My 2007 dodge caliber, which only has 56,000 miles driven, had to have its left front tie rod end replaced at 25,000, and now the lower control arms, right tie rod end and left strut need to be replaced. After some research, I found that many 2007 dodge caliber owners are experiencing the same problems. I think that the suspension on these vehicles, specifically the lower control arms, which contain the ball joints, are defective and need to be recalled, before someone gets killed, when their tires fall off the car.
2007 Dodge Caliber suspension complaints
Page 7 of 10: complaints 161 to 190 of 255, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I purchased the car in december 2011 with the front struts needing to be replaced. The day I bought it, the electrical throttle system light came on and it shook violently and shut off. I waited a few minutes and it started back up. After replacing the struts, and the tire rod ends, the car was fine. By august 2012, the ball joints and tire rod ends needed to be replaced again, and this time the control arm, so I replaced them. In november 2012, I replaced the battery and alternator. In february 2013, the car began shutting off as I would accelerate, making the creaking and rattling noises near the front tires, and the steering wheel would shake and the wheels would sound like they would come off as I would brake from highway speeds. So I took the car to the shop, and once again, the ball joints, tire rod ends, crank shaft, spark plugs, coil pack, oil sensor and a few other things. My check engine light is back on, and it reads gascap, so I replaced it, and two weeks later it is still on. And here it is march 14, 2013 I am hearing the creaking and rattling noises again, and the wobbling sound of the tires and shaking of the steering wheel when I break. Just this morning on my way taking my kids to school, pulling away from a stop light, the car was cutting off. This car is not safe, and I have children. I cannot afford to keep shelling out 1,000 dollars to fix this car every month or every few months. What can be done about this????
2007 dodge caliber. Consumer requests reimbursement for defective door recall. *smd the consumer stated on august 15, 2007, she took her vehicle to the dealer to have the regular maintenance performed and at that time, the dealer had the opportunity to check for recalls, but they didn't. On august 26, 2007, the consumer was involved in an accident, which resulted in the left rear passenger door being damaged, when the vehicle failed to stop after applying the brake. The consumer stated when she attempted to apply the brake, it kicked back and delayed her stopping. Also, the vehicle was displaying a pull and the tires were wearing quickly.
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 dodge caliber. The contact stated while driving through a large puddle of water at low speeds, the wheels locked. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing and they advised him that they were unable to reenact the failure since there was no water to drive through. After the failure occurred the vehicle stalled on an intermittent basis while driving at various speeds. The manufacturer was contacted and they offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000. The current mileage was approximately 66,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 dodge caliber. The contact was driving 35 MPH and traveled over a road bump when the front of the vehicle exhibited an abnormal grinding noise. The contact stated that no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or a mechanic for inspection. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 56,000.
Vehicle taken in for tire rotation.located excessive wear in lower ball joints,tierod ends and control arm bushings.many entries on internet of others with same vintage calibers finding same prob with premature wear. Failure of any of the above components.
My cars tie rods are going out, already happened once on one side and now its going out on the other, because I can feel it, this is a huge problem bc I am scared to drive my car because I have a four year old lil boy, I need this problem fixed before it falls apart and either of us die then there will be a lawsuit because my car only has 57,565 miles on it and shouldn't already going out on me, the first time they went out dodge did pay for it in full. But now it is going out on the other side so I am asking for help or for u to pay for it again since it is a defected part, thanks
My husband and I purchased the car in 2007 and it had about 40,000 miles on it. About 1.5 years later we had to do the suspension and shortly after, the ball joints. The mechanic that looked at the car said everything on the car went bad way too fast. When we called dodge, they said there were no recalls on the car, but surprise, we now have to get the front done again!!!! I have seen this and numerous other sites that also have complaints about this car. I emailed and will call back dodge tonight. If nothing is done I will go to the local media to have them help with this. Something has to be done before someone gets hurt.
After two sets of tires we were told the lower ball joints had to be replaced on front end. Had to park the car and wait a week before the parts came in. We were told it wasn't safe to drive and there should be a recall due to the many problems of this nature. Also the water pump had to be replaced two months prior to this problem. This vehicle was serviced each time at the dodge dealer who informed us these problem should not have happen so soon.
