Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (struts, shocks, control arms, ball joints, springs).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2010 Dodge Caliber owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact's daughter owns a 2010 Dodge Caliber. The contact stated while his daughter was driving at various speeds, she heard an abnormal sound and felt a vibration in the rear end of the vehicle. The contact stated that he had also noticed the failure while test-driving the vehicle. Upon inspecting the vehicle, the contact noticed that the rear cross member was severely rusted and had fractured. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 77,200.
The contact owns a 2010 Dodge Caliber. The contact stated that while making a right turn at 10 MPH, the vehicle kept turning. The vehicle was steered into a parking lot where it was observed that the passenger's side front axle had separated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the cross member needed to be replaced due to corrosion. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 125,000.
I was just at the dealer mechanic for an oil change and asked about a slight pull to one side when stopping. after doing the oil change he cam back with a list of things the most significant of which was a that the front sub-frame was rotted out, as well as the rear bumper metal under the plastic cover. They gave me an estimate for the repairs exceeding $7000. Then I came home an researched this problem and find its common on these calibers from 2007-2012 and is a known problem!? but no recall was ever issued! There was a "Customer Satisfaction Notification X69" Which I never received. I have also had the vehicle into the dealer other times recently and was never informed of this issue which couldn't have possibly happened over night.
I forgot to tell you that the control arms on both sides and lower ball joints on both sides went bad because of the rotted frame on the car where the A frame sits is loose because of the rotted frame I grew up at the beach area and we never had rotted frames on any of the cars that we had dodge should have told people about the rotted frames and they are responsible that's how I feel about it what's it going to take for them to be held accountable people don't need to die or get serious injured because they did nothing about the rotted frames they should have been able to recall the cars they sold and said something about the frames getting rotted
I went to mavis to get new tires for my car they showed me the frame car is not repairable and they showed me the back frame under neith the car and also showed me the rotted frame that's 2 places that's rotted I hope dodge dealer will replace the rotted frames some one can get killed because of the rotted frames and I think dodge should recall the cars and put new frames on their cars for free
I took my car to my repair man he was trying to see why my tires had the steel treads showing and the car shaking. Once up on the lift he found the subframe was rusted out. He ordered a new frame which took all my savings. He was surprised I made it off the expressway without an accident.
Noticed the vehicle was making creaking and grinding sounds from the rear suspension. This forcing the car to struggle to reverse. Noticed a large portion of the rear suspension/subframe was rusted and was cracking.
Severe rust to vehicle frame COMMON TO THIS VEHICLE, no accident. Rust has corroded frame despite normal use and normal care. Vehicle hasn't reached 75k miles yet, and the frame is failing. How is this not a recall?
OK so let me start by saving lives there is a serious problem with all these Caliber the subframes are rotting in half I know because I have 3 other people who have this stupid car and they rusted in half on them also things to add to this car is there is no upper ball joint which cause the lower control arms to go bad is the shocks are bad I had to replace pretty much everything and also had to replace CVT 20K miles into this hunk of crap CVT is bad and the bands they use are cheap but also seems to be a cooling problem with there set up for transmission with cause them to heat up and burn fluids Chrysler shouldn't be allowed to get away with this crap and honestly you will see alot more of these cars causing people to die seriously take a look online and see for yourselves it's pretty sicking to me and I feel like y'all ain't doing your job my 30 year old camaro subframe never rotted …
On 10/5/2016, the sub frame on my car broke due to it being rusted through. Thank goodness it broke when I was going at a slow speed, and no accident occurred. I had to be towed and it was put onto a lift. The garage mechanic inspected the car's sub frame, which was broken and rusted completely, but the rest of the car is perfect, not a speck of rust. When I called the Dodge corporation number I was told that there is no recall for this, only prior years, which has the same part! I was told that I live in a high corrosion area, due to salt on our roads in the winter. If that was the case, then why is this the only part in the car that is rusted? I was charged $1032.86 for the new part to be installed, and it also had to be aligned. I have looked on line and seen a numerous number of complaints about the same issue from other people. …
Suspension complaints in other Caliber years
Frequently asked questions
How common are suspension problems on the 2010 Dodge Caliber?
NHTSA has 26 complaints about the suspension of the 2010 Dodge Caliber, 17% of the model year's 157 complaints. The component named most often is subframe/mounting bracket (1 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2010 Dodge Caliber suspension problems?
No. NHTSA lists no suspension recall for the 2010 Dodge Caliber, though it has 2 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2010 Dodge Caliber suspension problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 105,000 miles, and 6% before 25,000 miles.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.