Until last week, I had been a Stratus driver for 2+ years. Mine was a first generation 1997 Stratus ES, with 2.5L V-6, with an automatic transmission (with auto-stick). I can say that I really liked my car, and I was sad to stop driving it (even if it meant that I got an SVX
).
My biggest beef with it was the automatic transmission - it felt like it was geared for the geriatric driver (very sluggish acceleration, high rpm shifting in the low gears, therefore poor gas milage in town). You seem to have the good fortune of getting to avoid this problem by getting a manual (the 2.5L wasn't available with a manual). The unresponsive tranny is the main reason I finally got fed up with the car and wanted a change (that, and I love SVXes
).
On the bright side, the sporty suspension gives the car awesome handling, with little body roll, even at higher speeds. We had some semi-coilovers put on it shortly after we got it, and it sticks to the road like glue now. There's virtually no roll at all, no slipping during high speed cornering, and no nose-dives when braking; furthermore, it handles like a dream in the winter (in spite of being FWD), even in heavy snow. I've never got the car stuck.
The second generation Stratus was never made available in Canada, but if it was, it would likely be on my short list of cars to buy. I have driven in 2001 Sebring, though, and I didn't like it very much. But 90% of the things I didn't like, you have solved by getting a car with the R/T package and a manual. The other 10% of complaints were about styling (cheap interior, uncomfortable seats), but those things are likely a bit different in the Stratus version.
As for general problems with Stratuses, there aren't very many. My car has almost 80k miles on it, and I have had no major mechanical failures. The worst problem I experience was ball joint replacement - the ball joints are integrated into the lower control arm, so the whole arm has to be replaced when the ball joint goes (expensive!!!). Tires are also kind of expensive. Also, unless something has changed recently, Stratuses are really easy to steal (someone tried to steal mine a few months ago, but somehow failed
), so get an alarm or a theft deterrant. And, like with the SVX, there are not many mods, but inventive people do still fab stuff to market to those who like making their cars go/stop/handle better.
I know I couldn't help much with the exact car you're looking at (stupid Daimler Chrysler for not selling them in Canada), so I would recommend that you check out a couple of Stratus forums, specifically
Stratusphere and
2GSS. We've found the Stratusphere to be very informative and helpful in the past. Maybe that will help you find the info you're looking for.
Hope that helped a bit.
Meghan