NHTSA Complaint #10349074 — 2001 CHRYSLER SEBRING CONVERTIBLE

I BOUGHT MY 2001 SEBRING LXI CONVERTIBLE IN DEC 2003, WITH JUST OVER 500 MILES ON THE ODOMETER. IT HAD SUFFERED A TRANSMISSION FAILURE AT THE ORIGINAL DEALER, HAD NEVER BEEN SOLD TO A CUSTOMER, WAS RETURNED TO CHRYSLER FOR A REPLACEMENT, THEN SAT ON A BACK LOT FOR NEARLY TWO YEARS BEFORE BEING RESOLD TO ANOTHER DEALER. I BOUGHT IT WITH A NEW CAR WARRANTY AND BOUGHT THE EXTENDED (7 YEAR/70,000 MILE) WARRANTY. AFTER INITIAL PROBLEMS WITH THE TRANSMISSION CONTROL MODULE, HEATER AND WARPED BRAKE ROTORS (ALL FIXED BY THE DEALER), THE CAR SERVED ME VERY WELL FOR 50,000 MILES--NO SERIOUS ISSUES AT ALL. AT EACH SERVICE AFTER ROUGHLY 20,000 MILES, I WOULD TELL THE CHRYSLER SERVICE DEPT THAT THE OIL PRESSURE LIGHT WAS COMING ON INTERMITTENTLY. THEY WOULD DULY CHECK THE OIL LEVEL AND TELL ME NOT TO WORRY. THEN I TOOK IT TO A CHRYSLER DEALER (ROSENTHAL, ARLINGTON, VA) FOR THE 50K SERVICE AND TOLD THEM THAT THE OIL PRESSURE LIGHT HAD BEEN COMING ON FREQUENTLY AT IDLE OR VERY LOW RPMS FOR THE PAST 10,000 MILES OR SO, BUT THE OIL LEVEL WAS FINE, AND ALSO THAT THE ENGINE HAD BEGUN TO USE OIL AT ABOUT 1 QUART EVERY COUPLE OF THOUSAND MILES. THE DEALER SERVICE MANAGER TOLD ME NOT TO WORRY, THAT THIS PARTICULAR ENGINE (2.7L) WITH THAT MUCH MILEAGE TENDED TO USE OIL. HE SAID JUST TO KEEP IT TOPPED UP. I KEPT CHECKING AND ADDING OIL FOR THE NEXT 5,000 MILES. JUST BEFORE I INTENDED TO TAKE THE CAR IN FOR ANOTHER OIL CHANGE, THE ENGINE BLEW WITHOUT WARNING ON AN INTER-STATE HIGHWAY. I HAD IT HAULED TO THE NEAREST CHRYSLER DEALER AND PAID TO HAVE THE OIL PAN PULLED AND ASSESSED. THE MECHANIC SAID THE ENGINE WAS BLOWN AND THE CAUSE WAS SLUDGE BUILD-UP, AND THAT MY EXTENDED WARRANTY DID NOT COVER THAT CAUSE FOR ENGINE FAILURE. *TR