Actual Caliber Owners - First Impressions
 

Hello all, this is not a downplay review of the Caliber, but an honest opinion of what my first impressions are.

I am hoping we can start a nice thread with recent owners of the Caliber so we can exchange ideas and maybe come up with solutions for each other on parts of the car we are not happy with and where we might be able to improve the car with 3rd party products.

I picked mine up on Tuesday. (SXT with Heated Seat Option)

Took advantage of returning my lease early on the PT Cruiser which was about to die (2002)

I was a little weary of picking up a car this recent in production, but it was either grabbing another PT or a Caravan and No thanks to both of those. Mine was the only one @ the dealer - Inferno Red - which isin't as bright as I was afraid it was going to be, so I am happy on that behalf.

Only odd thing I have witnessed in 3 days has been the ABS light on the dash @ one point stayed on instead of just popping up @ engine start for a few seconds. But as soon as I turned off the engine and re-started it went away.

The sound inside @ high speed is less noisy than the PT so that's one kudo there, the handling is pretty nice and responsive, the ABS system seems to be working quite well thus far and I live in snowland (Montreal).

Some of the issues I'd say are little wonky would be, that there is no Child safety features for the windows in the back, only the driver can control the full door unlock/lock of the car (Would have been nice to have the option on the passenger as well), the rear window wiper would have been more productive being a top swing arm than a bottom swing arm as that window is small enough already, that when all you have to see out is the small wiped area it's blind spot heaven. Cruise control should have been a Std option as it was on the PT (SXT comparable model), they could have made the horn a little more beafy, the Unlock/Lock functions are on the actual key so if you ever decide to get a Viper style alarm or auto-start, you'll be stuck with a VERY large key on your keychain. There are some strange grooves and lines around the chassis of the car which will just promote rusting if the car if not properly washed and taken care of. The base stereo system/speakers (To me anyhow) is below average quality. The back seats should have been reclined (or backed up) about 3 to 4 inches as I find that even with just a baby seat it's very tight back there (Distance between end of baby's feet and back of front seat). Storage areas (Either in door or back of seats, etc..) have really been reduced in this car compared to many of it's same size (But then that reduces the chance of clutter as well

Anyhow, some of these are not the end of the world problems and I am just checking every little thing I have noticed, but all in all, this is a great car for the price, I believe a car is an object to get me from A to Z without paying monstrous amounts of cash and this seems to be one of the better cars that doesn't sacrifice massive comfort for $.

Well, that's my 2 cents worth and I am a happy Caliber owner now.

Cheers!

Peter

RE: Actual Caliber Owners - First Impressions
 

hm..i think that you have done an excellent job of pointing out the things that you dont like without "bashing' the car...

are you saying that there is no "disable" feature for the rear/passenger window controls? that seems very odd to me.

RE: Actual Caliber Owners - First Impressions
 

Well, you can do a Full Lock-out of all windows of the car from the drivers side but the rear windows cannot be locked out seperately nor do they do that 1/2 open only function which for some of reason I thought was an automatic function of all cars in North America. Guess I was wrong there...

Cheers!

Peter

RE: Actual Caliber Owners - First Impressions
 

That might involve more electronics and more things that could go wrong, possibly the reason it wasn't added. The 1/2 open window function would have been expected though. It seems odd it didn't come with it

RE: Actual Caliber Owners - First Impressions
 

Hey Pyth0s,
.
Yes, I agree … that’s a great idea [sm=smiley20.gif] and maybe I can add some helpful hints along the way!
I’m happy to hear you like your new Dodge Caliber … Congratulations! BadStratRT is right when he says, All of your comments are being forwarded on to the correct department, giving them some insight! Therefore, thank you!

Kelly S

RE: Actual Caliber Owners - First Impressions
 

Thanks for the kudos Kelly,

I am glad to help in anyway, and I find it VERY important to have forums such as these when a new car hits the stores.

Well, last friday night my "Engine Light" went on and has not turned off yet, so the car is going in for servicing tomorrow. Everything sounds fine in the engine and such so I am assuming it's either a computer burp or some minor loose connection. I have not put in any gas yet, and I know that it can/should only be 87 octane on this model so that is not the issue either.

Kelly - Could you find out for me what the exact bolt size of the wheels are for this car. As it is not written anywhere in the manual. I am wondering if it's 5X100 or 5X114 etc... For I am looking at purchasing some mags for it fairly soon. Thanks.

TIPS: I went out this weekend and purchased a nice thick rubber mat (37"X26") to put in the trunk as the plastic flooring was acting as a roller skating floor to all items placed within. And I also picked up a cheap thin rubber mat which I cut perfectly into the shape of the "TOP" glove compartment as anything you would put in there would slide side to side and become very annoying (To get the proper cuts, just get a roll of masking tape and tape the bottom of this small glove compartment, do it two layers thick. Once done, just slowly remove it and place it on top of the thin rubber mat and just cut away with scissors). I also purchased a nice backseat organizer which helped with the lack of frontside storage.

That's all for now, I'll let you know what the problem was with the engine light as soon as I hear back from the dealership.

Have a great week!


Cheers!

Peter

RE: Actual Caliber Owners - First Impressions
 

I think Dodge may be phasing that out on their cars which is a good thing IMO, always hated how you couldn't roll down the rear windows all the way on most cars, my Magnum's rear windows also go all the way down.

RE: Actual Caliber Owners - First Impressions
 

look at cars like mine and Tauruses. the reason the rear Windows don't go all the way down is not safety. it is because the angle on the door only let it come down so far. the magnum's doors aren't cut with such a big angle as mine and others.

RE: Actual Caliber Owners - First Impressions
 

My apologies Pyth0s … I do not have that type of technical information here. However, let me suggest speaking with your local DCX dealer. Speak with the Parts department; they will be able to assist you, with this type of question.
I’d also like to thank you for sharing your ‘Tips” [sm=smiley20.gif] ... they are great ideas.
I am waiting to see what Mopar offer’s for the Dodge Caliber. It’s not available as of yet, but I’ll keep you posted!

Thanks again …

Kelly S

RE: Actual Caliber Owners - First Impressions
 

I agree with Pyth0s, I used to have a Neon and I hated that the rear windows didn't go down all the way. My sisters new Ford Explorer is also the same way with the rear side windows going down all the way. I think thats a much nicer feature than a window that only goes down half way.

I also agree with nickoman that the reason isn't a safety issue, but rather the window flat out won't fit all the way into the door on a lot of cars, so it only goes down half way.