Hi all.
I have a 2002 Chrysler Sebring Convertible, affectionately dubbed “Melissa”.
Melissa has close to 50,000 miles on her. I have heard that one of the smarter things you can do to your car to keep it running for a long time is to do “routine maintenance” every 25,000 miles.
I bought her used with 22,000 miles, so I haven’t done any maintenance yet, aside from oil changes and I had to replace the tires too. So I figure she’s due. I’m just a little foggy on the idea of “routine maintenance”. What does that entail and how can I go about getting it done?
There should be a maintenance schedule with the owner’s manual. Read and follow the maintenance schedule and you’ll have a long and happy relationship with “Melissa.”
Seriously, the schedule tells you everything you need to know about maintaining your car. The mileage and times in the schedule will vary depending on the service. It’s not just 25K miles for everything.
Did this car come with an Owner’s Manual? If it did, all you have to do is to look in that little book in order to find the mfr’s maintenance schedule. If you carefully adhere to this schedule, you will have far fewer problems and you will extend the life of the car.
If you do not have an Owner’s Manual, then feel free to come back to this same thread for some suggestions. However, in that case, you still need to obtain a manual, which should be available at a reasonable cost through a source like e-bay.
Ultimately, no matter how thorough any of us on this site may try to be, the source that is the most authoritative is the maintenance schedule provided by the car’s manufacturer.
If you buy a Haynes repair manual for your car, the first section deals with the maintenance schedule. It is very close or identical with your ownwner’s manual. The Haynes book is $18 or so. Available at any auto store.
Bought it used, so there’s no manual. I’d been hoping to avoid having to get one. I think I’ll bite the bullet and get one. After all, what’s 18 bucks compared to hundreds in repair, maintenance, and gasoline?