Bought a new car (non-ford)

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Derek Hale

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Jun 12, 2002
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Location
Zionsville, IN
It has been awhile since I have been on here, so many of you may not recognize me, but I have been on this site for a few years.



Anyway, I had my three Sport Trac's, then had an Explorer for a short time, and now I have a Dodge. Before anyone goes into any quality related posts, I have been on this site long enough to see and hear it all, so you dont have to worry about it. The only reason I even got a Dodge is because my dad works for chrysler and pushed me towards it, and really Ford does not offer anything with these options at this price, so it was a good deal for a College student.



Ok getting all the warnings out of the way, here is the info on the car...



It is a 2007 Dodge Caliber R/T



It has All-wheel drive, a CVT transmission, 2.4L VVT engine, and more goodies than you can count.



The CVT is one of the coolest parts of the car. It is a second generation CVT, which is a transmission with no gears in it. It runs by a belt-pulley system that uses tension to adjust ratios. This makes the car a lot more fuel efficient, and improves performance in certain driving conditions (i.e. foot the floor and holding on).



It also lets you use a manual stick option to move the shifter left or right to change between six “gears”. It feels like a real shift too, its quick and solid, but you don’t need to use a clutch.



Then there is the most fun part. The car has two basic ideas of what putting your foot to the floor means. You can push down until you have moderate resistance, this is the fastest, but most fuel efficient, method of accelerating. Then you have where you push past that bit of resistance, and you can feel a kind of click like a button is being pushed, and the car jumps to 6,000 RPM (redline threshold) and stays there until you let off when you reach the speed you want to be at. Since there are no gears, it can stay at that RPM all the way and never change, meaning maximum torque and HP, but the gas probably gets sucked out of there pretty hard.



I used it a couple times on the drive back from IN. When getting on the expressway I jumped from 20 MPH to 75 MPH before even coming close to the end of the ramp. Niiiice.



It has a cooler above the glovebox that will keep four 20 oz drinks cold, and through testing I can say this is true. It has an AC wall outlet style plug in addition to the regular DC plugs, all the seats but the driver seat fold flat forward, and the rear seats even recline to allow those in back to relax.



Outside of that I got Sirius satellite radio factory installed, so no more receiver sitting out. I will soon get an iPod integration kit that will charge my pod while playing through the stereo in the car. I plan on upgrading the speakers all around and maybe adding a moderate subwoofer. I don’t need a huge system, only I care to hear it, but I want it to sound good.









So there it is, I got one of the first Caliber's, and it is on a lease, so if it does give me trouble the car will be in warranty. But so far it has been very solid, I am willing to say it has a better solid feel to its drive than my Sport Trac's did, but that is comparing a truck to a car, and the Sport Trac's had a nicer interior IMO.



Here are some pics, and trust me, when this Dodge thing is over as long as I can afford it I am coming back to Ford, I have never had any problems with my Ford trucks, and maybe I will have a full-time job out of college and can get an 2008 Sport Trac!



 
It sort of looks like a Toyota Matrix on steroids. It looks pretty sweet. You don't have to justify yourself to anyone here. I for one, don't plan on buying any more Fords after this ST wears out.



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Cool, good luck with it.

Todd Z
 
Nelson - Thanks, nice to see a familiar name/face. Sorry to hear about your problems. I hope its just bad luck. My family has had great luck with our Ford's, one in five of our vehicles ever go in for service, and it has never been anything major.



Anyway, I do like that it fills in well with the other vehicles like it, the Matrix and that, while still being quite unique. I only covered a few of the items it offers, its a pretty cool vehicle.



The price range is good to, starting at 13,995 before the $1,000 in rebates they have, up to a loaded R/T at about $21,000. They will be releasing the 300 HP SRT version soon too.



Todd - Nice to see you again as well, thanks for the wishes.



roy - You look familiar as well, but I may not have been around as much when you were here going by join date, but its nice to see someone with the right kind of attitude.



