2008 Dodge Caliber problems
The 2008 Dodge Caliber has 570 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (20%) concerns suspension. Next are body & structure (15%) and electrical system (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 570 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Suspension 20% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 29 and 7
- Injuries and deaths
- 19 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 88,000 miles 468 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 28 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 29 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 69 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 80 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 63 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 72 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 46 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 34 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 25 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 13 |
| 200k+ miles | 9 |
What the data shows
Of the 468 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 88,000 miles. For suspension specifically, the median reported mileage is about 101,000 miles (92 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 29 complaints mention a crash; 7 complaints mention a fire; 19 injuries reported; 2 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2008 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 6 model years of the Dodge Caliber with enough data (181 complaints in that window).
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
My husband and cousin were in this car some how lost control on a clear dry day and rolled. They say the brakes were never applied but I wonder why not, maybe there was a problem with this car.
My boyfriend and I had a single car accident in my 2008 dodge caliber this past weekend. During the accident we were traveling between 40 and 50 MPH in fog and were unaware that the road we were on ended in the shape of a "t". We then flew in the air landed and crashed the whole front part of my car. The angle at which we landed was with the front of the car pointed down. The air bags did not deploy.
Was traveling 30 to 35 MPH west on highway approaching intersection with green light, another 4 door sedan traveling east made left hand turn in front of my vehicle. The other vehicle was directly in front of my vehicle before it was seen, I slammed on the brakes and hit both doors of the other vehicle with the front end of my vehicle causing extensive front end damage. The vehicle is equipped with 2 front airbags and a knee airbag on the drivers side. None of the airbags deployed.
Have issues with both front struts, both ball joints, and both inner and outer tie rods. While driving you can feel shaking and vibrations. Also steering is starting to become bad because of this issue. There needs to be a recall on this before an accident occurs and someone gets seriously injured or killed.
Air bag light came up on, horn and cruise control stopped working. Many people with same issues on forums. It is the clock spring.