Overview & Reviews

One of America's most storied automotive brands, Dodge has been around since the early days of the auto industry. In the past couple of decades, it has revitalized itself to be a producer of aggressively styled and performance-oriented vehicles.

Two brothers, Horace and John Dodge, began the Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicle company in 1914, after having worked as manufacturers of bicycles and automotive parts. Their first vehicle was a touring car that proved a fast favorite with car buyers; it was soon joined by a roadster and a four-door sedan. By 1917, the company's model line had grown to include trucks. Dodge cars and trucks were used as staff vehicles and ambulances in World War I.

Dodge was briefly owned by a banking firm and subsequently sold by its new owner to the Chrysler Corporation in 1928. From there, the brand slowly evolved into the division responsible for trucks and performance-oriented cars. Post WWII, Dodge introduced vehicles like the military-inspired Power Wagon truck, Hemi-powered Coronet and the Royal Lancer; in addition, the manufacturer began offering dealer-installed air-conditioning.

Vehicles like the Dodge Dart and the Coronet kept the manufacturer in American driveways throughout the 1960s. That decade also saw the launch of one of Dodge's most iconic vehicles, the Charger. Dodge's muscle car was based on the Coronet platform, and featured a fastback roof line, hidden headlamps and a full-width taillamp panel. Best of all, the Charger could pack one heck of a wallop under the hood. A 318-cubic-inch V8 was standard, but buyers seeking maximum brawn could upgrade to a 426-cubic-inch, 425-hp Hemi V8. The company also introduced a Mustang-fighting pony car, called the Challenger, in 1970.

As with other American auto manufacturers, Dodge's fortunes started to slip in the '70s due to changing tastes and increased competition. The company was saved from extinction in the early '80s thanks to government loans and the sales success of its Omni and Aries economy cars (the former an attempted copy of the VW Rabbit). But 1984 was when Dodge made its mark in the history books with the introduction of the wildly popular Caravan. Ideal for families and able to seat up to seven, the space-efficient Caravan started a whole new vehicle segment -- the minivan.

The early '90s saw the company wow the public with the V10-powered Viper roadster and an all-new Ram pickup that set a new standard for big-rig-like styling. A few years later, Dodge came to be part of DaimlerChrysler, a result of the merger of the German company Daimler (owner of Mercedes-Benz) and Chrysler.

The merger never really worked, however, and Daimler sold Chrysler and Dodge to a private equity firm in 2007. Soon after, America's economy slid into recession. Due to poor sales and debt, Chrysler had to declare bankruptcy. The federal government intervened and eventually Dodge came under control of Fiat, a European automaker known for its small cars, an area where Dodge's entries had been roundly criticized for mediocre build quality and unrefined performance.

More recent years have seen Dodge concentrate on the more practical vehicles in its lineup, making notable improvements to the performance and overall quality of its midsize Avenger sedan and Journey SUV entries. Dodge also spun off its truck line, making it a separate Ram brand. But make no mistake; Dodge is still considered Chrysler's performance division thanks to cars like the Challenger and Charger. Time will tell how successful Dodge's latest makeover is.

User Reviews:

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  Update! - 2008 Dodge Durango
  By austinp - July 11 - 1:09 pm

  My Durango just hit 74000 miles today with no problems out of it. It is the best car we have ever owned. We just put running boards and new tires on it. The salesman who sold us the Durango was there trying to get us to trade it for a new 2011 Durango. Our Durango appraised very well but I dont really like the 2011 Durango. I have no complaints against my Durango, it has the best a/c Ive ever used. I will be keeping my Durango until it gives up!

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  Quiet and comfrotable, but several simple downsides - 2010 Dodge Avenger
  By rlw6 - July 9 - 7:35 pm

  Ive been using this rental for several weeks. Overall comfortable and quiet, but: The trunk lid, with its spoiler, is very heavy and requires both hands free to lift it. The high lip of the trunk combined with the long rear window means that loading the trunk is limited to small things. The hood release is very poorly located and was broken by a previous user, but my left foot caught constantly on that lever on exiting the car. The A/C frequently required turning the fan to full to get it to kick in. Once working it could cool very well at 60 mph, but became an oven at traffic lights.

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  I love my Caliber - 2007 Dodge Caliber
  By patzeep - July 8 - 11:28 am

  I bought my Caliber used and have never had problems with it- and I am not a good car owner! I would buy another one in a heartbeat!

