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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  left me stranded at 37k miles!!!!!! - 2007 Dodge Caliber
  By agraham6582 - February 22 - 7:04 pm

  Bought this car in june 2010 and it is a 2007 car - 8 months after buying this car it left me stranded in a parking lot - thank god i did not have my 18 month old daughter with me! we only got 6k miles out of this car before it died on us. currently has 37k miles on it and died in a parking lot. after calling different numbers for an hour to get it towed somewhere which cost us $70 out of pocket, we were told it was the electronic control module in the steering column that went dead. pretty much this "module" in the steering column tells the car to start the ignition when you put the key in to start up. the warranty company refuses to pay for it saying its an "electrical" issue.

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  DONT BUY A DODGE/CHRYSLER VEHICLE - 2010 Dodge Journey
  By sunheat79 - February 18 - 11:50 pm

  I purchased this Journey SXT AWD in August of 2010 with the Premium Sound Package, and Bluetooth hands free calling option as well. At 3,000 miles there was a violent shake in the front end...the rotors had to be replaced. At 4,000 miles there was an awful whistling noise, which turned out to be the mirror. That was replaced and at the same time I started having problems with the facotry installed options...had the vehicle in 4 times...is now at the dealership for the 5th time for the issue. Ive tried to work with Dodge on replacing the vehicle and theyve been nothing less than outrageously disrespectful with no concern of customer satisfaction. There has also been a recall.

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  This is why Chrysler went bankrupt. - 2007 Dodge Nitro
  By ihatemynitro - February 8 - 9:34 am

  Ill never buy another Dodge. Its too bad because they look pretty cool. This one did. But what a shoddy piece of crap it has turned out to be. The roofrack is peeling from the roof, the breaklights work sporadically, the brake rotors are bad, the a/c evaporator coil is dead and Im told will take at least $1500 to fix. Lets see, what else? Oh yeah, the front passenger window finally gave up and wont roll down (at least its stuck up and not down). The window buttons on the drivers door only work to roll down the rear windows but they can only be rolled up from their respective door buttons. And the buttons come right off. The seats are cheap and the stitching is coming loose.

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  am so glad i traded this for a honda! - 2006 Dodge Caravan
  By caris75 - February 4 - 3:15 pm

  so i got the base SE when it was new for a good price--very basic, meaning roll your own windows down, no keyless entry etc.. power was so-so for regular town driving and terrible on the highway, noisy and no pickup!so car was ok for about 50k then we saw oil leaking all over our driveway! it neede towing to a garage and a 3K repair (crankshaft). luckily we had an extended warranty--but we still paid almost 500 dollars and had a rental car for a week. after this experience and not being so thrilled w/ the car we just traded it for a preowned Odyssey (ironically of the same year). what a difference! the odyssey so far is awesome, i would advise anyone to avoid any all caravans...

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  The 1999 Dodge Intrepid is a piece of junk. - 1999 Dodge Intrepid
  By bubbaman42 - January 29 - 8:02 am

  The intrepid was o k at first but after it got a few thousand miles it started having a lot of trouble.The 2.7 motor is too weak for this car and gives a lot of problems.We had to replace the motor at about 80,000 miles.I am just glad we had a warranty.After that the computer was going out.Sometimes the intrepid would die going down the road and not start for about 10 minutes.One trip it died on me 10 times within a 70 mile trip.A mechanic said a computer for it would be around $1000.00.To me the intrepid was not worth that.The heater fan only worked on high.Some of the windows would not go down.All I can say is the Intrepid was my firdt and last Dodge.

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  It dodges everything but the gas station - 2010 Dodge Nitro
  By mazagod - December 31 - 10:12 pm

  I have been driving this vehicle for about three months and I am not happy about it. I am a tall guy, and I hit my head every time I get into the car. There are huge blind spots, and if someone is sitting next to you in the front passenger seat, it is very hard to see out the window. The engine is not powerful at all, but it does guzzle the gas. Sometimes I put the gas pedal down, and the car actually seems to slow down. There is no storage in the car at all. Dont even get me started on how bad the gas milage is, SUV or not. I would not buy this car again.

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  Do not buy this car - 2007 Dodge Nitro
  By jander19 - December 19 - 8:24 pm

  I do love the way this car looks and the pick up the car has. However that is not enough to make up for the stupid little things that have broken on my car. My gas tank needs to be completely replaced now and it will cost me about nine hundred dollars by the end at the low end cost range!! This car is definetely not worth buying and in fact I will never buy a dodge car again b/c of all the issues I have had from this car. Please consider your options before buying this car. Do not get sucked into how the car looks b/c the quality is just not there.

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  really? - 2005 Dodge Neon
  By z32tturbojoe - December 9 - 11:31 pm

  Well. Let me start off with this is my gf car and she does not let it warm up and runs the s*^% out of it. Which is probably why it is has developed a rod knock at 81,000 miles. Needless to say but only in freezing temps and for about 10 seconds until the oil gets to the top of the bottom end. Ive been changing the cars oil every 2500 miles with Mobil 1 syn blend for about 2 years since shes had it. I had always noticed a lifter tick since she had purchased it at 55,000. Well I need a bottom end kit and cannot find one anywhere for a reasonable price. Any ideas? P. S honestly I understand this happening at 125,000+ but not at 81,000. Think it was poorly built

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  Worst Car I Have Ever Owned - 2009 Dodge Charger
  By Brandie - November 30 - 2:00 am

  I would NEVER recommend buying a Dodge Charger to anyone. In 3 months we bought 2, and they both had so many mechanical problems the dealer had to buy them back. I did not even own the 2nd one for 2 weeks when the engine blew up and all of the electronics melted. The 1st one has vibration problems that Dodge said was normal. The check engine light was always coming on and it was misfiring in the cylinders. Both of these cars were a complete nightmare. They get great gas mileage because they are always on the back of a tow truck!

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  Bad choice - 2008 Dodge Avenger
  By badinvestment - November 16 - 2:00 am

  Car style nice thats it. Car sound like lawn mower with bad gas, from the time taking off lot nothing but problems. Tire air leak often due to bad tire sensors which was recall and never repaired properly finally had to remove sensors to prevent from putting air in tire every 2 days. 2 sets of brakes, air condition went out, pulley belts, oil pan cracked, interior cheap, paint chips on front hood bubbling on hood and bumper chipping not considered part of warranty low resale owed more than value finally did voluntary repo credit score crashed but I am ok free from nightmare.