In-cabin storage compares favorably with the class. Besides the two cup holders in the front center console, a bottle holder is molded into each of the sedan's rear door map pockets. Front door map pockets are a bit shallow for anything besides, well, maps. The glove box door is damped, so it doesn't bruise an unwary passenger's shins. The bi-level bin in the front center console provides a power point, supplementing another in a covered compartment forward of the shift gate where the optional ashtray and lighter fit when ordered. A thoughtful feature: One power point is wired to the battery and on all the time, which is good for charging cell phones and such. The front center armrest adjusts fore and aft over a range of about three inches, which is helpful for drivers of short stature, but a height adjustment would be helpful, too.
The quality of the materials is consistent with the car's price range: good, not great, and it looks better than it feels. Fit and finish is a grade above, with consistent and close tolerances between panels. The Touring model's trim finish had the most eye appeal for us. The Limited model's combination of tortoise shell and chrome did not look real.
The Sebring is not the roomiest car in its class. The sedan offers almost as much headroom front and rear as the class-topping Accord, but the Sebring's front- and rear-seat hip room and rear-seat legroom trail all but the Saturn Aura. Front seats are adequate, if a bit short on thigh support. Side and bottom bolsters are proportioned for folk of substantial girth. Of note, too, is that only drivers enjoy a manual lumbar adjustment. Less than two hours in the front passenger seat left us painfully craving even the slightest lumbar support. The convertible has the same front-seat room, but its rear legroom drops almost four inches from the sedan's, leaving enough space for an average-height adult only when someone short is sitting in front.
The Sebring's thick A-pillars can block sight of cross traffic at intersections and when exiting a driveway or parking lot. The roof's rear taper doesn't leave much room for the rear window and makes for exceptionally deep C-pillars, both of which compromise rear quarter vision.
The convertible tops raise and lower smoothly, whether it's the soft top or the retractable hard top. Watching the hardtop operate is entertaining: the clam shell opens; the roof separates into three segments, folds, then collapses into the trunk; and finally the clam shell closes. When we rolled down the windows after encountering some rain during our time in the test hardtop convertible, water dripped from the roof onto the armrest and the power window controls. Note that in the convertible the rear-seat head restraints do not function as roll bars to protect rear-seat passengers in a rollover.
The Sebring convertible compares well with the Volkswagen Eos and Volvo C70 in terms of interior spaciousness. In fact, the Eos and C70 are more snug all around. Next Page