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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  Dodge Magnum- Top notch quality and fun - 2005 Dodge Magnum
  By M. Kent Miller - December 18 - 4:23 am

  In 50 years of driving, Ive owned a lot of new cars from all price ranges. This Dodge Magnum exhibits the best overall quality of any vehicle, foreign or domestic, that I have ever purchased. It combines great looks, great performance, and solid quality. I waited for GM to come out with something like this vehicle and they never even came close, so my next new car in a few years will likely be another Dodge Magnum, probably the SRT. With the Magnum, American made cars are again fun to drive.

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  Lovin it - 2007 Dodge Charger
  By Nick - December 17 - 2:05 am

  Great car. Coming from a Mazda 626 (01) and prior an 01 Focus, the interior is spacious. I have a couple of bigger home boys and they sit comfortably. After the dealership threw in some 20" black and chrome rims, it looks great with my gray and black tinted windows. Wish I could have afforded the V-8, but when gas was 4.75+ a gallon, I knew it was a good buy. Very quick off the start. My wife can easily fit all our kids in there which is nice when I have to use the Durango for the snow. I highly suggest it, whether it be the V-6 to the Daytona version, the Charger is the way to go. I have driven the Daytona and boy, that is a car to be driven

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  Top Banana - 2006 Dodge Charger
  By c21edmack - December 16 - 10:46 pm

  Car is awesome. Runs well, power is there when I need it. Handles like a champ and best of all it has 4 doors!

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  I had a good experience - 1991 Dodge Spirit
  By Wall Street - December 16 - 8:07 pm

  I got my Dodge Spirit around 2003-04. It had the 2.5L engine which had decent pickup and was fairly good on gas. The seat had good back support and the interior was easy to navigate. The car was easy to drive and was absolutely superior on snow and ice to any comparable car that I have ever driven. I believe this is due to the weight and shape. I never had a problem with the car until I decided to race it super hard one night, allowing the RPMs to be very high for an extended period of time. This blew the cylnder head. If I had not done that, I would probably still be driving it today. I thoroughly enjoyed owning this car. I blew it up with about 130k miles.

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  I like my durango - 2016 Dodge Durango
  By Linghe Zeng - December 16 - 6:35 pm

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  Its Worth It! - 2006 Dodge Charger
  By GoManGo! - December 16 - 9:23 am

  I picked up my GoMango! Daytona a week ago. All I can say is "Wow!" Great car to drive and well built. If anyone ever asks if it’s worth getting the Daytona, or an RT with the Road and Track package the answer is simply “Yes.” The R&T suspension really settles the car down and eliminates float without being too harsh on bumps. The other reason to go with this package is the 9 land steering. WAY better than the regular RT. The last reasons are the brakes and nivomats but lawdy! lawdy! that exhaust note is nice! So far it’s a hoot and I cant go anywhere without getting thumbs up or drawing crowds. The car handles great, stops well, and is better than any Chrysler products in past 3 decades.

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  GREAT CAR - 2005 Dodge Magnum
  By TIFFANY - December 16 - 1:20 am

  THIS CAR IS THE BEST AUTO I HAVE EVER DRIVEN. A VERY SMOOTH RIDE, EXTREMELY COMFORTABLE, AND VERY RELIABLE.

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  Great - 2007 Dodge Caliber
  By jm - December 13 - 8:20 pm

  I have had the R/T for about 2.5 months now and love it. Have put on 3500 miles with no problems. Need an oil change though. I am 66" and have a 100 mile round trip daily commute to work so I needed a commuter with some style. This one does the job and is very comfortable for tall people looking for a smaller car with decent gas mileage. Looks sharp and makes the drive fun. Handles better than I expected on the curves and very reasonably priced. I hope to have it around a long time. With rear seat folded I can put in my dog kennel for my 85lb German Shepard without any space issues as well. The little extras are nice but AWD and 176HP with autoshift and leather for around 20g is a good deal!

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  Why would you buy Japanese? - 2008 Dodge Nitro
  By tony - December 13 - 4:39 am

  This vehicle is overall very nice and a great ride. I love the sort of retro rugged look, compared to the typical frying pan looking Japanese and German cars.

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  I love this car - 2005 Dodge Magnum
  By Dan in IL - December 11 - 11:15 pm

  I traded my 05 Bonneville for the 05 Magnum SXT RWD 3.5L. I am 19 and this is the perfect car- its definitely a sporty college kid car, and I got mine with under 20k miles for under $10k. What a steal! Gas mileage is not bad. I get 21mpg driving around town but I do a lot of interstate driving and i maintain 25-27mpg. Not better than my Bonneville no, but it certainly gets just as good gas mileage as any other car on the road today. I only wish I had a Magnum R/T. I want the dual chrome exhaust with the Hemi!