door hinge problem
 

Hello! I have a 2008 caliber sxt. About 1 year ago I opened the passenger door, heard a pop and was unable to close the door. I found the lower hinge to have "sprung" and had to use a heavy duty screwdriver to ply it back in so I could close the door. Unbeknownst to me, when it sprung the door shifted forward and under the front fender. Went to dealer and they got everything covered under warranty as I was told. Now 1 year later and living in a different state, the driver's side door has "sprung". I was smart this time and did not damage the fender in getting it closed. It has now been 2+ weeks and just heard that it will not be covered. I am wondering several things -
1. Is this a relatively common problem with calibers?
2. Shouldn't they cover it since it happened to the other side about a year ago and mileage hasn't changed that much (58K to 65K)?

Any help is much appreciated!!!

Welcome to the forum.

This is the first that I heard about this issue.
Maybe some of the techs on here may know more.

I do not know what warranty that you got with the car. If it was the same hinge, they might refix it.

If you had a Chrysler warranty, I would go to www.dodge.com and up in the top right of the page, click on "for owners" and contact Dodge directly to see if they will help. Maybe even cover half if nothing else. It is hard to say what they might do or not do, but it is worth a shot.

Good luck!!

Thanks for the guidance into where to go. I have previously owned a 99 dakota, 99 ram, a second caliber (wife's) and now the wife has an 09 Nitro. I have found a few people with similiar experiences via google but it would seem my luck to get the weird off the wall vehicle. I didn't get a call back from the dealership today but will keep up with them and then contact Dodge. I will be interested to see if others come out of the woodwork with similiar issues. Thanks again!

Let me know how it goes. You do have a strange case, indeed :D

I spoke both with the dealership that fixed my passenger door and the dealership that will fix my driver's side door. Apparently Chrysler doesn't have record of any warranty work so I am assuming the original dealership did the repair for free and swallowed the cost themselves. If that is the case, I am very pleased with all service from Ganley Dodge in Bedford, Ohio. Sorry, don't know if name dropping is against forum rules but they deserve it! Chrysler is going to go 50/50 with me to help with this repair. I am content with this and happy to finally get my car fixed. If I can get a better idea of what happened I will post it. It's the bottom hinge that goes. Guess it is just an odd thing for me to have. Thanks again!

No problem with the name dropping. Good deal on the 50/50 considering it is out of warranty. Chrysler is really trying to improve on their customer service and it shows with this deal. Thanks for the update.

New development - the body shop started work on my door hinge yesterday. I spoke to them today and apparently whenever the hinge did what it did, it also bent the door to the point that the entire door needs replaced. They also said when they submitted the new photos of the problem to Chrysler's warranty department, Chrysler responded that it would be covered. The dealership is a little confused as to whether they meant fully or still 50/50. This is quite interesting as things evolve. Will keep ya posted!

Wow, the plot thickens :D

Jeezz, we have a Caliber in the family.I haven't run into this issue at all.

Me either and I hope I never do!!