The more a car company produces of a specifc car the more corners it will cut, take a look at Ford and their mid-late 90s mustang's their whole door is held on by 2 bolts! thats insane.

 

As a former owner of an 03 SRT-4, a 94 honda prelude and a current owner of an 04 SRT-4, and a 96 Dodge Neon ACR I know that Dodge's reliability and quality is no comparison to that of Honda. I loved my 03 SRT, but I had to have the clutch replaced at 12k miles (granted it was the only problem I had with the car in the three years I owned it). Our 04 SRT-4 is starting to have problems with the AC clutch singing, and my AC and water pump busted in my ACR before the car hit 100K. But hey, my ACR handles awesomely.

I also know a former engineer with DC who worked on the four-cylinder platform and he too thinks the new caliber is a waste.

Also, i have heard rumor that the SRT-4 Caliber may never make it to production. We'll have to wait and see on this one!

Any way the fit is definitely a "go" and the Caliber is definitely a "pass".

 

I loved the caliber till I opened the door, man this thing is recycled plastic milk cartons and cardboard .. also $1000!! for an air conditioned glove box?!?!?!
Keep it Its too heavy and too expensive and the people at the Dodge dealership where i live are SUPREME assholes.

 

All in ALL Calibre is a total FLOP! ... people that are looking for a Fit and find they can't get it w/out wiatting for up to 6months and are really despirate may find themselfs emersed in the crappy interrior and overpriced US made Dodge Calibre..

 

American cars have better reliability than European models according to Consumer Reports. Mercedes, Audi, VW, Jaquar all have sub par reliability and are extremely expensive to fix. American cars are much better made than say even 10 years ago.

 

I dunno.. Id trust an AudiTT over a Chrystler 300M or something..

 

This is true, but the Japanesse cars are even better now

 

i have had 3 dodge dakotas, 2 i bought brand new, the 3rd i bought used. never had a problem with any of them. i had an 86 pontiac fiero with 86k miles on it as my first car. everyone knows the fiero was total crap. never had a problem with it. i have a 94 chevy berreta, it had over 170k miles before i gave it to a family member. never had a problem with it. not a bad run for domestic.

i currently have an 04 volvo s60 that i have up for sale. i have had nothing but problems with it and everything cost a crap load to fix.

i had an acura rsx with no problems(only had it for 1 year though) and my wife's 94 civic has been through hell and is still running fine.

btw, dodge is basically owned by mercedes now.

 

haven't driven the Fit, but spent a little time in the Caliber. Handling was mediocre at best and acceleration was downright poor if you didn't want to use the Autostick. Yeah, the plastics are cheap and over-styled...but the whole car is overstyled. In the right color its not bad looking. I will say this for it: my girlfriends dad has worked at Chrysler for over 25 years and the Caliber was the first car he'd bought since working there...despite being a supreme Mopar guy. While he's owned trucks and Jeeps, galore, nothing built after 1975 in the way of a car has found a home with him. The next will be a new Challenger. For a guy who will buy nothing that isn't produced by Chrysler, the fuel economy, utility and and comfort the Caliber work pretty well. My girlfriend refuses to get one (she's holding out for the new 4-door Wrangler and a new Challenger), and it doesn't offer handling characteristics that I could live with for very long.

All that to say that even with a family discount available and experience with the Caliber....I won't be able to survive life too much longer without another Honda in my garage. The Fit it is for me

 

Caliber is a ****ing Neon dont get it.... YEah so what theres gonna be a SRT4 version.... its still a neon.


i just saw that youve had neons. Learn from your mistakes.

 

I happen to work at Carmax (Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep). Only new car store Carmax owns.
I drive the Caliber everyday and I have to say Im not pleased at all. Overall interior finishes, cheap ass plastic switches that ALREADY feel broken.
The whole dash reminds me of Fisher Price toys. Hard plastic with little dots.
And that drink storage (Cools drinks using the AC ducts) doesnt work at all.

