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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  Still love the intrepid - 1998 Dodge Intrepid
  By long commute - November 16 - 10:25 am

  I bought my 1998 Intrepid ES new in 1998. After 321,000 miles I still love this car. It still runs well even though its beginning to show its age. If Dodge still made them, I would buy another without a second thought.

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  Nice Improvement from 2007 - 2008 Dodge Caliber
  By Bill - November 15 - 11:43 pm

  I bought my 08 Caliber after totaling my 07 Caliber in a deer collision. the deer actually got hit into me from a vehicle going the other way and it caused quite a bit of damage (airbags and all), nobody was hurt though. I liked my 07 so I went to the dealer and bought an 08 for about 500 dollars more. I couldnt be happier. What I lost in gas mileage (approx 5mph) I gained in comfort and ride. The 08s come with dark grey interiors which are much easier to keep clean. The 6 speed auto transmission is alot quieter. The whole car seems smoother and stabler on the road. It cruises smoothly and quiet. It handles the snow with no problems. Gas mileage was 27mph on my last tank. Great car!

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  Why change? - 1994 Dodge Caravan
  By Joe - November 15 - 3:23 pm

  I purchased this van with 53,255 miles & B-4 the 7 yr/70K was up, transmission failed. Our local dealer only offered a factory rebuilt, so I decided to have Aamco repair it & pay for repair myself, + get their "life time warrenty" as my experience with Chrysler rebuilts was not good. No more problems. This is a handi-cap van & does not handle in winds as good as my previous non-handicap van, but with the 3.8 it runs out great. Ive decided to have it re-painted, upgrade suspension, brakes & just keep driving it.

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  Great family vehicle that a Man can driv - 2001 Dodge Durango
  By bigticket42 - November 15 - 2:32 pm

  I love my Durango. My wife and I have always liked the styling of the Durangos especially over the newer ones. I have had a chance to drive it on a long trip. I averaged 16 mpg at 80 and 17 mpg at 75 mph. I thought this was good considering I have the 5.9L V8. This is fun to drive especially since there is absolutely no need for an engine that size in this SUV. The power is excessive and what make it fun. I try to take it easy because in town it gets 12 mpg. Again not bad for an engine that size. The 3 rows of seats are perfect for a family. That is the reason i bought this as we have 3 children that need to be seperated. With the 3rd row there is still good room behind the last row for stuf

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  So far so good - 2007 Dodge Caravan
  By Hepp - November 15 - 11:48 am

  I have owned over a dozen vans in my life, from every American manufacturer. This van has proven to be the most economical one. Reasonably priced to start, the gas millage is decent at 23 MPG combined city hwy, and Insurance cost are low. With 15k have had no issues except a less than smooth transmission downshift which the dealer says is normal.

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  I love my new 2016 Charger - 2016 Dodge Charger
  By Walter Menendez - November 14 - 11:43 pm

  I love this car. I bought the SXT with the blacktop package in granite pearlcoat color and love it. Its roomy for my kids and they love the car too. I was really surprised how good this car is on gas considering its a V6 with plenty of power. The rebates were good. Im very happy with my purchase.

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  Should have asked a driver part 3 - 2009 Dodge Journey
  By Acajin - November 14 - 4:10 pm

  Well here it is March 24th 2010. Ive now had this vehicle for 15 months. It has 34,000 km on it and I still love this car. I had to change the brakes at 30,000 km but I got the repair shop to install aftermarket ceramic pads. This winter the power steering hose busted (twice) it was -26c when this happened and the dealer told me that it was due to the cold weather thickening the power steering fluid. The hoses are made cheap and they cant take the extra pressure. Warranty covered the problem. Get this, the best mileage I could get driving 100 kph on a flat road was 7.2 L/100 km, awesome! I usually average about 8.3 L/100 km (34 imp. mpg) on the highway and 10.5 L/100 km in the city.

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  Don t Settle For Less - 2004 Dodge Viper
  By slypops - November 14 - 9:52 am

  My oldest son traded an 07 Corvette for this car as he trades cars every few months. No problem. But he sold this car to me way under book just to keep in the family. I had no problem watching the Vette go (and the others) but down deep I knew this car was not leaving. If you didnt have a Shelby Cobra back when, (I didn t, but did have a college roommate with a hi po Ford in a Sunbeam tiger in 1970) this car is your passport to that feeling. And there are not many passports issued. I have a 1970 440 Challenger and I love the exhaust, but its not the same.

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  Another Caravan! - 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By Sal - November 14 - 1:36 am

  This is our 3rd (1990, 1998) Chrysler minivan and by far the best. We love the quad seating, the video system, sound system, and driveability. We were initially concerned with the transmission as it "shuddered" between 1st and 2nd gear but have taken it to two seperate dealerships and we were assured that this was normal. Something about the transmission having a built in memory to the primary drivers driving habits. My wife is now the primary driver and we havent noticied the "shudder" effect as often. This van was purchased used from a dealership that acquired it from a rental company.

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  Good while it lasted. - 2001 Dodge Stratus
  By Anomaly21 - November 13 - 10:58 pm

  This car (the coupe) is just a Mitsubishi Eclipse with a different outer body. Its fun to drive and I still got complements even though its an 01. I traded it about a month ago with 80K miles. The transmission went without any warning whatsoever, the interior was falling apart (dash cracking in sun, door handle breaking) and paint on the door was chipping. This was upseting because I felt like I was fighting a loosing battle in tring to keep it nice, by the end it looked like I treated it like crap which was not the case. It was fun to drive with good performance from the Eclipse 3.0 200hp v6. It however kind of stunk in the winter even though it was front wheel drive and had decent tires.