Chrysler Caliber, anybody driven?

[karona]

My brother-in-law's just picked up his hire car, he booked a manual diesel, he's been given a petrol automatic Chrysler, He's not mechanically aware, the pick-up briefing was "take it or leave it". He's 100 Km away and can't get the auto box to change gear. Is there something else he needs to do bar putting the lever in "Drive" and pressing the throttle. It moves, but won't change out of first gear.
Anybody driven one? Does it have paddle shifters? change buttons on the wheel? Is it a manual change with an auto clutch?
Any ideas gratefully received.
Taking it back to the office isn't an option, there isn't one, Phoning the owner isn't an option, his Bulgarian is worse than his mechanical sympathy.
Thanks

[civiclegend]

I think its a CVT box?! Just keep your foot down, there will be no perceptible changes.

Probably. Otherwise he'll get where he's going, just slowly and in a cloud of coolant ;-)

[Roo]

It hasn't got any gears, it's a CVT.

Once you've started to build up speed you need to lift off the throttle to allow the engine revs to die down to the minimum required for the speed you're travelling at.

[karona]

Brilliant! Thanks! So basically it's a posh Daf!

[Roo]

karona said:

Brilliant! Thanks! So basically it's a posh Daf!

Yep, it's got a metal band as opposed to a rubber one.

[Matt Harper]

Roo said:

Yep, it's got a metal band as opposed to a rubber one.

The only 'perceptible change' will be the rush of air from overtaking pedestrians.

[joebongo]

Maybe it's in 2/3/4 and not D. My Nissan CVT has a fake electronic set of gears which could seem like it's held in a particular gear.

If he's not doing 5000 revs at 40 then it's probable ok.

[karona]

joebongo said:

If he's not doing 5000 revs at 40 30 then it's probable ok.

Well.... actually that's why he phoned me

[joebongo]

Hehe ok, so he accelerates in a spirited fashion and sees the revs hold at the same rev point. If he backs off the throttle if he can maintain the speed without 5000 revs then it's just CVT.

Else either he's in a pretend gear or the 'box is farked.

[DrDoofenshmirtz]

I drove one of those in the States last year. What a piece of crap! Aweful things.

[karona]

He He, he's just rolled up at the door, half a tank of petrol in 90 Kilometres, fekkin good job it's only a pound a litre here!
Heap of st is the official verdict

[chryslerben]

karona said:

He He, he's just rolled up at the door, half a tank of petrol in 90 Kilometres, fekkin good job it's only a pound a litre here!
Heap of st is the official verdict

Eerrrmmm! Hang on a minute.

Actually no even I can't argue that it's a horrid car, they where designed and built at the peak of Mercedes loss of love with the brand right at the point of palming it off to the cerebus group.

The Cvt box is dire and the petrol engine that drives it wasn't much better, I remember early build cars coming to us with no paint on the inner sills and a list of reworka and recalls it really was a rush through stop gap car.

[karona]

I drove 300 Km in it today. It's the wheeled equivalent of a wet bank holiday weekend in Grimsby. Dull as ditchwater, utterly gutless, and the weirdest 'box since the 1976(?) Volvo 66, which was a rebadged DAF variomatic. That was actually fun to drive for a 19 year old tearaway.
The Caliber is just st.