Table 1 shows one common wheel related problems of the 2011 Dodge Caliber.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Wheel problems |
Rotted subframe on Dodge Caliber I was driving home after picking my kids up from school and my front tires would not steer and were wobbling while driving, losing control of my vehicle. I had to pull over on the side of the road so I did not crash with my children in the car. I called a tow company and had it towed to the closest independent service center. Yes, the problem was reproduced by a local mechanic ase certified that the car is not driveable because the subframe was completely rotted out and needed to be replaced. No, the car is still at the garage and not inspected by manufacturer, police or insurance. There were no warning lamps, message or other symptoms prior to the failure. There were no issues driving to school and driving home it began to be hard to steer and then starting losing control over the vehicle and keeping it on the road. I slowed and pulled over to the side of the road and called a tow truck immediately. I was not going to take the chance of driving any further with my children and crash.
Starting January 2019, I had spent $5k of underbody replacement: bent/rusty axle-f, 2 f-tires; front brakes & shocks, rear rotors, brakes & shocks, front & rear arms. The rear right wheel was locked & I was driving that way with both of my young grandchildren 3 months after I had tires replaced. I kept being told by a friend & my son, �have you had your car fixed yet?� the suspension sucked; I felt every bump & pothole! the noise in the front to right took over a year to fix.
My daughter was driving our 2011 Caliber back from college on st rt 14. As she went to turn right onto our road,the tire on driver side buckled under. It was later determined that the front crossmember broke. The reason for this was the metal had rusted completely away from defective metal. We were never issued a notice of this potential dangerous defect. No recall was issued only an extension of the cars warranty, which again we were never notified. The damage was extensive,tires were destroyed,front crossmember was replaced, front axleand replaced,lower left control arm replaced,flange head and shaft-axle half replaced. Because this was a warranty issue and not a recall,we had to pay for most of the damage out of pocket. Which had we known about problem we would have had repaired. Upon this happening we have notified everyone we know that own this vehicle. Of the ones that have had there cars inspected all are experiencing the same metal rusting in different stages. This is a recall issue and needs to be addressed. Had my daughter been going the speed limit [70 mph] and this happened my daughter would have been seriously injured or even killed! I am now putting Dodge and you on notice of this defect, so that if just one person gets killed because of this,they have legal recourse.
Tl-the contact owns a 2011 Dodge Caliber. The contact stated that while driving 25 mph, the vehicle would start shaking and vibrating and the vehicle would ride rough and be very loud. The contact noticed that the tires were worn and they were purchased new about six months ago. The contact also noticed that the vehicle whenever it rained, the front driver and passenger floors would be really wet. The contact wanted to get the vehicle some new tires and an alignment and the vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where it was diagnosed that the alignment could not be done until the ball joints and the tires were replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 97,000. Ed.
Driving home from work around 8:15pm. On Wednesday, February 12th, 2014. I was making a left hand turn onto one of the streets the leads me to my home as I always do. As I am making the left turn I felt my steering wheel losing control as I am turning and the car shifting to the left of the road onto on coming traffic. In order to prevent the car from going into the on coming traffic I tried to turn the steering wheel of the car to my right and I can see on my dash board of the car that my skid light was blinking on and off trying to stabilize the car but no success at this time I am not getting much cooperation from my steering wheel and to avoid the parked cars on my right as I am pressing the break the car or right wheel of the car made a hard impact with the curb of the side walk. I immediately put the car in park with my hazard lights and I get out to access the damages and there was no visual body damage at the time. I managed to get the car home which was just a few blocks from the accident site to discover that steering wheel was not operating properly it was like it was doing 360 turns and the left wheel of the car was very unstable. A few days after the weather was breaking I was able to call my insurance company, tow truck and mechanic to assist with the damages. The damages where alignment front wheels, steering wheel, steering column, right fog light, right wheel, bumper over and bumper splash guard.