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2009 Dodge Caliber

For every car sold, owners filed about as many complaints about the 2009 Caliber as about the typical Caliber year. Among the 3 Caliber years with enough complaints to compare, owners filed the fewest about the 2008 (0.37 per 1,000 sold) and the most about the 2011 (0.72).

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

0.43 per 1,000

1.1 times this nameplate’s own median

Counted from 26 complaints filed in the first three years, of 232 ever. 95% lower bound 0.27.

Every Caliber model yearComplaints per 1,000 sold, first three years
This yearOther yearsToo few complaints to rankTypical year, 0.40

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters. The bar is how many complaints each rate rests on.

Model yearPer 1,000Complaints
20080.3731
20090.4326
20100.3012
20110.7229
20120.409

Issues owners of the 2009 Caliber report

Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.

Power Train 64 complaints

current1219%
current mileage1117%
module1016%

Suspension 61 complaints

subframe2134%
sub1321%
rotted1118%
sub frame1118%
member1016%

When it breaks

14% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 80,000 miles, from 187 complaints that recorded one).

Failures arrive late and spread out, which looks like wear. Service history matters more than model year here.

What NHTSA did

No NHTSA investigation covers this model year.

That is not a clean bill of health, and not a criticism of the agency: investigations open for many reasons and complaint volume is only one of them.

Questions buyers ask about the 2009 Dodge Caliber

Is 2009 a good year or a bad year for the Caliber?

For every car sold, owners filed about as many complaints about the 2009 Caliber as about the typical Caliber year. Among the 3 Caliber years with enough complaints to compare, owners filed the fewest about the 2008 (0.37 per 1,000 sold) and the most about the 2011 (0.72). The typical year is the median across its model years.

What problems does the 2009 Caliber have?

The parts owners named most often in complaints filed to date: Power Train (64), Suspension (61), Structure (49). The phrases they used are listed above.

Is the 2009 Caliber reliable?

Complaint records cannot settle that on their own. They count safety problems owners chose to report to the federal government, not every repair. What they do show is how this year compares with the other Caliber years: for every car sold, owners filed about as many complaints about the 2009 Caliber as about the typical Caliber year.

Which Caliber year has the fewest complaints?

Among years with enough complaints to compare, the 2008, at 0.37 per 1,000 sold. Every Caliber year, ranked.

What the used-car guides say

No guide we read covers the Caliber.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page, each on NHTSA’s own site:

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is checked by hand against its source table, not against an outside figure.