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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  Middle Age Crazy - 2005 Dodge Neon
  By Bill9725 - September 10 - 11:20 pm

  Love the extreme power. Fun watching the Young that know what it is, the older types just think it is a body dress kit. Excellent engine and handling, even able to fit large size adults nicely. Has outstanding Mileage, Power, and Handling. Everyone that gets a ride in the car is amaized at the abilitys of a basic economy car.

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  Best car ever - 1994 Dodge Shadow
  By Andy - September 9 - 12:04 pm

  I bought my 94 Shadow in November of 94 with 12,000 miles on it. The following fall it drove 100 miles (round trip) per day to college 5 days a week. It was in a rollover accident in winter of 96. Rolled it back onto the wheels and drove it into body shop. Continued to drive until 2000 when it was sold to my brother for college and had not needed one repair in its 125,000 mile life. Was sold back to me in 2002 for a daily driver work car at which time I drove it up to 200,000 miles replacing only hoses at 185,000 miles. Still didnt use 1 drop of oil between changes. It was only retired due to a severe accident that tore the engine off the motor mounts. The engine still ran after.

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  overall impressed - 2006 Dodge Charger
  By happy so far - September 9 - 3:03 am

  Got the car almost a year ago. Now it has 55k miles. Paid $13k. Gas mileage is about 300 miles to the tank. Put 20s on it and it looks great. Love the exterior look. Got pinstrip down the doors to the trunk, didnt like it at first but it breaks up lines and it looks great. I knew the interior wasnt anything super. I like the White gauges. Will need to replace the power steering hose soon it is slightly leaking. Oh and tint all 5 Windows

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  Old reliable - 1994 Dodge Dakota
  By Dad - September 8 - 9:33 pm

  This has been a reliable truck, with no major problems. Never had any engine or transmission work. It is a good balance between a car and a full-sized truck, especially if you dont need to pull a large trailer.

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  Quite Surprised - 2008 Dodge Charger
  By Sina - September 7 - 8:41 am

  This is my first experience with American cars, so far despite what I had heard before Im pleasantly surprised. Charger is at the front and back, very quite engine, smooth transmission and extremely good on gas for a heavy muscle car. Interior has average quality, lots of plastic everywhere you look...One of the biggest problems I have wit this car is the stability, poor is the only word I can think of. There was some vibrating of the engine which is still there and some sort of strange problem wit tranny which i have been told all of them have (it kind of unsmooth at the beginning of movement). Over all if you can find it for a cheap price, I would definitely say go for it.

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  Big Blue - 2000 Dodge Durango
  By moyeti - September 5 - 11:34 pm

  Bought when my kids were young and I couldnt drive a mini van. At 96K only a water pump has gone bad. Ive taken good care of it though, bu it has chewed thru 3 sets of tires. Otherwise it runs every time and the 360 V8 sounds and feels great. I use it to pull my motorbike around. Taking it to the state park next March with the entire family. Itll be "the car" we all remember. Tough, American, strong and heavy. Dependable and true.

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  Problems - 2008 Dodge Avenger
  By Andy - September 1 - 5:30 pm

  I fell in love with this car. Big mistake! I had a oil leak with 3-6 months after I purchased the car. It took 3 trips to service dept. to finally fix it.One recall done for latches in door. Shifter broke and front rotors have already had to be turned. Now they are saying back rotors need to be turned also.

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  Great Car...if you upgrade - 2003 Dodge Neon
  By Jeff - August 30 - 11:17 pm

  I have had this car for three years now. Bought it with 44,000 miles on it and have taken it to 100,000. Really fun car to drive. As an experienced mech, i new that dodge parts are not even close to par, so i installed aftermarket parts for nearly every system on the car. Costly yes, but well worth it. The only original parts that have had to be replaced due to fault are the Cam position sensor (which all dodges are notorious for), EVAP canister(naturally due to mileage), and the timing belt(again, naturally due to mileage). Other than that, great car for the price. I would suggest you are at least somewhat of an experienced mech though. Parts are SOOOO cheap for this car. Labor is not.

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  173,000 miles and counting! - 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By amy47 - August 30 - 10:02 pm

  I love this van. No major problems other than replacing a few water pumps and the starter once and the A/C; otherwise, just routine maintenance. I have had absolutely no reliability problems until I hit 170,000 miles. Now I have occasional electrical problems that wont allow the car to start about once a month. So far the mechanic cant find the problem, but were working on it. I want to see how far she goes! She may not be the flashiest or the most powerful minivan out there, but she has my admiration for her longevity and relatively problem-free service.

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  Baby Hauler - 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By Muthu Periakaruppan - August 29 - 2:00 am

  This is by far the perfect vehicle for our family. (Three kids under 6) With relatives we often haul 7-8 people around. It is smooth and quiet. However we seem to constantly have small things going wrong, 4 brake jobs at 50k, tensioner&serpentine belt, rear calipers and now no heat (we live in arctic Minnesota). Has anyone else had problems with the thermostat or radiator?