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 idea I would ever puchase a Dodge..but this SUV is incredible - 2014 Dodge Durango
  By mad_cuban - March 6 - 12:14 pm

  Been buying Japanese cars for decades - and when the wifes Honda Pilot was ready to be traded in - assumed we would just go with a Pilot. Unfortunately the Pilots reviews kept talking about the EVO vibration that quite honestly was a deal killer for me - not to mention it is due for a refresh. When looking for 3 row SUVs, we tried a few of them - GMC Acadia, Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota Highlander and the Pilot. None of them came close in terms of looks, styling, functionality and muscle. Of course I am concerned about the long term reliability, but this model seems to have been greatly improved since being introduced, and reliability has been decent with the 2011 and up models.

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  200,200 and Keeps Going - 2001 Dodge Dakota
  By nmtbaron - March 5 - 9:09 pm

  I own a 2001 Dakota Sport crew cab V8 4.7 all wheel drive truck with 200,200 as of 3/5/14. Its such a great truck! Its a champ in the snow and sand. Most of my driving is city and highway. I change the oil every 4000 miles using 10w-40. Past repairs were minor. Truck gets 16 mpg with a performance kn air intake kit (highly recommend!). I was getting 13 mpg before installing the kit. Im gonna drive it into the ground. Grey paint still looks great.

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  Citadale v8 Hemi - 2014 Dodge Durango
  By lsountris - March 3 - 9:53 am

  Love it! It is fun to dive rides nice looks very nice inside & out totally different from the older version. the captains seats in the second row are great comfort. The navigation is a nice touch with a big screen! stereo system is awsome dont need to add extra to it. the only bad thing I can say about this is the fuel miliage but what do you expect with a HEMI! I love it.

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  Value olus bells & whistles - 2013 Dodge Journey
  By janner1001 - March 2 - 6:16 pm

  I decided to get down to 1 vehicle. Got rid of a 2012 Malibu fully loaded and a 2006 Honda Element AWD. I wanted all the comforts of the Malibu and the space and AWD of the Honda. I narrowed down between Edge and Journey. For the price (and I get supplier discount for either), the Journey gave me more bang for the buck. dealer gave me a heck of a deal on a new Black version. Not a fan until I had them paint the calipers red. Only issue was the brake switch went out on a rear taillight. It stayed on or came on for no reason. It has done well this winter. I have been very satisfied as a driver. Passengers are not as comfortable in the front passenger seat.

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  Great car for the price - 2012 Dodge Avenger
  By bv41706 - March 1 - 9:14 pm

  Bought mine new with 3 miles on it in 2012 and have loved every minute driving it. I have a long drive to work and take business trips from time to time and if I leave it in cruise control on the highway set between 65-70 mph, i have gotten 36+mpg average on the highway. I have had trouble getting it to start in the cold, but only the one day when the temp here in NY dropped to -20 overnight and i realized that it was because i had left something plugged in and have had no trouble since. I have had no problems with it and i just today turned 48k miles on it and it still drives like the day i bought it. no problems whatsoever.

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  2000 Dodge Neon - 2000 Dodge Neon
  By leviathaan - February 27 - 10:46 am

  I bought my 2000 Dodge Neon automatic with 40,000 miles on it, it currently has 259,000. No real issues, replaced all 4 struts, rotors and 1 battery in the 7 years Ive owned it. It has a slight tick in the engine, but other than that nothing wrong with this one, even after hearing all the horror stories, mine is still going. It still gets 30mpg in both the summer and winter.

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  Great Concept. Bad build. Too heavy and sluggish. - 2008 Dodge Dakota
  By nclemons1985 - February 26 - 2:24 am

  I Loved Dakotas. I owned a 94 4WD 3.9L V6 Dakota. Really fun to drive. Great size. In 2004 I purchased a 2000 4.7L V8 4WD Dakota. I recently sold it with 170,000 miles. It still ran great. My favorite year for Dakotas. Last year I purchased a 2008 4WD Dakota with the 4.7L. I traded it in 4 months later for a new RAM. They upgraded the 4.7L to 302 hp yet it is slower than my 00 Dakota. The 08 is to heavy. Defeats the purpose of mid size or small size truck. The ground clearance is too low. The 4WD is stiff in addition the turning radius in 4WD is as bad as I have ever experienced in a truck. The truck is almost unbearable to drive off road. The suspension is too weak to carry the weight

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  Great fit for us - 2013 Dodge Journey
  By tshoe - February 22 - 5:48 pm

  We have had our Journey for 1 year now and it is perfect for us. Compared to Terrain and Sante Fe and Rav4 when we were shopping new and used. This size (need to fit 2 vehicles in 2 car garage), options and value were our reasons we bought it new. $7000 off MSRP! Rides smooth, accelerates quickly although transmission can be clunky and/or unsure of it self at times. Gas Mileage is as advertised 16-17 city, 23-24 Hwy. Wife loves deep red metalic color.

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  Think again before buying this nightmare - 2004 Dodge Stratus
  By estella2 - February 19 - 9:16 pm

  Dodge Stratus SE V6 2.7L. Bought this car in 2004 and within two years it needed a new transmission and battery. The battery is difficult to change yourself because its placed behind the driverside tire underneath the panel. The "recommended spark plugs" not so good, causes to many misfires. The anti-freeze reservior is of poor quality and needed replacing because it started to melt with the recommended antifreeze. The fule filter needed replacing twice. Very poor performance driving this car uphill not a lot of power uphill. With all the problems I had with this car I will never buy another dodge vehicle again.

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  2013 Dodge Dart 1.4 turbo - 2013 Dodge Dart
  By lauras6 - February 19 - 12:27 am

  I have had the car for a year now and have out over 27,000 miles on it. At 15K the transmission stopped working. Took it to the shop and they fixed it. At 16K the transmission quit again. Again the fixed it. No problems with the tranny since but the shifting is not as smooth. At 20K the centre console went black. Car ran drove fine but could not change anything, which was not fun since the defrosters were on HI. They reset the module and it has been fine since. Overall I really like the car but I think there are going to be a lot of problems with it. Thank goodness I bought the lifetime warranty on it, I think im gonna need it.