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Comments
how are you posting pics? i tried to post mine but couldnt determine where to do it from...?
Picturetrail isn't free but it gives you URL's to post to websites that display your pictures in an easy manner.
It actually shifts nicely although the clutch is a bit looser than I am use to.
Well, after having owned the car for all of two days I think it is great. The car unfortunately did not have the fog lights but I will live with that. I did get the 6 disc CD and the Security Package. The Steel Blue is almost a charcoal grey in colour with just a hint of blue in the tint. I have gotten some real stares and a few thumbs up, something I have never seen driving any other new car.
I bought this as a replacement for an '01 Neon that luckily ran into some mech problems right after looking at the Caliber. I fixed it up enough to just drive to the dealership for trade in.
First impressions are that it is way more solid than the Neon ever was. Solid doors, smooth power, better fit and finish. Also, the CVT2 does take some getting used to, the lack of any gears shifting is disconcerting at first, but you get used to it very fast. The stereo, even without the swing down speakers is more than adequate and the sound quality is excellent. I have not burned any MP3 CDs to try out how it works but I figure that the 6.6 gig of storage on 6 CDs is more than enough for my needs. No more driving around with tons of CDs, just burn them onto CDR and pop them in.
Overall I am sure that I will enjoy the car for years. I guess after reading about the wait times for special orders I am glad I got the car I was looking for in a 48 hour turnaround.
What do you think about the 4-wheel disks? Stops right on the button! Very, very nice car for the money.
I actually used the slapstick on a long, empty road and was at 120mph very quickly and back to zero (lucky for the rabbit that crossed in front of me) instantly!
Please tell us how!!!
Just bought (3 days ago) this stunning Caliber - right off the dealer's lot. What a serendipitous find! Had looked at and priced out the HHR and Cruiser. While getting the hard pressure run-around from the other dealers, decided to check out one more dealership for the Route 66 Cruiser. As I drove up, I saw this bright yellow car. Thinking they had the Rt 66 version, I stopped in and discovered the Caliber. I'd never seen one before and immediately fell in love! The dealership was having a Memorial Day lot party and this baby was the entertainment! The sound system was cranked up and the boom-box was providing the music for the crowd.
As a nurse, I was looking for reliable AWD transportation. Boy, did I find it! I'm now deciding how to "trick it out" without "pimping it out". Any suggestions?
By the way, her name is "X", as in "Excalibre".
Check out her pics: ">link title
Great pictures and a cool site. Good luck with your new "X" and many, many safe miles!
Now the gas cap is nice and the rain guards look great!
I have nothing negative to say about this little car. Everybody moans and groans and says the 2.4L is not a peppy engine. Katya-The Siskiyous (Mtns in Oregon) blowing by many a Lexus, Mercedes, Mazda. Toyota; going up a 4% grade??Only to stop at the rest area 25 minutes later and have three of the eight cars I just blew the doors off of stop and ask-what in the hell is that? I think if you give these little cars a second and think about how you're driving them, they won't disappoint. I got out of something, actually two somethings, that have 345 factory ponies into this little 172 HP what I call my Cargon, it was a culture shock for a few days. I didn't try to pass the log truck again until I hit the Interstate! Not as quick as the Hemi!
The Boston Accoustic/MusicGate system was what finally sold me on this car. It has saved my dog from many a boot in the butt from me. It's amazing how much a truly great stereo can relieve tension.
The air conditioning is wonderful in this car and I like how everything you need to pilot is right there so that you don't have to look away to find it. I don't haul much with the car but I do like how easy it is to lay down the seats. I had two Durangos and it took nearly an act of congress to lay down that middle seat!
I can't think of anything else to address. Mileage isn't yet what I hoped for but the car isn't even close to broken in and my Dodge mechanic told me with this car the same thing he told me when I bought both my Hemis-Drive it from the start like you're always going to drive it and it will get used to you and it'll be a better car all around. None of this drive it 55 mph for 2 miles and then go 60 for 5 and so on. Do you believe my parents actually used to do that??
All in all, if you don't have one yet-buy one! I heard the time to order has gone from 6-7 weeks all the way up to 14-16 because the plant is building Compasses now.
Take care everybody! :P
Interestingly, the wheel base is slightly shorter than the Civic 4dr. Merritt B Teddlie, Dallas
The Caliber is 15 feet long, 3 feet longer than my econo box which is 12 feet long. The Caliber's back seat could have more foot room, having marginally more space than my Ford Festiva. Seems like a lot of space is wasted in Caliber's long driving console between the firewall & the driver's instrument panel. Another area of wasted space is the shape of the back hatchback. At least a foot of Caliber length is wasted in the hatchback shape & excessive slope of the rear window. The Caliber rear windows are too many & smaller than they should be. Eliminating some of the windows would also eliminate some of the unnecessary posts which do nothing but hide surrounding autos in blindspots. Then the remaining windows could be enlarged for better all around visibility. The curve of the back roof should be flattened to provide more rear headroom & enlarge the back window. The tiny rear window wiper could then be enlarged to clear more glass area. The supposedly wild styling of the Caliber has made for unsafe visibility problems. Also, the 2 front posts are far too thick. Other autos will hide behind those posts. All in all, 360 degree visibility has not been thought out well for the Caliber(as it has not been important for many many cars). My Ford Festiva is a supreme example of wonderful 360 degree visibility.
