Yeah, Chrysler really had an opportunity to make a great mid-size car with the Sebring/Stratus/Whatever. They did stick the bigger V6 in it (a 2.7, I think), which was a big improvement over the 2.4 liter four. But then they ruined the styling and from what I gather from the reviews, the handling, fit, finish, ride, and just about everything else sucked.
But it wasn't Daimler that ruined Chrysler. Well, they did some bad things, and some good things. But when they sold it off to Cerberus, headed by GE AND Home Depot reject Bob Nardelli, and counseled by the fabulously idiotic Dan Quayle, the company really took a nose dive. And I'm a diehard Mopar man, I just shudder at what crap the company turned out in the mid-to-late 2000's.
As for the Neon, yeah, I have a '97 coupe. I actually love the way it rides and handles. The seats are comfortable, and the engine peppy enough, even with a 3 speed auto. But yeah, it has had more than its share of problems. The tranny decided it wouldn't shift into reverse until the engine was thoroughly warm, and then not from 2nd into 3rd until warmed up also. The rear of the head gasket started leaking oil, which left a puddle big enough to get it banned from the company parking lot. The ABS brakes have never really worked right. And the paint is peeling in spots... luckily it's white and easy to touch up. The car has been parked at the local community college auto shop lab for the past 9 months. The first team to work on the tranny failed... Now I'm taking the manual transmission class with a new instructor who promises to fix it... we'll see... I might wind up with it as a project when I take the automatic transmission class in the spring of 2010... And I also have a '78 Dodge full size pickup with a leaky and slightly balky automatic, which I could also use as a guinea pig.
My '99 300M, however, is running quite perfectly. No problems other than minor recalls for this or that. And I can coax 25 mpg in mixed commuting, although it usually drops below 18 when I'm doing a lot of in-town stop and go. The 3.5 liter V6 has more than enough power, and the car is quite comfortable with a relatively good ride (I put on stiffer tires so it's not as quiet or smooth as it would be with more sedate rubber).
I have to agree 100% with the review of the Sunfire. It is truly a POS (sorry if anyone here owns one). I had one as a rental once, and I couldn't believe how bad it was. Its only positive aspect was that it LOOKS sporty from the outside. But all pretensions of sporty performance, or even adequate performance, are stripped away as soon as one is encased in its BOL torture chamber and tries to coax some rpm's out of the sad thing they call a motor.
