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Monroe, 30miles NE of Seattle

20K views 112 replies 21 participants last post by  misswaitress 
#1 ·
Been seeing some Calibers around our area, so will get this Northwest thread going. Bot(bought) my Caliber SE 2 liter w/CVT & AC in Monroe for $14000. My previous Plymouth Champ & Ford Festiva cars got highest highway mileages of 50+MPG. When I heard some emailers reporting Caliber city mileages in the low 20 MPG(they said they weren't leadfoots), I was leery of the Caliber. However, the Toyota Yaris & Honda Fit didn't comeout with CVTs, & twice I couldn't find a low priced CVT equipped Nissan Versa at the local Nissan. But I can pleasantly report that my Caliber is giving 32.5MPG driving Washington State mountain highways(with lots of stops for photography). So far, my town driving is 27.8MPG. The Caliber mileage is what I hoped it would be. The 2 liter engine & CVT are very very smooth(nearly like a magic carpet). In turn the extra smoothness is causing me to be even more gentle on the gas. My wife, who loves her 5sp. manual Saturn, also loves the Caliber for its CVT smoothness too. Both my wife & I like the standard stereo with CD (her country & my Vivaldi & Shostakovich) once the controls are set right.
Had a problem tho. While going over 4000' mountain passes & returning to lower altitudes, the Caliber bucked hard taking off from stops. The dealer said the throttlebody misdiagnosed the oxygen percentage(due to the passes), & changed the oxygen settings. But the dealer changed the electronics & my Caliber is smooth as silk again. Hope to hear other Northwesterners. Oh, yeah. My photos are topnotch too. Grace & peace to all readers...litesong
 
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#3 · (Edited)
Hi dodge4life....Yes, aren't the CVTs just great in the mtns. I loved my old econoboxes for their pollution saving ways. But they struggled in the mtns, specially at 10-12,000 feet(altho I would pass more powerful cars that were'nt set up for the mtns). Sure, they gave good mileage, but I really got tired of shifting to keep the revs up in the mtns. The Caliber 2 liter ain't no powerhouse. But the computer continually picks the perfect gear so the Caliber & I don't have to thrash our way thru the mtns(just wonderful). I am curious tho, how a heavily loaded Caliber would do in the mtns. The Rocky Mountain 10 to 12,000' foot passes would have to slow a Caliber down pretty much. But its so pretty up there, I'd love it if the Caliber just poked along. I suspect that leadfooted people would have to complain if they couldn't maintain 80mph over 6000' foot passes. Anyhow, here's to Caliber mountain ease.
 
#4 ·
Hey dodge4life....We're on opposite ends of the North Cascades circuit that travels from Everett, east past Monroe on highway 2, over the middle Cascades to Wenatchee, north on highway 97 to highway 20, then west on highway 20, over the North Cascades to I-5, then back south to Everett...one of the premier scenic travel loops in the world. Maybe, we'll cross paths someday. Grace & peace to you, dodge4life...bill borsheim-litesong
 
#6 ·
Hello again I am thinking about a qiuck 2 day trip over to snohomish next weekend to see some friends Iwant to go over before the snow closes the pass this year,cause it is a great drive. maybe next spring we can get a bunch of caliber owners together and checkout each others caliber.
 
#7 ·
Hi dodge4life...Yeah, we live on the Snohomish side of Monroe & Snohomish is only 7 miles away! It sounds like we have Calibers that are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Mine is a simple SE 2 liter. Only options are the CVT & A/C. May wish to 2 tone my car if I can find out if you can paint over the factory paint. If not, I'll probably keep the car as is. I don't want to scrape the paint, prep it, then paint it...too much rigamarole. Maybe would like to get a trip computer with cruise & tachometer. Using the tach & torque curve to keep the rpms in a certain range, should get the best MPG & easiness on the engine. Hey, I emailed someone in the Canadian Forum that is just across the border in Vancouver. Maybe we can get some contacts across the border. Grace & peace to you, dodge4life....litesong
 
#9 ·
mountain Caliber

Hi tstradlin...How's your Caliber doing? Have you been able to take it up to Mt. Rainier yet? My blue SE 2 liter engine w/CVT runs like a magic carpet & gets 35MPG highway. It loves the mountains. Yours will love Mt. Rainier, Sunrise, Paradise, Chinook & Cayuse Pass, & all the other high ground east of Lacey. You got the CVT? They're great. I wish more Caliber owners would show up on this Northwest site.
 
#11 ·
Hi,
I live in Enumclaw and drive a loaded Solar Yellow RT. I love the CVT. Smoothest ride I have ever had, and I have owned or operated 92 vhicles in my 81 years on this earth.
The car has slightly over 6000 miles on it and my only complaint is poor gas mileage. Overall gas mileage to date is 21 and I do not have a heavy foot. Last month I visited a son in College Place and used Chinook Pass. Going, the peak had about 2" of snow and the AWD handled like in was on rails. Returning, the pass was dry and the car ate it up. I love the fact that it does not gear hunt on a hill.
Good luck & happy holidays, Norm Koch
 
#13 ·
Washingtonians here

Hi Normko & tspradlin...My wife's sister lives in Enumclaw. Sometimes I take the slow backroads down that way & drift up to Sunrise on Mt. Rainier. Or like you, go on over Chinook Pass to Yakima & eastern Washington. Already had some wonderful mountain & travel pictures while driving the Caliber. The snow makes me leery tho. Some lady T-boned me once in the snow. I'm a fairweather driver & hiker when it comes to the mountains now. Sometime maybe you, tspradlin & I can get together for a trip to Rainier & beyond.
 