At least I did not go import, I am still far from losing those brain cells. :D



 
lol Derek... guess I lost so many brain cells since I bought a Toyota. Considering the vehicle has only seen the inside of a dealer's service bay once since I bought it new in Apr '03, who's missing brain cells?



Besides, who owns Daimler/Chrysler? hmmm maybe some Germans? :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The only reason I even got a Dodge is because my dad works for chrysler and pushed me towards it,
Click to expand...



IMO, you should have always supported the company your father works for.



If the son of a Chrysler employee drives something that isn't a Chrysler product, why should I buy one?





Tom
 
Bottom line. Are you happy????



That is what matters. If your not happy now you sure won't be in a few years when you still owe money.



I sold both my Tracs and went with a Lexus. Love my new ride. Miss the Trac because of the uniqueness of it. But love the Lexus over-all by far...
 
Derek...sorry, but you did buy an import. Don't forget that even though it may be built here in America, it is built by a German owned company. It's been clearly proved here that no matter where a vehicle is built, that if the company who builds it has their main headquaters outside our borders, it is an import. So, by that reasoning, only Ford and GM are the remaining major non-imports.



I saw a black one of these the other day...it didn't look bad. It's got a lot of interesting features, but we'll see how these hold up after a few months of use and abbuse. Even though Dodge has been learning a thing or two about reliability and building longevity into their vehicles.
 
You are right Tiger, it is technically an import, I am still getting used to that I guess. I still think Chrysler has the most blurred lines though. When I think import I think vehicles that are generally designed and manufactured out of country. Like a majority of a companies vehicles are made out of the country they are being sold in. Toyota and Honda are moving more vehicle production to the US, but I believe most of their stuff is still designed and made in Japan, especially a majority of the parts and factories, as well as final profit.



Chrysler still has tons and tons of factories in the US, the Caliber's final build is in Illinois I think it was, and so are most of their vehicles. The parent company is German now, so sure I guess its an import, but its the most domestic import, and its supporting more US families than Toyota or Honda last I heard from employee counts.



And yes Darin I would say lacking brain cells because none of my Ford's ever saw the inside of a service center except when I had my accident with black ice in the Ranger. That is three Sport Trac's, one Ranger, one Explorer, and one Tempo. All perfect.



Outside of that, the major reason for saying that is because my mom and step-dad work for Ford, and my dad works for Chrysler. My grandpa is retired from GM, and my grandma is retired from Ford, then my Grandpa on my step-dads side is retired from Ford, and then I have Aunts and Uncle's that work for Ford and GM.



The list actually goes on from there, that was my intention in writing the brain cell part, because I would have to be heartless and nearly brain dead before I thought that something outside the original big-3 realm was beneficial to my family.



Sorry to step on almight Toyota's toes, I have read hundreds of times about how great your Matrix is and I am happy that your joint GM/Toyota made vehicle is working well.
 
Darek,

You forgot to mention the flip down speakers on the hatch and the detatchable LED flashlight in the back!



My frind got a red one of these this past weekend.

Not bad but, weird not hearing or feeling a "shift" tho.

 
Mike, I screwed up on a couple things when I ordered mine. When I ordered it they did not have any brochures out, in fact, they had Caliber's in stock at some Dodge dealers and still no brochures! Dodge really dropped the ball there.



So I did not know anything about the Music Gate system and what it provided, so I did not get it. I thought it was just the flip down speakers which seemed stupid to me, I did not know it also included a subwoofer and better all around speakers.



Now I am trying to find some upgrades to the system though. The Car uses 6x9 speakers all around, so I need to find some good quality speakers in that size, as well as a subwoofer I can easily hide.



I also did not get anything but the base radio because it has the Aux input, what I did not know is that the base radio wont display artist/song info for Sirius or anything else, only the Driver Information Center display's anything, and all it shows is the channel name.



