CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2007 Dodge Caliber has all kinds of suspension problems at relatively low mileage: typically 40-50,000 miles.
The most commonly reported problems are with ball joints & control arms going bad. Tie rods & leaking struts are also reported failing in the same mileage range.
Unfortunately all the suspension problems means some owners only find out after they notice their tires are ruined.
We've given the 2007 Caliber our worst rating because these problems happen at such low mileage, & it involves a wide range of apparently defective parts. With most other cars, major suspension work is pretty rare under 50,000 miles.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
6 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
6 / 0
Average Mileage:
68,193 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
I was driving my vehicle on our county road, and lost control because the car quickly and sharply veered off to the right towards the ditch. The cause is the sub frame assembly was badly corroded and the control arm assembly broke free from of the frame. We had the vehicle inspected on a recall two years ago to be checked for a corroded crossmember. We were not informed of any problem down then with the sub frame. It was very frightening, and had I been going faster I don't know if I'd be here today. It's in the repair shop now. This occurred today, August 22, 2017.
Thought I had a loose belt called dealership where I bought car told to Dodge dealership I did that $90 service fee said I needed new alternator $1,086, I could not afford that took it to America's they said for $615 replace then they called and said need all new tie rods well that would bring it to $1077. I could only get a loan for $1,000 so the tie rods I cannot get. After the Dodge dealership had my car when they gave it back to me that car was running so bad and shaking which it never did. I bought the car I had 70,000 that was 3 1/2 years ago now I only $75,000 miles on car. My car always ran smooth on highways and city streets. There was just a noise on my car. The car ran great. People could hear the noise also as I am deaf so I could barely hear noise with my hearing aid on. I had the car inspected just a few months ago and passed inspection they drove the car.
The contact owns a 2007 Dodge Caliber. The contact stated that while driving at 15 mph, the power steering failed almost causing a crash. The contact stated that the engine cradle was severely rusted, as well as the driver's side ball joint. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 65,000.
- Miamisburg, OH, USA
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Where do I start! from day one we have had issues with this car. Cruse control didn't work, brought back to dealer the first week to be fixed. One month later, front speaker went out, another trip to the dealer speaker was replaced. At 34,611 miles, car was stuck in park, would not shift at all. Towed to dealer, replaced stop lamp. At 35,031 miles, front end making loud knocking noise, you guessed it, another trip to Dodge, lower control arms replaced. Skipping to January of 2017, car now has 124,000 miles loud crunching sound coming from front driver side. Thought oh, another ball joint needs replacing, which has been replaced in January of 2016, along with more control arms, sway bar link, and struts, about $1200 in all. Took this pile of crap to local merlin's shop, showed me the rotted cross member with large holes in it, completely rotted through, back cross member was in bad shape as well. Absolutely disgusted with this car, traded it in for a 2011 Chevy and got $ $500 which was pretty generous. How could Dodge not recall this issue, my wife would drive this 5 days a week 40 miles a day on the highway, lucky she could of been injured or worse, she always said the front end was not right, this has been rusting out for years. I guess safety is not a priority with their customers, they never sent any warning out to have this checked out. I will never ever buy another Chrysler/Dodge or Jeep product.
At less than 10 miles per hour the rear suspension failed while turning on to a public highway. The drivers side wheel on the back is ready to fall off it is laying against the coil spring. The car is no longer drivable. This is all within close proximity to the fuel tank also and in my opinion could be a puncture risk also. The car has 106779 miles on it, one owner with no collision repairs ever performed and no undercarriage damage ever. Chrysler is performing repairs on select vehicles with the same problem but refuse to repair this one. Had this failure occurred at highway speed it is possible the results could have been catastrophic. This vehicle is less than 9 years old and has seen very little winter weather and has never been in a salt air environment. I see no difference in this problem and the one associated with Toyota truck frames of several years ago. Please help before someone dies from this problem.
