Not Horrible, but not standout, either.

Review based on a 2008 Sebring 4-Door Sedan, 2.7 liter Touring model.

This vehicle is just average. It's not exceptionally nice in any category, but not astoundingly horrible, either. There are many other vehicles out there that are better alternatives to the Sebring, but if you can get a special deal on this one, it may be worth considering.

Interior styling and quality is a strong point. The dash is well-organized, with a solid feeling to the radio and climate controls. I didn't run across any overly cheap-feeling plastics. The steering wheel was well-padded and had a tactile feel to it. At night, the gauges have a green backlight, which is neat-looking. While I have read complaints that the gauges are hard to read at night, I didn't encounter this problem. All controls were simple and easy to use. I did note that the turn signal stalk felt very cheap- every time I turned the turn signal on, it felt like it was going to break off. It's small details like these that make foreign vehicles better than domestic cars like this Sebring.

The seats are horrible. Immediately upon sitting down in the vehicle, I noticed that the lumbar support in the seats is far too large. I felt a large cushion pushing on my kidney area- certainly a nuisance. The car did not have adjustable lumbar support, and I sat in the passenger seat to discover that it had the same irritating over-boosted lumbar cushion. A passenger even commented on the issue without prompt from me. The lower cushion was not supportive enough, and the front of the seat underneath one's knees was hard, causing the back of the driver's legs to feel sore. I'm not normally too picky about seats, but these seats stood out to me in a bad way.

Driving the vehicle was so-so. The 2.7 liter V6 was average in power. It was more powerful than the 2.3 liter Mazda6 I have driven, but less powerful than the 2.4 liter Honda Accord and 2.5 liter Nissan Altima (all 4-cylinder vehicles, the Sebring is a V6). It's important to note that the 2.7 liter engine is notorious for having oil sludge and rod knock issues. I would not buy a car with this engine in it. While the engine was smooth, it did have a slight whine at midrange RPM that sounded cheap and irritating. I also noticed a slight "lag" when I took my foot off the gas after accelerating. It seemed like the engine kept revving even after I let off- something I've never encountered in a car before. After a while, I got used to this, but it was very annoying at first.

Steering was average. It was well-isolated, with a good amount of firmness, yet an adequate amount of road feel. However, I would have liked a bit stiffer steering on freeway offramps- it was difficult to feel where the center was. It felt rather numb in this situation. The ride was quiet- bumps were filtered out well, and I didn't hear much road noise through the suspension- but the car felt "floaty" on the highway, somewhat like Grandma's Hoopty car. It wasn't the ride and handling I would expect from a Touring model, that's for sure.

Braking was poor. While the vehicle stopped in a short distance without too much drama, the pedal feel was disgusting. The pedal felt mushy and numb. This is another trait that could probably be adapted to by a driver, but it definitely irritated me.

This vehicle is E85-capable, but I did not ever run it on E85, because fuel economy sharply decreases when run on ethanol.

Overall, the Sebring is average. It's not horrible, but not excellent. There are many alternatives which get better fuel economy, are more reliable, more comfortable, and hold their resale value better- Honda Accord, Mazda6, Ford Fusion, Nissan Altima, to name a few. But if you can get a good deal on a Sebring, take it for a drive- you may find that you're able to get used to its quirks.