2007 Dodge Caliber SXT from North America - Comments

Nothing, I just bought it yesterday.

I love this car. The style is awesome. I used to drive our Isuzu Ascender, which my husband will drive now. I never thought I would go back to a car from an SUV. However, I don't think I have sacrificed anything by changing my mind on this. It's like a smaller muscle car, in appearance. It actually looks tough, and I don't feel like I'm in a little bubble on wheels, like my mom's Nissan Versa or my friend's Mini. I love the interior and all of the extras and the roomy interior. I'm tall with long legs and have more room behind the wheel than in my old SUV. I can't wait to drive it home today.

We traded in our Land Rover Discovery 2 which was so expensive anytime we had to fix or replace something. Unbelievable. Also, the thing was a gas-guzzler. People loved it, but my wallet didn't. The Caliber is giving me great gas mileage.

I guess acceleration from a complete stop is a tad slow, but I quickly forget about that once I'm going. It's fun to drive, low road noise, and easy to handle.

I just love this car.

I too LOVE my Caliber. Have had it 9 months, 12,000 miles and NO problems. Holds the road well. I drive a curvy road around the back of a lake every day and have a hard time keeping to the speed limit. I traded in a Dodge Town & Country van I thought I'd never give up (great car also!) to get better gas mileage. I average 25 mpg and that is around town, 30 mpg on the road. Sometimes notice the road noise, but not enough to count it a distraction. Seats are VERY comfortable. I highly recommend the Caliber.

I've owned 4 Chrysler products (1 Plymouth and 3 Dodges) and all were absolutely great cars. One Dodge made 240,000 miles with only TWO brake jobs and TWO timing belts and ONE heater hose. Absolutely NOTHING else, not even freon added to the A/C!! I have driven three new Calibres and find them to be probably the all around best value in a small car on the market. My only concern is the CVT. I'd definitely get a 5-speed stick as I am uncertain about the CVT's ability to handle the kind of aggressive driving I do. None of the dealerships in our area has been getting in any 5-speeds.

Hi 22:10...I love my Caliber CVT & it functions perfectly. But I think Jatco has computer limited engine power & rpms thru the CVT at low speeds for reliability reasons. Since you are an aggressive driver, you should possibly stay away from the Dodge Caliber CVT. Under hard acceleration the CVT hydraulic pressures rise close to 1000psi. The extra hydraulic pressure is supplied by the engine & takes an extra chunk out of MPG... above the level of lowered MPG you get in other transmission types.

Just reading the above comments... I live in UK, the roads are so fast over here, even though we have speed limits, everyone seems to drive like a maniac... I have a Dodge Caliber 2LPetrol engine with a CVT gearbox... I can tell you although I do stick to the speed limits.. I sometimes drive FAST when needed.. and believe me I had NO PROBLEMS OVERTAKING 2 CARS (1 VW and 1 FORD)..I find that with the Caliber, I need to drive it for approx 10-20 minutes before I find the car responding well, basically when the engine is nice and warm... The CVT is NOT bad at all... I can quite easily OUTDO most cars of the lights.. and I am using full auto mode.. not autostick...A lot of drivers seem to think I am driving US junk... but the other day I was on a straight road.. I had a Ford Focus in front, who was being slowed down by a VW Golf who kept pulling away, and an impatient VW behind me and he was really close... So I put my foot and overtook both cars in front... NO PROBLEMS..I had the POWER when I needed it... A few minutes later, I noticed that the VW had BACKED RIGHT OFF... I felt like telling him to watch it... but I think he got the message, well lets just say he probably won't try peeing me off again... The CVT has plenty of power, when the engine is warm enough... I have had my Caliber since Jan (07), it has approx 6,080 on the clock and it is a good solid car... German cars are NOT always cranked up to be all that... Actually that is the SECOND VW I have beaten and the first guy had a BRAND NEW VW GOLF...

I made a test drive with the Dodge Caliber a while ago and was honestly appalled by the dreadful build quality, the dashboard looks like it is made from recycled lunch-boxes.

Other than that the car is good and it's a bargain for all the bells and whistles you get, but in general I'm in favor of the Nissan Qashqai.

I made the April 24 comment & am responding to the May 9 comment. I stated that the CVT is computer acceleration limited at low speed (0 to 20MPH). The May 9 comment stated that his Caliber passes other cars well.

The Caliber at higher speeds passes v. well. One magazine stated that Caliber accelerates from 45 to 65 MPH better by as much as a second than all other similarly powered cars. This good performance can be attributed to the CVT which is continuously in the proper gear for economy & when pushed hard it is continually in the proper gear for acceleration.

The CVT is a wondrously smooth transmission & performs well at higher speeds. You must get used to the less than stellar acceleration from a stop however.

Having been very impressed by the Caliber when it was introduced, I checked it out again before buying my last car recently. I was very disappointed to discover that it is no longer offered in ANY sporty colors. We had loved the bright yellow, as it was the only color in the entire Caliber line up that appealed to us. We were told it was no longer available. We have also loved (and owned) the bright red vehicles that Dodge was once noted for in their ads. Sadly (for us) we had to pass up the Caliber due to the lack of anything in the way of sporty or attractive colors. With the new hot RT4 version coming out, hopefully Dodge will at least release it in something other than the muted, boring non-colors so many manufacturers seem to have become addicted to. Still, for older people who are more concerned about practicality than sporting appeal, the Caliber remains great value.

The yellow Caliber was a limited run color (less than a year). Sorry other colors did not appeal to you. Like you I have few Caliber colors that appealed to me. I loved the Inferno Red & Sunburst Orange, but settled for Marine Blue in a v. inexpensive Caliber that otherwise had what I wanted.

But once colors are discontinued, other colors are instituted... at least for a while. So waiting sees an expanded array of colors.

The caliper lloks nice and I am thinking about buying a new SRT-4 version. by the way, I am 55 years old and still love racing young kids on the roads who think that adding a louder muffler to their cars along with an amp and sub, automatically gives them a race car. I beat them with a stock Suzuki Aerio Premium AWD. It also has more horses and is lighter than a Caliper SXT. So to the guy in the UK, I wish I could meet you on the open road with my Aerio. I think you would be getting a message sent to you. The only Caliper to go with is the SRT-4.Give me a 1992 GMC Syclone. 0-60 in 4.6 seconds.