#14 ·
Sounds great, but my days leave little time for traveling. My wife, of 62 years, is in a nursing home suffering from Alzheimers and I feed her lunch and supper daily.
Before retireing I loved driving in the snow but not anymore. In 1985 I bought a new Chrysler E Class. Hed it i month when a Bronco ran a red light during a snow storm and T-boned me. I had only minor injury's but the Chrysler suffered to the tune of $9000.00 in 1985 dollars. Have a terrifid year in 2007.
Norm Koch
 
#15 ·
Hi Normko...So sorry to hear of your wife. Sixty two years of memories have made a strong marriage. I'm the opposite. I never married till I was 55, but I really found my true love also. I remember having to stay close to home as my aging grandmother got older before her death in 1981. I think I remember College Place as being over by Walla Walla. Or is my memory faulty? Grace & peace to you, Normko....litesong
 
#16 ·
Hello Normko, I am also sorry to hear of your wife. My wife and I just had our 8th. I got married when I was 19. So I hope that we stay married for aslong as you and your wife has been posted above is my number so fill free if you would like to get together for coffee or something down my way or so.

Travis
 
#19 ·
MY 07 R/T Caliber

Hello All,

I am new to this site, as I am a Dodge Caliber R/T owner. I just love my Caliber. I bought it back in late September 06. It has seen lots of long drives to the North West tip of Washington State to the Beaches and Mt.s here in Oregon. I live in the Portland area and I am now starting to see more of the Calibers on the road. I wanted a muscle car!!! I looked at all the old models in the 50's-60's range and figured that it could cost me more then what a new Caliber would cost.

I am a proud owner of a 2007 Dodge Caliber R/T. It is the Slate Blue, tinted windows, leather seats, a booming stereo system and plenty of room for my 2 beagles and me. It has all of the bells & whistles. It does have power. I wanted the SRT4, but they are not going to be out until Spring of 07. I am happy that I bought the R/T. It is well worth it!!!

During the Ice Storm here a few weeks ago, my sales guy Gaven called me to tell me a story about his wifes Dodge Caliber. They had a tree fall across the street and blocked the road to there home. He said he parked it close to the fallen tree, ran 2 long ext. cords and started the car up.....hooked up the power cords to the reg. outlet for our houses (in the Caliber), and ran power to his house from his car and cooked his dinner w/his micro~wave, played games on his X-box, and watched a movie. He said he ran his car for 2 1/2 hours and the gas gage never moved. So for those who give up hope on power being lost, here is another way to get power to you on those outages.....
The car is way to cool. I plan on tricking it out some, but it has it own personality and I just love it.
I would love to be a part of your get togethers.......so when the road trips happen for us in the NW, please let me know.....I'll be there.
I will post pics of the car soon.....................
Happy Trails
Stella
 
#21 ·
Hi Normko & Stella... Normko...I was on another Caliber website with other Washingtonians & I asked if they would like to join us if we decided to have a Caliber gathering this spring. I'll direct any interested Washingtonians to this website & discussion if they are interested in a Caliber gathering.

Hey Stella...Your story of the recent windstorm & icing, reminded me of the poor fellow who had seven trees fall on his house! Man, a lot of Washington trees sure fell on houses during that storm! Grace & peace to all...litesong
 
#22 ·
I think that it is time for the washington caliber owners to get together. I need to know if and anyone, who will be avaiable to meet in our state capital. I am thinking that this weekend would be a great time. Please respond if you are interested in meeting.
Travis
(360)970-2998 Please call if intested.
 
#23 ·
That would be fun....but I already have things going for this weekend. We should give the Caliber's owners a little more advance notice....otherwise I would be there. It would give me a chance to see my family & friends, but not this weekend. Let's shoot for around the first of Feb......
Happy Trails
Stella
 
#24 ·
Hi tspradlin...I agree with Stella that a later date might work better to give anyone interested in attending time to plan. Also, we may wish to give more time to respond to the other Caliber Washingtonians on the other website. I thought Normko's idea of a spring gathering might work...especially for any Washingtonians on the east side of the Cascade mountains. Also, Olympia may be a bit too far south. Haven't taken a poll yet, but most Caliber owners seem to be far north of Olympia(even Bellingham & Winthrop) & few, if any here, are south of Olympia. Just ideas. Let's all pitch in with some ideas & maybe we can pull this off. Grace & peace to all Caliber readers...litesong
 
#25 ·
I'm coming from Portland, and we all in for a snow/ice/rain strom the next few days! From Seattle to Eugene Oregon. Maybe others here in Oregon might want to join in on the fun too. I thought this site was for the whole NW or is it for individual States?
Happy Trails
Stella
 
#26 ·
Hello Stella...Forgive me! I've made a mistake. Yes, this forum, Caliberforumz.com is for the whole Northwest. The other Caliber forum which is ****************** is for Washington & Oregon. But for some reason they seem to be breaking into two threads...one for Washington & one for Oregon. So far, I haven't heard anything from anyone on the other forum about joining us in our possible gathering. Actually, I should ask the members here if you wish contact with the other Caliber forum. I thought it such a natural development that I forgot to ask the members here. Grace & peace to you, Stella & other Caliber members...litesong
 
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