First my car started to sound like a dryer full of ball bearings the ball bearing the oem ones in the alternator went out. There is no replacement pulley so the whole alternator had to be replaced $600+ (found out this is a common problem in 2007 dodge calibers) then while pulling out of the parking lot my tire fell off due to faulty/worn-out I ball joints and upper and lower control arms.. Had to replace the entire front end suspension $1400+! (this is a major complaint as I have found online. I have read over 200 different complaint statements) not to mention my ABS light was on and they had to change out my speed sensor 100 +. Then my ck engine light came on 2 weeks after the entire front end suspension was replaced when I drove the car it would shake and acted like it was losing power & would not let me accelerate past 35 MPH. I took it in it had several stored codes. One was then intake manifold was stuck and the other was the camshaft.. They cleared it out and only the manifold came back up so they said I had to replace that. We did $800 + I picked it up & a day later it was doing the same thing now saying multi. Cylinder misfire & camshaft they cleared it and test drove it but it did not come back on so the dodge tech. Has no clue what to do to fix it & no clue on the cost ( this has also been a problem on 2007 dodge calibers) this has all happened within the last 3 months and my car has about 86000 to 87000 mi on it! I?m fed up this car is falling apart. As I have read dodge knows of these issues & has done nothing about it I have also called and made my complaint no call back yet..any open lawsuits on this? I would even be happy if dodge would reimburse me for these issues as obviously they are well documented known issues. I have spent way to much on this car in 3 months and @ 7 months pregnant with a 6 year old I need a safe reliable car!
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 dodge caliber. The contact stated that while driving 30 MPH the vehicle started to emit a loud sound from the front end of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the bearings were defective and needed to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 40,000 and the current mileage was 87,000.
I had to have the whole front end of the vehicle replaced at about 36,000 miles, tie rod ends, ball joints, and lower control arms. Now only 1.5 years later (at 53,000 miles) one of the control arms is bad again. I'm not sure why all of these parts have such a high failure rate but from doing research on the internet and talking to other caliber owners this seems to be a very widespread problem that is happening at very low mileage. Eventually somebody is going to get hurt driving one of these things when the steering goes out. I have talked to chrysler people about the problem but they of course don't want to admit any fault and instead imply that you may have caused the problem yourself due to your driving habits.
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 dodge caliber. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for routine maintenance when the technician detected that the front brake rotors exhibited severe rust and corrosion. The shims, front brakes and rotors were replaced. In addition, the inner tie rods loosened from the steering rack and the front control arm bushing separated. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the defect. The failure mileage was 23,167. Updated 06/05/12*lj the consumer stated that chrysler has since repaired the vehicle. Updated 06/06/12
The vehicle had a failure of the front end parts, tie rod ends, ball joints. Paid to have it repaired last year and now it has happened again, only this time both sides. I now have 85,000 miles on the vehicle. This is just ridiculous. There should be a recall on this product.
May 2011 heard a clunking noise. 48000 miles on 2007 dodge caliber. Had it checked out and ball joint and control arm needed replaced and 4 new tires that were worn from the vehicle alignment caused from these issues. Now march 2012, we had issues with squeaking noise on left side and had it checked out. Hot burning smell noticed and had broken coil spring and strut that we're causing wear on tire. We will never by a dodge again!
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 dodge caliber. The contact stated that while driving 3 MPH and attempting a left turn, the front driver side wheel malfunctioned and caused the front axle to bend abnormally. The contact had the vehicle towed to a local mechanic where the mechanic replaced the front axle and bearings. The failure mileage was 60,569.
Noticed that the front tires on the vehicle were worn down to the steel radial only on the inside edge, all the way to the steel radial, even though the tires were only a year old. Took it to the shop and found out the ball joint and front control arms needed to be replaced. Auto shop said we were fortunate that we noticed the problem, and suggested not driving any further until it was fixed. Also told us they had two other calibers this year with same problem. We took the car to the dealership and they confirmed the problem and want to charge $1400 to fix and replace our relatively new tires. Upon researching many owners have had this same problem. Just grateful that we found the problem while parked and before the tires blew on the highway or suspension became even looser.
My sisters 2007 dodge caliber only has only 32236 miles on it and the ball joints need replaced already, it cost 800 dollars to replace them, I looked on line and everybody that has a 2007 caliber is having the same problem there should be a recall on the ball joints, just look on line and u will see how many people are having trouble with the ball joints, how many complaints does it take to have a recall done, thank you for your time, please just e mail me back thank you.
