage decreases from 20 to 18 to 16 as engine size grows.
(On a positive note, this is a 2008 model, which means that its EPA rating reflects the agency’s new formula and should do a much better job of reflecting real-world driving. Consider that if you’re looking at the Sebring’s rivals with their hopped-up 2007 mpg ratings.)
Buyers can pick from three trim levels as well: base, Touring and Limited. Prices range from $26,145 to $32,345. The automaker says prices are down slightly from the outgoing 2007 model, yet reflect much added standard equipment.
And that list is pretty impressive. The base Sebring convertible comes with a vinyl top, anti-lock brakes, a six-disc CD player, power front seats, heated outside mirrors and 16-inch wheels and tires. The Sebring Touring adds a flexible-fuel V-6, stain-resistant cloth seats, a trip computer, nicer interior trim and 17-inch tires with aluminum wheels. The Limited gets a bigger V-6, a better automatic shifter, a cloth top, leather seats, a Boston Acoustic stereo, a theft alarm and 18-inch tires.
Stability control is a $425 option. I wish it were standard. Adding the retractable hard top adds $1,995 to the Limited version (and a bit more on the Touring model). A story in Automotive News this week said the hardtop version is coming to market more slowly than Chrysler and its dealers wanted.
Another option, Chrysler’s My Gig, a hard-drive-based navigation and entertainment system, costs $1,895 more.
The Sebring remains one of the top-selling convertibles, thanks to its popularity with golfers – its trunk can hold four bags with top up and two with it down – with snow birds and with rental customers in vacation hot spots such as Florida and Arizona.
The Sebring has maintained its status by being largely affordable and pleasant. That doesn’t change with this new iteration. It’s an improved car, but one that could have been better.
Contact Matt Nauman at mnauman@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5701.
