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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  Visibility quite poor - 2003 Dodge Neon
  By gigi - December 24 - 10:05 am

  For shorter drivers I feel as if Im sitting on the floor, I cannot see hood and visibility, frame thickness between windows, has almost cost me 3 wrecks in 1 1/2 years. The gas milage they advertise is not quite accurate.-( And it has locked me out with car running with the electronic door lock settings! Please keep spare key handy!When cold the engine has a loud tick as if ready to throw a rod and the brakes squeal when wet or cold. They say this is normal? Why only front power windows? And the front window keeps coming off track. Glove box too small can barely fit gloves and owners manual inside! And a real neck breaker to view cd changer.Impossible to clean between front seats.

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  Complaint - 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By Dick Otto - December 23 - 1:06 am

  I am not pleased with the shifting of this van. It is not smooth in fact it is to jerky for my taste. If you happen to let up on the gas just as it about to shift it drops a gear hard. Also it shifts down way too easily.

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  Unreliable - 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By p538 - December 17 - 6:19 pm

  Purchased new and if not for the poor quality and unreliability of major components Id love this van. The only reason I made the purchase was for my two Boxers. At about 16K miles I took it to the shop because of vibration/wooble in the brakes. $400+ for new pads and resurfacing all four discs. Took to shop Friday the 25th for its 20k service. Been having knocking sound (like bearings) when braking x 2 days. Sound at left front gets worse the longer its driven. Call from Service (Newark Chrysler Dodge Jeep): The Transmission !!! One of the gears is falling apart. Still in the shop. Pricing a Honda Odyssey & getting rid of this POS.

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  Probelms, problems, problems - 1997 Dodge Dakota
  By scott - December 10 - 12:53 pm

  When I purchased this vehicle I really thought that it would be a winner. In the last year I have had one problem after another and have given up on it and traded it in. At the time I traded it in it has the following problems. No heat, no air conditioning, lifters knocking, transmission slipping, brakes. I will say I always changed oil every 3000 miles and had all other fluids changed every 20000 - 25000 miles. I figured that to make it correct it would cost well over $5000. I realize that brakes are an item that need reolacing from time to time but to only have 80000 miles on the vihicle and have so many expensive problems tells me that these vehicles have serious reliability issues.

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  Dont buy this car! - 1999 Dodge Intrepid
  By Robin W - November 30 - 9:44 am

  The engine went on my well maintained 3.6L engine at 59,000 miles- no warning- no (reliable) explanation. After LOTS of headaches Chrysler paid half the repair bill directly to the dealer- refusing to speak directly to me at all- and I had to pay the remaining $4000 bill for a car that was not even 5 years old! I have been told that this is COMMON in this car but no one (Chrysler, BBB, Attny General, etc.) will do anything about it.

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  Lemon with no value - 1998 Dodge Caravan
  By huskerlew - November 28 - 11:32 pm

  At 65,000 miles, head gasket blew. Trade in value is very minimal. Reliability and resale are two most important items and this lemon fails in both categories. One would have to ask themselves why they would even consider a 2005 model. When I purchased, my expectations were to exceed 100K without a major repair. Looks like I was led astray.

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  Affordable, but still disappointing. - 1997 Dodge Neon
  By mbennett - November 23 - 3:27 pm

  Head gasket went out at 50000 mi, they told me it was expected and commmon. Very disappointing. The car is very doggy in the low rpm range, probably due to the 3 speed automatic transmission as much as anything. The windows are frameless and do not seal very well, hence there is a lot of wind and road noise. Decent daily driver, good mileage but nothing to be too excited about. The price was right.

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  Great hemi rest of it not so great - 2004 Dodge Durango
  By GMACPA - November 16 - 1:16 am

  The Durango hemi offers plenty of room and comfort, but falls way short on quality. In 4 months I am now in the process of replacing the radio for the second time, first the display was going blank and now the CD changer is broken. The trim inside looks like it is from a cheap economy car, and there are cosmetic defects everywhere. The tires are awful--these Goodyear Wrangler SR/A have limited dry traction, horrible in the rain, and I expect even with AWD to have to replace them for the winter season. AWD on lousy tires means slide with all 4 tires thats all. Gas mileage is worse than I expected-- awful around town, ok on highway.

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  Unreliable Junk (My worst Nightmare) - 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By CHW - November 12 - 10:00 am

  The transmissions are poor design and only last about 12,000 miles. This Van has gremlins too. It has electrical problems too. We finally parked it at 80,000 miles after My wife refused to drive it anymore. She bought an explorer and has been happy since.

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  Never again a Dodge!!! - 1999 Dodge Durango
  By balto-man - November 12 - 10:00 am

  At first, I fell in love with my Durango. Its power, stylish looks, big tires, good handling were all fun until: The rear tailgate latch broke, a psngr. door wouldnt unlock (no fix), a loud chirping from the rear couldnt be fixed, the a/c stopped working from some electrical problem (they managed to fix this 1), then the engine stalled on several occasions and the dealer (after having my Durango for 3 wks) couldnt fix this 1! This almost got me and a dealership mechanic in a few accidents! I traded it in ASAP. I should also mention that the dealership where I bought the Durango treated me like I was some kind of criminal. Never again will I buy a Dodge!