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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  I love this van - 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By BigCheeseDad - February 21 - 2:00 am

  This van has all the handling characteristics of a sedan but with a hugh interior. I love this van and always will. It has decent power but the most important feature is the way it handles on the highway. Dont get me wrong, in very high winds, youre going to get pushed but NOTHING like the Windstar. I recently drove a brand new Windstar and I was all over the highway. Its handling was much poorer than my Dodge. I highly recommend this vehicle.

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  Not A Bad Car - 2007 Dodge Caliber
  By Ronald Johnson - February 19 - 11:20 pm

  Bought this car as a demo in 12/2007. First time purchasing a Dodge as Ive always heard that Dodge transmissions and motors usually go bad at around at 100K so I was a little nervous about buying it. Car gets great gas mileage and lots of stares. Very fun to drive. Ive had some issues with the brake bads and rotors.

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  New Transmission @ 50K Miles - 2007 Dodge Caliber
  By Josh G - February 18 - 2:46 am

  I drive 130 highway miles every day. I bought the caliber because I needed an economical car with awd. The CVT is awful! At 50k, something was wrong. I took it in to the dealer and found out it needed a new tranny. A new tranny at 50k miles! I bought the car 4 months before Chrysler offered the lifetime warranty. With labor and tax, I was looking at $4000. The dealer wouldnÂ’t do anything. They even told me that my caliber was not the first that they replaced the transmission in. I decided to call Chrysler for help. After 3 hours on the phone, I was able to convince them to pay for it. Never buy a vehicle with CVT. I will never buy a Chrysler vehicle again. Spend the extra money and get a Toyota or Honda.

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  The Best Minivan Ever - 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By DollyPartonRocks - February 16 - 8:30 pm

  I have only had one "under" the hood problems, that was in 2007, fixed & no problems since. Everything is still like new, although like all older cars it does need new headlights. Driver side sliding door got jammed once in 2003, fixed and no problem since. This is by far the best minivan ever!!! You cant go wrong with this thing!!!!

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  Going on Two - 2007 Dodge Caliber
  By Patty - February 16 - 2:53 am

  I have had my R/T AWD for almost two years now. It has about 27,000 miles on it currently. I like it but it does have faults. Road noise is one big one, and blind spots. You have to be very careful when changing lanes with this car! Other than that, it looks great when its clean (black shows everything)!

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  Enjoying my Journey - 2009 Dodge Journey
  By Angela - February 13 - 7:33 pm

  Just got my Journey one week ago but I love it. I am a little upset over buying the convience group II and buying the third row seating and finding out that the cargo cover that is included in the convience group II does not come with it if you get 3rd row of seats. Why do they offer both and not list the exception. It is a rip off! I also ordered mine with a $500 owner loyality rebate but they would not give it to me when the vehicle came in. I think this is a breech of contract but I am investing both of these. I bought the first Journey this dealership sold and they were not aware of the cargo cover not being able to be installed with 3rd row seating till I ask about it.

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  Dodge got it right! - 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By Brian - February 12 - 5:36 pm

  Just bought this van and I am impressed already. This redesigned 08 looks sharp and has all the features you could want without the mark-ups you get from Honda and the other guys. We got the 28N package which puts you into the 4.0L V- 6 at 255hp (Plenty of power on the highway plus more than all of the competition). Inside is great with two DVD screens and the swivel and go seating. Power doors and lift gate make this grocery getter easy to love. Dads dont worry about the minivan stigma because this thing looks and drives great.

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  Dodge Nitro! - 2010 Dodge Nitro
  By lou colabella - February 11 - 7:51 pm

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  SRT-4 is AWSOME - 2003 Dodge Neon
  By Simon Starkie - February 10 - 10:00 am

  This is the ost fun Ive had for years.

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  Wonderful Car! - 2005 Dodge Magnum
  By Rebecca Tweed - February 7 - 2:46 am

  I have had my eye on this car for quite some time now, and when I got to the dearlership, there was no other car I wanted to look at. We are trying to start a family, and I do not like SUVs or mini vans. The Magnum is the perfect family vehicle and it looks and rides great too!