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 MORE CHRYSLER JUNK - 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By Dealer Dan - April 25 - 2:00 am

  Our Grand Caravan has been nothing but problems. The transmissions are junk. This Van had two transmissions in 30,000 miles. NOT RECOMMENDED for people with children - this is an unsafe and unreliable vehicle. The wipers only work when the SUN is out. The back door glass explodes as you drive down the road. The brakes will not stop it at speeds over 30MPH unless you have a mile to stop. ABS SUCKS.

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  Problems! - 1998 Dodge Caravan
  By Piewicket - April 9 - 5:36 pm

  Purchased from dealer used and they replaced the computer before we bought it. Should have stopped there. A complete lemon. 50k tortioner for serpentine broke (not covered under extened warranty). after throwing and wearing out many serpentine belts, 70k transmission froze up 6 mo before warranty expired. Cost us $100 for deductible on bumper2bumper warranty, and now just replaced rear seal at over $500. My 1967 Beetle has less problems than this one.

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  My daily driver - 1993 Dodge Spirit
  By Henri_69 - April 8 - 7:04 pm

  This car has been a good running car for years, but has been "getting" tired as of the last few years. Overall not a bad car.

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  Disappointed - 2004 Dodge Durango
  By AndreaH - March 31 - 5:37 pm

  I have been disappointed with my 2004 Durango which I bought after an excellent experience with a 2000 Durango, which I traded in. Although the passenger comfort is much better the model seems to have big problems. I needed a front differential replaced at 7000 miles and just had the battery cable recall work done, as the car was intermittently not starting. Shame that the utterly reliable old Durango has lost so much quality in being "upgraded". Im trying to get the dealer to buy it back from me and give me my old 2000 back!

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  Bad Choice - 1996 Dodge Caravan
  By Mike R. - March 26 - 3:27 pm

  About the only good things about this vehicle are the wheels and stereo, which I purchased separately. Too many things to mention that have gone wrong, but Ill try. Transmission, W.S. wipers, suspension, belt tensioner, air bag module, air conditioning and 3 recalls. No more Chrysler products for me.

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  Sorry I Bought This One. - 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By Pat - March 4 - 12:36 am

  This van has been in the shop EIGHT times since we bought it. They have done 2 alignments, replaced defective tires, and it still pulls to the right. (not to mention the right front tire is worn out, again)Now the Dealer and Dodge are saying that this is normal. There were 2 interior body panels that warped so bad they had to be replaced. (left front A pillar, and the Right rear) HMMM. Not to mention that the lack of adjustment to the front seats, leaves my wifes legs sore. It still needs to go in again. All that said, I will never buy another Dodge product. This is going up for sale very soon.

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  Ill Never Buy Another Dodge - 2012 Dodge Durango
  By SunnySideSouthPaw - February 27 - 11:09 pm

  Im so disappointed to write this review. We bought the 2012 V8 Citadel which, was mentioned in another review, is not listed in the trim options for this review. I have a friend that had an older model Dodge Durango. He had horrible issues with the transmission but I had heard those issues went away with the newer redesign. We had just sold a Saturn Outlook that let us down and this was the car that we expected to come and redeem us. However, Dodge Corporate and the dealer totally ruined that experience for us. We purchased our car and had to have the transmission totally rebuilt within the the first 20,000 miles of ownership. It was a major concern but luckily our warranties(both factory and the extended we purchased) protected us. Then in 2016 our Durango began randomly stalling on us. It started out random at very long intervals but the intervals began to decrease. The dealer seemed uninterested in addressing the issue at all. Soon enough, the car began stalling while we were on major highways which caused a huge safety concern for us. The dealer kept the car for a day but couldnt reproduce the problem. Finally, the car stopped three times within 4 weeks. We tried getting Dodge corporate involved. Even though we owned two warranties Dodge claimed they couldnt fix our car because there was diag code. As we researched the problem, we found out that there had been a recall for this very issue for our year model but our VIN# was just outside of the recall. The problem was so bad that Dodge was buying back vehicles with the same symptoms we were having but by the time we found out the window to have your vehicle purchased had already passed. For owners who chose to keep their vehicles they were replacing the TIPM (this part is a huge problem with thousands of Daimler Chrysler vehicles). Dodge, AutoNation Katy(the new owners of the dealership where we purchased our car), and the Service dept all refused to replace both the fuel relay (another recalled item previously replaced on our car) and the TIPM. After numerous trips to the dealership, certified letters, multiple phone calls and meetings, and service appointments we finally met with the Area Manager. When we told him we wanted a new TIPM he said, "Oh, thats all you want!". Yes! Thats all I want so my family can avoid imminent death in this death trap. We realized that all manufacturers have issues but I cant even estimate how much lost time, work hours, and gas is gone for both parties when some knucklehead couldve just said, "Fine. Well replace this part. Hopefully this will work. If not, well see where we need to go from there." Dodge makes beautiful paperweights; nothing more, nothing less.

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  MY VAN IS POSSESSED! - 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By kamih - February 22 - 6:26 am

  We bought our van 2 years ago and we wish we would of never bought it. Shortly after the "used" warranty expired I was stranded because the plastic key would not start the van. My husband had to take apart the whole dash and unplug and re plug in wires to make the van start with the key. There was been numerous times that the windshield wipers will start, the lights blink off and on, and the gauges go off and on. This van had had these issues since 65,000 miles! Recently this has happened and now also the door locks wont work. I wouldnt suggest this van to anyone! I wish we would of bought a Toyota instead. My sister-n-law has a Toyota mini van and has Never had any problems with it

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  Worst Car On The Market? - 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By BillBittman - February 8 - 10:00 am

  Chrysler should be ashamed for marketing this vehicle. Athough it has an attractive exterior (for a van), it is a mechanical nightmare. We have been through several recalls. The transmission problems are infamous. This is the worst car Ive ever owned-- even worse than my 1991 Ford Taurus wagon (which dropped a transmission at 50,000 miles). If you are looking for a used van, do yourself a favor and buy a late-model Honda or Toyota. You will pay a little more, but you will spend at lot less on repairs. I will never buy another Chrylser product.

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  2000 Dodge Durango - 2000 Dodge Durango
  By Jodi - February 5 - 10:00 am

  The A/C in the Durango is terrible on mine and anyone else I have spoke to that owns or has owned one. Also there is a design flaw where the A/C condensation drips onto the manifold and makes a ticking/hissing noise, there is nothing the can do to fix it my neighbor has the same problem.