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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  I like this Durango more than my last - 2014 Dodge Durango
  By D Calvert - December 6 - 5:19 pm

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  Viper RT/10 - 1994 Dodge Viper
  By Joey - December 5 - 1:06 pm

  Only buy if youre looking for a fast, collectable, low production number vehicle. This is a bare bones street legal race car! Enjoy!

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  Great car fun toy - 2015 Dodge Challenger
  By Danny Milillo - December 5 - 7:38 am

  Hats off Dodge this car is just fun to drive and looks great mine may not be a Hellcat or R/T its still has that 70 s fun factor with modern ride and handling . Great car thanks Dodge.

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  rt classic auto - 2014 Dodge Challenger
  By t grobsmith - December 4 - 11:57 am

  Have owned my RT classic for three years and have over 9,000 miles on it. The car is great looking black with red side stripe. Rides very comfortably and I average 27 mpg highway at 70 to75 mph. The 5.7 motor also runs on regular gas as apposed to the larger motors that require premium gas. The interior is very good quality, red and black leather. The dash board some complain about being out dated, but looks similar to the original 70s. As I wanted to stay looking like the 70 challenger I went with the classic with the polished mags , and dont mind the older style dash. Car runs great goes when you want it to and can be used as a every day driver. Only complaint is the exhaust isnt load enough.

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  Awesome, reliable car! - 2001 Dodge Stratus
  By Dave - December 1 - 8:09 pm

  This car has been awesome. Bought it 8 years ago with 99,000 miles. It now has 186,00 miles on. Unfortunately, it is now hit the end of the road. Motor and tranny are still strong, but as a northern car previously, it is rusting out. Sad to see it go. Love this car. It has been so reliable. Very little maintenance. Replaced the rear brake calibers and emergency brake cable after we got it. That was the most work we put into it. Will probably replace it with another Stratus.

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  Love that RT - 2002 Dodge Durango
  By Wobe2002 - November 30 - 5:21 am

  Bought it in 2011 w/ 56,000 miles on it, never needed more than regular maintenance on it. Gas mileage leaves a lot to be desired but hey, its a 5.9 L V8, what really do you expect? Inside and out its a real looker w/ great performance. Luxury inside and out. Great safety rating as I can attest to, not much can be said for the Toyota Corolla. Still drive it today as a daily driver w/ absolutely no problems up steep hills in deep snow, also no problems pulling a 33 camper up steep hills. All around great vehicle as many other 4x4s will tell you after being pulled out of the snow.

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  Durango R/T AWD does everything! - 2015 Dodge Durango
  By Patrick Krook - November 29 - 1:38 am

  We were looking for a family hauler that had a luxury sport presence, also fitting to drive clients around in. This beauty does it all. Handled the 16" blizzard with gusto in regular AWD or 4Lo. Electronics are intuitive, and can be customized to your liking, from full on "nanny" to utterly silent. Handles two iPhones in the car at the same time without issue, Bluetooth phone or USB media input. Built in Detroit, fit and finish rivals anything out of Germany or Japan. Looked at an Audi Q7, cost $10k more equally equipped and the regular maintenance would be four times as much. Ill update this as well continue to drive and enjoy!

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  My Journey - 2011 Dodge Journey
  By Nicole Retzlaff - November 26 - 11:17 pm

  I absloutely love my journey. I have taken it on road trips and the gas mileage is way better then what the sheet says. Highway I am averaging 30.8 mpg, and the city is 23.3 mpg. I had a 2011 Chrysler 200 and I would not change purchasing my car. I have a Great Dane, Rottweiler and Border Collie...all three fit with ample amounts of room compared to my 200. Awesome storage for their toys, food and water. Love this car!!!

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  2003 Dodge Stratus RT 5 speed - 2003 Dodge Stratus
  By Sean - November 21 - 10:26 am

  I love this car which I purchased used with around 19k miles in 2005 for about $14k. Ten years later with 196529 Miles its still purring. Replaced clutch only once few thousand miles ago and little to no repairs... mostly just usual and simple maintenence. This car is simple as it has no ABS or any high tech which I actually prefer I have a removable gps and CD player with blutooth which is all I need no expensive electronics to break and worry about spending lots of money on. The dashboard has curled up years ago from sun exposure but whatever... No big deal anymore. My suspension went and its a rough ride and rattles and shakes on rough roads, as something went, but I cant exactly pin it down and its not in my opinion worth the money or headache to repair. I can deal with it as I have gotten used to it and its not that bad. Ive had this car ten years @ one third of my life so that says a lot about how much I like the car, its dependability and me not wanting to buy another as I purchased it in full @ about $14k and never had car payments... Who wants car payments? Also, the cloth driver seat is in rough shape but that is to be expected with all these Miles. It burns a some oil too which is pretty typical for an old car with this many miles not worth fixing now as Ill just cheap oil. I drive this car for work very hard and with this manual transmission Ive never had any real issues, repairs or anything go wrong which would go wrong with an automatic. Im forever staying with manual transmissions. Great vehicle

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  Dakota Quad Cab 2002 (oldie but goodie) - 2002 Dodge Dakota
  By Rick T - November 19 - 8:59 pm

  I bought my truck brand new back in 2002. I looked at other trucks including the F150, but it would not fit in the garage. The Dakota is smaller but has the V-8 (4.7) that can handle most anything. Its a great truck and I have had very little problems.