2007 Dodge Caliber SE from North America - Comments

As you state & I stated much earlier in this thread the CVT is not a Dodge product. I state the 2.7 liter engines you talk about are not the 1.8, 2.0 or 2.4 liter engines that are in the Caliber. The Caliber engines are made by a consortium of Dodge, Mitsubishi, & Hyundai. Your inferences have no place here. But, Michael Kiresh's earnest reliability data indicates that the Dodge Caliber is a fine product & does have a proper place here.

(google "Chrysler 2.7 liter engine" for evidence of that!)

Chrysler is not the only one with problematic engines, Google Toyota and oil sludge or Toyota Tundra and camshaft.

I said the 2.7 liter engine isn't in the Caliber. Your complaint needs to be in a different car survey.

Almost 1 year ago, I purchased my SE Caliber w/CVT. Altho my initial AVERAGE MPG was above 30MPG, a cold winter & lower energy winter mix gasoline led to some tanks below 25-6 MPG & dragged my overall average MPG down to 28.4MPG. With warming weather in February 2007 & a return to higher energy summer mix gasoline, my average rose back to 30MPG. As of today my overall average is 31.3MPG, I average 32.7MPG over 4000 foot mtn passes, & have a highway high of 35.6MPG. Altho I'm not a hyper-miler, I have feather-footed the Caliber steadily & the Caliber has responded well. The CVT is ultra-smooth, the car drives the road nicely & as you see good MPG can be had if you work at it.

My Caliber still functions 100% at 20,000+miles & overall averages 31.4 MPG. The reason I'm posting is my Caliber may be going thru a break-in period. I have gotten above average MPG for the Caliber because I feather foot it & my individual Caliber seems to have top-notch tuning.

I keep careful MPG records & note that my Caliber's MPG isn't dropping as low as it did last winter. If this is a belated break-in period & my MPG does rise above last year's spring, summer & fall MPG period, I will be very happy to bring further good news.

I'm stingy with gas, but have found that my Caliber's overall year long average MPG pleases me. If my Caliber's MPG is about to rise again, I will be ecstatic!

I've got an 07 Caliber 5sp with a 1.8 liter engine.

Driving 120km's per hour on the highway, I got 6.8 liters per 100km's during the first 5000km's I've now got 30,000+ km's on it.

The 1.8 is underpowered. I installed a fresh air intake, which adding more noise and a little power. My gas mileage has remained 6.8 liters for each 100km's, but I'm far more aggressive with the car now as I lost interest and patience with trying to hyper mile it.

I love the oil change intervals at 10,000 km's (6000 miles) as opposed to 5000, and I'm using 5w 20 synthetic.

I was going to change the manual transmission fluid to Royal Purple to smooth shifting, but it may void the warranty, so I'm leaving it alone until after the warranty.

I may give it a go, but usually after 300 km's I just say screw it and start punishing the car again with 4000-5000 rpm shifts.

I love the car, I've done several 6 hour trips with it to various locations. It's quiet on pavement, somewhat noisy on concrete at speed... nothing horrible but noticeable, it's supremely solid on the highway, body roll from cornering is noticeable, mainly due to it's higher center of gravity, but nothing excessive... been the best car I've had, and yeah the interiors are a little cheap looking, but fully functional and the chill zone rules, I can't believe no one else has imitated it yet.

This car will be coming off lease and I'll be getting a 2010 model with the new interior and 2.0 liter engine that is now being offered with a manual tranny... I just like manual more, it makes me feel more in touch with what the car is doing, keeps me thinking about the road instead of falling asleep.

I've had no warranty issues, no squeaks or rattles the car has been solid.