The Caliber has developed a creak for the last 5 miles. Hope it goes away. But other reports indicate that Caliber may be creaky.
Caliber's standard sound system is OK. The bass is good(tight, but only polite). The midrange is good with woodwinds sounding clean & near. The treble is harsh. Only by turning the treble down, can high pitches be acceptable. I hope I can accept the treble or I might be in the market for a better sound system.
My only gripes are as follows: I find the 1.8L engine to be underpowered. If I do not shift from 2nd to 3rd after 3000RPM, say at 3500-4000RPM, then when 3rd gear engages, and RPMs drop down, it seems dog slow. Getting up to speed fast enough to merge into 70MPH freeway traffic seems to be much more of an issue with the caliber. However, I am definitely not complaining about the gas mileage!
Second issue: I find it hard to make a quick getaway, when at a complete stop on any kind of a hill. I have learned that in order to engage 1st gear and put up with the 'revs dropping down' issue, I have to have the RPMs at 2000. 3000 is way too much and the difference between the amount of gas to give for 2000 and finding yourself way up into the 3500-4000RPM range is very small. Consequently, I find I am having to use the hand brake all the time on even the most modest hill. This is so I can take the extra TLC to get to 2000 RPM without revving the engine up into the stratosphere. I have been driving 5 speeds off and on for the last 20 years and have never had a problem avoiding extreme revving, neither have I had to use the hand brake before, except on the most extreme hills. I wish the acceleration was more consistent, especially when you are first pushing the accelerator.
However, those two issues aside and I am very happy and satisfied with my new Caliber!
SO I traded in the wallowy, terrible gas mileage PT Cruiser (automatic) on a stick shift SE on sale for $12,888 after $500 rebate. It cost me a lot more than the Focus would have, but it's actually large enough to put my kids in the back (and has 4 doors so it isn't a hassle) compared to the Cobalt or my dream ZX3. AND it has the much appreciated side curtain airbags plus top NHTSA crash tests (a little weaker on the IIHS scores).
THINGS I LIKE (on first impression):
1. The engine is super smooth and free revving - so much so that it makes my Cobalt feel crude.
2. The clutch, linkage, and transmission are easy to shift, crisp. (My first sample test drive wasn't, so if you are in the market, try more than one on a test drive - I suspect the linkage in the first sample was off a little. I think Car and Driver might have written up their report on a bad sample too.)
3. The car is quieter than a PT - much less wind noise, and hardly any engine noise. The loudest noise is tire roar, and that can be fixed by swapping out with Goodyear Triple Treads if it annoys me over the long run.
4. Contrary to some reviewers, I find visibility out of the car good.
5. It sits up higher than the PT and doesn't have a low front airdam, so some of the bad driveways that used to scrape the car are no longer a problem.
6. It doesn't "wallow" like the PT, but it has a more compliant (less harsh) ride.
7. Responsive steering - this is much sportier than the PT.
8. It doesn't have the "push you back in your seat" acceleration of the Cobalt - according to the stats it gives up 1.5-2.0 seconds to the Cobalt's much larger 2.2 engine in the 0-60 sweeps - but on the other hand the engine is so smooth it picks up speed deceptively fast.
9. There is plenty of passenger room in the back - as much as the PT, and MUCH more than the Cobalt or Focus. The back seat is also wider.
10. The interior is nice - not luxury, but fits the sport utility image very well.
11. There is more trunk space than I thought. It took all the stuff that had half filled the PT (half way up to the cargo cover), plus some Christmas shopping at Walmart, plus grocery shopping, and was still below the rear seat back line; if you are willing to stack into the line, you can put a lot more in.
12. I don't miss the power windows or locks - never have made much difference to me on cars with them or without - but I do miss power mirrors for tweaking the view on the fly. These manual mirrors make economic sense - the interior manual controls on the Cobalt and Focus manual mirrors probably cost as much to make as power mirrors - but the lack of an interior lever to adjust the mirrors means you have to stop, roll down the window, and adjust. On the other hand my toddler won't always be twiddling with a manual interior lever and knocking them out of whack.
