Sixt9coug Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Here in NorCal this week for work and National gave me a Dodge Avenger for a rental. Well now what can i say about this vehicle. Pros - Reasonable comfy ride on the highway - Decent stereo for a rental car. - ummm....... Cons - LOUD engine. I dont mean it 'growls' either, its just loud at any RPM level - Brakes suck. Hate how it stops. - Wind noise out of the drivers door at freeway speeds. - Interior is plastickorama. Hard plastic everywhere. dash, tops of the doors and everything. - Loose trim in the car. I have a video of it, but im on my laptop so no SD slot on this thing to dump from my camera. - SLOW AS HELL! merging is almost scary! - Cant take a turn for crap! - OH, did i mention it comes with a POND? It rained up here all Tuesday and when leaving the work site i got in and the passengers floor had an inch of water in it. Water was leaking in from somewhere and the carpet, floor mat and whole floor was drenched. Needless to say i was not happy with this car. I took it back to National and got an Impala instead. Ive rented plenty of Impalas and they do their duties well enough. To sum it up, the Avenger is the single worst new vehicle i have ever driven. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Here in NorCal this week for work and National gave me a Dodge Avenger for a rental. Well now what can i say about this vehicle. Pros - Reasonable comfy ride on the highway - Decent stereo for a rental car. - ummm....... Cons - LOUD engine. I dont mean it 'growls' either, its just loud at any RPM level - Brakes suck. Hate how it stops. - Wind noise out of the drivers door at freeway speeds. - Interior is plastickorama. Hard plastic everywhere. dash, tops of the doors and everything. - Loose trim in the car. I have a video of it, but im on my laptop so no SD slot on this thing to dump from my camera. - SLOW AS HELL! merging is almost scary! - Cant take a turn for crap! - OH, did i mention it comes with a POND? It rained up here all Tuesday and when leaving the work site i got in and the passengers floor had an inch of water in it. Water was leaking in from somewhere and the carpet, floor mat and whole floor was drenched. Needless to say i was not happy with this car. I took it back to National and got an Impala instead. Ive rented plenty of Impalas and they do their duties well enough. To sum it up, the Avenger is the single worst new vehicle i have ever driven. I've driven an Avenger once (not for very long though, thankfully). I can agree with most of what you're saying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hydro Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 and this is why many people hate American cars. The term American car unfortunatly combines all three brands. So when people bitch American car companys are puting out crap it's not a lie, there is still plenty of crap being produced. It's too bad Ford which is obviously well above par vs. Chrysler suffers from being branded American. Lately Ford has received accolades from the press, but many people are blowing it off as sympathy for an American car company and refuse to seperate the brands in their head. It's their loss, but still something I don't know Ford can shake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenCaylor Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I'm reminded of the first time I rented a then new Taurus back in the mid 80's. Of course, it was a strippo model, but it was so impressive compared to other rental midsize cars back then. The opposition came with a 4 cylinder/3-speed auto, uncomfortable seats and terrible handling. The Taurus came with a 6 cylinder/4-speed, comfortable interior and great handling. That really tells you that even the base models were well engineered. Wisely, Ford never put any 4 cylinder Tauri into the rental fleet (as far as I know). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papilgee4evaeva Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 and this is why many people hate American cars. The term American car unfortunatly combines all three brands. So when people bitch American car companys are puting out crap it's not a lie, there is still plenty of crap being produced. It's too bad Ford which is obviously well above par vs. Chrysler suffers from being branded American. Lately Ford has received accolades from the press, but many people are blowing it off as sympathy for an American car company and refuse to seperate the brands in their head. It's their loss, but still something I don't know Ford can shake. As far as American cars, the only ones I can actually call "crap" are the Avenger (in lower trims), the Caliber, and the Aveo. Much of everything else isn't bad, just in dire need of an update (Impala and Cobalt come to mind). People's opinions of American cars being crap are still woefully outdated, but fortunately enough that perception has at least begun to change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ovaltine Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 (edited) As far as American cars, the only ones I can actually call "crap" are the Avenger (in lower trims), the Caliber, and the Aveo. Much of everything else isn't bad, just in dire need of an update (Impala and Cobalt come to mind). People's opinions of American cars being crap are still woefully outdated, but fortunately enough that perception has at least begun to change. What's interesting is that my '08 Jeep Compass (which is built on the same line as the Caliber) has been a really good car for it's first 13k miles. The interior IS plasticky... to be sure. But basic quality issues have not been a problem with it at all. The 2.4L w/CVT took some getting used to, but all-in-all isn't all that bad. It's no Lexus though...to be sure. :shades: BUT.... it was pretty darn loaded feature-wise, and was darn cheap. And the gas mileage (while again not class leading) at 22 mpg for the city, is at least 4-5 mpg better than the previous 3.8L ChryCo minivan we were leasing. -Ovaltine Edited March 5, 2009 by Ovaltine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 What's interesting is that my '08 Jeep Compass (which is built on the same line as the Caliber) has been a really good car for it's first 13k miles. The interior IS plasticky... to be sure. But basic quality issues have not been a problem with it at all. The 2.4L w/CVT took some getting used to, but all-in-all isn't all that bad. It's no Lexus though...to be sure. :shades: BUT.... it was pretty darn loaded