The grandkid is getting close to graduating high school and wants to get a job and recently passed her driving test. My wife has been giving her lessons and letting her drive the 25 miles home when appropriate in our early 2000's Honda Accord automatic. Kiddo has been hinting that she really likes the car. I keep the maintenance up on the car and it runs really well and is dependable. Talked it over with the wife and we decided to give the car to the grandkid til she graduates and gets another car as a graduation gift. This meant I needed to pick up something with good gas mileage for my 60 mile round trip commute to work.
I had been bouncing around on Facebook Marketplace and found 2 vehicles in my price range that interested me. A 2007 Sebring that I liked the look of with a 4 cyl and a 2002 Sebring with the dreaded 2.7 l v6 both had around 155 k. Both were over a hundred miles away.So early one recent Saturday we hit the road to take a look at both of them we contacted both sellers and let them know we were on the way and ETA. Which was promptly ignored by the seller of the 2007.He wasn't home and when contacted insisted we had not talked to him and he was an hour away.in the car.On a side note I bought a car from this same home 5 years ago , but I swear it was not the same guy.
So we went to look at the 2002 Sebring which was about an hour away.It was in good shape, ran good shifted smoothly and didn't smoke ,it had a couple of issues, but the body style didn't wow me. So we went back to look at the 2007 as the seller said he would be at home. I don't know what filter he used when taking the pics in which the car looked nice.Because in person the paint looked like it had been washed with comet scouring powder and a scrub brush. The dash had warning lights for brakes ,abs, and an unfamiliar one that when I looked it up was for the catalytic converter .Although the car drove acceptably I decided to pass.Too many issues..
So back to the 2002 . Test drove it again. Offered 1400 because of some front end noise and I could tell it had been sitting under some pine trees for a while he had wanted 1700 ,he accepted. I know the 2.7 engine has a bad reputation but according to my research Chrysler started correcting issues with the 2002 year.I asked him about repair work on the engine. He said he had replaced the water pump ,reservoir,radiator while chasing down why the heat didn't work. He replaced the alternator while he was in there.This made me feel better that some problem points had been addressed. He finally figured out that the heat issue was the blend door ,ordered one and tossed it in with the purchase .The oil cap and what I could see in the engine was clean . The seller had been running Castrol GTX 5w30. There was a check engine light on for the gas cap. The other issue the car had is creaking from the front end, I figure ball joints. The car tracks straight and doesn't pull or drift. So I figure I'm ok to get home. Drove it home with no issues with the wife following me through the 80 mph Atlanta traffic .
We cleaned up the Honda and gave it to the grandkid the following Monday and she was ecstatic. I've been driving the Sebring for the last 2 weeks with no issues while cleaning it up and correcting some stuff. A/C will run you out which is a good thing for a fat guy in Georgia.So far the mpg was 23.1 on the first full tank and 26.1 the next full tank.Hopefully I got a good one and I've got to admit the car is growing on me.
PS
I know it was a long read.
Sorry
I had been bouncing around on Facebook Marketplace and found 2 vehicles in my price range that interested me. A 2007 Sebring that I liked the look of with a 4 cyl and a 2002 Sebring with the dreaded 2.7 l v6 both had around 155 k. Both were over a hundred miles away.So early one recent Saturday we hit the road to take a look at both of them we contacted both sellers and let them know we were on the way and ETA. Which was promptly ignored by the seller of the 2007.He wasn't home and when contacted insisted we had not talked to him and he was an hour away.in the car.On a side note I bought a car from this same home 5 years ago , but I swear it was not the same guy.
So we went to look at the 2002 Sebring which was about an hour away.It was in good shape, ran good shifted smoothly and didn't smoke ,it had a couple of issues, but the body style didn't wow me. So we went back to look at the 2007 as the seller said he would be at home. I don't know what filter he used when taking the pics in which the car looked nice.Because in person the paint looked like it had been washed with comet scouring powder and a scrub brush. The dash had warning lights for brakes ,abs, and an unfamiliar one that when I looked it up was for the catalytic converter .Although the car drove acceptably I decided to pass.Too many issues..
So back to the 2002 . Test drove it again. Offered 1400 because of some front end noise and I could tell it had been sitting under some pine trees for a while he had wanted 1700 ,he accepted. I know the 2.7 engine has a bad reputation but according to my research Chrysler started correcting issues with the 2002 year.I asked him about repair work on the engine. He said he had replaced the water pump ,reservoir,radiator while chasing down why the heat didn't work. He replaced the alternator while he was in there.This made me feel better that some problem points had been addressed. He finally figured out that the heat issue was the blend door ,ordered one and tossed it in with the purchase .The oil cap and what I could see in the engine was clean . The seller had been running Castrol GTX 5w30. There was a check engine light on for the gas cap. The other issue the car had is creaking from the front end, I figure ball joints. The car tracks straight and doesn't pull or drift. So I figure I'm ok to get home. Drove it home with no issues with the wife following me through the 80 mph Atlanta traffic .
We cleaned up the Honda and gave it to the grandkid the following Monday and she was ecstatic. I've been driving the Sebring for the last 2 weeks with no issues while cleaning it up and correcting some stuff. A/C will run you out which is a good thing for a fat guy in Georgia.So far the mpg was 23.1 on the first full tank and 26.1 the next full tank.Hopefully I got a good one and I've got to admit the car is growing on me.
PS
I know it was a long read.
Sorry
