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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  WORST CAR I HAVE EVER BOUGHT!! - 2002 Dodge Stratus
  By Marjorie Crawford - February 20 - 4:11 pm

  I bought this car used with 150,000 8 weeks ago. A week after I bought it, the check oil light came on. I took it to the shop and the oil pan was stripped and the transmission was leaking. The warranty covered a rebuilt transmission and new oil pan. The dealership had it for 3 weeks to do the repairs. Now 2 weeks after I get it back, the heat in the car goes out and it is only blowing cold air. I take it back to the dealership and they tell me it will take them a week to run diagnostics on it. I bought this car 8 weeks ago and have nothing but repairs. DO NOT buy this car!!!

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  Dart Limited - 2014 Dodge Dart
  By horsey55 - February 6 - 11:32 pm

  The Limited model is the one to go to if you have any reservations about this car comparing to the luxo Euro entry models.It offers all of the amenities of many of the higher end compacts, at a lower price point,and is a joy to drive.

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  Junk - 2012 Dodge Durango
  By summer40 - February 6 - 8:34 am

  Please review recalls on this vehicle prior to purchasing. I only had Durango for year and 1/2 and happily got rid of it yesterday. Within short time 2 recalls. Alternator problems still without permanent fix. This is by far the worst vehicle I have ever owned. Panel behind passenger door handle fell off. Trim around gear loose. Terrible blind spots. Against policy to offer customers rental cars when you are having recall work done. If you are considering the Durango just look up the recalls and see that there is still no resolution. Had new alternator put in and with weeks Durango is making noise and starting to vibrate.

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  Unstoppable - 1996 Dodge Dakota
  By kile95 - February 5 - 10:05 pm

  My dad bought this truck for 500$ in 2004. He daily drove it everyday to Orlando and back loading it with miles. When I got my liscence in 2011 he gave it to me. By the time he gave it to me the truck had 380k miles on it. 380k!!. I daily drove it to school and back until April 2013. When I got rid of it, it had 420k miles on and still going strong. Oh and the whole time me and my dad owned it the only things we did to it was change a clutch and a throttle positioning sensor!! We took great care of the truck though. Oil change every 3k miles. But I gave the truck to my uncle and its his daily driver to this day. He just drove it to Michigan and back twice. Starts right up 1st time every time

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  Less than 300 miles and trouble already - 2015 Dodge Dart
  By gwilliam1590 - February 4 - 10:10 am

  We purchased our Dodge Dart with 23 miles on it, with 250 miles on it in the shop with service engine light on and 2 error codes on the transmission. If we have trouble with it with this few miles how reliable would it be in the long run?Last time I will ever buy a Dodge product.

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  Not impressed... - 2014 Dodge Durango
  By zoomzoomn - February 4 - 9:07 am

  We bought our Durango at the end of November. A week later the transmission cooler lines popped off while I was 2 hours from home leaving me stranded in an intersection. It took almost 2 weeks to get the car back at which time we found the underside still covered in ATF! Since then we have had problems with the following: alignment off, trash in paint, sunroof misadjusted, keyless entry memory inop, autoclimate malfunctions, audio system malfunctions and now the left rear window will not raise back up and appears to be off track. This is the worst "new car" that I have ever bought. We had planned to keep it for at least 6 years, but not too sure that will happen. Extremely disappointed!!!

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  Pros vs Cons - 2001 Dodge Dakota
  By jhtet101 - February 4 - 9:05 am

  My spouse and I have own ours since 2009: Pros: - Since we purchased a quad cab: Carries family and big items at the same time not a lot of trips - Super comfortable - great back up car - powerful - sturdy frame Cons: - Since owning it, we have fixed both front calibers (I believe driver side twice within wk apart), all the window gears more than one time, some of hydraulic metal lines (almost caught on fire), now has a burning smell again, also our fuel gauge never worked correctly - we dont get 19 highway miles or 16 city miles, we get maybe 8, about 54 miles per a tank. Thought we have fixed somethings multiple times, I do still like it.

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  I liked my Nitro a lot ... LIKED it a lot - 2011 Dodge Nitro
  By northcoast19 - February 3 - 7:46 pm

  I bought a 2011 Dodge Nitro Heat 3.7 4x4 in January of 2011, and traded it in for a 2014 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk in March of 2014. Over that time, I put $65,000 miles on the Nitro as I drove it extensively for work. I never had a single problem with the vehicle and never had it in the shop other than routine maintenance. The Nitro was a cool SUV, but it was from a past decade. It just felt like a vehicle designed in the 90s that they had stored away and rolled out in the 2000s. The shifting was horrendously rough to the point where it felt like I ran something over when it would shift during acceleration. There was no 4 wheel low, and the 20" rims on a 4x4 SUV was a joke.

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  Good car for a Good price - 2013 Dodge Dart
  By jbrown33 - February 3 - 5:42 pm

  This was my first brand new car and I must say I am rather pleased at how it has held up in the past year. I read so many bad reviews about this car but i must say i have very little to no issues and ive put the poor thing through the ringer in the past year adding 45000km. I lived in northern mb for my first winter with the car and was a little concerned about how it would hold up in -40C weather but it did great. I never had trouble starting it. The only issue i had was hose claps kept cracking in the cold causing me to leak coolant, which resulted in my engine over heating but thats about it. I love the way the car drives and handles it has such a solid feel to it, not cheap or rattly

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  Fun and reliable great priced car - 2013 Dodge Avenger
  By av8tore71 - January 31 - 6:02 pm

  Fast fun and a delight to drive