Dodge Caliber SXT Review and Test Drive

When driving a car that is new to you, don’t you want to like it? Unfortunately with the 2009 Dodge Caliber SXT, that wasn’t the case. If you have one, don’t read further. I just can’t recommend this vehicle as much as I was hoping to. I don’t want to offend owners, but some people buy a car to be a little different and if they are fairly comfortable, they are happy. Others demand more from what is typically their second largest purchase in their life.

Having driven it for several hundred miles over the course of a few days a number of issues made themselves known. I had issues with the interior , ride, engine, transmission, etc.

The ride was rather floaty with side-to-side head-toss over bumps and dips. In other words the motion would rock the vehicle and that movement is transmitted to the least “secured” part of the body with a weight on top of it – the neck.

Excessive road noise from the tires filled the cabin. When the cargo area is shared with the passenger compartment without a bulkhead or folding seats as a divider, sound management is important. It was loud on the highway and I found it fatiguing.

The steering wheel sat too low interfering with the legs. Oddly, the dashboard actually slopes up towards the windshield where it meets with the upward sloping high hood-line. Adjusting the seat for comfortable position to the steering wheel and pedals meant the exterior view was compromised. With the windshield being so far from the front occupants along with the seating position, the A-pillars caused blind spots that were disconcerting.

This is not a vehicle for those that make frequent trips in nice clothes. The seats had such an abrasive fabric they would wear out a nice pair of slacks rather quickly. If you’re a traveling salesperson and are stuck with this car, buy a seat cover.

It has a continuously variable transmission which is annoying for anything other than casual acceleration. Otherwise it’s buzzy and seems as if it is continuously slipping. A common complaint among CVTs. I don’t find it appealing.

The gauges were easy to read, the radio was fine and the AC cooled nicely. However the vents can’t be moved side to side. I can’t tell you how ridiculous this is. Why in the world is this even allowed in a production car? Maybe it’s marketed to those who hardly ever turn on the air conditioning versus those that are hot all the time. Guess which group the author falls in?

Interior storage is clever. The phone storage is handy and a two level glove box is pretty neat too. A binnacle on the left might be suitable for a Bluetooth earpiece but that is about it. Definitely not for change or for your second cell phone (like personal vs. company issued). The middle storage binnacle has a lower edge that reveals the production tolerances are just okay.

17” wheels and tires were a nice addition. But overall the styling still struck me as odd, related to the Chevy Aztec.

The one thing that I stuck with me more than anything else and for the longest time is the granite-like, narrow inside door edge. If you like to put your elbow up when you drive, it will hurt within moments. It was horrible. I didn’t even put it in my notes and it’s still burned in my memory.

In all fairness, the Caliber is available with some neat features. See the link below for a window sticker. If you’re shopping for a Dodge Caliber, and these things matter to you, buyer beware. If you don’t mind it, you like the styling, its functionality suits you, then go for it.

http://www.dodge.com/hostc/getWindowStickerPdf.do?vin=1B3CB4HA4AD546307

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