2005 Chrysler Sebring Convertible

HORN BLOWS FOR NO APPARENT REASON. USUALLY OCCURS WHEN USING THE REMOTE TO UNLOCK DOORS BUT HAS HAPPENED WHEN JUST OPENING THE CAR DOOR. CONTINUES TO SOUND FOR SEVERAL MINUTES. OCCASIONALLY WILL STOP IF HOLDING HORN PAD DOWN ON STEERING WHEEL BUT THEN RESUMES WHEN PRESSURE IS RELEASED. SERVICE DEPARTMENT UNABLE TO REPLICATE. STATES IT IS PROBABLY A FAULTY HORN PAD WHICH IS CONNECTED TO AIR BAG ASSEMBLY SO ALL MUST BE REPLACED. VERY EXPENSIVE FIX! APPARENTLY THIS IS A FREQUENT PROBLEM WITH SEBRINGS FOR THIS YEAR. WHY NOT A RECALL? *TR

HORN WILL START WORKING ON IT'S ON AND WILL NOT STOP UNTIL FUSE BURNS OUT. THE ONLY WAY TO FIX THIS IS BY REPLACING THE DRIVER AIRBAG SINCE THE HORN PAD IS INSIDE THE AIRBAG ASSY. NEEDLESS TO SAY, A VEHICLE WITHOUT AN HORN WILL NOT PASS INSPECTION AND SINCE THIS IS THE ONLY WAY A DRIVER HAS TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE SURROUNDING DRIVERS IN CASE THEY GET TOO CLOSE OR TO WARN THEM OF A DANGER A HEAD, THIS MOST CERTAINLY IS A SAFETY ISSUE. BY CHRYSLER AVOIDING THEIR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS BAD DESIGN, THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO ARE DRIVING SEBRINGS WITH NO HORNS (SINCE THEY CAN NOT AFFORD $800 FOR A NEW AIRBAG, WHICH BY THE WAY IS GOING TO BE NO MORE THEN A TEMPORARY SOLUTION SINCE NO CHANGE IN THE DESIGN HAVE BEEN MADE). THAT POSSES AS MUCH AS A THREAT ON ALL OF US WHO SHARE THE ROAD WITH THEM AS IT DOES ON THOSE SEBRINGS OWNERS... I HAVE TO ADMIT I'M SKEPTICAL ABOUT NHTSA MAKING SURE CHRYSLER MAKE THINGS RIGHT, BUT AT LEAST I'LL GIVE IT A TRY. TO SEE HOW BIG OF A PROBLEM THIS IS I SUGGEST YOU GOOGLE "CHRYSLER SEBRING HORN FIX". THANK YOU. P.S THERE WAS NO INCIDENT JUST YET, BUT I HAD TO CHOOSE A DATE OF THE "* APPROXIMATE INCIDENT DATE:" OR IT WILL NOT LET ME GO TO THE NEXT PAGE. *TR

2005 CHRYSLER SEBRING GTC CONV. AT 3:00 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, I AWOKE TO MY HORN JUST HONKING AWAY. THE AIR BAG LIGHT IS ON ALL THE TIME. IT HAPPENED ANOTHER TIME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND THEN HAPPENED WHEN I WAS STOPPED AT A LIGHT. EVERYONE WAS LOOKING AT ME AS I *DRAMATICALLY* POUNDED ON THE STEERING WHEEL. I DON'T THINK THE POUNDING IS REALLY HELPING, AS IT SEEMS TO JUST STOP ON IT'S OWN. THE LAST TIME IT HAPPENED WAS YESTERDAY. AS I PULLED UP TO MY FRIENDS HOUSE, AND WAS JUST ABOUT TO SHUT IT OFF, THE HORN STARTED HONKING SHORT HONKS THEN PROGRESSED TO LOOOOONNNGGGG HONKS. BEING LABOR DAY, NEEDLESS TO SAY ALL THE NEIGHBORS CAME OUT TO SEE WHAT ALL THE RACKET WAS ABOUT. AFTER POUNDING ON IT FOR A FEW, I DECIDED TO DRIVE AWAY AS I WAS SOOO HUMILIATED BY THIS TIME. IT STOPPED ABOUT 6 HOUSES DOWN THE STREET. GO FIGURE. HOWEVER, IT WAS THE FIRST TIME I WAS AWARE THAT THERE WAS A TICKING SOUND COMING FROM THE AREA WHERE THE CONTROL PANEL FOR THE MIRRORS WERE, ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE FRONT OF DASHBOARD. *LN

