I just purchased a 2009 Caliber SXT Sport with a 5 spd. I had to drive around 125 miles to the dealership to get the one I wanted. Options aside...I drove home the 125 miles, and got more and more excited about the vehicle. I was loving the chill zone, and still love how smooth the ride is. Here is where I start to question the vehicle.
I have only had the vehicle three weeks. As I hit 900 miles the interior lights stop working. The only lights that work are the instrument lights. The a/c controls aren't visible, and the dome will not come on. I have worked on cars for 18 years and have never seen this before. I pulled every fuse and not a one was blown. I disconnected the battery, both terminals, for 15 minutes to reset the TIPM, and nothing. So I got in the car today to bring it to the dealership and the air wouldn't work for the leg ducts. I get to the dealership, spend three hours waiting, and they tell me the car needs a new computer!!!
900 miles is what I have put on the car, and it needs a new computer already??? This had better be a fluke. On top of that, the air ducts started working again even though the dealership did nothing to check it. Now I have to drop the car off for three days so that they can scan the computer and send the info to the manufacturer, so they can flash the memory and send the new computer. This is crazy. Reliability is seriously in question here. Can't wait to find out what goes on from here.
So for the good part: I took my Caliber on a round trip of 500 miles to NYC and back. On the highway, with the cruise control on at 75, I got 32 miles per gallon. A nice improvement from my 99 Explorer 4x4 at 14mpg. My only complaint about my Caliber is the acceleration. IT SUCKS. It has consistently received failing marks about this. However, it keeps me out of speeding trouble. On the highway, hit the gas and you will gradually climb. At 12.8 seconds to get to 60mph, this has to be the slowest vehicle I have ever driven. To top that, I had a 1994 Ford Probe that had 97 horsepower and 257,000 miles when I got rid of it. 2.0 four cylinder, 5 spd, and that would smoke this car. I do love the smoothness of the ride. Enough talk about the acceleration though.
I do enjoy my new vehicle, and want to find out if this is a fluke glitch, or if this is going to happen again. Since I notice that most of you have older models, I will give updates as often as I can. New for 09: no awd option (this is horrible), and some of the interior options have changed. I just wish that the vehicle either got better mpg for its speed, or better speed for its mpg.
I have only had the vehicle three weeks. As I hit 900 miles the interior lights stop working. The only lights that work are the instrument lights. The a/c controls aren't visible, and the dome will not come on. I have worked on cars for 18 years and have never seen this before. I pulled every fuse and not a one was blown. I disconnected the battery, both terminals, for 15 minutes to reset the TIPM, and nothing. So I got in the car today to bring it to the dealership and the air wouldn't work for the leg ducts. I get to the dealership, spend three hours waiting, and they tell me the car needs a new computer!!!
900 miles is what I have put on the car, and it needs a new computer already??? This had better be a fluke. On top of that, the air ducts started working again even though the dealership did nothing to check it. Now I have to drop the car off for three days so that they can scan the computer and send the info to the manufacturer, so they can flash the memory and send the new computer. This is crazy. Reliability is seriously in question here. Can't wait to find out what goes on from here.
So for the good part: I took my Caliber on a round trip of 500 miles to NYC and back. On the highway, with the cruise control on at 75, I got 32 miles per gallon. A nice improvement from my 99 Explorer 4x4 at 14mpg. My only complaint about my Caliber is the acceleration. IT SUCKS. It has consistently received failing marks about this. However, it keeps me out of speeding trouble. On the highway, hit the gas and you will gradually climb. At 12.8 seconds to get to 60mph, this has to be the slowest vehicle I have ever driven. To top that, I had a 1994 Ford Probe that had 97 horsepower and 257,000 miles when I got rid of it. 2.0 four cylinder, 5 spd, and that would smoke this car. I do love the smoothness of the ride. Enough talk about the acceleration though.
I do enjoy my new vehicle, and want to find out if this is a fluke glitch, or if this is going to happen again. Since I notice that most of you have older models, I will give updates as often as I can. New for 09: no awd option (this is horrible), and some of the interior options have changed. I just wish that the vehicle either got better mpg for its speed, or better speed for its mpg.