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  Terribly Engineered Vehicle - 1995 Dodge Intrepid
  By msgolds - July 8 - 10:18 am

  I picked up this vehicle used for a good price. It initially didnt have many problems, but after a while I had a MAJOR problem with the electrical system where the airbag light will come on, the windows wont go up or down, and the heat a/c wont come on. This usually happened when it was hot out (which is precisely when you need the windows to go down and A/C on). I found out later that this was a common problem in this model, because all of these features are in a single circuit on the modular control unit. The cost to fix the problem is higher than the Book Value of the car, bc you need to change out the whole unit. Dont buy this car.

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  Great family & work vehicle! - 2005 Dodge Durango
  By jdhand32 - July 7 - 3:06 pm

  Great vehicle for road trips with family, fun around town, or as an everyday driver. I use it for work and average around 1k miles a week. The selling points on the Durango are ride quality and interior features. It has a super smooth ride with great handling for a vehicle its size. It also has several nice bells and whistles that Dodge puts into its higher end vehicles (ipod connection, bluetooth, sat radio, etc.). The downsides are also there though. Poor gas mileage, minimal second row leg room, and a little more road noise than some prefer. It also has great cargo room and a great sound system.

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  Stay away from this car - 2002 Dodge Intrepid
  By byrdnest - July 3 - 4:04 pm

  We bought this car with 57K miles on it. Most of our driving is highway driving. At about 122K the engine went. I noticed the oil light was on and immediately took it to my mechanic. Due to a poor oil pan design, oil sludge had built up in the engine. Chrylser was aware of the problem. If you get this car make sure you keep oil change records. I was reimbursed by Chrysler for about 1/3 of the cost of the engine replacement. It was very expensive to fix. We paid almost as much for the engine as we did for the car. I am car shopping right now and will not buy another Dodge product.

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  Rallye with Super Sport - Best Value - 2011 Dodge Challenger
  By amcmastertech - July 3 - 9:39 am

  I waited 3 years for the Pentastar and it was well-worth the patience. The engine delivers exceptionally smooth performance from idle all the way to redline. Combined with a cabin that is very quiet, youd almost think that the engine was turned-off while stopped at an intersection or light I asked the salesman if the car had some sort of "engine shutdown" feature during the initial test-drive. The big letdown is the 5-speed automatic, which lags badly when you need instant throttle response. Excellent engine, not-so-great gearbox. The Rallye Super Sport repsresents a good value with interior, suspension, steering, braking, and axle-ratio upgrades.

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  my 2000 intrepid 2.7L V6 automatic gets 20city 30hwy mpg - 2000 Dodge Intrepid
  By wolfmagic - July 2 - 10:55 pm

  my intrepid 2.7L V6 automatic 4-sp 202hp 244,000 kms continuously gets 20city 30hwy mpg - calculated many times since 2008 per: fillup, note odo, drive 3/4 tank, fillup at same exact pump, run formula. and thats with 2 passengers, a full trunk @70 lbs, a headlamp-sized hole in the front end causing drag, a/c on, rear windows 2" open for convertible effect, 70-80F, going 68-70mph on canadian hwy. city driving includes ample stops/lights/traffic. style is semi-aggressive aka giving-gas when in doubt to merge, overtake, make yellows, off the line, as necessary. i have to wonder if brutally cold winters somehow plays a role (its all the car has known)

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  Very Impressed with Dodge - 2011 Dodge Charger
  By mwhitworth - June 30 - 12:45 pm

  Bought a white SE. Have the base model but still a very nice car. I have never owned a Dodge before until now. Can’t believe how nice the inside is. The cloth seats are nice but a little firm. Might need to break them in a little. Powerful V6 and quiet when cruising in ecco mode. The car is Lexus quiet at 70 mph. Very solid car too over bumps. No cheap plastics inside like the previous models and has a nice solid feel inside with soft material throughout.

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  My Intrepid Rocks - 1997 Dodge Intrepid
  By doctorsib - June 30 - 12:12 pm

  My 1997 Dodge Intrepid was my first car...I bought it for $2,000 and Ive had it for about 4 years. It just hit 200k miles and is still going strong! This car is fantastic...its fast enough (at least mine is) to keep up with other newer, sportier cars, has great handling, is a tank (some idiot sideswiped me when I was going about 35 mph...his whole bumper came off, and I got a little dent in my door), and is even decent in the snow and in icy conditions! Ive had to invest very little into the upkeep, replacing less than $1,000 worth of parts in the entire time Ive had it, excluding the cost of tires and oil changes. Extraordinarily reliable...=)