THE HORN RANDOMLY BEGINS HONKING. IT OCCATIONALLY HAPPENS AS I'M DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD. WHEN THE CAR IS TURNED OFF IT CONTINUES HONKING. IT OCCATIONALLY BEGINS WHEN I PUSH THE BUTTON ON THE REMOTE TO OPEN THE LOCKED DOORS. IT WILL THEN SUDDENLY STOP HONKING, ONLY TO START AGAIN FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD. THE ONLY WAY I CAN GET IT TO STOP WHILE I'M DRIVING IS TO PUSH HARD ON THE CENTER OF THE STEERING WHEEL WITH ONE HAND WHILE I STEER WITH THE OTHER HAND. THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY HAZARD. I TOOK IT TO THE LOCAL REPAIR SHOP. THE MECHANIC TOLD ME THAT THE PROBLEM IS A SWITCH IN THE STEERING WHEEL THAT CONTROLS THE HORN AND THE AIR BAG. THE SWITCH COSTS AROUND $500 AND LABOR WILL COST ABOUT $500 MORE. SINCE I CAN'T AFFORD TO PAY THAT NOW, THE TECHNICIAN SUGGESTED I REMOVE THE RELAY FOR THE HORN. HE TOLD ME THAT WOULD STOP THE HORN FROM HONKING, BUT ALSO DISABLE THE AIR BAG. SO NOW I AM DRIVING WITHOUT A HORN AND WITHOUT AN AIRBAG. THIS IS ALSO A MAJOR SAFETY CONCERN. *TR

MY CHRYSLER SEBRING HAS HAD OIL CHANGES ON, AND THE LAST TIME IT WAS CHANGE THE MECHANIC HAS INFORMED THAT THERE IS SLUDGE IN THE NET AND IT IS PREVENTING THE CORRECT OIL PRESSURE TO GET TO THE ENGINE AND IT COULD BLOW THE ENGINE. THE COST HOWEVER IS MORE THAN I CAN AFFORD (2500.00) TO OVERHAUL THE ENGINE. I HAVE A 2005 SEBRING WITH APPROX 60,000 MILES. *TR

SEAT BELT INDICATOR LIGHT AND TONE WILL NOT STOP EVEN WITH SEAT BELT SECURELY ATTACHED. THIS CAUSES A MAJOR DISTRACTION WHEN DRIVING AND ALSO LEADS TO UNCERTAINLY AS TO THE AIR BAG INTERCONNECT SYSTEM. THE DEALER WAS CONTACTED ON 05/15/09 AND DIAGNOSED IT AS A SEAT BELT BUCKLE/PRETENSIONER FAILURE AND THAT THIS WAS NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY AND WANTED TO CHARGE $500.00 TO FIX IT. THIS IS A STANDARD SAFETY INTERCONNECT SYSTEM AND SHOULD NOT BE SUBJECT TO WARRANTY ISSUES AND SHOULD BE REPAIRED. IF THIS IS HAPPENING WITH THIS AUTOMOBILE, WHICH IS A VERY COMMON MODEL, THEN IT SURELY IS HAPPENING TO OTHERS AND MAY HAVE ALREADY CAUSED OR IS GOING TO CAUSE ACCIDENTS AND POSSIBLE FAILURE OF AIR BAG, SAFETY BELT SYSTEMS AS THEY ARE INTERCONNECTED. THIS IS A CONSTANT PROBLEM AND THE DRIVER HAS TRIED VARIOUS METHODS OF INTERFERING WITH THE WARNING SYSTEM SUCH AS LOCKING AND UNLOCKING THE SAFETY BELT, JIGGLING THE SAFETY BELT, HOLDING THE SAFETY BELT AWAY FROM THE BODY WHILE DRIVING ETC. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION FOR DRIVERS TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH AS IT IS DISTRACTING AND COULD ALSO RESULT IN IMPROPER RESTRAINT IN THE EVENT OF AN ACCIDENT. CHRYSLER SHOULD FIX THIS PROBLEM WITHOUT QUESTION AND SHOULD INVESTIGATE TO SEE IF A RECALL IS WARRANTED. THIS BEGAN JUST OVER 30,000 MILES AND THE OWNER CONTACTED THE DEALER ABOUT 10,000 MILES LATER WHEN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT THIS PROBLEM WAS GOING TO PERSIST AND THERE WAS NOTHING THE OWNER COULD DO TO MITIGATE THE PROBLEM. THE DEALER SAID IT WAS NOT COVERED BECAUSE THE WARRANTY ON THIS ITEM EXPIRED AT 30,000. THIS VEHICLE HAS A 7 YEAR, 70,000 MILE DRIVE TRAIN WARRANTY. THE VEHICLE, A 2005 CHRYSLER SEBRING CONVERTIBLE, WAS PURCHASED IN 2006 FROM WILLITS MOTORS IN SUSANVILLE, CALIFORNIA. WILLITS WAS PURCHASED BY SUSANVILLE AUTO CENTER, 530-257-5092 AND THAT DEALERSHIP HAS BEEN THE ONE THE OWNER HAS BEEN DEALING WITH AND WHO HAS REFUSED TO REPAIR THE PROBLEM UNLESS PAID THE OUTRAGEOUS SUM OF $500.00. *TR

I PURCHASED A USED 2005 SEBRING IN MAY 2010 SHORTLY AFTER AROUND JULY THE FIRST WEEK THE AIR BAG LIGHT CAME ON AND NOW IT IS A NAGGING PROBLEM IT GOES ON FOR AWHILE AND THEN GOES OFF FOR AWHILE IS THIS A SAFETY PROBLEM DRIVING WITH NO AIR BAG PLEASE TELL ME IF IT IS STILL UNDER WARRANTY CAN I TAKE IT BACK TO THE DEALER FOR REPAIR. *TR