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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  "2014 Dodge Charger R/T" - 2014 Dodge Charger
  By carreviewer99 - December 13 - 12:04 pm

  As many may know they use Chargers as Police Vehicles, Well i know why now, The Charger has Lots of power and if You want some Luxury it has that too! Heated Seats both passenger and driver, And REAR HEATED SEATS! did i also mention a heated steering wheel and cooled seats too?? To add the icing to the cake an 8.4-inch touchscreen display And BI-Xenon headlights and Race-Track style taillights which are LED, Yes there is more, Optional Beats Audio, My charger came with a ALPINE AUTO SYSTEM which was very good. Overall this vehicle was AWESOME coming from a Teenager! but the Reliability Reputation is not so good. 8/10.

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  210,000 miles in 5 years - 2005 Dodge Durango
  By november128 - November 25 - 9:44 am

  I bought an 05 Dodge Durango ST with 45k on it in June 07 for ~$19k. In that time Ive put on over 165,000 miles. I have had to replace all 4 tires twice, battery, headlights, alternator, gas tank (factory recall covered by Dodge), spark plugs, & air compressor. What finally did me in was losing the transmission about 2 weeks ago. Fixing it would run about $1500 and even then its no guarantee how much more the car has in it. The gas mileage is miserable but this car held on through the rough & tumble college years where it was routinely loaded down with people & stuff for long haul drives (1k+ miles). Nothing fancy but sturdy. I am sad to see it go and not sure what Ill replace it with.

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  Multiple Displacement System Ruins the Car!! - 2012 Dodge Charger
  By steve521 - November 20 - 8:13 am

  I had my 2012 Charger R/T Max for 17 months and sold it. The 4-6-8 cylinder system fights with the transmission in traffic. Its constantly trying to drop back to 4 cyl mode which cuts your low end torque in half, makes it downshift, then the other cylinders kick in while the engine races. Its totally confused! Build quality is great except, drivers seat power actuator moved jerkily and had to be replaced. Had radio replaced once and then rear channel failed again. Started smelling antifreeze inside the car at 25,000 miles, needs new heater core. Clunk in rear end when shifting gears in stop and go traffic. Over engineered and under built!!!

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  It is actually a truck - 2001 Dodge Dakota
  By duncan16 - November 17 - 6:22 pm

  Im part of the minority that uses their truck for the reason it was built. I hook up trailers, load up the bed with mulch, rocks, trees, junk, construction materials and occasionally friends. Even when my engine was dying @250,000 miles, the truck never quit, Ive put a new engine in it and it has a new lease on life. Vehicles break, require maintenance and occasionally have failed parts. More often then not the people who hate their vehicles or say they are junk, dont take care of them. Yes there are completely junk vehicles, but I will say this is definitely not one of them. My vehicle: 2001 Quad Cab, 4x4, Automatic 4 speed (5 speed now), 4.7L V8, SLT, few added options

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  02 Dodge Neon (Automatic) - 2002 Dodge Neon
  By andrew30947 - November 16 - 3:01 am

  As I said it is an automatic and Dodge made a programming error in the Neons automatic transmission so thats about the only problem. I bought MJ this year with 83K miles (now 90k) when I bought the car I had no experience in the mechanics and if I had I wouldnt have bought THAT Neon BUT I am glad I did. If you like paying people to fix your car, do not buy a Neon. If you can fix things on your own get it. MJ has been through a LOT (off road, 3 or 4 wrecks, and a half country trip) but she keeps going, I did pay quite a bit to fix her up but a lot was the previous owner (the wrecks were limited to suspension damage and a cracked rim) since the complete fix I havent spent a dime.

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  rallye w 1.4 turbo 6 spd manual - 2013 Dodge Dart
  By the_wolf - November 7 - 4:40 pm

  To get a vehicle with better gas mileage, I traded my jeep JK with 57 k miles for it. A little over a year later, I wished I had not done so. It’s a fun almost sporty little car to drive and the fuel economy is great. The review would be much more positive except that when the car needed repairs the parts always seemed on backorder. So much so that in the last sixteen months I have been in rental cars of and on for over three months of it. For an economy car, when it runs, it’s roomy exciting to drive and just plain fun, however even with my jeep getting half the mileage it was more reliable and in hindsight well worth the extra expense of the gas.

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  2009 Dodge Journey Complaint and Fixture - 2009 Dodge Journey
  By lo64 - November 4 - 11:18 am

  My 2009 Dodge Journey SE was having problems starting. It got to the point that it stopped starting all together. I had the battery replaced and that worked for a while. I finally found a shop that diagnosed the problem and they replaced the: Power Integrated Distribution Module RL692302-AE. They got the part from the Dodge Dealer which cost me $919.00. but it was worth it to get this problem solved. This have solved my problem with my Journey starting. I just wanted to let others know what the problem was for me. maybe this will help someone else. Happy and riding again.

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  Looks and Power at a Bargain - 2013 Dodge Challenger
  By brownwa - October 23 - 7:16 pm

  Dealer options: Blacktop Package This car totally changes its character with the Super Track Pak (STP). Reviews peg the manual RT as the fat girl of the muscle car bunch. But with the suspension and steering upgrades the Challenger elevates to porn-star like proportions. And its just as much fun to drive. I was a Japanese import fanboy for +10 years and fantasized about buying a BRZ. However just one test drive in the Dodge changed my mind. Power is sexy, and the RT moves just as well as it looks. Buying a 150ft-lb BRZ over this 410ft-lb beauty would be a mistake and for the same price!

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  Has served me well for 67k miles - 2004 Dodge Neon
  By powerllama - October 15 - 11:38 pm

  I bought this car new in 2004. Ive driven it ever since. I dont put as much mileage on cars as do other people, but 9 years and 67k miles can do a lot. The car is incredibly roomy on the inside, and easily fits four. Though its not great for road-trips, as it doesnt have cruise control. But boy is it quick. It doesnt handle corners well, and has a giant turning radius, but in a straight line its hard to beat for the price. Other than that, its just a normal car. Nothing too special about it.

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  Fits my familys needs... perfectly - 2013 Dodge Durango
  By m_mora15 - October 3 - 2:33 pm

  I did an exhaustive search (in other words: I was looking for a bargain). We werent looking for anything fancy, but we had to find an SUV with 3-rows, decent mpgs, something we can take camping, doesnt look like a giant rollerskate (quadruple check)... And we found one, the 2013 Dodge Durango. First, I REALLY like the exterior. The front looks very manly. The side view is ok, but the rear is reminiscent of older BMWs and its cousin the JEEP Grand Cherokee... fancy. Plenty of room for our luggage with the 3rd row folded down. Overall, very attractive vehicle.