My husband is a DEDICATED ford/lincoln/mercury man. I have been willing in the past to drive one as we have found something I liked. It is time to replace my 97 ford thunderbird with 164,000 miles. Its a v6. I have driven it for 13 years. Been happy with it, not had to put a lot of money in it for repairs. THIS is the big reason my DH is a dedicated ford guy. Early on we had really bad luck with GM. The thunderbird is still running but needs new cv joints and the rear window now leaks and no a/c and I THINK the transmission will go soon. So we knew we were going to replace this year. I am looking to spend about 6000.00. I have looked long and hard and I REALLY like the Chrysler seabring convertibles. Several are in my price range. He is not adamant no but resistant because its not a ford. I WILL get either a convertable or a sunroof this time.Wanted one last time couldn;t find one and was super hesitant to put one in after market due to people telling us they often leaked. So I can afford a sebring or a pt cruiser which often have sun roofs. SO any chrysler owners out there that love or hate them?? Before you say just get a ford mustang, getting one in my price range makes me leery as it makes me think it has been beat on. So I am resistant to that. Absolutely do not want an 8 cylinder. I would LOVE a 4 cylinder, but finding one with a sun roof or convertable is VERY VERY hard. Though I did find some VW bugs both with sunroof and convertable. Originally we were thinking we would keep thunderbird and fix the cv joints so we would always have a back up car, but very recently he has been leaning towards NOT fixing the Thunderbird. We are looking to get something with right under 100,000 miles. SO these 2 Chrsyler models consistantly pop up in our price range. Any thoughts???
well, I'm a tadd bias as I grew up driving Mopar, muscle cars! But.... I've driven cars from all of the big 3, and fords have always ended up my least favorite vehicles. I have not driven a seabring myself but you should be able to do a search on their reliability. With ANY used car, you're probably going to have problems with it, esp for that price. So in all honesty, it's not going to matter if it's a ford or not.
If you were worried about your back window leaking, you should not be looking at convertibles. If you have a garage, your convertible top should last five-six years, before needing to be replaced. Automatics are only designed to last about 100,000 miles. If you got 165K on yours... good job!!!! CV joints go bad. They don't cost a lot and give you loads of warning before they break. If you want reliability and mileage and power... Subaru. Their entire line is higher quality than Honda and Toyota, who have slipped down to Pontiac levels (According to Consumer Reports). I bought my Mustang GT because it was the highest ranked car for quality and reliability, for over ten years. In other words, it was as good as a Subaru, but had more power and looked cooler (to me). The V6 Mustang is not in that class, for whatever reason. I did not want a 4-door, particularly. But the Charger appealed to me, except for only having an auto, which I will never own as long as I can shift a transmission manually. In 116,000 miles I have not even burned out a bulb! It's still on the original brakes (pads, rotors, everything). I beat the heck out of it, on a daily basis. I race it on weekends, at the dragstrip. It has over 200 1/4 mile passes, launching at redline, on nitrous and a total of over 800 passes. So that's over 200 miles driven above 6500 RPM. It is still on the original clutch which does not slip at all! Subarus are the same way. Beat on them. Thrash them, treat them terribly and they just eat it up. Because they were designed to be beaten on much harder than you can and last and last. Just my two cents, but the first time you get on the freeway and realize the opening you are going for is in front of you, not behind you.... you're hooked. My Mom drove Honda accords all her adult life, practically. After riding in my car, she's looking at Corvettes [sigh].
my mom drives one and my dad had the older Lebanon model. good cars all in all. as for convertible tops its all in how you take care of them. they will rot out if not treated with top conditioner in hotter climates. the door fell off my dads at 225,000 miles so he traded it in.
