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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  No Snow Tires available for SXT - 2010 Dodge Journey
  By Now snow tires - November 17 - 2:00 am

  Snow Tires are not available for SXT by any tire manufacturer. The car is a good design and handles the road well. I have driven 45,000 miles on the car, had to change out tires, brakes, rotors and radio along with routine maintenance. The seats are very uncomfortable, the foam is compressed after just 18 months of use.

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  Recall your Brakes/Rotors Chrysler - 2009 Dodge Journey
  By Looking elsewhere - November 5 - 2:00 am

  After 31,000 miles we had to spend $450 on new front and back brakes/rotors. We certainly did not buy mopar parts again as they always fail and are cheap. Review after review and dealership after dealership have complained about this problem. There is even a lawsuit in California against Chrysler for these brake and rotor problems. When is Chrysler going to take responsibility? I have been a Jeep/Dodge person for 33 years and will look elsewhere for my vehicles due to the fact that Chrysler uses shoddy materials and expects their customers to just deal with it. Your customers should not have to pay $250 to upgrade their gps or $267.00/tire for your 19" rims on your r/ts. How sad!

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  Brake Problems! - 2009 Dodge Journey
  By Shawn Kelly - November 5 - 2:00 am

  Im now on my 3rd set of Pads, Rotors and Calibers. The dealer I purchased it at did nothing. I had to go to a garage for my second set of brakes. The 3rd set was done at another Chrysler dealer. They were nice enough to only charge me $250 for all 4. I called HQ. Chrysler will do nothing about it and Im so disappointed that I donÂ’t want the car anymore! I didnt even get a sorry, nothing but the tool on the other line being defensive. This is my first and last Chrysler product. Basically the "tool" told me to go to the dealership every 11,000 miles to have them changed out and pay the warranty. Nice customer service! If they keep this up its going to be the "Big 2"!

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  It grows on you - 2010 Dodge Nitro
  By Marine - October 26 - 2:00 am

  Our Jeep Commander was blown up by a dealership error (we think) and we were offered to opportunity to purchase a replacement vehicle with the dealership absorbing a great deal of the upside down ratio on the Jeep. The Nitro took about 1600 miles to break in, I was getting worried. Now it has settled down. I drive in the mountains of Colorado and the gearing on the Nitro is great for climbing the hills without downshifting. The mileage is awful - my RAM 1500 gets better mileage. The vehicle is cute and pugnacious looking, gets around parking lots well, has a smooth ride on the 17 inch tires (20s were rough). Its growing on me. My buyers remorse is fading away.

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  Not happy about my neon! - 2005 Dodge Neon
  By unhappy in ohio - October 23 - 2:00 am

  I bought the car new in 2005 and only have 46,000 miles on it 5 years later. I have had to have the front control arm bushings replaced 4 times now. The first time I only had 15,000 miles on the car. It would stall out in the middle of traffic and the highway at 20,000 miles. Had it in three times before they could figure out why. I bought the extended warranty but the only thing that has helped with is a loaner while it is being repaired: ( I have had to pay for labor out of pocket even though the parts were covered. I now have a problem with a seal in the rear drivers door. It fills with water every time it rains. I will not purchase another Dodge vehicle.

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  Time to Trade - 2002 Dodge Durango
  By Mr. John Lennon - October 21 - 2:00 am

  I like the sport car type driving this Rango has, I removed the Du on the back. I have not had the problems that everyone has noted. 73k I do all the maintenance. Because of the 5.9 slug blogs I used a produce called Auto RX. I just removed the valve cover today 10/21/10 very clean. But because of the comments on transmission problems I am thinking of something else and not a Dodge. Murphy might be just around the corner because of this post. I might chop it up and call it ART, or have a fund raiser shoot out. All in the name of Government Bailout. Now you got me going.

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  GPS will cost you! - 2009 Dodge Journey
  By Give me my Liberty!! - October 20 - 2:00 am

  It is not made known to you up front, but it will cost $250.00 to update your GPS. After 1.5 years, my GPS begins to flash signs at me stating "Map Location Unknown". Funny, it is my home location and it recognized it for a long time. Finally, dealerships do not even know how to direct you in getting it updated. I had to call around.

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  Problems with 2008 - 2008 Dodge Caliber
  By Dawn - October 19 - 2:00 am

  We have not had a good experience with our 2008 Caliber. We were told it had air-conditioning and told the salesman how important it was we had air- conditioning in California. Didnt have it. Now the Clutch Cylinder has went out twice since we have purchased it.We have only had this car not even 2 years and what a problem..The cheap plastic features inside are falling of and scratch so easy. Will never by another Dodge due to the problems we have had and the dealers not helping with the Air conditioner problems. We could put one in ourselves for $ 2,000 And the salesman admitted telling us it had air!!we signed the papers and thats how we were treated. Oh they would trade it but for $8,000.

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  Its a dodge - 2008 Dodge Avenger
  By rich - October 19 - 2:00 am

  i like the looks of the car but thats about as far as it goes. with 112,000 on the 2 struts, 2 rotors, 5 sets of brakes 2 crank shaft sensors the paint bubbling across the hood and chipping in front of the rear wheels, windows make a terrible noise when going up, tranny is terrible it shutters between 1st and 2nd which they say is normal. this only the start to a poorly designed car. not a good choice for a high mileage car.

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  Beware buying Dodge - 2005 Dodge Stratus
  By dld06981 - October 13 - 2:00 am

  Ive been recently looking up the paint that Dodge/Chrysler uses to paint their vehicles and it seems that there is a pretty good shot that you will have paint bubbling and/or fading. My black car got so bad with the Gray spots that I finally took a can of black spray paint and filled in the spots. It looks bad now but not as terrible as it was. When I asked my dealership to fix the problem they said it was my problem, that the vehicle had to be buffed out. What a joke, it seems like this error in paint happens all the time with this company. They are aware of their faulty paint and continually use it the most recent vehicle I read about with this problem was a 2008. Please beware when buying Dodge