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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  Great Car - 1999 Dodge Intrepid
  By Steve12367 - October 21 - 2:00 am

  Great highway car. Great cruiser

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  Still going - 1999 Dodge Caravan
  By PizzaMan - October 21 - 2:00 am

  Bought used one year ago with 94,000 mile. Now has 119,000 and still runs great. Gets 22MPG, not great but acceptable. Spent $600 on maintenence (brakes and transmission) but that is to be expected for vehicle with that many miles.

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  love my 2005 grand caravan! - 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By jewelexpert52 - October 20 - 7:04 pm

  I bought my Grand Caravan new in 2004. I had already drive 2 other caravans but this one is by far the best. I started at 2000 miles and now have almost 150,000 miles on it. I havent had to put any money into this van except regular maintenance (brakes, tires, serpentine belt at 100,000 miles etc.). I have taken it on several road trips to Florida, Georgia, and New York and it is very comfortable. (Even slept overnite in it for camping). Can transport large items and fill it up with camping supplies plus 4 passengers! The mileage was good for a larger vehicle and I am looking for a smaller vehicle only because I dont need a minivan anymore and could use higher gas mileage savings.

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  A great car for the money! - 2007 Dodge Caliber
  By Infinity - October 20 - 10:56 am

  I have had my Caliber SXT for 3 months and 8000 miles now. I get lots of comments on its looks, and the aluminum rims really add to it. Keeping in mind the price, we love it! The musicgate sound system has amazing bass and power. It has a very smooth ride for a "small car". When stopped, we can not even feel the engine running, as there is no miss or vibration! The chilled glove box is a nice feature. The gas mileage has not been what I hoped for at around 24mpg with a lot of highway miles, but it has been winter driving. Winter handling has been impressive so far. I highly recommend the Caliber to anyone looking for a new car in the mid/upper teens price range.

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  Great V6 but gas mileage is hard to obtain - 2017 Dodge Challenger
  By Derek Abbring - October 20 - 10:25 am

  I leased a 2017 Dodge Challenger SXT. I wanted a challenger for many reasons but ultimately I was turned on by the 30mpg claim. However, the only time I am able to get 30mpg is on the highway going down a hill. I tried driving like a grandma for a day, super slow take offs and using several miles to accelerate to top speed but the best the computer showed was 25mpg. And, thats terrible to drive like that, its way to slow and people were constantly going around me which indicated it was slower than a normal person would drive. I have the high gloss black 20" rims and the car has the 3.07 gears so maybe thats whats doing it but thats doubtful because at 70mph Im under 2k RPMs and the instant tells me 22mpg. So I dont know how they made that claim for 550 miles to the tankful but I have 500 miles on the car and have had to fill up twice already. It leaves me wondering if I should of just got the R/T if I am going to get this bad of gas mileage but the dealership I went to didnt have an R/T on the lot. Next gripe was the GPS. Sure it works as it should but its not Google (yes you can hook google up from your phone). The stock GPS sent me on a 4.5 hour drive to get somewhere thats only 1 hour away. I have no idea why it keeps telling me to get off the highway and then immediately get back on, it makes no sense. So now I plug my phone in and only use Google GPS. As far as driving it goes, it rides smooth and you cant feel it shifting which is pleasant. Road nose is at a minimum. Acceleration is what you would expect from a 3.6L, no big surprises there. The trunk is huge, back seats are roomy. As far as looking out of the car for blind-spots and other things, your visibility is great and I dont feel like there are any real danger zones around it. It is a big car but the only time it feels big is when I have to park it in a tight space, other than that it handles great and is a lot of fun to drive. Overall, I wished I would of got the R/T for the extra power but I am happy with the lease and will more than likely turn it in for the R/T at the end of this 3 year lease.

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  Daves Thoughts - 2002 Dodge Stratus
  By 4Pammi - October 20 - 2:00 am

  I bought thisd car for my wife. She test drove 13 vehicles from all different manufacturers and chose this car. She loves it and is very happy with it. She gets many compliments, and is very proud of her Stratus R/T.

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  good car - 2003 Dodge Viper
  By scottsman - October 19 - 2:00 am

  its one of the best cars i have ever had!!! its fast... it turns good ... i love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  Watch out for the Fuel Rail - 1997 Dodge Intrepid
  By Ken Swartfager - October 19 - 2:00 am

  We have enjoyed our 1997 used car Intrepid very much.But after about two years we noticed there was a problem we had to fill it up every week.! There seemed to be a fuel leek. We brought it to our Mech. after working on it for two days,he called the Dodge Dealer, they admitted there was a national recall on the"Fuel Rail" as they are having a problems. They fixed it w/no charge. We had never recieved any notice of such a problem. Our mechanic said it could have caught on fire and was very dangerous to drive. Its fine now, although we dont get the mialage we did before, but we still love our car. Havnt had any other magor problems than that, so we feel lucky.

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  First Dodge - Will not be the last! - 2001 Dodge Stratus
  By fitter - October 19 - 2:00 am

  Main use is trips to the stores - all within 1 mile. A trip to relatives is every speed from 25 to 65 in 45 minutes. Recently took midwest to east coast trip. The 4 banger had to work a little, but the tranny made up for it. Short HP was evident in the mountains (had rented a Stratus two years ago for same trip - had 6cyl with plenty of power). If I outlast this one, I will buy another.

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  Love our Durango - 2004 Dodge Durango
  By Temple-Morris - October 19 - 2:00 am

  We had a 2002 R/T and loved driving it...only dissapointment was we could not have a sun roof. Welcome to 2004. The options available are so nice. The ride is far more comfortable (if that was possible) and it looks great!