I think my wife summed this car up perfectly. After riding half a block in the passenger seat, she said, "What's this?" "A Chrysler Cirrus," I said. "It feels like a rental car," she mused. To that I would only add, "A very nice rental car."

The Cirrus is Chrysler's midsized "family" car. It's supposed to compete with the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, and Ford Taurus. It's also sold as the Dodge Stratus and the Plymouth Breeze. (Someone was obviously passing a weather stone at Chrysler that week.) It's a very nice car. It's very roomy for its exterior size, the six-cylinder engine in the Cirrus has plenty of power (others come with a four-cylinder base engine), and the handling is very good. Controls are well laid out, everything is easy to find, and the seats are comfortable. It feels like a bigger car than it is. So, what's to complain about? Well, visibility out the back is pretty lousy. And the turning circle is about half the circumference of Pluto.

Then there's reliability--we have no idea whether this car will prove to be reliable or not, but it's certainly not a "given." It seems our Associate Producer Ken Rogers has his Eagle Vision in for repair once a month or so. So, because of our uncertainties about Chrysler's reliability, this car will receive a probationary recommendation. And, as my wife implies, there's something a little bit, uh, "plain" about it. It's not a car you get particularly excited about. But who says everyone wants to get excited about their darn car?? Maybe some people just want a nice-looking, good-driving, reasonably priced car that's going to get them from here to there without jostling their kidneys around or making them seasick. The Cirrus certainly does that. And that's why the "rental car" analogy works so well. For some people, people who are used to driving something really exciting--like, say a 1963 Dodge Dart convertible--a rental car is a drab, boring appliance. But if you drive a heap, as most people do (like, say, an '87 Dodge Colt Vista), driving a nice, clean, new rental car might be a thrill and a half! Just the lack of smell might be rejuvenating. So, overall, the Cirrus is a very decent, good-handling, nice-size car. If we felt more confident about Chrysler's reliability, we'd give a very enthusiastic recommendation.

View cars.com model report on this vehicle.

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