2008 Dodge Caliber consumer reviews

Our (much loved) Taurus Station Wagon was totaled by a 25 year-old female who was texting while driving and rammed us in the rear at 35 mph. in April 2010. Thank God we were not hurt, but we were forced, then into the car market with only 5 days to make our choice by USAA - the other driver's insurance company. Not being particularly flush at that time (we'd just paid our 2009 federal income taxes) we made a hasty decision to buy a 2008 Dodge Caliber. How wrong were we? (1) The car is noisy. (2) The car is rough riding; i.e., we get to enjoy EVERY wrinkle in the road. (3) The seats are very uncomfortable. (4) Getting into and out of the rear seats is a chore as there is insufficient clearance between the door post and the rear seat cushion for feet of normal size. (5) The posts for the windshield obscure large portions of fields of vision to the left and right front sides of the car. (6) The rear seats' headrests obscure large segments of rear vision through the rear view mirror. (7) The Chrysler Motor Company, though it knows that the front suspension is prone to failure (lower control arms and ball joints) will not extend warranty coverage for these items -- ours failed at 52,024 miles, and neither after market nor OEM has these parts in stock -- both are back-ordered. But it does get good gas mileage. Even better now as it sits in my mechanic's lot while we wait for either the Dodge dealer or the after market supplier gets the part -- in a week or 10 days. Oh, the joys of weekly rental car charges! All these things should be painted Sunkist Yellow!

I recently was looking at the Dodge Avenger, and being a fan of the Dodge line I instead went with the Dodge Caliber. The caliber is a great car for anyone, it has enough room to load up friends for a road trip to a nuggets game or taken the wife for a ice cream run. Its fun to driveand there are tons of after market products that you can add to make it more personalized to fit your taste. So all in all I love this car!!!

a great buy,good value,the family loves the new car,the color is is what the family loves the best ,thanks dodge !

I love this car. The styling is crisp and emphatic, it's comfortable, practical, and versatile - does everything I need it to do, and with pretty good fuel economy. Not as much pep as my last car - a Saab - but all things considered a great value.

While I get nothing but compliments on the appearance, speed and sound of this car, dont think it's worth the extreme discomfort one is introduced to when meeting the armrests, driver side seat backrest and back seat positions. Unlike the base Caliber, the SRT4's rear seats dont even recline! The super hard plastic surfaces they chose to mold into armrests are even textured with some strange mini spike-like protrusions that will almost make a grown man cry. I like a nice stash pocket, but not one that I can't even use because anything I put into it, will inevitably wind up under the seats, (if you're lucky) or between the seats and console. You know, that 2 cm gap where even french fries won't dare to attempt to fit through. There's no lining or trim of any sort to help hold your phone, portable music player or anything else that you'd like to stash there. Just flat, slippery hard plastic. Whoever designed the driver and front passenger seats must be very short or very tall, as with my 6'2" frame the so called lumbar adjustment hits me right below the shoulder blades. All blood and tears aside, the car is very fast, has exceptional handling for a car of its height and has one of the smoothest and precise shifters I've ever used in a wide range of both very expensive imports and super cheat sub-econo cars. The factory stereo is far superior in sound quality and volume than any other base stereo system I've ever heard. Yet, who other than Chrysler still makes a single CD player that wont read MP3's, have RDS or store more than 6 FM presets? I can't believe they would even put such a basic stereo in a SRT model. I've had the car for only 13K miles, and just got it out of the shop yesterday because the rear spoiler was falling off. There are numerous other interior rattles going on that should not be an issue in a car so new. (I bought it in April '09). I had tire pressure issues up until last week. I dont know what happened, but at least for now, the tires will hold pressure. The car has less than acceptable visibility through the rear, so get good with your mirrors quickly. I have no idea why they didnt make this car with dual exhaust from the factory. You'd think that would be a no-brainer also. This Caliber SRT4 is an extremely powerful, stylish and somewhat rare car with lots of cool, if you can tolerate the pain of owning one

last week we had a drunk driver pull out in front of our 2008 Caliber. It took the hit like a trooper! The car is totaled, but myself and the two kids in their carseats (3 & 7) riding in the backseat are sore, but not maimed. The airbags deployed and the front-end absorbed so much of the shock that the EMT's could still get all 4 doors open. I would definitely buy another one...Thank God for American-Made engineering!!!

The SRT4 model is a terrific car. I love the turbo, combined with the practicality of a hatchback. The handling is true-sports car. The brakes are the best you can get. The seats are racing seats that are very comfortable. This car is highly misunderstood and under-rated. It is a well-kept secret. Now that they don't make them any more, if I were you I would go get one quick.

Great car gor the Price!!!! I got this car at a bargin price 11900 for a 08 sxt with only 10,000 miles on it. Nice ride Great features Great styling

I have two calibers an they are problem and great for bike racks and camping,had a vibe and that was junk!The calber is under rated for a geat car for the money.

While I was very spoiled with my previous van, I really enjoy my caliber. I average 29 mpg driving back and forth to work. It comfortably seats my three children in the back but does not comfortably seat 3 booster seats. It has lots of cargo/storage space, but I wish the seats had map pockets and the doors had a little larger compartment. Only has 4 cup holders but seats 5. Overall it is a great car especially when gas prices were high. I have had it for almost a year and 9,000 miles and have had absolutely no mechanical problems.