2007 Dodge Caliber SE from UK and Ireland - Comments

The Caliber's interior materials are so cheap that the panels should have "Tupperware" logos printed on them.

The gasoline (petrol) engine is absolutely gutless, and the CVT transmission is INCREDIBLY annoying, both in sound and in feel.

From the outside, it looks like it was designed by a committee, and not everyone was on the same page. Jagged, awkward angles abound, and weird trim pieces are awkwardly affixed all over the place.

I'm in American, and I hate this car too. I drive a previous generation Ford Focus which utterly cleans its clock.

Yes, the Caliber IS a cheaply made vehicle. With that said, it is still a great value.

I test drove a lot of cars last year before deciding on a Ford. I drove the Cobalt, the Scion Tc, the Vibe, the Toyota Corolla, the Kia Spectra 5, the Kia Rondo, the Caliber, the Saturn Ion, and several others.

A fully loaded Caliber SXT with just about every option was still at least two thousand dollars less than anything with comparable equipment, except for the Kias (which were the slowest of the lot, and just as cheaply made). I realize there are sacrifices in building an affordable car, but in the area of reliability I feel the Caliber is a good value for a great price.

We've owned 3 Chrysler products before and all three were totally bullet-proof mechanically. The last one was sold in perfect running condition at over 200,000 miles, and had never had an engine or transmission problem.

You hate the Caliber. Too bad. The Caliber is reliable according to Consumer Reports & Michael Kiresh who is also compiling repair records. Caliber is as reliable as the Ford Fusion.

Treat the CVT like an airplane. Set your rpms & away you go. Like an airplane there is no jerking acceleration. Like an airplane engine, Caliber's engine doesn't go up & down in noise & rpms. Unlike an airplane, if you drive for economy, there is no vibration & noise to match the silky smooth acceleration. My yearly overall average is 31.4MPG, average 32.7MPG over 4000 foot mountain passes, & have a 35.6 MPG flat highway high.

The Caliber is an inexpensive car, and interior finishes reflect this. Mechanically, however, the Caliber has proven to be a very reliable and solid car.

I looked at and drove several Calibers in 2006, and found them to be dog-slow on take-off, but very respectable once they were rolling.

Appearance is highly subjective, but I liked the styling of the Caliber. I waited a year and went back to Dodge in 2007, only to find that the beautiful and sporty yellow had been discontinued and the Caliber was only offered in very bland colors. Since I am not into driving boring cars, I opted for another car that DID come in a sporty color. One thing I CAN'T accept is driving a car in an "old folks" color.

Wow, it's kind of too bad that you missed out on a good car, and one that you obviously liked, just because they didn't have a color that you liked. I guess a "sporty color" is in the eye of the beholder, but I personally like the metal flake copper and metal flake dark and light blue, and don't see how they could be considered bland or "old people's" colors at all. I don't know what you bought, but hopefully your "sporty color" car won't be sitting in the shop all the time.

The different perceptions that each country seems have of cars built in their homeland and cars not from their own country, interests me.

After several years reading thousand of articles and comments on this site, it seems that many Americans have a strong loyalty to American brands and do not appreciate fair criticism or comparison with imported cars.

As a very general observation, it seems that American cars are more concerned with equipment and brand loyalty, European cars more concerned with perceived quality and status, Japanese cars go for efficiency and reliability but use hard plastics and the emerging Koreans cars are looked down on, but are trying to build brand loyalty by building well equipped, reliable and efficient cars-and lately are focusing on perceived quality.

I mean no offence, but a large number of American cars are now totally irrelevant in the current global market due to their ridiculously poor economy, hard poor interior plastics, huge size and poor handling on roads other than American highways.

The tide has turned against large gas guzzling cars and unfortunately a number of American brands model ranges consist mostly or entirely of large SUVs, pickups and heavy sedans-which are now sat on forecourts unsold.

Perhaps if the manufacturers of these products had been less jingoistic and moved away from the "American is best" mentality, they would now be thriving like many European, Japanese and now Korean brands.

These comments are not directly aimed at the Caliber - but having been out in one, I would consider the Korean Kia Cee'd to be a far superior product, sold in the UK at a similar price/spec, but with a much better interior quality, engine, gearbox, styling economy/efficiency and so on.

If American car builders do not take the rest of the world seriously, they will fail. Looking at the high demand for non-American cars, and the huge number of built yet unsold American cars, it will not be long unless something changes.