13. The lack of a hard cargo cover, compared with the Focus hatchback, Golf hatchback, etc., is a "blessing in disguise." I used to think the "window shade" rollout cargo covers were mickey mouse, but nowadays I appreciate the fact that they take up very little space, compared to a hard cover, when you want to retract them and stack high.
14. I have factory floormats on order for $69 (worth it, compared to $25 "universal" mats from Walmart, for the much superior fit and front safety hooks) and the cargo cover for $105.
15. The stock sound system, as on the past DC products I've owned, is superb.
16. I'd like cruise control, mostly because it allows me to stretch my legs from time to time. When we took the Impala to L.A., however, I couldn't really use cruise control that much due to the tightness of the traffic flow. Since I have a stick shift in this Caliber, I'll be able to periodically throw it in neutral and coast to get a little relief - something impractical in our former PT with automatic.
17. So far the gas gauge has fallen very slowly, and seems to correspond to about 30 mpg, but the Dodges and Chrylers I've owned in the past were notoriously slow dropping down the first half of the tank, and then fell precipitously, so I'l reserve judgment on gas mileage until my first fill-up.
18. If this car can give me the utility of the space efficient PT Cruiser for weekend family trips, but good commuter fuel economy, I won't need the Cobalt as a commuter car anymore, and selling the Cobalt will more than make up for the extra $50 per month payment on the Caliber vs. the PT (PT's are being blown out here under $11k with auto, aircon, pdl, pw).
20. Even on this stripped model, you get the useful center console, and a passenger visor mirror. The SE is actually very nicely equipped, with all the stuff you use frequently, stripping out only the stuff you use infrequently (I almost never roll down any windows).
21. On level 1, the aircon fan is VERY quiet (I also test drove a Charge last week, and the fan was actually loud - what gives?).
22. The horn can easily be "tooted" as opposed to blasted - no stiffness to actuate, like on both our PT's.
23. There are a lot of alternative tires available for the 15" wheels on the SE, vs. the larger, still rare, wheels on the SXT.
The Caliber appears to be the best value in the class. Now let's see how that CVT holds up....
I'll post more as the mileage increases.
I like the "utility vehicle" aspect of the Caliber vs. the "sytlin'" aspect of the PT/HHR. Those two vehicles use tall seating to maximize forward/rear passenger room, but they are based on platforms (the Neon/Cobalt) that are narrower than the Caliber and function more like "compact" cars. I think the Caliber, at least from the inside, feels very much like a midsize car...there is certainly as much passenger room available as in the former generation (ca. 2000) CamCord.
I also like the higher ground clearance - not ridiculously high like on an "old school" sport ute or light truck, but high enough so that some pretty poorly designed driveways and road crowns don't give us clearance grief like we had on the PT.
Finally, I like the handling on the Caliber much better than on the PT we owned or on the HHR I test drove. It doesn't "lean" as much and steering feels more responsive than those taller, tippier vehicles (I still give the nod to the Focus for "European handling," but those are smaller cars in comparison).
At first I didn't like the "open" cargo area, but I can see the advantage of not being limited by a hard cargo cover in terms of stacking up higher. We ordered a soft cargo cover from Dodge that we will be able to use for light loads, then retract for bigger loads. And that space swallows up more stuff than it looked like it would!
Dodge sourced its CVT from Nissan, and it is Nissan's second generation technology very similar to the transmission in their Murano. In other words, it will probably hold up very well indeed, unlike those abmoninations designed in Europe for the Ford Five Hundred, MINI, and Saturn Vue (GM wised up fast and ditched theirs). When I test drove a CVT version of the Caliber (I purchased a 5 speed stick), I was impressed by how "normal" it felt in operation, compared to the version I tried in the MINI which felt lurchy and hesitant when first starting out. (Of course none of us quite understand what the advantages of the CVT are, in the Caliber, anyway, since it doesn't seem to allow the Caliber to get the outstanding mileage of the Nissan Versa CVT).
Right now DC is only using AWD for the R/T, which is goofy - that car is too pokey to compete with Subarus WRX's, and the tires and wheels are inappropriate for our midwest snow states. BUT once they start offering SXT's and even SE's with AWD, with the 2.0 instead of the gas hungry 2.4, we may start to see some traction with AWD sales in the midwest (unless DC intends to hit that market with their Jeep variants of the Caliber chassis).
It's a shame that Chevy, with its Cobalt, and Ford's Focus DON'T offer AWD...I suspect that Chevy didn't offer an AWD model due to expense, and Ford's stubborn idiocy in not importing its European Focus to the U.S. or incorporating the Euro chassis in the cosmetically "refreshed" Focus about to debut sometime early in '07...that boggles the mind! :confuse:
Bummer!
Merry 2007, friend<- :shades: -
If an SXT owner with a stick shift can check their rpm at 80 mph (or 60 mph and I can convert it) and report here, it would be much appreciated. That's stick shift owners, the CVT has a different rpm curve.
