general problems of the 2008 Dodge Caliber

While driving my car speed lowered and the trans temp light and esp light and traction control and etb module light came car won't go over 40 and remains in limp mode even after taking it to the shop.

Left lower control arm and upper cv shaft separated from transmission while entering an on ramp, causing loss of steering and driveability. Could have been deadly had the speed been faster and any closer to the overpass barrier. I had to be towed from the side of the on ramp with the police waiving people around. I couldn't even exit my drivers door due to no traffic clearance. I was essentially a sitting duck on the shoulder of an on ramp, just a few feet shy of the overpass of the highway I had just exited to enter another highway.

Losing power and all idiot lights flashing on highway or driving around the city very dangerous can not go over 45 on highway.

I was driving in town when suddenly the car acted like it had no power! then it started jerking and jumping forward! then as I was going up hill it slowed and was jerking again! when I would stop at a light or stop sign it had very little power to exhilarate and then it would jerk alot until it got enough power to get going again! I was concerned about driving it any further since I live out of town, I have two children and didn't want to take a chance on being stranded on the side of the highway! so I left the car in my sisters drive way and drove her car home! I needed a car so to take the children to school the next morning. I called amco and they told me to bring it in! it took me 30 mins to drive five miles! they told me after checking it out that the transmission is gone and the car is only seven yrs old with just a little over 100,000 miles on it! these cars should not be aloud to be sold! they are dangerous! everyone of them should be recalled and sent to the scrap yard! they are lemon's and I will never buy another Dodge,Chrysler or gm product again! I still owe 5000. Oo on this piece of garbage and I don't have the 3500. 00 to pay for a transmission! so the car sets as I pay for something that I can not drive! this is not right! the dealer was to put an extended warranty on the car and he did not! now with two kids I am screwed as with not having a vehicle to drive! this car needs to be recalled and we the owners should not have to pay for something we can not drive!.

After reaching 100k miles, I took the car to the dealership to have the transmission flushed. Since then my transmission over heats when I drive 65 or more mph. I brought it back to the same dealer about a year later and they wanted to charge me $1500. I walked out! I drive 64 mph to keep it from over heating.

Found that the engine cradle is rusting out. This cradle supports all steering front suspension and engine/transmission. Have also found that this was a problem for the 2007 models and is still a problem on 2008 models. Although 2007 models are recalled and replaced but not 2008. This is a huge safety factor as stated all steering and suspension are connected to this cradle. If failure to cradle happens all loss of control of vehicle is inevitable.

The contact owns a 2008 Dodge Caliber. While driving 25 mph, there was an abnormal noise coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that an unknown part needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 112,000.

While traveling at 45 mph on 6 lane highway engine decelerated to between 5 to 10 miles per hour. Engine begun to idle very rough. I was approaching a side street and was able to turn off the main hwy. To access the problem. The electronic throttle light had come on indicating a problem with the throttle system.

"takata recall" in the year 2014 I experienced the loss of power while driving it . The vehicle would drive but suddenly would loose power and stop pulling. I took my car to the dealership and was that I needed a transmission replacement. Also I inquired about this vehicle being on recall and was told that it wasn't but after reading several complaints, I feel that something should be done about this problem because a transmission replacement is very costly. I have not been able to drive my vehicle for two years because of this problem.

The contact owns a 2008 Dodge Caliber. The contact stated that the vehicle started to jerk violently intermittently. After the initial failure the vehicle decelerated independently and failed to accelerate. The contact mentioned that the integrated power module light was illuminated on the instrumental panel. The vehicle was neither diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 58,000. The VIN was not available.

Vehicle is an automatic, 2. 0l engine. While at a stop, in any gear, foot on or off the brake, my car will idle roughly, rpms fluctuate rapidly between 200-900 or higher, and the vehicle will sometimes stall and shut down while doing this. This rough idle and stalling out will also happen while slowing down/decelerating, as well as accelerating from a stop or slower speeds. The issue tends to happen more when the engine temperature has warmed up a bit from normal driving, but has occurred at lower temperatures as well. I have taken the vehicle to my local Dodge dealership at least three times in the past three months; on the first visit, they replaced the pcv valve, ignition coil, and spark plugs ($400); on the next two visits, they claim they cannot replicate the issue, and no error codes appear on their diagnostic computers. I have had the fuel injectors cleaned, and had other mechanics inspect the car; they cannot find any needed repairs or error codes, but they have been able to replicate the issue. The car continues to experience this issue, no matter what repairs I have done. I am in contact with Chrysler/Dodge corporate customer relations, and have an open case with them, though they and the dealership state my car "has no warranty with Dodge," and thus the issue isn't covered, nor do I have any claim to financial support from Chrysler/Dodge. My vehicle is currently at my local Dodge dealership, in hopes they might finally be able to replicate the issue and find a cause/fix.

