Dodge Caliber Reviews

Great car bought with 90000 on it. Just rolled over 160000 but I change out myself so all work. No major problem but throttle body and a crankshaft sensor.

We bought a 2010 Dodge Caliber in 2012 with 35,000 miles on it. First the battery goes out simple fix. The switch on the driver door's windows would go out intermittently, until it went out completely. The car only had 100k miles on it when the transmission went into safe mode suddenly on an interstate. The speed of the car went from 75 mph to 30 with no warning. Thankfully the 18 wheeler that was behind me was able to swerve to miss me. Took it to the dealership. They stated nothing was wrong with it. Just for peace of mind took it to a transmission shop. Sure enough it was the transmission going out. I did not waste any time trading that POS in. I will never own another Dodge!!! This problem needs to be fixed before someone gets killed!!

I bought a '07 caliber in '06 w/ 28 miles on it. Didn't have major issues until around 60k miles - the ball joints and lower control arms needed replaced, then as another person stated as I was backing out of my drive, the ball joint and axle snapped w/o warning. I've had numerous plastic pieces break from the rear hatch door to my washer fluid hoses and the liner on the outside of my car. Alternator went out right before 100k and now at 112k the transmission completely went out w/o warning. Not to mention every part seems to be dealer only and cost a fortune compared to parts you can purchase off brand. I will never buy a dodge/Chrysler/jeep vehicle ever again. Also let me add, I've always been up to date on my scheduled maintenance and do not consider my car as "drove hard".

2nd owner of 2008 Caliber. Recently quit running, towed to mechanic who thought timing belt. As he was researching parts, he found many recalls & told us he couldn't touch it until recalls were fixed. We needed a car right away, so towed the caliber back home. Now still paying for a "dead horse". Any help appreciated. Thanks.

Major Issues: Replaced CVT Transmission at 53,000 miles. Sealed transmission that CAN'T be "worked on"... although the manufacturer says to service every 75,000 miles, have your CVT fluid levels checked at every oil change!!! IMPERATIVE!!! CVT fluid is not standard ATF and has a lower boiling point!!!!!! Coupled to a weak 4cyl engine, means your transmission is CONSTANTLY over exerting itself!!!

I have a Caliber 08. The transmission not working fine.

I bought this car October 2014 and have over $1100 in front end parts and went out recently one morning to open the hatchback and the whole handle broke apart from the body. Shame on you Dodge, I will never ever buy a dodge product. This car only has 43000 miles on and cannot to trade it in on something more reliable.

I bought the car in 2008, it's a 2009 dodge caliber. I have had a lot of problems with the car from the transmission to it having no crank, no start, we have tried everything to get it to run the dodge dealership - told me it was going to be a $99.99 and if I have to replace the key it's $240 for it to be done.

Chrysler sent us a letter stating that our make and model of vehicle may experience defective front and rear crossmembers, and they have extended the warranty to cover premature corrosion. At their suggestion, I took my car into their service department and was told the front crossmembers would need to be replaced due to this issue. However, they charged me $171.00 because they had to break the corroded stabilizer links in order to replace the crossmembers. I would not have been out of pocket for this repair if their crossmembers had not been defective, but they refused to refund my money. My rear crossmembers will need to be replaced next year, and they will probably charge me again. I think this is very unfair - I should not be out of pocket because of their defective product. This is not a repair that I would have needed to pay for if not for their defective crossmembers. I think this warrants legal action. I'll bet there are others affected by this also.

I bought my 2007 Dodge Caliber in 2006. It was the STX with 1.8-liter engine and manual transmission. Like Michael from Michigan, I am surprised at some of the responses. I put 331,000 miles on my Caliber. Early on, I had a problem with the alternator. Replaced it and the battery at about 65,000. The alternator went out again at about 200,000. Replaced it and the battery. Otherwise, I have had minimal repairs on this vehicle (tie rods, ball joints, etc. but the roads are terrible here in NE Ohio). The clutch on this car finally gave out at 229,000 miles. Had it replaced and still keep the car around as a spare. Still has the original exhaust system. All in all, the car doesn't owe me anything.

