I have an 08 SE with the 2.0 and CVT. I have gotten a steady 30 mpg since day one. I have not had any problems with it at all, really. There were a couple of piddly things that were fixed under warranty, but nothing major. If she can at all swing it, I'd recommend the 09 over the 07. The 07 models had some early problems such as body seams that were not properly sealed and the wrong size bolts put in the lower control arms. I've also read on a caliber forum that I'm a member of that there were battery and alternator problems on a lot of the 07 models too. If you want a lot of input from Caliber owners, I can tell you the Caliber site that I'm on. I won't post it here as someone may think I'm trying to pull members away from Allpar, and that's not the case. There's just not that many of us here that own Calibers. YET!! Let me know if you want the site and I'll PM it to you.