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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  What a SCARE - 2010 Dodge Journey
  By mhcpc - June 17 - 7:41 pm

  I have 5800 miles on my Journey. The other day, I was on the interstate, in the left lane with no traffic in front of me. All of a sudden, my engine light and traction control light comes on and the car starts loosing power and shaking violently. The car slowed to 30mph within seconds. I managed to get it to the side of the interstate and had it towed to the dealership. They claim I hit the gas and brake at the same time causing the traction control to lock and the engine light to come on. A mechanic tells me this is not true! Also, my foot wont hit both at the same time. I tried it after they told me. They did say they found a problem with the brake rotors and replaced them.

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  Best Reliability You can ever get - 2004 Dodge Caravan
  By sammym1 - June 17 - 4:59 am

  i bought this car from the US and took with me to Russia, it had 90k miles and ive been using it for 3 years, it has been SUPER PERFECT CAR i abuse the car by not changing the oil or the brakes n not warming the engine when its -30 degree and still the car never stopped or had any problems i just change the oil every 8 month and thts it, i never spent any money on it maybe because it has no options other than the CD and Airbags i want to change the car but im afraid that if i bought something else it wont be as reliable as this one

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  What a pile of junk! - 2005 Dodge Stratus
  By 4starks - June 6 - 6:38 pm

  Bought this car with 36k on it from Hertz Car Sales in Pasco. They say they have a money back guarentee for 7 days...I call BS on that. I took it back to them as it was making a noise, they couldnt hear it so they wouldnt honor it. It has had nothing but problems since day 1!! Bad mileage, small breakdowns etc and NOW, my crank is bad and it is going to cost me a new engine. Just turned 100k. I hate this freaking car, and I hate Hertz Car Sales.

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  stalls in traffic - 2010 Dodge Journey
  By amus - June 5 - 9:49 pm

  This car is a p.o.s. Has stalled in oncoming traffic 3 times, brakes are junk. 33,000 miles and chrysler does not car care about the safety of my family or standing by there product. Transmission acts like it is on its way out. I tried to buy an american vehicle, I Knew better than to buy a dodge. $30,000 mistake

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  Its had its problems... - 1998 Dodge Neon
  By neon1998c - May 31 - 6:49 pm

  My 1998 Dodge Neon has had belt issues where the water pump locked up and the timing belt jumped. Then a month later the serpentine belt shredded completely and had to be replaced as well. The car rattles a lot when I drive it, and shakes bad when it idles. My Neon doesnt have much power to it either. Its got bad acceleration, (it doesnt pick up speed quickly). Also my dome light and my shifter light dont work, (I changed the dome light and yes have checked the fuses and light switch, I dont know how to change the shifter light.) Over all, I wish I had a different car, or a better Neon :(

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  Dodge Journey United Kingdom - 2009 Dodge Journey
  By miffed3 - May 19 - 8:09 am

  I bought my Dodge journey SXT CRD AUTO in May 2009 7000 miles on the clock, went in for service @ 20000. The result being new brake pads on front and 1 new tyre. Three months later another new tyre. In Feb this year car was juddering on take off so took it to the dealer they ran the computer on the car and told me to pick the car up as it was now running perfectly.Needless to say there was no difference in the running of the car. Was told to bring the car back to workshop on the 16 Feb.on the way the gearbox intermittently lost its drive so the car limped into the workshop. Was told it needed a new gearbox and it would be a week {Chrysler supplied a hire car} it is now 21st May & lots of phone calls to garage,{none from them to me}lots of phone calls from Chrysler customer service, have had three delivery dates from them for this gearbox to arrive but still hasnÂ’t infact Chrysler customer service told me he was going to stop ringing me with updates as it was clearly upsetting meÂ…Â….Who wouldnÂ’t be upset ive owned this car for 2 years now but its only been in my drive for 21 months and in the workshop for 3 months.The Garage who sold me this car is based on Mereyside United Kingdom & said under no circumstances would they consider a buy back. Will keep posting on here and other forums as and when things begin to happen.

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  Looks will last, not performance - 1999 Dodge Intrepid
  By ifilmlife - May 10 - 8:31 pm

  This car was bought new in 99 by my mother. The car was passed to me in 2006. Since then, every little thing went wrong. First, the car started burning oil too fast. I was putting about 3 quarts of oil in it every 2 weeks. Then the cam sensor and starter went bad, causing the car to stall. They were replaced but 5 months later the same problem arose. Soon after I was putting 3 quarts of oil every 3 days. It could not survive trips longer than 2 hrs. Tire rod problems caused tires to wear down quickly. Finally the cover to the part you put oil exploded while driving. It died at 160k miles, I will admit it was poorly maintained but still lasted 12 years.

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  2009 Caliber - 2009 Dodge Caliber
  By sm3230 - May 10 - 5:50 pm

  I bought this car with 27000 miles on it and now I have just under 52000, and the transmission went. The warranty expired at 36000, so if you are going to buy one of these cars, beware ! How dare they charge you for an extended warranty, when they know that the product they are selling is crap....

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  Electrical Issues - 2011 Dodge Charger
  By emejia - May 5 - 11:20 am

  i purchased my vehicle on 3/11/11 and on 4/9/11 i have to get vehicl towed because all of my lights started to flash they said my PCM (power control module) was defected it took weeks for the dealer to get the part mind you the passenger door handle is defected as well i finally picked up my car on 4/26/11 was excited but had to take it back the next day because my headlights would not turn on almost a month later the dealer is telling me they need to replace the BCM (body control module) which is the computer of the car i have called dodge/chrysler customer assiatant and they are no help i am now filing a lemon law and see what happens from there

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  Decent at first - 2004 Dodge Neon
  By threemopars - April 23 - 1:51 pm

  Decent little car at first but now with 60K miles on it, its becoming a nightmare. Weve had to replace (under extended warranty): Radiator (it blew mixing trans fluid and coolant together), transmission, 2 transmission solenoid packs, lower control arm bushings, radio, motor mount, coil pack, fuel pump, rear wheel cylinders and now something is clunking and popping in the front end....again.