So I messed up there too. Thats what I get for ordering a first run vehicle without much information on it.



Live and learn!
 
So, Derek, you must agree that Hyndai is no longer an "import". This company has invested millions into state-of-the-art design and production facilities; designing and making 'American' cars....in America.



Then, you must also agree that cars such at the Ford Focus are "imports". This car was designed in Europe for the European market. It is built in Mexico (with a secondary plant in America, but still using Mexican made drivetrain).



So long as the profits stay here in America...oh wait...they aren't.
 
Geez Tiger, you dont have to be all fire and brimstone about it. If you didnt mean to be then sorry, but damn.



Its a more global market, I know that, but because of that you have to look more at ratio's to certain things. I will keep buying Ford's and that because it supports my family, end of story, Hyundai and Toyota and Honda can do whatever the hell they want, and thats all there is to it.



And I also reserve the right to be upset when my parents jobs are constantly at risk because people buy Toyota's and Honda's, even if its a simple form a ignorance because almost everyone I know, friend or family, is dependent on Ford, GM, and Chrysler, and do not know one person who depends on Toyota or Honda.



So trust me, I get it, but people base their beliefs off what they see around them, its human nature, and I see people that I know and care about laid off who have had jobs for up to or over 30 years with Ford or GM, but had to be let go because sales are slipping to foreign car makers.



Even if you dont call it an import, its just a foreign car company with foreign roots and foreign based employees. I would be all for Toyota if I lived in Japan and everything is reversed, but I am not so I dont, and thats how it is.



There is no reason to cut into me just because I support those that support my family and friends.
 
Derek, look at it this way, is it the people buying imports that are letting your folks down, or the companies that they work for?



I think the companies. Companies are in charge of marketing and sales, a perception defines reality, and they are in charge of perception too!



TJR
 
TJR, I tried to get it across, but I didnt want to type too much more so it probably wasnt clear.



I get it about the import companies and that. I mean, I looked at the Toyota site recently and build up one of the cars, and it said it got like 32 MPG city and 40 Highway, I thought that was sweet. Then I looked at our Ford Fusion and it gets like 27.7 City and 31 Highway, and that kind of sucked in comparison. Now, I wouldnt be surprised if the Toyota didnt actually hit those numbers, but it probably still beats out the Fusion.



So yeah, I know that the companies each have their own areas, I dont BLAME Toyota for doing things well, and Ford is doing a really good job IMO, they just have too much bloat to make this happen quick enough. Their reliability ratings have been pretty good, and hell, I have never had a problem with their vehicles. So some of it I still think is consumer ignorance, they think that because imports beat down domestics in the 80's and 90's in reliability, that it is still like that today.



My main point was, it doesnt matter who did who or whatever, my parents still work for Ford so thats where my loyalty is, and it helps that they have been good to us on the vehicle side.



Man, it seems like if I support Ford I am the bad guy or something, cant I just like Ford and not really care about Toyota without getting a lecture? I dont remember things being like this when it was Ford vs. GM vs. Chrysler.
 
Derek: you reap what you sow. You say people are lacking brain cells for buying a 'import'? Don't expect me to be told something like that without firing back.



Your quote:



'At least I did not go import, I am still far from losing those brain cells.'



I research what I want to buy and buy based on reviews and real-world tests. For example, it wouldn't matter to me if my Dad worked for Dell, if I find that a homebuilt PC is a better deal, I buy it. It's pure dollars and sense to me. I learned that from my Dad.



I don't think you're a bad guy for being loyal to domestic products, I just think you're mislead becasue no car made today is truly domestic. This is a tired argument and it seems like some folks here just flat out don't grasp the concept.
 
Hey whatever your happy with Derek. I buy for what fits my needs. I bought a similiar vehicle for my daughter last year, a Mazda 3 five door. It's been an excellent vehicle. Plenty of pep, handles well and gets good gas mileage. And at $16,000 it was a bargain.
 

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