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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  Unhappy - 2009 Dodge Journey
  By andres - September 20 - 2:00 am

  My Dodge Journey is a Lemon. The car has been idle for about 3 months now with no clear explanation as to what is wrong with it. It appears that all the electrical components in the car do not work. I am very disappointed with my first American car, although I was warned to be careful. I learned my lesson. Make sure you take care of everything prior to your warranty expiring, if not you will be paying dearly for unnecessary items that the dealer will tell "it is normal". File your complaints now and protect yourself.

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  Read Editors Review - 2010 Dodge Challenger
  By Rock12 - September 17 - 2:00 am

  Please read the Editors review. The editors are spot on! I dont hate my Challenger but I should of went another route, Poor performance, Very Uncomfortable interior,Blind spots,Very slow acceleration,rust underneath already and car is 2010 has seen no Winter,Water gets trapped under the spoiler,arm rest is too far back, (it slides forward but feels really cheap that way like it could break). Not a very well built car I smell plastic or something burning every time I pull in my garage

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  Real - 2010 Dodge Challenger
  By Johnathen - September 14 - 2:00 am

  When you buy something you always think you got the Best! This is not the case the Interior is very uncomfortable the gas and brake pedals are too far to the left your hip will kill you after a drive,the radio with the touch screen can not be seen in daylight, No power at all a lot of blind spots. and seems to have the usual Dodge Quality IMHO really look around at others and drive them all I would say 1. mustang 2. Camaro 3.Genesis 4. Challenger

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  Looks ok, but drives bad - 2010 Dodge Caliber
  By tylda - September 13 - 2:00 am

  I dont own the car, but Im renting a brand new vehicle from Enterprise with less then 1000 miles on it while my primary daily driver is in the body shop. Caliber has a poor finish. It looks alright, but the car is poorly assembled. Its noisy, the gearbox is lame, there is glue coming out of a shift lever. The rear hatch has to be slammed in order to close it and the passenger door is out of alignment.

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  Car broke with 300 miles already - 2010 Dodge Caliber
  By norm - September 8 - 7:03 pm

  Bought new caliber on Sunday the first Thursday it broke down had it towed to dealer they told me it was battery they charged it and said it was fixed picked it up Friday drove car to store Monday dead again took back to dealer says they cant find anything wrong so come and get it. I dont know what to do?

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  3 Years of Misery, Ready for trade in - 2007 Dodge Caliber
  By Jackie - September 7 - 6:10 pm

  Things wrong since 06/22/07 to 9/7/10. 1. Four sets of tires (awd is eating them) 2. Sunroof replaced (still having closing issues) 3. Rims replaced (clear coat peeled off, second set too) 4. Both front lower ball joints replaced. 5. Front speakers replaced. 6. Passenger side door doesnt unlock when cold 7. The emission light is on now, car bucks 8. My left headlight blew out. Replaced and it blew out again. The horn wont honk when you lock it anymore and the doors wont auto lock at 30 now either. I now have to take this car to the dealer and pay out my rear to fix this with my warranty now over. Fix it then get rid of it. I always kept up-to date tune ups too :( DONT BUY THIS CAR!

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  Dodge Journey - 2009 Dodge Journey
  By Dodge sucks - September 3 - 11:22 am

  I also have they same complaint as everyone else does. I bought this car because it looked like a nice family car with the 3rd row seats. I purchased it 6 mos. ago and absolutely hate it! The air conditioner smells like toxic glue, The breaks squeal took it to a break shops,they said that Dodge puts cheap breaks on their cars and I need new pads. Air conditioner is making a rattling sound along with suspension problems every time I hit a bump it grunts. Just yesterday my car would not move into gear it just froze and would not budge. I never owned a Dodge until now and never again! I think they made this car just to keep the auto mechanics busy. Dodge you lost my business and respect.

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  Should of bought a Ford - 2009 Dodge Journey
  By 2009 Dodge Journey R - September 1 - 4:00 pm

  I have had nothing but problems with my Journey. It shakes when I stop. I had to have new rotors at 10,000 miles now at 20,000 its doing the same thing. The front end makes loud noises when I back out of my driveway. About once a week everything in the car shuts down and I have to restart it. It makes a humming noise when in idol. I am so tired of taking it to the dealer. I asked them if others have had problems and they tell me no. Someone told me it was one of the first Journeys off of the assembly line and thats why Im having so many problems. I have 21,000 miles on it and I want to get rid of it. "My Dodge Journey is a LEMON!"

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  Cheap Vehicle that Dodge wont repair - 2007 Dodge Caliber
  By puddles72 - August 31 - 12:57 am

  We bought our caliber sxt in August of 2007. Not overly impressive in performance and ride. Recently, weve been having having problems with the electrical system. First time (8/27/10) the car died (and the first trip to barnett White bear Dodge), the Dodge "technician" (no joke, thats what they were identified as) claimed it was fine and sent it home. The second time (8/28/10) the car died, we were asked to have it towed in to be repaired. The technician proclaimed it battery failure and couldnt possibly be anything with the electrical system. They didnt bother to check that out and werent about to based on our concerns about the cars problems. They claim that model is a "great" one. Its still crap.

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  Dont buy this car - 2007 Dodge Caliber
  By TonyK - August 28 - 8:57 pm

  From day one we weve had trouble with this car. We probably spent several hundreds over the past 3 years getting it to pass emissions. recently the the transmission went out, theres another $4500 for a car thats less than 4 years old. we sold it to the dealer for $8500, and paid close $20,000 for it. it depreciated faster than any other car weve had.