Driving 15-20 mph in residential subdivision car veered radically to the right independent of steering striking parked vehicle. Right front tire turned right beyond maximum and is pinned against wheel well. Left front tire straight and aligned properly with steering wheel. Right tie rod bent 180 degrees with threaded portion bent parallel to it's self. Obvious catastrophic failure of steering/suspension on right front side of vehicle that had the failure occurred at highway speeds death of serious injury would likely have resulted. The vehicle is a one owner Dodge caliper with 33,827 miles, serviced regularly at fair oaks Dodge, chantilly
Husband was driving our 2007 Dodge Caliber making a U-turn and noticed a jerk in the steering. Proceeded to drive to our complex as it was only two miles away. Made a second U-turn and same thing happened. Once in our complex and proceeded to go over the first speed bump. The car stopped with the front driver side dropped. He exited the car to see what happened and noticed the subframe had snappened in half and was rusted beyond extreme.
Sub frame was so rusted it affected the steering, motor mount collapsed into the sub frame, lower control arm was almost separated from the frame. I was traveling at about 65 mph on the N.Y. thruway when I started having problems with the steering. When I arrived home I investigated and found the car was so unsafe I couldn't drive it again until sub frame was replaced. I saved the frame that was removed from the vehicle if needed.
The contact owns a 2007 Dodge Caliber. While driving 55 mph, the horn independently activated and the steering wheel seized. All the warning lights on the instrument cluster illuminated and the gauges and meters provided inaccurate readings. The vehicle stalled as it veered into a ditch. In addition, the contact noticed smoke underneath the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 129,023.
I bought this car used with a 90 day full warranty and 2 year power train. In the first 90 days I took the car back to Toyota used lot who in turn took it to Dodge to investigate the loose steering and also the stalling issues. Dodge repeatedly said nothing is wrong. To date, a year later, they wont fix the fuel pump which I have learned is a known issue on this model/year and causes stalling. I have stalled on the freeway and have children.... its very upsetting.
The front cross member is rusted through so bad you can put your hand in side we bought the car last year. Now as we take it to the mechanics to get allignment he gave us the bad news about this. What I don't understand is why this most important part is rusted so bad while the parts around it isn't. I've got to come up with 1250 dollars for parts and labor. Why no recall on this there is no warning of this part fails and while we're driving and it breaks well. Crash and die. So Dodge this is what you do to your customers. I'm so what I can to get the word out.
Brakes on this vehicle are no good, very hard to stop. Ball joints no good steering on this vehicle is not safe either I have noticed all the recalls and complaints.
At 132000 miles, I am replacing both control arms for the fourth time on my 2007 Dodge Caliber SXT 2.0L, no to mention the numerous cv boots and ball joints. With the numerous complaints I have seen online, it is surprising that no recall efforts (at least seemingly) have been made for such a dangerous and costly defect. I implore your company, please investigate the concerns and having Chrysler-Dodge fix their errors!!! even my mechanic informed me that the length of the arm is just short enough to create continual issues. This isn't right. As a result of so many repairs on this vehicle, I will never own a Chrysler-Dodge product again. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Front of vehicle started to shake and drivers side front made creaking noise. Took vehicle to dealer and they stated front struts and components were bad as well as drivers side ball joint. Vehicle was repaired however there is vibration in the steering and the vehicle pulls hard right. Also front end makes a lot of noise. Dealer performed front wheel alignment and balanced tires but problem is still there and mechanics can't find the issue. Vehicle is unsafe to drive and am very afraid to drive it especially since I'm disabled with young children. There are numerous complaints about the suspension issues with these cars and the problems need to be fixed before someone gets seriously injured or killed. Can't understand why nothing is being done after all of these complaints have been made by so many. This is why people don't buy american cars anymore. Foreign manufacturers will actually recall vehicles and stand behind their products.
My wife was driving my car heard a squealing noise and could not control the car. The steering seemed very lose. She was by a garage and stopped and left the car there. Today they looked at the car and send the undercarriage was shot and could not be fixed.. can Chrysler be notified of this and should we get a second opinion? its a good thing this happened on a back road with no traffic or my wife could have been seriously injured.
Driving normally on a town road and I heard a thud. Steering wheel jerked and came back to center. Car swerved into the oncoming traffic lane. Drove home at a steady crawl with front end shaking and feeling real loose. Checked my front end and could see my spring binding over the strut and strut mounts were squeaking and making noise while turning the steering wheel. Strut rods were stuck and would not compress. Ordered new struts and mounts. Will be replacing as soon as they come in. Glad this didn't happen on the highway and there were no cars coming in the oncoming lane or there would have been a serious crash.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Williamsville, NY, USA