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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  Get Checked out - 2001 Dodge Stratus
  By jimmy114 - November 10 - 2:18 pm

  My Stratus has 122000 miles on it and timing belt is going out ($1000) and the body model control is going out ($1000) the car isnt worth much more then that... the inside is nice but all the handles are broken. If your going to buy the STRATUS get it checked out as for me i recommend you move on and find something else

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  If This Helps Just One Person..... - 2008 Dodge Avenger
  By badavenger - November 2 - 4:15 pm

  If youre considering buying an 08 Avenger, DONT!! My warranty expired on 10/09/11 (due to time, not mileage), 4 DAYS LATER, while getting new tires, the valve stem split apart when the valve cap was removed. Dodge wont authorize reimbursment of TPMS valve assembly. Then 15 days later I find out I need a new alternator after hearing a whining noise and battery idiot light came on while stopped. Theres only 32,000 miles on the freakin car!!! If I can help just one person save money with this review, then the time spent registering as a new user is worth it.

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  DO NOT BUY THIS CAR!!!! RUN AWAY FAST!!!! - 2007 Dodge Caliber
  By shelby6282 - October 19 - 4:56 pm

  Have only owned this car for 40 days. It has been a total nightmare. Oh & I did buy it from a dealer not just anyone. I am the 2nd owner & the car looked great with tons of add ons. After owning it 4 days engine light came on. Dealer said its O2 sensor & replaced. 2 days later engine light on again. This time they said the computer was not reset right. Barely drove it home from the shop & guess what engine light AGAIN! this time the codes were showing that it was the cadilic converter. Dealership, no its not the converter something with the sensor didnt get hooked up right causing a code. 1 week later, engine light again. they changed the converter. Drove 1wk & now brake lights on!

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  2009 Dodge Journey SXT AWD is crap - 2009 Dodge Journey
  By blois16 - October 10 - 8:44 am

  I purchased a 2009 Dodge Journey SXT AWD in May 2009. My husband had been told he would be shipping out to Afghanistan the following year and wanted me in a new AWD vehicle. What a wrong decision that was. New brakes at 26,000 miles, transmission leak, shuddering, which took 3-4 times to repair. I was told #5 cylinder was missing, didnt know why. Replaced EGR valve, had to take back in because the replacement was faulty. Power transfer unit went out, got it fixed, under warranty, no problem. Picked it up, transmission problems. They said water in transmission and Chrysler wont fix. 5-6 k to do this. What a piece of crap. Will get rid of this a.s.a.p.

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  cant fix the shakes - 2010 Dodge Journey
  By nemrac - September 10 - 3:22 pm

  bought 8/2010-Nov 2010 trouble light going on and off-dealer said no codes on computer-drive it. Light on and off more frequent-then stayed on and vehicle shaking- had to pull over-couldnt find problem so dealer drove-decided it was engine-replaced valves,seals, on right-3 days later started all over again- dealer couldnt find problem-drove with computer on-reprogrammed powertrain module - fine til this week light on shaking violently going down highway(had car 1 yr 2 weeks!) dealer/Chrysler said its the other side of the engine-parts BO till Mid Oct!! on a 1 yr old vehicle! Also turned rotors on back this spring and front rotor/ pads in 7/11. Will be in shop total 2 months since Nov!

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  What is Dodge trying to do to me? - 2004 Dodge Caravan
  By williamsgrl22 - September 9 - 10:29 am

  Considering my Caravan has a little over 430,000 miles on it, I would say overall this model is worth the money. I purchased this vehicle from a family member about a year ago. At that time it had about 400,000 miles on it but had everything except the engine and transmission replaced in it. It was very well maintained and 90% of the miles were highway miles. I was told by the previous owner, whom bought the van brand new, that the brakes have never been up to par, the headlights are terrible, and the entire front end had been replaced (no accidents...just wear and tear).

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  Worst Car Ever - 2004 Dodge Intrepid
  By deedee56 - August 19 - 1:01 pm

  If you read what people say then you need to help us with a solution. These cars are the worst ever and they all should be recalled and owners given a reliable car. Right now I am ready to file a lawsuit against Dodge. I think if they stand behind their vehicles then if they dont want a bad name should admit this is the worse car they ever made. You name it I replaced it.

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  Never Again - 2007 Dodge Caravan
  By dukes5 - August 14 - 11:51 am

  Its a 2007 and within a couple of years, weve had A/C troubles, dashboard light failure, door locks and handles that dont work, heater fan settings that dont work, speakers quit working, dome lights quit working or work on occassion, window switch needed replacing, rust after 3 years!, rear seat is locked and wont fold down anymore, and thats just what I remember off the top of my head. In addition, the interior is classic American car design...poorly thought out and miserable. I have 130K on it, all highway miles. I havent had a lot of problems....so kudos for the mechanical aspects but a big F for everything else that you deal with on a daily basis. I cant wait to get rid of it

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  Not what I expected - 2005 Dodge Stratus
  By slindom - August 9 - 8:12 pm

  We have owned this car since it had 21,000 miles and was a good car till about 30,000 then the injectors started going one at a time. It was under warrenty so took it to local dealer to be fixed they would only change one at a time as they went out so was back four times before it was done. Now car has about 70,000 and is having shifting problems it will downshift for no reason even at highway speeds which cant be good for the engine or trans. Have had it to dealer not under warrenty anymore so costs 99.95 every time for them to test it only to tell me nothings is wrong. What a joke my advice is if you have this car dump it before you reach 70,000

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  Journey To Hell - 2009 Dodge Journey
  By journeytohell - August 9 - 5:24 pm

  My "2009" Journey was a beautiful show room car and thats all the good I can say about it. This car is a LEMON! New rotors and brakes every 10,000 miles. Wont start 3 times a week. Every time I turn the wheel I have this loud grinding noise like the wheels are going to fall off but, dont bother taking it in to the dealer because they will have it for days and then tell you they have no clue whats wrong and now that the warrenty is up they dont care if its an exsisting problem or not, your S.O.L. My advise dont buy a Dodge......