Transmission started making noise that I had never heard before. Checked by mechanic who said that it needed to be replaced. Cost approx $3800. Mileage is only 62,000. Have owned several cars, some used and even at over 120,000 miles, none ever needed a transmission repaired, let alone replaced. Researched online and found many people with the same problem with their Calibers and no help from Chrysler. My mechanic talked to the dealer who admitted that they have replaced a lot of these transmissions. Have not been able to find any recall info on them. Does anyone know of any class action suit against Chrysler? I would like to see them pitch in and help instead of leaving car owners to deal with what appears to be a defective product.

I purchased my 2007 Dodge Caliber in 2007 with only 18,000 miles on it. I drove that car for about two years when I started to have problems with it slowing down. Apparently, there was some kind of issue with the transmission that made the car think it was overheating when it wasn't....which triggered a safety response of slowing the car down and eventually stopping. The only remedy that seemed to work was turning on the heat full blast...but that was unbearable in the summertime. I took this car to three dealerships and the only remedy I received was to purchase another transmission which I refused to do. I contacted Dodge corporate office to complain and they assigned to me a case manager who was pretty much useless. Dodge refunded to me the money I spent in diagnostics...but that's all. They never offered to fix this issue and they never conducted an investigation to determine the origin of the problem. So good luck to you all...try calling the corporate office....maybe if there are enough reports then maybe they will issue a recall or something. As for me, I bid good riddance to that car...and have vowed to never purchase another Dodge vehicle for the rest of my life.

2007 Dodge caliber. Purchased as a dealer owned car from Moss motors in South Pittsburgh TN. Replaced the alternator at 62,451 miles (a wretched ordeal in itself). Vehicle now has 101,013 miles on it. The drivers side CV axle and the ball joint broke as I was backing out of my drive way. I had just gotten home with my daughters and had to run back to the store. I am very thankful that it did not happen going down the road. I called the dealership and ask them about recalls because I had seen 97 other complaints about the same issue. No recalls at this time... so I called dodge to report this formally and see if maybe there was something they knew. They claimed to have NO KNOWLEDGE of this issue! I take my car to a local repair shop and what do I see but yet ANOTHER 2007 dodge caliber same year with the same problem! Then the owner of the facility takes me to look at my car, behold it is about to do the same thing on the passenger side as well!!! I am lucky that this played out the way it did but dodge has failed me like I never thought possible and this needs to be shared so no one gets hurt.

Very short and sweet! 2010 Caliber has been stalling out on me at red lights and stop signs. Had maintenance done on time. Just had transmission serviced two weeks ago. Have told all of my family members to never buy a Dodge/Chrysler brand of car. Would not recommend your brand ever again.

CVT transmission did not last. So-called lifetime engine and drive train warranty a hoax. This was the deciding factor on purchasing this car...

I bought this about a year ago with 50k on it. It has run great until recently at about 70k. Tranny started slipping and skipping at first a little then more and more. At Dodge/Chrysler in Clairemont they were very reluctant to honor the warranty which ended at 74k. I complained so they did a quick fix, said everything was perfect and now that the warranty on the tranny is expired it started slipping and suddenly on Thanksgiving the tranny won't allow any drop down to lower gears. So now it chugs uphill in drive and I can't even downshift. I know it's gonna blow. It's hard for me not to suspect that the dealer did a quick fix to get me past the expiration date to avoid the responsibility of paying for a much bigger fix. Shoulda got a Toyota. Sigh.

2008 Dodge Caliber - The battery is under warranty still so they required me to bring in the battery so they could check it before giving me a new one. They said the battery was fine however the AMA tow truck driver tested it prior to towing my car away and it did not have full voltage so I was lied to. Also going to have the mechanic check it in the morning and then will call Chrysler again. Also will know tomorrow if it is indeed the computer that caused my car to die. If so a battle begins. Just finished paying off the car and had regular maintenance done by Chrysler for 6 years. I expect a vehicle to last much longer than 6 years. Will post again tomorrow.

