YearsTellEspañol

2012 Dodge Caliber

Too few owners filed complaints about the 2012 Caliber in its first three years to say whether it is a better or a worse year than the others. 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.

0.40 per 1,000

too few complaints to rank against its other years

Counted from 9 complaints filed in the first three years, of 49 ever. 95% lower bound 0.14.

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 2012 Caliber report

No phrase appears often enough in these complaints to describe them reliably.

When it breaks

14% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 72,000 miles, from 28 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

1 investigation covering this model year, 0 of which list a recall campaign.

Active Head Rest Inadvertent Deployment

Questions buyers ask about the 2012 Dodge Caliber

Is 2012 a good year or a bad year for the Caliber?

Too few owners filed complaints about the 2012 Caliber in its first three years to say whether it is a better or a worse year than the others. 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 2012 Caliber have?

The parts owners named most often in complaints filed to date: Air Bags (17), Seat Belts (13), Vehicle Speed Control (7).

Is the 2012 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: too few owners filed complaints about the 2012 Caliber in its first three years to say whether it is a better or a worse year than the others.

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.