Faults:

Just the windshield washer pump needed replaced. Other than that, no other repairs needed; it's a solid built one.

General Comments:

The CVT transmission could be more responsive to even part throttle application.

The interior materials are subpar plastics. The seat fabric is very coarse type of cloth, but not too many vehicles offer velour upholstery these days.

I do like the simplicity of the SE (BASE) trim for crank windows, no electronic keys hence a good ole fashioned mechanical ignition key.

The car itself is stylish, but the SRT-4 version would make it a very enjoyable ride, but that version was only available on 2008-2009 model Calibers.

Faults:

These cars have severe suspension issues. The complete suspension was changed 4 times in this car in the 5 years of ownership.

This included:

Front and rear struts (these were only changed once surprisingly).

Front sway arms (also changed only once).

Now the real junk part of the suspension:

Front and rear control arms with fixed ball joint (stupid design on its own!) 4 control arms on this car

Rear toe links x 2.

These two suspension parts have been changed on the car 4 times in the 5 years of ownership, at a cost of $2000 each time!

Throttle body sensor craps out (lightning bolt light on instrument cluster illuminates) causing the vehicle to misfire when it starts, or sometimes not start at all.

A noise under the hood that I could tell was a bearing noise; mechanic diagnosed as the tensioner pulley and a couple others which were changed and turned out to not be the problem. Taken to another mechanic who diagnosed the noise as the alternator pulley bearing. Where the alternator is located is a big job and it’s worth just replacing the entire alternator at a cost of $400 for the part alone.

This car was a money pit from day one, until just before Christmas when we were hit by a big truck, and the car was written off. Where many people get out of their vehicles to scream at the person who hit them, I got out and shook the guys hand. I felt like I owed him a beer for the favour he did us.

Never buy a Dodge again.

FYI my niece bought the same car a bit over a year ago, a 2010 model, and she’s beginning to have all the same problems with her car. Entire suspension has just been changed, and the throttle body sensor issue is starting to surface. I told her to start saving for the next repair.

General Comments:

This car, and many other Dodge models suffer major suspension issues.

Stay away, you’ve been warned!