2010 Dodge Caliber of errors - Very unhappy. Have had to replace the 3rd piston and rings at 95,000. Eats oil like crazy. Have had to replace thermostat 3 times, and rest of cooling system once just this summer and now it just overheated last night again. Also feels like the 2nd gear is starting to slip. Almost all my mileage is highway driving and would have expected so many problems. I now have 150,000 miles on it and dream of the day I can get rid of it most of it.

I bought my Caliber in 2009, was a used 2007. When I reached 80,000 Km, had to replace the very expensive suspension. But the pain are the air conditioning leaking, the non working electric mirrors, the rear wiper not working (changed the motor, but it's probably the switch...) and the freaking leaking tires... Always damn tire leaking... Probably from the valves I've replaced last year without fixing the problem. I guess I can't complain after reading the other people's issues with that piece of crap car.

Brought my Dodge Caliber August 28th, 2012 - September 17th was planning a trip - Car overheated shut down, was in shop for a month. They could not fix the car. Took the car to the Dodge Dealer and put new coolant system in - housing around the transmission. The car has shut down 3 times since I purchased it and cannot go see my ill mother reason I bought a newer car that would be reliable. The mechanic told me to sell the car as it will continue to have issues all the time. Went over to the dealer and they would not take the car as a trade-in even though they sold it to me. Since I have this payment and still owe 9038.00 on the car they sold me a car with 128766 miles, needs a paint job, grille replaced and shifter lights are out. Caliber only has 54392 miles on it and my other car has 186000, no repairs except regular stuff.

Just assisting, I had the same experience as Linda from Pennsylvania. The car would stop as we were getting up to speed. After months of getting it to go again we finally figured out that it was the Throttle body sensor. Bad thing was that it is built in to the throttle body so you had to replace the whole thing. Was a little expensive, but I haven't had that happen since then. I also had to replace both control arms on it, so be careful, mine broke (right front whole wheel was barely attached). And I did research and this is a common issue, but at least I could help you fix one issue. The dealership wanted me to bring it in which tends to be really expensive, so a friend let told me what it was.

3) AC motor 4) Coolant leak/engine overheating 5) Car rattling at certain RPM 6) Transmission temp overheating/creep mode. This only happens when I'm going 70+ for over 30 minutes. Under 70 no issues for at least an hour. Heat outside also seems to play a factor.

My daughter has a 2011 caliber. For 10 months her vehicle has been back to the dealer 5 times with the same exact issue. The vehicle gets to a speed of 50 to 60 mph and shuts off putting my daughter and my grandson in extreme danger. The dealership refuses to address the issue. We are desperate for advice. This car is a death trap!!!!!!

I purchased the car in 2007. The car was ok until a year after I purchased it. My battery kept going dead every other day; I had to put it on a charger. I took the car to the Dodge dealer in Kennewick, Washington and explained to them the problem that I had with the car. They did their inspection and told me that they could find nothing wrong with the car; yet they handed me a bill to pay. I contacted the Chrysler-Dodge people in their home offices in Michigan explaining the problem I was having; they said that they would call me back.

2012 Caliber - around 18,000 miles started hearing suspension noises. After the first two attempts of dealer not hearing or finding nothing I finally got the car to make the noise. They replaced rear struts and rear control arms. Not longer after noises returned, they readjusted things, and noise returned. Just got it back out of the garage again, service manager said heard a noise in the front but everything is good. I gave you a courtesy of spraying all of your bushings and no longer hear the noise. He refused to give me an invoice stating what he did, instead gave me an invoice that said there were no problems found. I refused to sign it and told him that is not what he told me on the phone. Needless to say the spray on the bushings is only masking a problem that will return just as soon as the spray dries up. Took several pictures of all the areas that were sprayed and sent them off to the lemon law attorney. Odd if there was nothing wrong, why bother spraying? I only have 250 miles left before the bumper to bumper is gone crossing my fingers the spray dries before then.

