21st Sep 2009, 14:01
To the guy who wrote the comment about having good luck with the Omni and Daytona, those cars were manufactured by Mitsubishi, which is probably why they lasted that long.
30th Sep 2009, 13:35
I have an 08 Caliber. I've had no issues and I'm not sure I believe your review.
You've had to many problems.... if you had had 1 or two maybe, but you've stretched it quite a ways. I can attest to the stalling issue for the earliest Calibers, but once the computer was reprogrammed that was resolved.
The rest I don't know. I work with a few guys who have AWD Calibers and they haven't had any problems whatsoever.
As mentioned, had you had 1 or 2 issues maybe, but dubious is the value I place on the review, sorry.
30th Sep 2009, 15:59
The Omni was actually chiefly designed by Simca, a French division of Chrysler Europe, and released in Europe as a Talbot. The Omni was available with either a PSA 1.6 OHV, an enlarged 1.7 liter version of the VW Rabbit engine of the time, and of course the venerable 2.2 engine.
The Daytona is a pure American Chrysler. It was built on the G platform which was derived entirely from the Chrysler K platform. The Daytona was available with a number of various flavors of the 2.2, and the 3 liter V6 was later added as an optional engine choice.
30th Sep 2009, 16:43
I'm also surprised by this review. In my area, there are lots of Calibers on the street, so people must like them. I've had two of them for rental cars, and really liked both of them. One of them was a 2008 R/T AWD and I really liked that car a lot. I thought the CVT was great for maintaining speed going up hills, and it zipped right around corners without slowing or swaying. I also thought the AWD was great, and a really good combination with the "manual" feature on the CVT when I wandered onto some steep, curvy, narrow dirt roads. The R/T AWD handled those roads better than my 4WD would have.
I would tend to agree with comments about a general cheap feeling in some components in the interior, like the rattly power door locks. With AWD cars I do always wonder how long the wheel bearings and transaxle will last, but really had not heard other complaints about the Caliber.
30th Sep 2009, 16:45
Is that also why our 1984 Plymouth Reliant lasted us to 220,000 miles before we sold it in perfect running condition?
5th Nov 2009, 16:50
I wrote the original review. Believe me, while unfortunate, it is accurate. I have never had a vehicle with this number of problems. I still state that I will never buy another Chrysler product and will tell everyone I know not to either.
As for them being popular - no question about that - because their cheap! I received several thousand dollars off mine when I bought it and thought I got a great deal. Of course, I've asked about trading it (not for another Chrysler) and it has horrible trade in value.
As for the person who commented about my review not being credible because I've had too many issues: if I'd only had the one or two problems that you state would have been believable, I wouldn't be upset!
6th Apr 2010, 07:11
To the guy who commented on June 10th... this is actually completely typical of Chrysler. My mom has a Dodge Caliber, and it has had nothing but problems, same headlight problem too.
Before that it was a Dodge Caravan, in which the transmission dropped out and had fuel pump problems.
My brother in law has a Dodge Ram, and the transmission slips badly, water pump leaks, radiator won't hold coolant so it overheats, and it's like a 98 and the paint has been falling off for a few years now.
And my aunt had an Intrepid, and she got rid of it in about a year, because it would cost more to fix than the value of the car.
So these problems actually sound right up Chrysler's alley.
9th Jun 2010, 21:26
I've had Honda cars for 25 years. All great. But, just got a Caliber and it is really great. CVT transmission is fantastic. Engine is smooth and powerful. I put a strut bar on it and that $100 mod made a huge difference in steering and handling. Fire sale prices on slightly used Calibers make them a fantastic deal. A bit hard to see out of at times. The size and ride height of the car reminds me of a Morris Minor from the 60's, but a 21-first century version.
31st Jul 2010, 17:09
Chrysler makes the worst cars in the North American Market. Check out a book called Lemon Aid. I can't remember the Author's name. He gives almost every Chrysler product a below average or not recommended rating, including the Caliber. He does his research, and he is not biased to foreign cars. He even gives the 2010 Corolla a below average rating, the same as the Chevrolet Aveo.
31st Jul 2010, 17:19
The Dodge Caliber has to be one the ugliest cars on the road. It has no style to it whatsoever.
2nd Aug 2010, 14:09
Dodge's problem is that they built great cars in the '60s and '70s, making great V-8, rear drive, large cars. It seems like they never were able to adjust to the new market conditions of small cars. Although, the K car was a much better car than a Chevy Cavalier, for instance. Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth always trailed in the Big 3, though even in the '60s and '70s they made nicer cars than the competition.
But guys wearing their Ford and Chevy t-shirts were never going to try a Dodge, so now they can all drive Hondas. Many of their new offerings are much better, although a Ford Focus, Mazda 3, or even Hyundai Sonata or Elantra rides much better and quieter than the Dodge Avenger.
I do like the Caliber for its utility as a small station wagon or mini-SUV crossover, though it does have road noise and rattly pieces. It's just too bad that they quit making the AWD version of the R/T. It was one of the few affordable AWD cars out there. I would have bought one, and was really impressed with the two that I drove as rentals.
7th Apr 2011, 12:49
The Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon were NOT Mitsubishis, and had nothing to do with Mitsubishi. Early ones did have 1.7 liter engines of Chrysler design manufactured by Volkswagen until 1983, when it was replaced by a Peugeot produced 1.6 liter 4 cylinder engine for the cars. The Chrysler 2.2 4 cylinder became an option in 1981. All Omnis and Horizons were built in the USA at Chrysler's plant in Belvidere, Illinois throughout their entire production run from 1977-1987.
28th Jul 2011, 14:39
The Omni and Horizon with the Peugeot engines were a nightmare. The cars became really good when Chrysler started putting their own 2.2 in them. My 1990 Omni made just shy of a quarter million miles with virtually no problems at all. When I sold it, it still used not a drop of oil and had required nothing but 2 timing belts. Even the original A/C worked perfectly, and had never had freon added. These were some of the best cars Chrysler ever built. The man who bought mine drove it to over 300,000 miles, and still had no problems with it.
29th Jul 2011, 12:07
Those Omni/Horizons with Chrysler's own 2.2 were very good. My brother had a 1987 Omni that went almost 200,000 miles with no major problems, that still could be seen around running well after he sold it. Chrysler did make good cars in the past; it's sad they don't anymore.
16th Oct 2011, 10:50
To the original reviewer:
The headlight assembly (not the bulb) probably has a short circuit in it. My old car (a 2001 Camry) was like that.
30th Oct 2011, 02:36
Plymouth Horizons & Dodge Omni's were NOT Mitsubishi cars. The fellow who said they were, may have been thinking of the Plymouth Champs & Dodge Colts.
My Plymouth Champ pounded up many logging roads to hiking trails around the Cascade Mountains, & traveled to many mountain ranges around the west. Averaged 42mpg, with a high of 50mpg. After 22 years & 150,000 miles, I got rid of it. Still saw it around town for 2 years more.
21st Sep 2009, 12:43
The Omni and Daytona were both Mitsubishi's.