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:

• 

  Little red Grocery getter - 2005 Dodge Magnum
  By Dawn - September 16 - 10:03 pm

  I like it so far.. I hope the wagon style doesnt get old after awhile. My husband likes the chopped body style look. It looks like a car from the front

• 

  Must have got a good one.Very reliable! - 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By llonman - September 16 - 10:00 am

  We purchased our Caravan when our third child was born. Van had 82K on the odometer and was on the second owner. The van now has 156K and still runs okay. The 3.0 engine has burned oil since day one due to the leaking seals. But it is managable. Idler pully is worn out but is cheaper to just replace belt with the next smaller belt to fend off squeeking. One of the resistors in the fan switch also went south at 130K, so we just choose the other 4 speeds. Tranny is the 3 speed model which is rock solid. Overall good van for the daily abuse it takes.

• 

  The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - 1998 Dodge Dakota
  By J. Garcia - September 14 - 10:54 am

  The Good: Good interior, lots of truck for the money. Fairly decent fuel mileage. The Bad: Ball joints were completely worn out. Replacing them requires chiseling and/or grinding steel rivets off. Cheap plastic interior pieces, not very well put together. The Ugly: Designed by an accountant. Control-arm bushings are not replaceable. The whole control-arm needs replacing at over $300 per. Rubber plug in the differential cover. Non adjustable clutch master/slave cylinder. Very notchy 5-speed, with completely wrong ratios for the 4 cylinder engine. Will not pull even a moderate incline at highway speeds in 5th gear. 50 year old pushrod engine design. Not even a crossflow cylinder head.

• 

  Reliable so far - 1999 Dodge Caravan
  By mike - September 11 - 5:25 pm

  I bought it at 56000 miles a little over 2.5 yrs ago and now it has 142000 miles and still going strong, except for the ac fan motor that went out about 3000 miles back which is a cheap fix and have only had to change the front brakes twice considering all the driving I do thats pretty good

• 

  Love it!! - 2004 Dodge Durango
  By Tress - September 11 - 10:00 am

  This is the first Chrysler product Ive ever owned, thought long and hard prior to purchasing and there just isnt anything out there that comes close to the Durango. I got the Hemi and for this size of an SUV the performance is amazing. I did encounter the small problems that come with a first year run vehicle but they were easily rectified and Im glad I went with the Durango.

• 

  Nice car - 2001 Dodge Neon
  By Neons_rock - September 10 - 5:03 pm

  I have owned my Neon for about 2 months now and Ive never had any trouble with it. I bought this car with a bad transmission because it was really beaten and was in a wreck. I purchased a used transmission and it was good to go. Its really zippy and a great driving car. It is a little bit noisy but its a great deep fun car noise.

• 

  Love/Hate Relationship - 1999 Dodge Durango
  By Diverdown - September 7 - 8:29 pm

  I bought this car to replace my aging Dodge Caravan and for the purpose of towing a recently aquired boat. Little did I know what I was in for. I love the fact that it is big, but not a monster. It can hold the family or carry lots of stuff and still fit in a parking space. Both the interior and exterior design are nice on the eye, but it drinks gas like it has a hole in the gas tank and has a lot of quirks that require attention. I have almost 97,000 miles and the leather has held up very well. The problems I have had which I have seen in other reviews is the speedo went dead, found out it was the rear a/c sensor. Eats oil with no idea where it goes, window regulators are sparatic.

• 

  Great Truck So Far - 2005 Dodge Dakota
  By Chris - September 6 - 6:20 am

  Ive only had this truck a short time, but I am impressed with the build quality, appears to be much improved over previous Chrysler products. The ride is very comfortable for a truck, and the handling is above average for a truck. Everyone likes the looks, mine is black and it seems to look better than the other colors. By the way, I have the V8 with the tow package, the pull down will only allow me for the V6.

• 

  Bad Fuel Economy - 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By DK - September 6 - 1:06 am

  Overall the van is pretty nice. An issue with two kids in car seats in the middle row is, they dont have any place to put their things, like toys or such. they are in the bucket seats. I suppose the back row might be more feasible but then you can reach them from the front (hand them something). Handling, acceleration, etc, driving experience is great. First time owning/driving a caravan and this 2010 is nice; almost like a SUV. My biggest complaint thus far, after 1800miles, is the fuel mileage. 14 MPG in the city, driving ultra conservative w/ A/C (of course now it is showing 12 mpg). On long trip (300 miles) about 19-20. Im thinking something is amiss here. This BLOWS.

• 

  Try not to grin! - 2007 Dodge Charger
  By Rick - September 5 - 11:15 pm

  This is a a classic muscle car in that its loud and a bit heavy. Other than that, its fun to drive! My kids love riding in this car - I cant be more than a mile from the house before I hear, "Hit it, Dad!".