Say 'No' To Bushonomics?

The gas crisis of 2006 will long be remembered by Americans as the second-worst after-effect of the Invasion of Iraq (behind the extended deployment of our troops). Millions of citizens, as of this writing, are lining up at pawn shops for cash to afford gas at $3 per gallon in many major cities. New car buyers anxiously search for deals that will save on gas while avoiding the need of squeezing families into economy-size vehicles. Well, look no further, folks, Chrysler has a steal of a deal in the 2006 Sebring.

We celebrated what would have been my Dad's 85th B-Day by taking my first trip to Disney World on what happened to be Mickey Mouse's 50th Anniversary Celebration. Cool, huh? Anyways, the air fare wasn't going to save us any money, so we called Hertz and ordered the Sebring. It's a big car with a big tail, so you've got to watch it backing in and out of short spots, something I'm used to with my Ford Ranger. It drives real good though, nice manueverability. My only complaint was trying to make lanes, not a whole lot of acceleration, a tad disappointing for a six-cylinder. Well, it doesn't advertise as a hot rod, does it?

Inside the car's kinda nice. There's plenty of trunk space and lots of layback room should you decide to ease the seat back and catch some shuteye during a thunderstorm on a twenty-hour drive (which we ran right outside Nashville). BTW, this baby keeps her grip on the road, even making those coming-round-the-mountain curves at 60 MPH in the rain. Not a biggie, everybody on the road in Nashville on Friday night drives in the rain at that speed. And the Sebring sure as hell keeps up.

Our model had a CD player with a good sound, so you catch everything from Rachmaninoff to the New York Dolls with at-home quality. The A/C works just fine and doesn't make any noticeable difference on gas mileage, despite the BS tips you get on the Internet. Also, it comes with cruise control, so you can set your pace at 75 MPH and not worry about getting nailed by a pig with a radar gun. They're still looking for me in Texas after my last visit.

All in all, if I were out shopping for an economy-size car and concerned about saving gas this Summer of '06, I'd give the Sebring some serious thought. At 20k it's about what you spend for a house in South Texas, but, what the hell, at that price range it's probably a lot cozier.