1. The first Caliber I test drove had dirt or oil on the clutch plates - take in was jerky. In addition, the shift gates were sloppy, as described in Car & Driver, you had to make a deliberate right angle in the neutral position from 2d to 3rd and from 4th to 5th instead of just sliding up (the other test drive, and the one I bought, were fine, actually much smoother than my Cobalt and close to the Ford/Civic gold standard). Finally, it didn't seem that smooth off the line and might have had the old ECM programming which Dodge has now updated via a computer flash.
2. On the one I purchased, the manual window crank handle was in the wrong location - pointing up at 12 o'clock instead of resting at 9 o'clock with the window cranked up, like on the other doors - which means it interferes with my use of the arm rest.
3. There is a very loud, annoying rattle/buzz from the right rear "c" pillar.
4. The driver door has some type of intermittent latching problem. About 1 time in 20, the door simply won't latch AT ALL unless I use gorilla force, or twiddle with the door handle/lock. Besides being annoying (and I walked away from the car with the door totally unlatched twice due to this issue) I am worried one day it will give out completely and I won't be able to latch the door and safely drive off. Naturally, it is intermittent and the dealer hasn't been able to reproduce the issue.
Unlike the Honda dealer, Dodge is cutting warranty $$ corners and doesn't work very hard to fix "annoyance" issues like this. They take a quick look, and if they can't repeat it, they just send you home to be annoyed further. Not satisfying for dealer or customer. (I have the same issue with an intermittent dash board scritching in my Cobalt from Chevy.)
All 3 of my Neons, both my PT Cruisers, and my Caravan were defect free, so I think Daimler Chrsyler is dropping the ball on the Caliber, if the test drive sample and my purchased version are an indication.
THE JUDGEMENT: I'd buy this car again, simply because it is designed so well and so much fun to drive (quiet, smooth, nice ride, rev happy engine, great gas mileage, nice "look" as an alternative to dull econocars). BUT if I could have waited,* I would have waited another couple of months of production, or bought one with a later build-date than the 8/06 sample I bought (hey, they started building them in January, so an 8/06 build should be free of early production line glitches, right?).
PROBABLY what will happen since I am such a car ho' anyway, is I'll trade it in on another Caliber next year** - but since I like the design of the Caliber, I'll spend the extra $$$ to get ABS and stability control (the stability control from Mercedes should be one of the better ones). In the mean-time I'm going to drive it and enjoy it, and try to suppress my crankiness that I either got a bad sample, or that DC isn't building their usual low-defect product.
_____________________________
*There was nothing wrong with the PT Cruiser I traded in. My love of cars coupled with my bottom-feeder mentality makes it economically feasible to trade in frequently. Although I am enriching the sales tax coffers of the state of California at an alarming rate. The only compulsion I was under was dearth of stick shift Calibers on dealer lots and joy when I not only found one, but it was on sale.
**I can't guarantee that I'll buy another Caliber...it is an almost ideal compromise of sportiness and ability to haul a small family, but the truth is the (admittedly tinier, less useful) Ford Focus ZX3 remains dear in my heart and the 2007 I test drove blew me away with its tight driving dyamics. Since I am bound and determined to reduce my "fleet" from 3 back down to 2, it would make sense to trade this Caliber and my commuter Cobalt in on one, nicer Caliber; but if I WERE to keep a fleet, the Cobalt would be out, and a Focus would be back in. Assuming they don't uglify the Focus in 2008 (and keep the hatchback in the lineup. Hatchbacks rule!).
The two known problems were excessive exhaust cool down noise after the car was shut off and some engine pinging.
All of these minor issues on the car were addressed to my satisfaction, but it did take more than one trip to the dealer for some things.
Since you have so few miles on your Caliber, it is likely that you are one of the first consumers experiencing certain problems.
For example, there may be a defective part in your door latch that DCX does not know about yet. If they don't know about it, they generally don't authorize a repair. A good dealer should make your case to DCX and get the issue resolved, but that might take two trips.
Your disappointment is understandable and justified. Hopefully your experience will be helpful to other Caliber owners, as was mine.
From what I have heard, nearly all new cars have minor issues that nobody knows how to fix immediately and nearly all the carmakers wait to fix things until they have enough data to re-design or recall parts.
Overall, I think Dodge is doing a better job on the Caliber issues than Saturn/GM ever did on those cars I owned. For my money, I'm quite satisfied and I am about as picky as you.
If Dodge ever brings a turbo diesel Caliber to the US, I'll trade-in my Caravan on one in a minute. Then I'll have two Calibers.
I am having the same driver door latching problem. I have come back to my car a few times to find the door open!
I check every time I leave now....Have you checked with the dealer on this yet and if so...any results?