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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  Gasoholic - 2005 Dodge Dakota
  By Gasaholic - October 7 - 4:34 pm

  Bought the truck new. Had a weird road noise. After the 3rd trip back to the dealer they found a steel belt had seperated from one of the rear tires. Gas mileage is 15.4 on the highway. Dealer says engine needs to be broken in 5000 miles ha ha. I hate it and wish I had my F150 back.

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  dsfg - 2000 Dodge Ram Wagon
  By minnie - October 7 - 9:03 am

  The van gets terrible mileage 13 on highway, but it is a full conversion van. Seems to rattle a bit and doors do not close unless slammed. Also a constant clunking in the front that the dealer says is normal (yeah right)

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  It does everything - 1997 Dodge Caravan
  By Paul Revere - September 24 - 12:01 am

  One of best I have ever owned, along with Honda. Enjoyed driving every time. No back pain on long drives.Properly serviced made it dependable.When not carring dogs and people,it always had room to carry the things I needed to finsh building a cabin.The exterior finish is still like new.

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  Its all right - 2000 Dodge Neon
  By Byron - September 22 - 12:38 pm

  I have had a few problems out of this car first my fuel pump went out at 70000 miles and then I just had to replace a gasket on it and now there tellin me I need a timing belt and a water pump for some one who get there service done on time should not be having these problems.

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  I like it! - 2004 Dodge Stratus
  By Csadie8 - September 20 - 2:00 am

  I really like my new 04 Stratus SXT Coupe. Its fun to drive and has pretty good fuel economy compared to other models that are similar. I really like the chrome accents...I just want more of the nice exterior on the interior. Its nice but not great. Im waiting for more customization products to come out for this one... Such as accents for the interior.

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  2004 and Water Under the Hood - 2004 Dodge Durango
  By safTman - September 14 - 2:00 am

  During the second week of ownership, I dealt with chugging and bucking of the truck and the engine light coming on. The dealership pulled out the spark plugs and found the plug ends outside of the engine to be coated with rust and the "gap" area of the plugs, in the engine, showed burn marks and other evidence of a "high temperature" condition. According to an engineer in Detroit, my Durango needs a "water management shield" that they are in the process of developing to keep water away from the top of the engine. So, I like my new vehicle, but wish I had a HEMI...

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  Piece of Junk - 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By nick7 - September 6 - 2:00 am

  We have 114000 miles in our 98 Dodge Grand Caravan SE. First of all the 3.0 V6 is very slow. When I drive it, I have trouble keeping up with the flow of traffic. Around the 110000 mile mark we started having all these problems. First of all, we noticed that theres a putt-putt sound when you first start accelerating (acceleration hesitates) after you start the van up. The 4 speed auto shifts were taking forever. We were up at 4000 rpms hitting the gas normally before it shifted. Then the brakes started sweaking. We got some of these problems fixed at the dealer but the putt-putt and longer shifting(slightly improved)were still there.

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  Dissapointed in Nebraska - 2007 Dodge Nitro
  By mcculjim - September 1 - 10:26 am

  I have had this vehicle a week short of 2 months and have 3000 miles on it. So far I have had several problems with this car. The first problem was that I was driving down the street and the car just quit. Dash startup system lights came on and it just quit. I took it to the dealer and they couldnt find any "codes" in the car showing it happened. Then a couple of weeks later the electric lock swith plate on the drivers door quit working. I am waiting for them to get one from somewhere. Now just yesterday the car quit running going down the road again. Locks popped up and it just quit. This is very annoying after paying almost 26,000 for this thing.

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  Transmission is pathetic - 2003 Dodge Neon
  By larry price - August 30 - 2:27 pm

  Car handles well and has some pep at low speeds. Cruising on the interstate above 70 mph the car is very sluggish. The transmission has been worked on two times and the dealer service was pitifull (one dealer FORGOT to put in transmission fluid)

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  Pathetic - 1999 Dodge Intrepid
  By Steffiesue - August 27 - 6:36 pm

  I bought this car off lease and it was great for 6 months. Since then I have replaced the speed sensor the power stearing pump 2 times, the same belt 2 times, and the alternator 2 times. I had it worked on at the Dodge dealership here in town. On top of this I have also replaced the computer. The car is well maintained and has less than 80,000 miles on it.