Ugh There’s Salt On My Car

I think I have mentioned before how much I love my car, I waited several years to get it and it was soooo worth the wait. Its a 1996 Chrysler Sebring JXI Convertible, yes it’s a little old but I am not a rich person and my credit as it is means I pay cash for vehicles. Last February I had $5000.00 set aside for a car and I went looking for a Sebring. I spent alot of time on Car Soup and I narrowed it down to about five in my price range and area. On the weekend we went to look only a couple remained, the first one was at a used car dealer, it was gold and black (not my favorite but okay) they wanted $4800. and it was a beat up piece of crap, it looked like a psychotic had torn apart the interior. No visors, half the liner on the roof hanging down in shreds cracks on the dash, even the speaker covers on the door totally kicked in. (they are in a bad spot if you use your foot to push the door open.) I did take it for a test drive, it was awful, no pick-up, brakes non-existent. So needless to say I was feeling pretty down, I mean is this what my money was going to get me? I started to think it would be another year of saving and driving my old crappy automobile.

I got a hold of another one on my list which was a private seller basically on our way home so I thought what the heck lets go see it. The picture this woman took did not do this car justice it appeared to be a real orange red with a black top. I hate orange red, its an awful color I think. But when we pulled up to her house I was blown away! This car was magnificent, crimson red with charcoal gray leather interior, and it was gorgeous! Mint condition, beautifully maintained. The woman had bought it four years earlier from a friend who had bought it new and being a single woman she had taken amazing care of this vehicle, aside from high miles it ran and looked so perfect, and best of all the price was unbelievable! $3800. Yep thats no joke, she wanted to get rid of it because she had the top down and had lost some important papers. Crazy? Yeah, but crazy to my advantage.

I am a true Chrysler lover, I have owned a couple others and never had a problem, just great cars in my opinion, and this one is no exception. It runs fantastic, handles like a sports car, I just cant say enough good things about it. And loaded! Its got it all, Infinity sound system with built in amp and six disk changer in trunk, alarm system and remote door locks (I have since had an auto start installed and Sirius satellite receiver ) which work flawlessly, the top leaks a tiny bit in a power car wash, but hey its a convertible and I have owned a few, they all leak a bit, its a sacrifice you make for love. On the visor it has three programmable buttons for garage doors or other RF controlled devices. It even comes with a nice leather cover that fits over the roof when its down so you have a smooth silhouette instead of seeing all the roof mechanics.

I maintain it with regular synthetic blend oil changes as recommended, and as I mentioned in another blog I have replaced the tires, had the brakes done and needed to replace the front tie rod ends, but its an eleven year old vehicle, other than that its only quirk is the oil light which my mechanic has assured me is only a sensor and he will fix in the spring when I bring it in for its tune up. Maybe I love it a little to much, I am very anal about it and have even been known to have kids remove there shoes to ride in it. But one thing thats driving me crazy is Minnesota weather, where there is snow there is salt in this state and it covers your vehicle and then it eats it and makes rust. Thank God one other nice part about my vehicle is its almost all composite material, I think only the doors could rust, Geez I love this car!!