2009 Chrysler Sebring
This year drew an ordinary 45 complaints for a Chrysler Sebring — the model's median is 138. What they were about is the unusual part: 22.2% of them mention needed, against 7.7% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 45 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 138 |
| Involving a crash | 3 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 2 |
| EPA combined | 21.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- needed — 22.2% of this year's complaints, against 7.7% across the model's other years (2.9×).
- stated driving — 13.3% of this year's complaints, against 4.8% across the model's other years (2.8×).
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR A DIAGNOSIS AND THE DEALER STATED THAT THE POWER TRAIN CONTROL MODULE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 111,600. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.
THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 25-30 MPH WHEN THE VEHICLE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS UNABLE TO BE RESTARTED AND WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE THE CONTACT WAS ADVISED THAT THE ENGINE DIED AND NEEDED [VIN]. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT R…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 09V047000 FUEL SYSTEM, OTHER Fixed free of charge.
- 08V528000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Chrysler Sebring was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2009 Chrysler Sebring? What happened to yours?
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