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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  HORRID - 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By horrid - September 19 - 11:03 am

  I have went round and round with the dealership and Dodge manufacturing. My van sqeals during the winter, the brakes are horrible, and the transmission is horrible. Two different times I put my car into park (yes I made sure it was in park) and it started rolling and my brakes would not work. My daugher was terrified! The first winter I had this van it was fine, the second winter it started sqealing very loud; you could hear it from inside. My stransmission jerks all of the time and when at a stop my car rattles like it is going to die. Just so you know, I get my car serviced every few months. I have had it in the shop, but they saythey are aware of the issues but not recalls until resolutio

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  Take it to the Junk Yard - 1996 Dodge Avenger
  By JO - September 16 - 6:43 pm

  Bought the car new, hated it within 2 years, I finally had enough after 9.5 years and only 70,000 miles. Repalced tranny after 3 years and 30,000, it is going again. O2 sensor light on constantly for past 4 years, replaced virtualy every sensor including $600 part of manifold. Pieces of the door panel starting breaking off 2 years ago. Struts, ball joints and bushings gone at 50,000. Rack and Pinion gone at 60,000. Final straw, the control arm snapped, droping the car, mechanic suggested getting rid of car quickly, it is literally rotting away.

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  Dont buy it! - 2005 Dodge Dakota
  By Dave - September 15 - 1:07 am

  Can we say Lemon? I have never felt a worse vibration in my life. After 27 days in service and five attempts to fix, the dealership said "they all do it". DaimlerChrysler has agreed to give me full purchase price back and is allowing me to carry my rebates over to an 06 Chrysler 300. I wanted a mid-sized truck, but I am giving up. If you do buy, be prepared to vibrate. Some are worse than others, but we drove six new ones on the lot and they all did it to some extent. Mine was the worst the service department had seen, but they have had several others return with the same problem. They think it is the frame design but who knows.

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  SE plus power train - 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By SEPlus - September 3 - 10:00 am

  I bought a SE plus 2005 Grand caravan vehicle couple of months back. Initially vehicle was good but now it is not that great. Currently I have about 3000 miles only. Getting a rattle noise from engine(started around 1500 miles), checked with dealer couple of times but they claim it is normal for this powertrain. Dealers are not ready to write anything about the design flaw. Dealership Mechanics agree that it is an issue with 2005 models, but they refuse to give in writing.I am posting here as it might help the ones who is planning to buy one. I would strongly caution them.

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  Many small problems - 2000 Dodge Stratus
  By FuzzyDolly - August 28 - 11:22 am

  When I bought this car in 2000, I was upgrading from a 95 base Neon. At the time I thought I was making a smart decision, guess I was wrong. Although there have not been any major problems with the car, there have been many small ongoing problems. In 5 years, Ive put 39k miles on it, and am on my 4th set of brakes and rotors. In the last year, my hood has rusted through, and the bushings AND bearings have gone. In 5 years, Ive also had to replace the engine mounts TWICE. With the cruise set at 65, I get 20 MPG. In suburb driving, I get 16-17. Expected better mileage. Dealer said this is all normal wear. Funny, never had these problems with any other car. Wish it had Intrepids reliability.

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  Nothing but problems - 2007 Dodge Caliber
  By No more Dodge - August 23 - 7:26 am

  We bought the car brand new, looked cool and had good gas mileage. With in the first 30k miles, we had to replace tires, we are still buying tires way to often. We also have a tapping sound that the repair shop can not figure out. After 2 years the paint started to flake off and the trim is pealing. Car looks cool but that is where it ends.

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  Lackluster - 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By wwl - August 9 - 6:56 pm

  I bought it new and wanted to comment when I saw that several reviews had noted problems with the replacing the brakes at fairly low miles. I have also had to replace the front brakes on this vehicle at 38,000 miles (pads and rotors). There was no warning that these brakes needed replaced until one of the rotors warped. I kept asking the dealer to check them and they always told me that they were fine. Funny how now that the van is just out of warranty that they need replaced. Typical MOPAR quality.

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  My biggest mistake - 1999 Dodge Durango
  By lmounten - August 7 - 1:17 am

  I bought my Durango 01/2005 and here it is only 7 months into having it and I hate it. I bought it with the thought of safety in mind because I have 2 small children. Well, I found out first hand that when it rains I fish tail on turns and slide on the snow (and I dont drive fast). I bought the Durango from a known dealership and I have had so many problems with it. The brakes were supposedly replaced and they are so bad. The battery went dead the 3rd month into having it, the water pump went out in month 6 and now something is wrong again. So I am searching hard for something else and no dealer wants to give me what its booking for, so what does that tell you?

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  Dodge Stinks - 1998 Dodge Dakota
  By Grayson - July 29 - 8:18 am

  This is the second Dodge Dakota Sport I have owned. The first one was a 1995. I must have checked my brain at the door to buy another one. If I hadnt paid it off, Id ditch it in a heartbeat. This one has all of the same issues the first one had under a different body: -A/C died in year 4 and continues to back up into the interior to this day. No one will fix it they just blow out the tube and tell me to come back in 3 months. I tell them money is no object and they still wont fix it. When the dash was apart to fix the A/C itself, they still didnt fix it -Door locks start to stick in year 3 -Front Ball joints go in year 4 -Catalytic converter toast in year 3 -Water pump gone in year 3

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  Caravan average at best - 2002 Dodge Caravan
  By Brautman - July 23 - 3:23 am

  We purchased an extended Dodge Caravan Sport and we enjoyed it in the test drive, but after we took it home it had some faults. We noticed the sound of an air leak from the windshield area that whistled particularly at highway speeds. The interior quality is quite poor as our passenger side sliding door panel fell off. The seats are comfortable and all rows are roomy. Performance isnt great with the 3.3L V6, but hey its a minivan.