Reversed out of parking spot put car in drive and nothing happened. Turns out my tie rod and ball joints on passenger side basically fell apart. Garage said other side is just about ready to go too. Thankfully I was only pulling out of a parking spot...5 minutes later and I could have been wrapped around a telephone pole. Been looking online to find many people also have had this problem. This should really be looked into further!
These cars are dangerous for people to be driving on the highlway. Dodge knows the control arms are defective and they should be made to do a recall on these cars. Luckily, I have not had a wreck in this. Vehicle. If the control arms break while driving,it will be very bad. There are so many complaints on-line about these cars, I am shocked nobody has made dodge do something about this problem.
Front lower ball joints are completely shot. Found this out when I got tires fixes- car only has 52,000 miles- I am a very good driver making sure that I watch out for all road conditions.
My 2007 dodge caliber recently started making a clunking noise on the front when going over speed bumps and things like that. I took it to a shop and am being told the ball joints are bad and I have to replace control arms along with ball joints because they are attached to each other. I only have 45000 miles on the car this is outrageous. I hope my extended warranty will cover the repair. I am just glad that my wife was not in the car with our baby when the ball joints failed and got them into a serious wreck. It is too bad that things like that have to happen hundreds or thousands of times before a recall is done. This requires a recall! Manufacturer defect!
I have a dodge 2007 caliber sxt 2.0 l bought from dealer in may 2011 has approx. 57,250 miles on it. I have replaced two front tires only to find out lower ball joints/control arms and tie rod ends need replacing. At 57k miles?! That's absurd and if you look on autobeef.com it is an ongoing/recurring issue with this make and model. Dodge will refuse to do anything about it and will not accept responsibility for this problem. Something must be done, I will fight until my voice is heard, this is a major safety hazard and something needs to be done about it. If anyone cares please help me with my fight against dodge/chrysler. They need to take ownership.
Vehicle was purchased new, and at 29k service dealer replaced tie rod end at our expense said to be out of warranty. 4 new tires were put on the car and an alignment could not be done because of excessive play in front end. Car was brought back to dealer and it found that the lower ball joint was severely worn to the point where it was almost falling out of the car. This also was replaced at our cost.with 6 months gone by and 6000 miles we were told that the other tie rod was bad and the car was unsafe to drive but that they could not repair it at this time. We then called chrysler and they said the would work with the dealer but we would have to pay to get this fixed also. When we brought the car back to the dealer again they again found that the ball joint was bad also. This all comes after the car goes out of warranty and we have been complaining about the front end almost every time we bring it in for the oil change. It was stated by the service manager that the reason for this was the bad driving habits of the owner. And this was also the same reasoning behind all the other calibers with the same issue. When questioned why they did not find this earlier and why the fill out a special checklist that includes steering and suspension, it was stated that this inspection is only a visual inspection, and that if I had noticed that the report form point to the actual steering wheel not the steering components.
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 dodge caliber. The contact stated that the vehicle was being service for routine maintenance when he was advised that the front ball joints on each side were fractured. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and advised the contact that a recall would be issued for the failure in the near future. The failure mileage was 57,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 dodge caliber. The contact stated that the steering wheel would pull to the right and left erroneously and was causing the tires to wear prematurely. The dealer was notified of the failure and attempted to repair the steering defect, but the failure recurred. A local mechanic replaced the lower arm control. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 29,000 and the current mileage was 90,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 dodge caliper. The contact stated that the front ball joints failed, causing the front end of the vehicle to bounce when being driven. The contact stated that the front tie rods were replaced a year prior to the most recent failure. The failure mileage was 38,000 and the current mileage was 42,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 dodge caliber. During a failed inspection, the contact stated that the engine light illuminated on the instrument panel of the vehicle. Also, the vehicle would wobble while driving at normal speeds. A local mechanic diagnosed the vehicle as needing new struts. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer were notified of the defect. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 98,401.
Premature upper and lower ball joint failure. Parts are plastic and cannot be maintained. Wheels travel and very hard to control. Almost created an accident when passing. Car jumped to one side (pulled severely). This model needs to be recalled. Check all the websites out there with complaints about this problem. Some cars it is failing as early as 18,000 miles.
Fuel tank overflows every time I fill tank spraying gasoline all over car and on me. I do not ever "top off" my car. This happens at every gas station. Also tie rods have had to been replaced multiple times due to premature wear. Chrysler does not want to address these problems with me and tell me not to fill up my tank all the way, and that it's normal for tierods to have to be replaced three times in under 35k miles.
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