I was making a turn and the passenger side tire rod broke. This is the third time I have had to replace a tire rod. Thank god my kids were not in the car or I wasnt on the highway. When is some gonna do something about this. People have had more than one bad experience with this. Dodge needs to step up and fix these cars!! this will b the last Dodge I ever buy.

Driving the car down the road at approximately 35 mph and all of a sudden the electronic throttle control light comes on. The car lost engine power will running very rough. Car would not accelerate and became hard to handle. Was eventually able to get the car to the side of the road. I was on a city street. If this had happened on a very busy street or the highway I could have been stuck right in the middle of traffic with no or very little power to get it out of the road. This could have been a very dangerous situation at higher speeds or more traffic. There was no warning other then the light that came on when it happened.

The contact owns a 2008 Dodge Caliber. The contact stated that while driving 75 mph, the vehicle decelerated. Lost power, the transmission warning light illuminated and the vehicle would not accelerate over 35 mph. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated to the contact that the failure was caused due by the transmission fluid overheating. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to have a diagnostic performed. The failure and the current mileage was 55,000.

While driving at approximately 60mph my car lost power and would only go about 10-15 mph for approximately 15 miles, when I finally found a place that I could leave the car it was only idling. Upon taking it to the Chrysler dealer was told it will cost approximately $500 to fix that the throttle body does not know what it wants to do. I asked if it would be covered under the lifetime power train warranty as the warranty does not exclude it and was advised that it is not covered. I have read on the internet that there is a major issue with both the 2007 and 2008 throttle body going out. This is rediculous that Chrysler has not addressed this issue and is not covering it under the warranty since the car will not drive safely under these conditions, does it take someone being killed because they all of a sudden lose power and get hit. If they are going to give this type of warranty then they should cover it and if it is not covered they should be responsible to list it as a non covered item and people should be informed when purchasing the vehicle. Power train. . . . Throttle body. . . . . Without the throttle body you have no power. Sounds pretty simple to me. . This should be covered.

The contact owns a 2008 Dodge Caliber. The contact stated while driving approximately 60 mph, the vehicle decelerated to 10 mph. During the failure, the electronic throttle control system warning light began illuminating on the dashboard. The vehicle was pulled over and towed to an independent repair shop where they were unable to diagnose the failure because the warning light was no longer illuminated. The vehicle was not repaired. Approximately three weeks later, the failure recurred. The failure mileage was 49,000 and the current mileage was 50,000. Updated 05/26/11.

2008 Dodge Caliber - currently at the dealership for $700 in repairs. They state that the throttle body assembly needs to be replaced. The car would randomly and suddenly bogg down upon normal acceleration--very dangerous when pulling into traffic-- and the electronic throttle control light would illuminate either momentarily or flash. It would not go above 10 mph when this happened. Research on the internet has revealed many, many complaints about the same issue. Dodge takes no responsibility for this claiming it not to be a covered part of the powertrain warranty. When questioned, the dealership stated that when carbon begins to form that "apparently the entire inside of the throttle body unit carbs up". I asked, "do you mean normal carbon formation that happens in all engines. " the response was, yes and that they recommend a "carb cleanout" every 30,000 miles (mine is at 53,000). I then asked (knowing the answer) if that was maintenance that was included with other maintenance in the manual. Of course, the reply was "no". This failure, when it happens, presents and extremely dangerous situation. It only had to put me in a bad predicament once before I headed to the dealership. The mere fact that the dealership seemed to be aware of this excessive carbon problem makes me feel that they do, indeed, have some responsibility to this issue. I have read complaint after complaint on the internet regarding this problem. One unfortunate man was hit by a gasoline truck when this occurred. It's unfortunate that more people don't know to come here and file a formal complaint rather than posting on blogs to try to help others. I implore whomever has the authority to investigate this matter before someone is killed.

2008 Dodge Caliber stopped accelerating normally in September 2010 at about 43,000 miles (and about 6 months after I bought it from a Mazda dealership). I took it to several transmission shops who all said they couldn't help, but had heard of many similar problems with this vehicle. I finally took it to the dealership for a diagnosis and was told the whole transmission needed to be replaced (at about $4000). This diagnosis seems to be very different from the throttle issue that I've read about online. I was told it might hurt the powertrain further to continue driving it, so the car is still sitting in my drive way as a non-op. I don't understand how Dodge is getting away with this, when so many similar complaints exist (most of which are within the warranty).

Car wouldn't start because of defective tipm. I often travel the freeway and was experiencing a brief pause in the fuel systems while trying to accelerate. After research I have found that this is a common issue with a variety of Dodge model cars and feel that this could be very dangerous to the public in general. I feel the implications that this type of system failure has on these models as well as their safety feature is numerous. I also quite sure that the company is well aware of its defects, yet they are doing nothing to protect their consumers.