# This Rental Dodge Caliber is a POS



## Dave 330i (Jan 4, 2002)

Usually, when I travel I don't care what the rental agency gives me so long as it is small and gets good gas mileage because I love to drive around and get a feel of the area. This time around I got this POS Dodge Caliber. First off, this car looks like an aborted Humvee. Do people really like the styling? It is so ugly that I'm embarassed be seen in this crap. Then worst of all, the dash and the windshield are so high I cannot see the front end or the side fenders. It's like driving a tank with very limited front and rear visibility. You just guess and keep your finger crossed that you don't run into the curb or wall in front. On a right turn I have to guess how close I am to the curb, and trying to find where the front end ends is impossible, even if I lift my ass off the seat. This POS is noisy and so under powered. Who buys this crap? I sense that the Dodge 300 share the same problems with its low roof and small windows.  :tsk:


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## A320 Scott (Jan 19, 2007)

Ya think that's bad? I recently did an overnight rental in a Saturn Ion. :thumbdwn: 
What a creaky, raspy, tinny, POS that was! :yikes: 
However, I found the centered instrument cluster to be intuitive and not a significant distraction.


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## cwsqbm (Aug 4, 2004)

Ah, gone are the days of the Geo Metro rental so you know the true meaning of POS.


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## inventory0297 (Mar 10, 2007)

cwsqbm said:


> Ah, gone are the days of the Geo Metro rental so you know the true meaning of POS.


3 Cylinders!


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## ///M3lissa (Jun 23, 2005)

cwsqbm said:


> Ah, gone are the days of the Geo Metro rental so you know the true meaning of POS.


I remember driving one in FL many years ago :yikes:

Gotta love the color, Dave :thumbup:

OK, maybe not :eeps:


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## Frank Rizzo (Aug 2, 2003)

Heh, your car is orange....heh....heh...


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## wwb4 (Dec 29, 2005)

Frank Rizzo said:


> Heh, your car is orange....heh....heh...


That burnt orange color is all the rave on the new FX.......350z...... and Maxima.......I don't know why. It's also starting to show up a lot on the new Charger. It's definitely not for me. :dunno:


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## armaq (Apr 18, 2003)

We recently rented a Charger, what a POS! It had ZERO ergonomics, and I had the same problem with the front end - it was impossible to get a sense how big it was.


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## roadwarrior687 (Feb 22, 2006)

Dave 330i said:


> Usually, when I travel I don't care what the rental agency gives me so long as it is small and gets good gas mileage because I love to drive around and *look for crack dealers and hookers *in the area. ...


FIXED!

btw, my screen-name comes from years as a consultant making Executive Platinum on AA and President's Club on Hertz, I think I've put more miles in different Ford Tauruses than any of my own cars.


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## Dave 330i (Jan 4, 2002)

roadwarrior687 said:


> FIXED!
> 
> btw, my screen-name comes from years as a consultant making Executive Platinum on AA and President's Club on Hertz, I think I've put more miles in different Ford Tauruses than any of my own cars.


among other things.


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## ObD (Dec 29, 2001)

cwsqbm said:


> Ah, gone are the days of the Geo Metro rental so you know the true meaning of POS.


I once had a Chevette as a rental.


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## HGilmore (Oct 27, 2005)

Can you imagine going to a Dodge dealer, sitting down with a sales dbag and paying sticker for that thing? :banghead:


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## MG67 (Aug 19, 2003)

My BMW dealer ran out of BMW loaners and stuck me in one of those POS cars, unbelievable what a piece of crap...:thumbdwn: I was lucky I only had it 4 hours because then I returned the car...


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## black99bimmer (Jun 3, 2006)

cwsqbm said:


> Ah, gone are the days of the Geo Metro rental so you know the true meaning of POS.


oh! the memories, we used to pick them up and turn em sideways in the school parking lot! those and the suzuki swifts. ( we knew the owners )


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## cwsqbm (Aug 4, 2004)

black99bimmer said:


> oh! the memories, we used to pick them up and turn em sideways in the school parking lot! those and the suzuki swifts. ( we knew the owners )


Did you know its actually possible to do a burnout with a Geo Metro, even with the automatic? I had a rental I was trying to kill (it wasn't what I reserved and I was forced to wait over an hour for it), so first I tried redlining the engine and then dropping it into drive. The engine is so tiny and underpowered, all I got was a tiny chirp for the tires. So, I put it in reverse and go up to 15mph in reverse before repeating the above abuse. That did it - tire smoke pooring off the passenger side front tire as I came to a stop and slowly accelerated forward with the tire still spinning. I left a 40ft long mark on the road, and probably confused anyone that witnessed it. Then I drove out of the Avis lot. (Ok, J/K about the last sentence.)


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## tommydogsdad (Feb 15, 2007)

I had a Caliber the last time I was in LA on Business. Once it got going, on the freeway, it wasn't so bad. And the Sound System was decent. For $16k, I think it's a cool car. I had one in Black. It wasn't horrible, but was a nice riding car for the money.


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## SmoothCruise (Jul 23, 2005)

This thread makes me wonder:

Do you think zipcars will use SmartCars as their most numerous car?


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## Frank Rizzo (Aug 2, 2003)

Food for thought:
The Caliber is coming out in an "SRT" model. WTF?
and
There is a Caliber Forum. They make brilliant posts like this:

http://www.caliberforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3750

Please decipher for me Dr. Dave.


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## Burrogs (May 2, 2005)

Frank Rizzo said:


> Food for thought:
> The Caliber is coming out in an "SRT" model. WTF?
> and
> There is a Caliber Forum. They make brilliant posts like this:
> ...


HAHAHA, much love for the "Xtreme Thunder" pic


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## Frank Rizzo (Aug 2, 2003)

OMG !!
Look at this list of mods in a guys sig:



> 2007 Steelblue dodge Caliber Se 1.8 ,5 Speed Manual
> Mods: changed antena,caliber slushmuts,dodge steringwell cover,Ram decal on rear bumper ,rear bumper protection,


WTF is a stegingwell?
I'm going to join the board and PM this guy about the correct use of commas


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## MG67 (Aug 19, 2003)

Frank Rizzo said:


> OMG !!
> Look at this list of mods in a guys sig:
> 
> WTF is a stegingwell?
> I'm going to join the board and PM this guy about the correct use of commas


 Go Frank...:bigpimp:


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## Mike_Check (Feb 7, 2007)

Frank Rizzo said:


> Food for thought:
> The Caliber is coming out in an "SRT" model. WTF?
> and
> There is a Caliber Forum. They make brilliant posts like this:
> ...


You cant hardly knock the SRT-4 engine in the Caliber though! 300 horse and 320 lb/ft torque available at 1800 rpm's. K'mon, thats cool even for a Dodge.


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## Meiac09 (Jan 2, 2006)

if you want a POS rental:
Chevy Uplander (minivan)
sliding door jammed 2 days into our week.
Flatbedded a new one (albeit a POS pontiac version) to us.
POS pontiac tracs light kept going off, can't get a replacement, so an interesting ride down FLA TPK on thanksgiving :thumbdwn: for american POS engineering


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