My 2009 Caliber can't be driven more than 40 miles before the RPM's race and loses power. It doesn't matter where I am. I have to pull over and let it set. The Temperature light comes on but it's not over heating. I have to pull over and wait for it to 'think' it's cooled off. Sometimes that's 5 minutes, sometimes it's 30 minutes. I have had several repairmen look at it and no one can figure out what is causing it. I travel a lot and can't now because of this problem. It's causing a lot of problems. Dodge won't even help. I am very frustrated.

I've had similar situations with my Dodge Caliber. The transmission light went on and I lost power. This has happened on trips over two hours when the weather is over 90 the car makes a wheezing sound, the light goes on and loses power. My brother-in-law has a Dodge Challenger and his loses power as well. This totally sucks and something needs to be done from Dodge!!

2011 dodge caliber - My car went into shop because I felt the trany going out. Took it in. They said it's not - they did "updates". Got my car back 2 hrs later. Called them having the same issue. Took it back in - it was the transmission. They replaced it. Then I got my car back after 6 weeks and my car is WORSE!!! IT'S stalling out and the cruise control wouldn't work. Went back in 2 weeks later. They fixed the cruise said the stalling was just needing another update. Drove my car called 'em and told them again it's still stalling!!

Just purchased a 2007 Caliber. Not even a week of driving its transmission temp light came on and loses rpm. I am in Kansas and there is no lemon laws for used vehicles. I guess I just bought a polished **.

We bought all these cars brand spanking new out of the showroom floor. The vehicles over 100,000 dollars that we spent on for vehicles we've been having a lot of problem with. All these vehicles' struts, brakes, tires, loose parts, computer system going out. Metrical not working properly, seat belt sometimes doesn't work. Every single one of these vehicles that we have bought are all having the same problems. Rear tires are wearing out before the front tires are. Brake calipers are going bad and one of my vehicles only has 14 thousand miles on it as having all these issues. The dealership give his number to runaround. Every time we go over the detail with him, there's nothing wrong when I try to charge it because I said it's not under our warranty. ** Something needs to be done about it before somebody gets hurt. These cars are all lemons that have a lot of problems.

I have a 2010 Dodge Caliber. I bought it when it was 2 yrs old. Now that it's 4 yrs old, a major issue has started. My car "jumps" as I drive. It's a very slow take-off, but not one that revs up the rpm and then catches gear. That's the experience in the past with my Chrysler van I owned. The transmission went out in it. This Caliber's problem is strange. It can be taking off or it can be in mid-drive (with no jump or slow down in speed). I can barely make it up a small hill. Okay, it's a 4 cylinder and I get that. However, it should have some power. It did when I first got it. So this "jumping", as I call it, is almost as if it's trying to get gas or switch gears or something. This has been going on over a month. I have tried different gas just in case, and also put a gas treatment in. It's not the gas. I'm very frustrated with it.

My 2010 Dodge Caliber has starting overheating intermittently (65-70,000 miles). The radiator has been flushed and filled, the thermostat replaced, but it keeps happening and 4 repair places have been unable to recreate nor identify (nor fix) the problem. Most days were warm/hot (mid-80s, but also once low70s). No pattern that I can identify. Any others having similar issues? The car has also shut down during rain on 3-4 occasions. Each time has been at stop light, rather than while driving (which apparently others unfortunately have had to deal with). But it is unnerving when car shuts down (especially at night) and dealer could never recreate nor identify nor fix problem.

The car will lose all power while driving, almost at a complete stop. The first 2 times were at night. (The second one, during a complete downpour.) And since I lose ALL POWER, meaning the hazard lights won't even work, I have to GET OUT OF THE CAR and alert other drivers so they won't hit my car!!! HOW DANGEROUS!!! The first "fix" was to do a complete computer system re-flash, $300. The second "fix" was to replace the Transmission Control Module, $600. Three days after the second "fix," I'd driven not even 100 feet from a parking spot, turned the radio up, and BAM! Total power loss again!!! The 3rd "fix" will run upwards of $1500!!!

