Not to make your life more complicated but I have a 2002 Sebring I purchased for $500 (care is immaculate inside and out). It is making a rod noise. Doing some research on the 2.7L v6 engine I was rather shocked at it's rather short sited design in some respects.
#1. The water pump is INTERNAL to the engine. And has to be changed at 100K miles.
WHY WHY WHY did they put the water pump INSIDE the engine???
That is CRAZY because if the pump starts to leak (it will) and dump coolant in the oil, you have a chain reaction that will destroy the engine quickly.
#2. The timing chain has to be changed at 100K miles also. With this the tensioner, sliders etc associated with the chain. This is an interference engine. If you loose you valve timing, they will hit the pistons. Kiss it goodbye.
Now the timing change issue; really I can't fault the design. But when it goes the damage is catastrophic. But really it may go 300K without a problem if maintenance is ideal. (how often does that happen??)
I'm going to see how this repair on this Sebring I purchased goes.
I noticed several Chrysler for sale cheap with this engine gone bad including a 02 Sebring convertible for sale locally for $800. Just over 100K miles, bad engine. Car is super clean inside and out. Because the engine has poor longevity the overall value of cars with this engine is very low. Bad engine, they can be had dirty cheap. BUT it would be hard to come out ahead if you didn't intend to keep the car for yourself.
Book value is 3 to 4K even for a loaded car with low miles. I purchased this one for my wife so we can park our 04 Hemi Durango which is eating us up on gas.