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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  POOR QUALITY - 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By CJ - February 4 - 11:06 pm

  This is the first Dodge weve owned and it will definitely be the last! One day it just started leaking water in the passenger floor, sometimes the rear door will unlock, sometimes it wont, engine light came on at 60,000 miles, you have to tap the rear lights to get them to work, and now the air bag sensor light comes on and off at random. Biggest junk ever made. DONT BUY DODGE IF YOU WANT MORE THAN 50K MILES OUT OF YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY.

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  This car is worthless - 2009 Dodge Journey
  By mygrace02 - January 29 - 10:00 pm

  We bought our journey less than a year ago..we took it in 2 wks after purchase for excessive brake dust and brakes didnt brake well. It has now been there 5 times for the brakes. They resurfaced rotors at 9000 and replaced back rotors at 12500miles. I have had it back 3 weeks and my brakes squeal and grind still. It is a horrible braking system. I have 3 children i drive in this car and absolutely do not feel safe. If I wanted this many probs. i would have bought a used car. All this not to mention it feels like it stalls when i accelerate and it always makes some horn like noise when i start it all of which they cant seem to correct. HORRIBLE CAR!!!!!

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  It will make you bankrupt - 1998 Dodge Stratus
  By J. Gomes - January 28 - 5:37 am

  I bought a 98 Stratus ES for $6,000 in 2002 @ 79K miles. I drive about 18K miles/year. In 2003 I spent about $1,000 for fixing tie rods and stabilizer links and brakes and rotors. In the summer of 2004, I spent $3600 for fixing valves of three cylinders and changing the head gasket, distributor, timing belt, rotor, water pump etc etc etc..Now it is January of 2005 and the cars engine shakes and check engine light is on. The delearship thinks it is either two of the fuel injectors or valves again. Either way it will cost about $1,500. I am completely broke and frustrated, and in credit card debt.

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  Piece of junk - 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By Pixie - January 27 - 6:23 pm

  We bought this van last year. Since then besides almost everything inside falling off,ripping or breatking, we had two cylinders freeze up. We got them fixed, and they just did it again and we have shelled out a ton of money due to loopholes where our warrenty didnt cover it. This van takes constant keep up and money and now were stuck owing $18,000 on a van that isnt even worth $13,000. Dont buy one!

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  What is wrong with this car? - 2004 Dodge Stratus
  By towerman78 - January 15 - 12:00 am

  At first I thought this might be a good car for the price but, then problems. As they say there is never a good deal, you get what you pay for. I have a stalling and acceleration problem that Bartow Dodge and Fort Myers Dodge cant seem to fix. I even have the full warranty extended to 72/72,000 but what good is it if they cant fix the car huh! This is my second Stratus and one Intrepid and Im done with Dodge...PERIOD.

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  dealer want help - 2009 Dodge Journey
  By class6kayak - January 4 - 4:40 am

  Ive had my Journey for 3 months and already have had the sunroof, power steering, transmission, and main wiring harnesses worked on. The oil light came on before 3000 miles and I got the recall about the wiring harness about the same time. I made an appointment and had the service department look to see why the car made a load noise when turning left. The Power steering was replaced and the transmission started slipping between 1st and 2nd gear also gets stuck in 5th gear and causes my mpg to be about 16.5. Now the the dealership is leaving it up to Chrysler to figure out.

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  It must have been made on a Monday! - 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By Lemon - December 31 - 4:06 pm

  I have had trouble with this van since the day we bought it. Constantly in the Service bay for one thing or another. I get smart sarcasms from the salesmen and mechanics. Most recently I have had this van in the dealership 6 times in a month and a half for the same problem. I will never buy another Dodge. We have always had foreign cars and I guess now we know why!

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  Never again buying a Dodge product - 2000 Dodge Caravan
  By Myron Bennett - December 30 - 7:04 pm

  The Caravan was very nice for the first 18 months, or so, but after that,there has been non-stop transmission oil leaks. The trans oil lines have been replaced 3 times, and a shift solenoid have been replaced 2 times. The van had to go back to another dealer again yesterday, for still another leak, and this time I had, again, pay for new clamps to stop the leaks. What is said about bad transmissions on Chrysler vans is completely right. The van also for the past year has a sometimes jerk downshifting from 2nd to first. Also the resale value on these things are terrible.

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  Very poorly built car - 2004 Dodge Neon
  By Twizted - December 26 - 10:00 am

  I have had the 2004 Dogde neon car for about 7 months.When I first test drove it,it was an excellent choice for my wife.But after a few weeks of driving it we found out it wasnt as good of a car as it seemed.We started hearing funny noises in the engine compartement,which isnt normal and the car shifted afully.We took the car back to the dealership but they asured us there was nothing wrong with it.This was nothing new after getting extremley poor sevice from the delership to begin with.

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  Bad Interference Engines - 2004 Dodge Intrepid
  By T - December 23 - 11:07 pm

  I had this car for two years beginning this week and the engine has been rebuilt and I am still having engine problems. So many others have had the EXACT same problems, which amazing to me. Obviously the car was built with nuts and bolts.