2008 Dodge Caliber
This year drew an ordinary 377 complaints for a Dodge Caliber — the model's median is 165. What they were about is the unusual part: 10.6% of them mention rust, against 4.2% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 377 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 165 |
| Involving a crash | 21 |
| Involving a fire | 5 |
| Recalls | 0 |
| EPA combined | 23.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- rust — 10.6% of this year's complaints, against 4.2% across the model's other years (2.5×). Owners wrote it as: rust, holes, front suspension.
- cradle — 6.6% of this year's complaints, against 2% across the model's other years (3.2×). Owners wrote it as: cradle, engine cradle.
- member — 6.9% of this year's complaints, against 2.5% across the model's other years (2.7×). Owners wrote it as: member, cross, cross member.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
WHILE PERFORMING AN OIL CHANGE AND BRAKE INSPECTION, I SAW THE REAR SECTION OF THE FRONT SUSPENSION CROSS MEMBER HAS RUST THROUGH IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS. THE VEHICLE IS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE IN THIS CONDITION.
WHILE INSPECTING UNDERNEATH THE VEHICLE, THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE CROSS MEMBER WAS RUSTED AND CONTAINED HOLES. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A DEALER OR INDEPENDENT MECHANIC FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING OR REPAIR. THE…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Dodge Caliber was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2008 Dodge Caliber? What happened to yours?
Loading comments…