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.
Air bags didn't not deploy during a single car accident which ended in a head on crash into side of mountain then rolled over onto the roof. Speed about 30-35 mph. When tow truck turned car back over the driver's seat wasn't connected. Also prior to this accident problems with alignment, esp rear.
My car is stuttering/jolting upon putting it in drive & stopping & driving (after stopping @ traffic lights & stop signs). Also, it takes a bit for the car to increase in speed once I'm stopped (@ traffic lights & stop signs) & have to start driving again. This has been noticeable for the past month now.
Subframe rotted away. Causing the drivers side A-arm to rip out. The wheel was at an approximate 90 degree angle from normal position. Caused the driveshaft to pull out of the transmission and the car to immediately stop.
Heard a clunking noise when turning and stopping, got home thinking the strut was broken and found that the sub-frame for engine, sway bar and tire assembly completely rotted and cracked on the drivers side ready to break in two. Car is unsafe to drive. Mileage 91K.
I took my wife's 2009 Caliber to our mechanic because she heard clunking noises from the front end. We were informed by our mechanic that a piece of frame stretching across the front of the vehicle is severely rusted. The steering rack and sway bars attach to this frame work. Also front end components. The vehicle makes loud plunking noices when going over small and large bumps and much worse when hitting pot holes. No other rust is apparent on any fram work under the vehicle. This vehicle is only nine years old. I think that's extremely odd for such a young vehicle. I feel this may become a safety issue very soon and think there may have been a recall that I am unaware of.
My 2009 Dodge Caliber has the same issue as the 2007 and 2008 Calibers in that the main crossmember in the front steering/suspension has rotted through. The rest of the car is rust free but both the front and rear members have rotted out. This car was in Colorado springs for the first 4 years of its life where they do not use salt and moved to Vermont after that. At 59K miles Dodge will not cover them even though they have replaced them on 2007 models extensively. There are stories of accidents and injuries but Dodge is still not being held responsible for the poor quality and premature failure of the inferior steel parts. I have been a tech in the auto and truck industry for 40 years and am disgusted that there are thousands of stories online about these and millions of cars in the 2007-2009 years that are failing. Can we ask that NHTSA call them out on this before there are more accidents. I am afraid that I and thousands of others will have to pay out of pocket for safety issues that is clearly a failure on Dodge that they are so far sucessfuly hiding from. Issues also include 2007 Jeep and stx vehicles.
This car attempted to kill me twice. First the subframe rotted out due to bad design. We noticed this as the struts were being replaced - also because of bad design. This was noticed in 2014 (on a 2009 vehicle!) cost me over $1,000 to fix - Dodge offered no help at all. Later in 2014 - the front drivers side arm separated from wheel, causing wheel to pop off. If I was going any faster than the 10 mph I was going (headed to highway!), I could have been killed. Again contacted Dodge and no assistance. They recalled the 2007 but not this model year for these problems. Pictures attached. I hope someone holds this company accountable! cars should not cost thousands of dollars to repair in year 5!!!
My son was driving this car to work noticed a severe change to the steering. It cause him to veer into the other lane and luckily there was no other oncoming traffic. He was able to drive it onto work and called me to let me know of the problem. After driving just 10 feet it was obvious that it was un-drivable and unsafe. After calling the towing service they suggested that I call Dodge to see if there was a recall since they had already towed other Dodge of similar years with a rusted/ broken sub frames. Call local dealer with the VIN and ask to if there was any recalls for a broken sub frame. They stated that there was not a recall and did not offer to make a repair even at my cost. I took it to a local service center who had seen the same problem before on other Dodge and was familiar with the repair. After $600 for the part and $600 for labor the repair was made on a car with 89,000 miles. While the car was getting repaired I was able to tell a co-worker about the recall for the exact same issue on her 2007 Caliber which I discovered while researching. She was able to get hers repaired with no charge. Contacted Dodge and since there is no recall they are not willing to pay for the repair at this point. They know that there is problem so I guess that means Dodge stands for Dodge responsibility at the cost of the consumer. I not be purchasing any mopar products in the future.
The contact owns a 2009 Dodge Caliber. The contact stated that the key was difficult to turn over to start the vehicle. Also, the steering wheel was extremely tight and difficult to turn when the vehicle was in motion. While driving various speeds, the vehicle would stall without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the tipm failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failures. The failure mileage was 166,500.
2009 Dodge Caliber, within 3 months of buying vehicle, as is, started having acceleration problems, brake and suspension problems. Took vehicle to dealer, was informed I needed suspension bar and struts replaced which would cost over $800. About the same time my transmission overheat light started coming on, I loose power and have to pull over on the side of the road for 15-30 minutes before vehicle would drive again. Go approx. 23 miles at a time when same problem occurs. Worse in the summer time. Today, my electronic throttle control light, malfunction indication light and engine overheat light came on and remains on every time I start the vehicle. Vehicle will not accelerate without getting up between 3 & 4 RPM's. not much power. When hitting a bump or ice at stopping point, vehicle jumps ahead instead of stopping, almost causing me to rear end several times. Tons of complaints about these same issues. Something must be done. I paid $10700 for my vehicle. Cant even afford to get it fixed as repairs are now estimated over $4200. This is not right to do to people...
The 2009 Dodge Caliber was deemed unsafe and unable to pass a Maine safety inspection. The front and rear cross sub frames were heavily rusted and completely rusted through in several places.
Car started falling apart at around 48K tie rods. Control arms. Struts. Bushings. Ball joints. Bearings. Sway bar links. Lateral arm bushings. Upper control arm bushings. Upper tow links. Front strut mounts. My latest repair bill (today) is $1500 and the car has only 60K on it. The catalytic converter is also slated for replacement as soon as the dealer gets it in. I am a very conservative driver and always keep my car serviced. I bought this car brand new. The suspension on this car is a menace. The blower motor also went at 48K (a safety issue in my northern mn winters) and the rear defroster only has two or three lines that work. The power steering unit is also losing fluid and I will have to have that repaired as well. I am more than happy to provide a print out from Firestone auto repair.
The ABS sensors in both the left and right rear tire wells are suddenly bad at the same time. This is causing the electronic stability control (ESC) to not work properly; sending the car into a skid. ESC is to assist drivers in maintaining control of their vehicles during extreme steering maneuvers. ESC senses when a vehicle is starting to spin (oversteer) or plow (understeer), and attempts to correct the vehicle?S course by automatically controlling the throttle and applying the brakes at individual wheels.
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- Elk Garden, WV, USA