feature-wise, and was darn cheap. And the gas mileage (while again not class leading) at 22 mpg for the city, is at least 4-5 mpg better than the previous 3.8L ChryCo minivan we were leasing. -Ovaltine Your just making excuses so you don't feel bad about your purchase....its still crap though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ovaltine Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 (edited) Your just making excuses so you don't feel bad about your purchase....its still crap though. Silvrsvt: In this wonderful alternative universe called "BON", it never ceases to amaze me how so many people can call vehicles things as "crap", "shitbox", etc. based mainly on the fact that the logo on the front ISN'T written in cursive and begins with an 'F'. Or in other words.... how can a vehicle just described as problem-free, affordable, and with acceptable gas mileage be labeled "crap" ? Our Jeep Compass, or "crap" (as you call it) makes the wife and teen drivers in the family happy, have elicited several positive comments from friends and family, AND <drumroll please> was even manufactured AND assembled in the good 'ole U.S. of A. Btw, Consumer Reports just rated the Patriot (same basic vehicle) as "Better Than Average" for the '07/'08 used car models. (sarcasm on) Yep.... those facts sure say "crap" to me! -Ovaltine Edited March 5, 2009 by Ovaltine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Reynolds Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I'm not going to go on a tangent on how I cannot stand Chrysler Corp. products as a whole. There are a few products that the company produces that I would consider, but that's really not saying much. Considering where the brand was 5 or 6 years ago, and where we are today. It's really a shame what comes out of Auburn Hills these days. The Avenger, Nitro, Commander and various brand diluting products at Jeep are great examples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aneekr Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 Add to the list of cons: - Incapable of doing a decent burnout (what good is a rental car otherwise?) The Pontiac G6 is rather putrid too, but with the 3.5L engine at least it can do ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papilgee4evaeva Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 What's interesting is that my '08 Jeep Compass (which is built on the same line as the Caliber) has been a really good car for it's first 13k miles. The interior IS plasticky... to be sure. But basic quality issues have not been a problem with it at all. The 2.4L w/CVT took some getting used to, but all-in-all isn't all that bad. It's no Lexus though...to be sure. :shades: BUT.... it was pretty darn loaded feature-wise, and was darn cheap. And the gas mileage (while again not class leading) at 22 mpg for the city, is at least 4-5 mpg better than the previous 3.8L ChryCo minivan we were leasing. -Ovaltine I've seen the Compass's updated interior, which was much needed. Now the Caliber on the other hand... Still don't think it should have been built, but at least it does what it's supposed to do. JS is a pretty good platform IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97svtgoin05gt Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 I'm not going to go on a tangent on how I cannot stand Chrysler Corp. products as a whole. There are a few products that the company produces that I would consider, but that's really not saying much. Considering where the brand was 5 or 6 years ago, and where we are today. It's really a shame what comes out of Auburn Hills these days. The Avenger, Nitro, Commander and various brand diluting products at Jeep are great examples. I totally agree with all of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WC-MAN Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 Cons- LOUD engine. I dont mean it 'growls' either, its just loud at any RPM level - Brakes suck. Hate how it stops. - Wind noise out of the drivers door at freeway speeds. - Interior is plastickorama. Hard plastic everywhere. dash, tops of the doors and everything. - Loose trim in the car. I have a video of it, but im on my laptop so no SD slot on this thing to dump from my camera. - SLOW AS HELL! merging is almost scary! - Cant take a turn for crap! - OH, did i mention it comes with a POND? It rained up here all Tuesday and when leaving the work site i got in and the passengers floor had an inch of water in it. Water was leaking in from somewhere and the carpet, floor mat and whole floor was drenched. Needless to say i was not happy with this car. I took it back to National and got an Impala instead. Ive rented plenty of Impalas and they do their duties well enough. To sum it up, the Avenger is the single worst new vehicle i have ever driven. You left out "transmission that dies at less than 50K miles" I spent too many years defending Chrysler, some may like 'em, but then some people like anchovies on pizza. Sadly enough, the Chryslers from the late 90's and early 00's that everybody hated and wouldn't buy were superior to the products they have now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jobu37 Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 (edited) I just had a Caliber for a week in Athens, GA. The craptastic plastic was even worse than I had imagined it would be from reading about the Chrysler interiors here on BON and elsewhere. When I got the car there was a little note on the key chain that said "engine light". Sure enough the second day I had it the engine light came on and never went off for the rest of my stay. The driver's manual said if it is constantly on it is a minor problem but if it starts blinking the problem is major. Fortunately it never blinked. The car had 8,500 miles on the odometer. The switchgear had no sense of quality. Everytime I turned the HVAC switch it felt like the string connecting the switch to the vents was about to snap. You actually had to strain to turn on the defroster since you could feel that your were manually opening the vent. The CVT may take time getting used to but I could not in a week's worth of driving. You punch the gas to merge onto the highway and the car just bogs down. The interior noise level has to be worst in class. One saving grace was the fact that the Caliber has a bit more ground clearance than most competing models. So I was actually able to weave through traffic that was stranded in 7 inches of snow last Sunday. The FWD came in handy as I watched Nissan Xterras and many Grand Cherokees