Rented: 2008 Caliber

[SVT666]

The Highs:

- Very quiet, even at 75 mph.
- Infinity stereo system.  Chrysler has the best factory stereos in mainstream cars and trucks.
- Umm...That's it.


The Lows:

- Exterior Styling
- Interior Design
- Interior Materials
- Seats
- Seat material
- No padding on any armrest
- This CVT is the worst I've ever driven
- Engine falls flat at high rpm
- A-pillars are bigger then the ones in my Ram and are so far forward they provide big and dangerous blind spots
- Shifter looks like a bent nail
- Thirsty ($50 round trip.  Chevy Colorado used $62 for the same trip last week)
- Centre stack pushes against knee and pushes it 4" to the left of being comfortable.
- In 4 hours of driving, I couldn't find a comfortable seating position


Verdict:

POS  I can truthfully say this is one of the worst cars I've ever driven.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Haha, POS. Did you top it out? Should've driven the Fucus.

[Laconian]

Hey, it's a POS, but it has a lifetime* warranty!




* Chrysler's lifetime

[TheIntrepid]

The Highs:
- Infinity stereo system.  Chrysler has the best factory stereos in mainstream cars and trucks.

As a proud owner of a vehicle equipped with Infinity Premium Logic Seven 7-speaker sound system, I'd like to say THANK YOU CHRYSLER!

[SVT666]

Haha, POS. Did you top it out? Should've driven the Fucus.

Our company's policy is we rent cars when we need to drive more then 100 kms out of town.  It's cheaper for them to rent then to pay us for kilometers.  I like it better too because it's less mileage on my car.

[2o6]

I think the Caliber is attractive on the inside, and the exterior design look great.



Sadly, the materials suck and pretty much everything on your list are problems with the car.

[SVT666]

I think the Caliber is attractive on the inside, and the exterior design look great.

What is it with you and ugly cars?

[2o6]

What is it with you and ugly cars?

Ugly is subjective.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I wonder how the Caliper compares to the Liberty... I drove an '08 Liberty rental, and I decided that it was the worst vehicle I had ever driven. They must be pretty close.

[J86]

I wonder how the Caliper compares to the Liberty... I drove an '08 Liberty rental, and I decided that it was the worst vehicle I had ever driven. They must be pretty close.

I had a rental Liberty in Jan, it was god-awful

[the Teuton]

While I didn't like the Magnum, I didn't hate it by any stretch, either.  These must be truly terrible vehicles. 

[Soup DeVille]

Ugly is subjective.

Style is subjective.

Fashion is temporary.

Beauty is skin deep.

But ugly cuts to the bone, my friend.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Our company's policy is we rent cars when we need to drive more then 100 kms out of town.  It's cheaper for them to rent then to pay us for kilometers.  I like it better too because it's less mileage on my car.

That's cool. Do you think you'll get to rent lots of different cars, or do they just like to stick you with Calipers?

[SVT666]

That's cool. Do you think you'll get to rent lots of different cars, or do they just like to stick you with Calipers?

Last week I got a Chevy Colorado.  Next week could be a Pontiac G6, which I saw sitting out front there this morning.

[ifcar]

Interesting that you thought it was quiet. I've always found the Caliber, especially the CVT models that keep the RPM constantly high under acceleration, to be a rather noisy little thing. I suppose at high speeds the CVT can keep engine ruckus relatively muted, but you first have to get there.

Which engine did you have?

[sportyaccordy]

Hey, it's a POS, but it has a lifetime* warranty!




* Chrysler's lifetime

Why did they even bother... how did they go from the Neon to this...

[Secret Chimp]

I knew I had a reason to hate these cars beyond their looks.

[280Z Turbo]

Sheesh, what is it about Chrysler and big fat A-pillars?

You could hide a 30 story office building behind the A-pillar of my dad's Dakota.

[the Teuton]

Is there any reason Chrysler sucks at life right now? 

[akuma_supreme]

Why did they even bother... how did they go from the Neon to this...

Maybe this is all part of some master-plan by Chrysler to drum-up demand for the return of the Neon as a "heritage" model.   

What amazes me about the Caliber is how many I've seen on the road (even without Fleet stickers on the plates), even though just about every review I've read, and every person who has driven one seems to dislike it.  Just how deep are tte discounts on them?

[TBR]

It really is sad, the Neon was one of the best compacts in 1995, then they ignored it for 10 years yet still managed to replace it with an inferior product.

[Secret Chimp]

I've actually seen more Jeep Compasses here than Jeep Patriots. No joke. People are buying the dumber-looking one.

[TheIntrepid]

I've actually seen more Jeep Compasses here than Jeep Patriots. No joke. People are buying the dumber-looking one.

Yeah same here.

[CALL_911]

I've actually seen more Jeep Compasses here than Jeep Patriots. No joke. People are buying the dumber-looking one.

I can't even remember which one is which. I don't even care. They both suck.

[TheIntrepid]

I can't even remember which one is which. I don't even care. They both suck.

STRICTLY taking looks into consideration, the Patriot isn't half bad.




THe Compass on the other hand, is fugly

[CALL_911]

STRICTLY taking looks into consideration, the Patriot isn't half bad.




THe Compass on the other hand, is fugly

They may look all "Jeepy" but all I see is Caliber. And that's enough for me to declare them fails.

But the Caliber SRT-4 is kinda cool. I must admit.

[2o6]

STRICTLY taking looks into consideration, the Patriot isn't half bad.




THe Compass on the other hand, is fugly

The Patriot makes sense. If Jeep were to do a cute-ute, the Patriot makes sense. More capible than the others in it's class, but still Jeep-ish in looks.



Compass......makes absloutely no sense.

[SVT666]

Honestly, I don't know how anyone test drives one of these cars and then buys it.  I would actually buy a 20 year old Ford Tempo over one of these.  Seriously.

[Soup DeVille]

Honestly, I don't know how anyone test drives one of these cars and then buys it.  I would actually buy a 20 year old Ford Tempo over one of these.  Seriously.

From a man who once willfully bought a used Sunfire, that may be the most damning statement ever.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Honestly, I don't know how anyone test drives one of these cars and then buys it.  I would actually buy a 20 year old Ford Tempo over one of these.  Seriously.

I felt the same way about the Liberty. A Suzuki Samurai has better stability on the highway.