Performance, Hahaa. What performance?! The CVT really takes away the butt dyno power. The car feels like its going no where. The car doesnt have any power at all. The motors take forever to rev also!!
Ive driven all models (Except SRT4). The 1.8L with manual trans is somewhat peppy, only because you have control. However, the clutch is horrible! Its soft and engauges without feeling. The first time I drove the Caliber I stalled, since then I havent. But I have rode the clutch out. Theres no clutch feel at all. Ive driven so many different cars and the Calibers clutch feel just isnt there.

The motors are loud, buzzy actually outside. And inside theres a fair share of noise. The Fit makes some noise inside also but not as much.
The R/T isnt anything to get excited over either. Not much more HP, extra weight from AWD, and that retarded trans again.

Exterior is ok. As long as its an SXT Sport (fogs, wheels...) it tends to look decent. I think the R/T looks pretty damn good.
Would I buy one? Hell no. And I get a decent discount at my job but they still arent cheap. I still decided on the Fit over the Caliber.

Ohh, and the SRT4 model coming out. I have a feeling that car will be in our bays in no time. Redesigned head/block and transmission. The transmissions are only designed to handle 300ftlbs. Stock they make 280ftlbs. Thats askin for it.
It wont touch the strength of the Neon SRT4 block/trans.

 

Being a replacement for the Neon doesn't make it a Neon. There is very little to tie to the two cars together as the Caliber has an all new platform and doesn't even seem to share much of the drivetrain.

Several years ago, the day i got my wisdom teeth out my parents picked me up from the oral surgeon in a rental car...a Neon. In my drug-induced state I took one look at the car and threw my ice-packs at it. The Caliber, however, is a car i'd happily take as a rental, given it's size, utility and decent economy. It juse wouldn't be the one i'd buy.

In any case, I'm happy to see it as a replacement for the Neon, it shows that at least one American Company is willing to give the public what they need, rather than tailoring to what will sell. Amazingly enough, they packaged the car in just such a way that it's being accepted.

 

Chrysler, mitsubishi, and Hyundai... That just screams quality.

 

I won't argue the quality of the car...but my point stands that this is much more than just another Neon. the Neon is dead, and many a highschool girls dreams with it.

 

Dont forget the fat chicks! They love the Neons, along with Cavaliers and Sunfires.

 

but you see that's something i'm trying to forget...along with the very existence of those cars.

 

Ok ill give you that one. P.S. thanks for the sig quote

 

The only thing I like about the Caliber is the Binky commercial. Saw one on the road. Definitely not cuddly nor wuddly.

 

I've posted in the thread comparing Fit, Versa, Caliber & some other car. I wanted a Honda Fit with CVT, but they didn't have a CVT. So I ended up with a Dodge Caliber SE 2 liter w/CVT. I came from small econo cars. Still have my Ford Festiva that I got highway highs of 53 MPG that I still love. But as big as the Caliber is, I love it too. The CVT is silky smooth. Of course you never feel the tranny shift since the wheels are continuously connected to the engine when in Drive. Travels in abrupt stop & go traffic evens out sweetly & trips on the varying slopes of mountains is like a magic carpet. Travel is truly effortless. I knew MPG would be far less than my econo cars, but not as much of a dive as I feared. My highway high has been 34.9MPH, & my overall average is 29.8MPG. With the warming weather & summer mix gas my rising overall average looks like it will end up between 30.5 & 31MPG before the end of my first year's ownership on 9/28/07. But my 4000 foot mountain pass from sea level average makes my big mouth into a big grin....32.5MPG.

My Caliber with 11,200miles, is tight, squeak free, 100% functioning, & is a pleasure to drive all day long with my bad back.

P.S...June 7th...Just figured my odometer error which is under-indicating my miles by 2%. My present overall average is 30.0MPG which is odometer corrected to 30.6MPG.

I would have loved the Honda Fit with a CVT. But the Caliber has been a wondrous replacement.

 

we got my bro inlaw out of his gas pig dodge truck and in to a caliber.(the fit wasent out yet) I am the one who does all the oil changes and such and I must say so far with 30 k on it it is doing just fine. I however own a fit sport auto and its far better as far as over all quilty and serviceabilty.for the few times I have driven the caliber it feels like I am driving a 60's vintage car compaired to the slot cat proformance of my fit.