CVT was replaced at the Dodge Dealership with a brand new one - total cost $3400.00, approximately 83,000 miles on the vehicle when this occurred. At 115,000 miles and 22 months later, the transmission overheats on long Hwy trips in the summer and the car shuts down the power train and this is dangerous. My son had to swing onto an exit ramp and stop his trip in order to allow the Transmission fluid to cool before he could continue his trip. This could cause an accident. NHSA should investigate this problem and force Dodge to fix it or buy back the vehicles. I also had to replace the A Frame ball joint on this car. I have driven MOPAR vehicles for the past 38 years and I am amazed that my 1990 Dodge Dynasty has better quality control in the engineering than was used in this vehicle with modern technology. I have a 2003 Dodge Ram Truck with a 3.7 liter engine and automatic transmission that had been a great problem free vehicle. Ram truck are very good. The company can build good quality vehicles but this car should be recalled.

2011 Dodge Caliber - Apparently the housing that goes over the thermostat is made of Plastic and has melted causing me to lose all of the anti-freeze. Not only not covered in extended warranty, but who in their right mind designed a car with plastic on the engine?

I brought the Dodge Caliber SXT 2012 Nobel brand new out off the showroom. I drive around the city I live in and on the motorways only. By the second log book service at 24000km, there was a front end right noise which no one seemed to have picked up and the rear shock absorbers were leaking. The rear shock absorbers were replaced but the front end noise was still there. Eventually 4 months after the rear shock absorbers were replaced, a Dodge mechanic came for a drive with me, heard the noise. By this stage (and it's only about 31000 km on the clock), the front end noise that began at the front right was now across the entire front end off the car.

I purchased this car in June 2006 and it is the 2007 model. The first year of the car was fine however when it hit 20,000 miles the car literally started to fall apart. The blower motor failed, then the master cylinder failed, then the booster cylinder failed, then the back up computer failed leaving my car going about 5 mph, then the entire computer system failed while I was driving and going 51 mph which caused a 3 car crash and the almost totaling of the Caliber. Since the accident I have had to change the struts and ball joints. Lately, I have experienced issues where if I fill the car up with gas it stalls out and when I turn the air conditioning on it stalls out.

I ordered my 2007 Dodge Caliber in 2006 and took delivery in August 2006. I own a 1.8L with a manual transmission. First off, I cannot believe the reviews that I am reading on here and I feel sorry for you all. I have not had any problems with my Caliber (except regular maintenance items). I changed my Firestone tires at 90,000 miles. I changed the spark plugs and coil packs at 110,000. 2 ball joints and 2 tire rod ends at 100,000. I just changed the battery and rear stabilizer bar and I will be changing all 4 struts this weekend but I now have 175,000 miles on this car and it is 7 1/2 years old. I did put a new clutch in it at 170,000 but my daughter drove this car a lot over the last 3 years (15-18 year old). She has stalled this car at least 1,000 times and I have caught her pushing the clutch in 1 mile before she has to make a turn. 55 mph with the clutch in for a mile will kill a throw-out bearing.

I bought my 2007 Dodge Caliber in March of 2012 on a used Dodge lot in Nanaimo. After much haggling, I got the car for a more than reasonable price. After looking at online prices of used Calibers I am surprised of their resale value. I was influenced in my purchase due to the versatility of the vehicle and its options. I wasn't really impressed with its interior plastic but with the price I was getting the car I could not mince hairs. I had done my research on a lot of used cars and knew that Calibers have issues. But, I took a chance. The car had been leased and had high kilometers but, I don't drive a whole lot so that never mattered a lot to me especially where it's a leased car it would get serviced properly.

After much research into buying this 2007 Caliber new in 2008, due to the MAIN fact of a "Lifetime" warranty, as being a single parent, no immediate family still alive & just me to take care of me, I wanted to insure a smart purchase & investment for the future. After taking to dealership last time, I was called & informed my "lifetime" warranty was terminated. I was told to contact Chrysler directly, as further info had to be obtained thru them. After 6 people, 6 departments & 2 hours later, (btw, no one could talk to me without me giving them my home address), which upon finally doing, was told they sent a letter in February 2013, stating I needed to have a powertrain inspection to "keep" the "lifetime" warranty & that since I didn't respond within 60 days, the so called "lifetime" warranty expired.