Oh, boy. Here we go. I want to say right off the bat, this is my first car and also commute to college and work. IF THERE WAS A ALL OF THE ABOVE FOR THE "WHATS WRONG" CATEGORY I WOULD HAVE USED IT.
With that out of the way. I hate this car, do not think this is a car you can get for 2000$ and expect it to last. Good ing luck. We (as in my parents) unfortunately paid that 2000$ for a 2008 Dodge Caliber with the base trim. No power locks or windows, nope. That's cool, it got me to high school and back so I was happy.this is when s gets bad*
As soon as we got the car, we did oil, brakes and all the struts. HOWEVER, we noticed that quite literally the whole front part of the K Frame of the car was rusted out. That was a little bit of a nasty repair, but after that the steering felt more responsive so I was kinda okay with it.The car was honestly okay, for like 1000 miles then I noticed all of my tires were bald on the inside, so, being the responsible new car owner I was I got some new tires before the snow storm that was gonna pass through the next day. car is terrible in New England snow btw fast forward 4 months now my ABS light is on and now, guess what, I need more tires again! Another set of four! GREAT! I had to buy alongside the tires, a camber adjustment peice for each rear tire then the fire that was my caliber was tame except for the ABS light when that light was in you better hope you have more gas money because the engine would Rev up to 4500 during regular accelerating situations! That fix was simple thank God, just wiring issues.
Now, as for the engine and transmission, good lord. The motor ever since may of 2020 is making these horrid weedwhacker type noises whenever I have to pull into traffic or god forbid speed up to i93 speeds in Massachusetts, paired with the weedwhacker motor is a transmission that whines 100% of the time if it's over 85 degrees and you're at engine operating temperature. On the highway it sounds like a twin scroll super charger, and after digging for why this happens? It's overheating. I changed the fluid of the transmission at least 6 months ago. Pair the engine and transmission together you get a giant cluster** noise of dodge's engineering coming together all at once. Quite a spectacle to hear actually, I recommend it.
Well, aside from also needing a new oil pan AND power steering rack after the car ruined our driveway with both power steering fluid and oil all over the place, that was a pain in the ass to figure out many cardboard boxes sacrificed their lives to figure out where the leaks were.
Anyway, great car. If you have a good job to pay for it. >:-(
Oh, boy. Here we go. I want to say right off the bat, this is my first car and also commute to college and work. IF THERE WAS A ALL OF THE ABOVE FOR THE "WHATS WRONG" CATEGORY I WOULD HAVE USED IT.
With that out of the way. I hate this car, do not think this is a car you can get for 2000$ and expect it to last. Good ing luck. We (as in my parents) unfortunately paid that 2000$ for a 2008 Dodge Caliber with the base trim. No power locks or windows, nope. That's cool, it got me to high school and back so I was happy.this is when s gets bad*
As soon as we got the car, we did oil, brakes and all the struts. HOWEVER, we noticed that quite literally the whole front part of the K Frame of the car was rusted out. That was a little bit of a nasty repair, but after that the steering felt more responsive so I was kinda okay with it.The car was honestly okay, for like 1000 miles then I noticed all of my tires were bald on the inside, so, being the responsible new car owner I was I got some new tires before the snow storm that was gonna pass through the next day. car is terrible in New England snow btw fast forward 4 months now my ABS light is on and now, guess what, I need more tires again! Another set of four! GREAT! I had to buy alongside the tires, a camber adjustment peice for each rear tire then the fire that was my caliber was tame except for the ABS light when that light was in you better hope you have more gas money because the engine would Rev up to 4500 during regular accelerating situations! That fix was simple thank God, just wiring issues.
Now, as for the engine and transmission, good lord. The motor ever since may of 2020 is making these horrid weedwhacker type noises whenever I have to pull into traffic or god forbid speed up to i93 speeds in Massachusetts, paired with the weedwhacker motor is a transmission that whines 100% of the time if it's over 85 degrees and you're at engine operating temperature. On the highway it sounds like a twin scroll super charger, and after digging for why this happens? It's overheating. I changed the fluid of the transmission at least 6 months ago. Pair the engine and transmission together you get a giant cluster** noise of dodge's engineering coming together all at once. Quite a spectacle to hear actually, I recommend it.
Well, aside from also needing a new oil pan AND power steering rack after the car ruined our driveway with both power steering fluid and oil all over the place, that was a pain in the ass to figure out many cardboard boxes sacrificed their lives to figure out where the leaks were.
Anyway, great car. If you have a good job to pay for it. >:-(
- Kyle S., Pelham, NH, US