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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  Gas mileage? - 2005 Dodge Neon
  By moviebuff - May 30 - 1:46 pm

  I bought this car used. It was in Hawaii as a rental. This has been yet another great Dodge product! The only thing I dont get is that it gets better gas mileage at 75-80 MPH then at 65-70. I know another guy that had an older Neon and he said it didnt start running good until you got it up to at least 60 MPH+.

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  Wonderful-Except for One Thing - 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By trudy - May 27 - 2:00 am

  We love our new Grand Caravan Sport. It is roomy & has lots of get up & go. However, with only being less than one year old, it has already been to the dealership five times!!! Something with the pulleys & belts. They always fix it & then it starts back again. But the inconvenience of always being in the dealership is a real drawback.

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  Luv the power - 2006 Dodge Charger
  By My 2nd Dodge - May 26 - 9:47 pm

  This is my 2nd Dodge. I do not have the Hemi, and I feel there is no need to really have it. I wish it had the radio and other controls on the steering wheel like my Monte. I use the manual shift at times when I need that extra power in tight places. Great on gas for the power it has. My favorite color is the Black. I have had one problem with the car, and I have had it into the Dodge Dealer 2xs and they still dont have it fixed. The right side rear window motor keeps going bad and now that it is out the service agreement Im not really sure who to trust in fixing the problem. I wish it came with a sunroof also. Great looking car for it being a 4 door, I never thought I would buy one.

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  Keeps on Goin! - 1997 Dodge Neon
  By RedneckDixie87 - May 26 - 4:15 pm

  This was my first car and I love it its 2008 and I dont want a new car although we are having some problems with it now which is expected it is 11 years old but it gets up to speed fast and drives great. Its comfortable is roomy and with gas at $4 a gallon its great on gas! Havent had to replace much only thing is the paint especially the green ones like mine i see have the rust spots.

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  Noisy ride!! - 2007 Dodge Caravan
  By terry - May 25 - 10:28 am

  This is our first minivan. I love the roomy interior, the styling and the seating is comfortable. However, it is the noisiest car I have ever owned. Something, which I believe is the passenger sliding door, is rattling. But the dealer does not hear it. When you drive on a bumpy road it feels as if the car is going to fall apart. We have had it in to have the brake drums replaced due to noise and now it is making the same noise from the front. I still really like the van, but I hope the dealership can find the source of the noises and rattles and fix the brakes once and for all. It only has 6500 miles on it, we bought it brand new.

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  47k mile review - 2004 Dodge Dakota
  By teejay - May 24 - 5:26 pm

  Well after 47k miles I thought I needed to write another review. So far this truck has performed like a champ. I do perform my preventative maintenance without exception. I changed the transmission fluid to synthetic @ 36k miles and the rear differential fluid to royal purple synthetic at the same time. I just changed my sparks plugs and cleaned my throttle body. I also put new ceramic breaks pads on @ 40k miles. I hope to get 200k out of it. I also use Mobil one synthetic oil every since 10k miles.

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  If it only had a tranny - 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By JimC - May 23 - 12:56 pm

  We have loved this van. We have a Sport, but not AWD. I find it uncomfortable to drive long distances as a 511" man - seat way too close - but my wife loves it. Has been totally reliable for 174,000 miles, but we just blew the tranny. Guess we made out OK - other reviewers only got half that many miles out of theirs! Of course it is now worthless because the tranny will cost more to replace than the van, but if you get one with a new transmission, its a decent van!

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  Fun car, if you dont mind the fuel - 2007 Dodge Charger
  By Chris - May 23 - 12:51 pm

  This is a really fun car to drive, the seats are ultra comfy, the gauges are neat looking at night, and the autostick is actually pretty quick shifting. Great car if you dont mind the awful fuel mileage. For the price, fully loaded, you cant get much better than this.

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  Good & Dependable - 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By Tony Wilkerson - May 23 - 12:46 am

  This is a very dependable van. We rented one on vacation about 5 years ago and my mother-in-law really really like it. So we bought her one but unfoturnately she doesnt drive it ever unless its an absolute have to. These Dodges dont seem to be made for short people to drive. Her and my wife are about 51 and 52 and neither one of them enjoy the driving experience. However on the plus side it is very dependable. Gas mileage is definetly lacking, we previously owned a Chevy Venture van and it out did this one by a landslide. We are a little afraid to get rid of it because it is so dependable but my mother-in- law has since bought a chrysler sebring and we will probably be getting a Suburban soon.

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  Shabby - 2004 Dodge Stratus
  By Shabby - May 22 - 10:41 pm

  I bought this car from a friend and in a few months I had transmission problems. also idles rather loud. This car is about 4 years old it should not be having these problems. A few more repairs and my bill was over $1,200. So I wont be buying another dodge stratus anytime soon.