sliding sideways down the streets once the snowpack started to freeze. However, that means this one qaulity would come in handy about once in every twenty years in Georgia. Other FWD cars had no problems either and they probably were more pleasureable to drive than mine. I rented a Focus about a year ago and the level of refinement of that car compared to the Caliber would be like comparing a Mercedes to a Yugo. The only buyers who would opt for a Caliber over just about anything else in the segment would have to be those that just have to have a hatchback and those would could not get financed by anyone else. The latter part of the last sentence describes 90% of Chrysler's customer base I would suspect. Edited March 7, 2009 by jobu37 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aneekr Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 I rented a Focus about a year ago and the level of refinement of that car compared to the Caliber would be like comparing a Mercedes to a Yugo. No kidding! Simply engaging the turn signal lever on a current model year Caliber and then on a Focus will easily verify your conclusion. Who won the contract to supply switchgear and plastic trim on late model Chrysler vehicles? Some Tier 4 supplier who was rejected by Mattel for quality issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WC-MAN Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Who won the contract to supply switchgear and plastic trim on late model Chrysler vehicles? Some Tier 4 supplier who was rejected by Mattel for quality issues? Diamler had already stole all the money and had to make it appear they were viable long enough to unload them. The interiors on the recent generation make the worst GM ever produced look like luxury quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixt9coug Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 You left out "transmission that dies at less than 50K miles" I spent too many years defending Chrysler, some may like 'em, but then some people like anchovies on pizza. Sadly enough, the Chryslers from the late 90's and early 00's that everybody hated and wouldn't buy were superior to the products they have now. i forgot to mention the two or three times i had some really odd unnerving shifts out of the trans. it had 25K miles on it. THe car was so slow it would NOT maintain or built speed along the grapevine on the 5 out here unless it was past 4000 rpms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixt9coug Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 HOW COULD I FORGET THESE!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixt9coug Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 annoying loose shifter trim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 HOW COULD I FORGET THESE!? Wow, that's bad. annoying loose shifter trim I don't even know if you could equate that to it being a rental. ----- This reminds me of a time several years ago when I was washing a Magnum (or it may've been a Charger). Anyways, the driver's carpeted floormat had a hole completely through the whole thing right where you rest your right foot.....the thing was only a few months old the owner said. I was astonished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
156n3rd Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 As I reported before, I too rented one of these when they first came out. The ergonomics are for young, thin people. The comfort didn't exist. The seat adjustments went in the opposite direction of what I needed. My 04 Accent has a better manual seat w/o a steering column adjustment. The seats are too low and surround you in a way to keep you confined. Just plain crap. This model, in all of the names used in the past up to the present, has always been 2 jokers short of a deck. Here's a Bronx salute:phfffftttttttt. I just had my 02 PTC serviced with a replacement timing belt et al. The car runs better than ever. With 104,+ on it, I know I will run it for many years to come. There are over 270 days worth of 08 and 09 PTC inventory in the land, hence the stoppage (for good) in June. The Avenger needs to be Avenged itself! Release it and sell anything made by someone else and just re-badge the thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8-X Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 (edited) Don't have 1st had experience driving the current Avenger, only looking at them on lots. Style is horrible in my opinion, fit/finish is lacking, like everyone has stated they are basically built from plastic and what I hate most is the gas tank. When driving behind these cars you can see the tank sticking out beneath the car which I can't stand on any vehicle. Now a former co-worker of mine traded in a Passat for a Caliber about 2yrs back. He seemed to love it, which my old boss (mopar fan) did too. But I just couldn't get around the style, which isn't my cup of tea, lack of performance and cheap fit/finish. I do feel sorry for Ford being branded American, because after seeing and driving those cars and my father-in-laws Magnum, I can see why people give American made vehicles a bad name. Edited March 9, 2009 by V8-X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmy311 Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 annoying loose shifter trim AHHHH that is horrible! I JUST detailed ( i have my own shop) a 06 Chrysler 300C with 26,000 miles loaded to the gills that easily was close to $40,000 brand new had the SAME exact shifter and loose trim thats in your video....its said that they use the same junk in the Avenger that they do in a $40,000 "premium" chrysler. I also should note that the "tortoise shell" trim or whatever they call it on the steering wheel was also loose. Nice car, junk junk junk interior! I wish I saw this post before today or else I would have taken pics to show it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldZephyr Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 I rented an Avenger when they first came out. We were going to go on a 1000 mile trip and the rental agency had an Avenger so I got the keys to it and started on my way. I drove it 2 miles from the rental car office to pick up my son at school. Then I drove it 2 miles back to the rental car place and asked to switch to another rental car (they had a Galant as it turns out). I just did not want to spend 1000 miles in that car. It really is a big cut below the other offerings out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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