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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  Surprised "downgrade" - 2008 Dodge Charger
  By Steve - March 10 - 1:42 pm

  I was going from a 4 cylinder Mercedes to a larger car. Liked the look of the Charger and just thought Id drive it without any real intent to buy. It drove surprisingly well. Ive some minor issues like the hood has come unlatched by itself a couple times and the child safety lock keeps re-engaging itself, but other than that the ride is surprisingly quiet and smooth and it is very responsive. It is deceptively large inside even for me standing over 6 feet tall to have leg room to spare front and rear seats.

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  Not a Safe Car! - 1996 Dodge Intrepid
  By Marc H - March 9 - 6:41 pm

  I may have only had this car for a year, but since then I have experienced a broken inner left tie rout and outer right tie rod. The inner left one broke and made it impossible to steer while going around the corner. The transmission is absolute garbage and has a rough 2-1 downshift. The oilpan is almost rusted through. Car has gone though a set of brand new front tires within 25,000km, with no alignment issues. Engine overheats periodically, and there has been a mysterious check engine light for about 3 months now. Ill be honest with you, this car may have been wrecked before I even bought it. But many of these problems are far too serious to be blamed simply on abuse or negligence!

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  Love it but minor problems stink - 1995 Dodge Neon
  By nate - March 6 - 10:38 pm

  Ive owned the car for about 4 months now and there are several problems that have driven me crazy trying to fix. All the seals on the windows are shot. My backseat carpet is constantly soaked. Reverse stalling.. sometimes in reverse the thing stalls. Struts gave out after 1 big bump! Annoying stereo setup (maybe not factory.. not sure about this) What I liked about this car. Very reliable. Nice gas mileage. Easy to fix. Fun to drive (especially on straightaways) Very good oil consumption...about 1/2 a quart every month keeps it at nice levels even with me beating the crap out of it. No broken lines yet. such as the brake, gas, or any others

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  Brand New - 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By stanhan - March 6 - 10:00 am

  Just bought this van yesterday and am really impressed with it. After driving imports it surprised me how much thought was put into the interior features of the car. It has a lot to offer for the money. They try to make use of every bit of the car for storage and convenience items. The car has so many features it is sometimes unintuitive to control things on the instrument panel. Im sure that has a lot to do with the fact that I just bought it. From what I can tell I got a screaming good deal and I highly recommend my dealer. They were extremely nice and low pressure but provided me an "EBay" price over the phone. The car was delivered to my door.

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  HAS IT GOT A HEMI - 2005 Dodge Magnum
  By STINGERLZ - February 26 - 4:00 pm

  FUN TO DRIVE. GETS A LOT OF LOOKS AND COMMENTS FROM PEOPLE ON THE STREET. EVERYONE WANTS TO KNOW IF ITS GOT A HEMI.

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  Not Complaining - 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By Paul Bondy - February 25 - 12:10 pm

  I previously owned a 98 Plymouth Voyager Expresso, just like a grand only shorty, had 140,000 km when I bought it used it as a service van with ladder racks loaded with equipment and ran all over N.A. till I quit contracting, ( around 210,00km) just changed the oil, great. converted back to a family vehicle 2 years ago and ran it up to 268,00 km 2 weeks ago, only put tires on it, brake job and one rear window motor used $40. Its been great 2 weeks ago finally blew a water pump $89 new, 2 hrs labor, big deal! 1 serp belt $40 total cost bought used at 5000 tires 400 brakes 400 water pump 89 serp belt 40 window motor 40 Grand total $5969.00 Canadian Great Van! Just Bought 2001 Grand Love it!

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  Not Good, But Not Bad - 2003 Dodge Durango
  By SBF - February 25 - 2:23 am

  Bought the truck used, had 52k on it. Comfortable ride, good looks, and compliments from a lot of people. Really like this design, the 04 and up look too square and bulky. Interior is designed well. Gas mileage is normal for a 5.9L V8 about 15-17 mpg on the highway. Disappointed that the water pump went out at 59k. Cruise control is acting up too, but nothing I cant fix. With gas prices soaring and seeming to never quit, will consider a crossover for a next SUV, no reason to have a V8 powered SUV, dont do any towing and the its the wifes daily driver.

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  I like it but could use improvememnts. - 2009 Dodge Journey
  By Tex - February 22 - 12:56 am

  Overall, I like the Journey. It is kinda small but it is for us and one child. The DVD player keeps the kid entertained and was well worth it. The interior lighting is nice (LEDs are nice). Drives great. Dont like the cheap chrome hubcaps (wheel covers) on the exterior of the R/T. But otherwise is very nice on the exterior.

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  VLT Transmission problems - 2007 Dodge Caravan
  By willie Hodess - February 21 - 11:39 am

  Driving and comfort not an issue, the caravan performs. Its the transmission thats driving me crazy. When slowing down the tranny is trying to downshift 2nd to 1st is a real pain. The clunking or grabbing is a real nuisance. Whats worse is Wellington motors is denying that Chrysler had issues with this tranny and still is selling these vans. Chrysler Canada aside from trying to give me $50 gift certs.keeps telling me their engineers are looking into it. I have been told that the fix would be there early Aug.2007 that was moved out to the end of Sept to the new year and now I havent heard from anyone.

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  Big red truck - 2003 Dodge Dakota
  By suzanne webb - February 18 - 6:57 pm

  Very dependable. Lots of fun to drive. Great load capacity. Did not think I would like a truck but this one is great.