Blind loyalty to a country of manufacture may be laudable as it helps the economy of that country, but in the long term especially when under financial pressure, buyers may start to look more fairly at non-American cars which offer a more relevant package.

Please take these comments in the context they are meant - I am not anti-American, but have noticed a strong bias that Americans have for cars built in their own country!

We have been looking at purchasing a Caliber as a second car because here in the UK, the residuals have plummeted and a two year old one can be had for a little over £5k. It is true that the interior is like that of an early 1990s van, very cheap and nasty maybe made of VHS cassette plastic? But overall, the car seems fine is an almost utilitarian way. It seems like a simple low-tech car without much to go wrong, you can just hose down the interior if it gets dirty.

Our main worry is the long-term availability of parts, and that the dealership network seems to be on the brink of collapse. If not, then even Dodge/Chrysler themselves who have just had a $4000,000,000 bailout.

There certainly is a group of Americans who do not appreciate criticisms of American brands. But there also is the group of Americans who refuse to admit there is any possibility that maybe some American car models have caught up to Japanese imports in reliability. They seem to feel threatened by the idea.

I visit Europe every year, and the cars that I love driving in the United States I would not care for on European roads. I just rent small to mid-size cars when we visit and we usually end up with an Opel (GM owned) and I feel they are better suited to European roads. I find the European roads better maintained, smoother, but more crowded and with more quick turns and narrow lanes requiring more attentive driving. Parking is harder to find and more cramped. And you find fewer people who have really long commutes, so there is less emphasis on having lots of electronic toys, storage space and good coffee cup holders.

The Dodge Caliber is made for American roads. This means good cruising, but a cheap interior.

Quality actually is fairly important to the American consumer, as you'll see from reviews of this car. People compare its interior to a camping cooler. It's a decent car, but don't expect economy from a brick.

Also, watch out for Chrysler's traditional weak points: transmissions, electrics, interior bits falling off, and head gaskets.

These deserve to become much more popular as people lose the paycheck that keeps their Ford F-450 on the road. Off-road without a penalty, lots of cargo room, it almost has it all. Now it's up to posterity to prove if it has reliability.

I drove my 1990 Dodge Omni 240,000+ miles with two brake jobs, two timing belts, and one heater hose... and NOTHING else other than tires, batteries and oil changes. I have owned three Dodges and one Plymouth since 1972 and I can't fault Chrysler Corporation's reliability. Of course, none of my Ford or GM products have been unreliable either. That includes a 277,000 mile Buick and a 325,000 mile Ford. I think upkeep and proper maintenance goes a long, long way toward making a car last a long time.

I am driving my second Caliber at present.. a 2L SXT CVT... I can say that compared to my 2006 model of the same spec.. the interior is much more nicer.. I'd much rather drive a Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep product than any other car make.. and at the end of the day... if the Caliber was so rubbish... then why does my friend's 2004 Ford Focus keep breaking down??? And why does my sister have a Ford Galaxy 2001 that is almost on the scrap heap??? And why does my neighbour's keep getting their BMW (1 series 2007) towed to the garage??? God knows why, but I love my Dodge... it is solid.. it does not give me any grief.. there is no paint falling off it.. there is no problems with the interior.. the gearbox runs fine.. the steering is fine...

It's not the most beautiful car I've driven, but it's growing on me.. yes it cost me £7,500.. it's only 10 months old.. and it is a good little car.. but it's not really little because I had it parked with a new model Focus on one side and a 1996 Jeep Cherokee on the other.. and it was higher up than the Focus.. and the guy got out of his focus and said to me..that's a nice car.. but it's huge.. he liked it..

And as for the Jeep.. the Caliber is near enough the same height as it.. it's not really a car that drives like a car.. I'd say it was a little like the Jeep in terms of handling...

I just don't think people should slag off the Caliber.. because it's a good little car... and as a previous resident in Canada.. I was used to the Dodge brand.. so to me the Caliber was a good choice over the very popular Focus.. which I test drove but did not enjoy it at all... after running my 1997 Chrysler Grand Voyager to 177,000 miles... I had no problems with the brand at all and I have every faith that my Caliber will be running in ten years time (hopefully).. it can be slow to start but flies on the motorway.. a great car.. at a decent price...it's not cheap or tacky...