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:

• 

  the best car there is - 2003 Dodge Viper
  By Slyguyy131 - October 22 - 2:00 am

  this car is the best u will own. if u dont have a viper yet u should go out and buy 1 right now. if u have a lambo or ferrari sell it and buy as many vipers as u can

• 

  Fun and Reliable - 2000 Dodge Neon
  By DragonDon - October 22 - 2:00 am

  The only problem we had was the trunk rust at the pinch-welds. Was replaced under warranty. The oddball tire size and then charge $200 CDN per tire is ridiculous. Winter traction was horrid. I remedied this and used a slightly over-sized tire in the summer time (nice performance tire on new set of rims) and a separate set of tires for the winters. The car has been quite reliable. Never stranded us and even 3 years later, all the original bulbs are functioning perfectly. The car is the best powered in its class for its year. The Neon has the largest sunroof of just about any car Ive seen. The 3spd tranny was sluggish at certain speeds.

• 

  Great Car - 1999 Dodge Intrepid
  By Steve12367 - October 21 - 2:00 am

  Great highway car. Great cruiser

• 

  Still going - 1999 Dodge Caravan
  By PizzaMan - October 21 - 2:00 am

  Bought used one year ago with 94,000 mile. Now has 119,000 and still runs great. Gets 22MPG, not great but acceptable. Spent $600 on maintenence (brakes and transmission) but that is to be expected for vehicle with that many miles.

• 

  MY DURANGO - 2001 Dodge Durango
  By RONFORQUER - October 21 - 2:00 am

  I HAVE HAD THIS TRUCK FOR ALMOST A YEAR AND MY WHOLE FAMILY HAS ENJOYED IT. IT IS VERY COMFORTABLE INSIDE AND RELIABLE TO DRIVE IN DIFFERENT WEATHER CONDITIONS. THE BIGGEST PROBLE WITH THIS VEHICLE IS THE GAS MILEAGE ON HIGHWAY AND IN THE CITY AS WELL.

• 

  love my 2005 grand caravan! - 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By jewelexpert52 - October 20 - 7:04 pm

  I bought my Grand Caravan new in 2004. I had already drive 2 other caravans but this one is by far the best. I started at 2000 miles and now have almost 150,000 miles on it. I havent had to put any money into this van except regular maintenance (brakes, tires, serpentine belt at 100,000 miles etc.). I have taken it on several road trips to Florida, Georgia, and New York and it is very comfortable. (Even slept overnite in it for camping). Can transport large items and fill it up with camping supplies plus 4 passengers! The mileage was good for a larger vehicle and I am looking for a smaller vehicle only because I dont need a minivan anymore and could use higher gas mileage savings.

• 

  A great car for the money! - 2007 Dodge Caliber
  By Infinity - October 20 - 10:56 am

  I have had my Caliber SXT for 3 months and 8000 miles now. I get lots of comments on its looks, and the aluminum rims really add to it. Keeping in mind the price, we love it! The musicgate sound system has amazing bass and power. It has a very smooth ride for a "small car". When stopped, we can not even feel the engine running, as there is no miss or vibration! The chilled glove box is a nice feature. The gas mileage has not been what I hoped for at around 24mpg with a lot of highway miles, but it has been winter driving. Winter handling has been impressive so far. I highly recommend the Caliber to anyone looking for a new car in the mid/upper teens price range.

• 

  Great V6 but gas mileage is hard to obtain - 2017 Dodge Challenger
  By Derek Abbring - October 20 - 10:25 am

  I leased a 2017 Dodge Challenger SXT. I wanted a challenger for many reasons but ultimately I was turned on by the 30mpg claim. However, the only time I am able to get 30mpg is on the highway going down a hill. I tried driving like a grandma for a day, super slow take offs and using several miles to accelerate to top speed but the best the computer showed was 25mpg. And, thats terrible to drive like that, its way to slow and people were constantly going around me which indicated it was slower than a normal person would drive. I have the high gloss black 20" rims and the car has the 3.07 gears so maybe thats whats doing it but thats doubtful because at 70mph Im under 2k RPMs and the instant tells me 22mpg. So I dont know how they made that claim for 550 miles to the tankful but I have 500 miles on the car and have had to fill up twice already. It leaves me wondering if I should of just got the R/T if I am going to get this bad of gas mileage but the dealership I went to didnt have an R/T on the lot. Next gripe was the GPS. Sure it works as it should but its not Google (yes you can hook google up from your phone). The stock GPS sent me on a 4.5 hour drive to get somewhere thats only 1 hour away. I have no idea why it keeps telling me to get off the highway and then immediately get back on, it makes no sense. So now I plug my phone in and only use Google GPS. As far as driving it goes, it rides smooth and you cant feel it shifting which is pleasant. Road nose is at a minimum. Acceleration is what you would expect from a 3.6L, no big surprises there. The trunk is huge, back seats are roomy. As far as looking out of the car for blind-spots and other things, your visibility is great and I dont feel like there are any real danger zones around it. It is a big car but the only time it feels big is when I have to park it in a tight space, other than that it handles great and is a lot of fun to drive. Overall, I wished I would of got the R/T for the extra power but I am happy with the lease and will more than likely turn it in for the R/T at the end of this 3 year lease.

• 

  Thought it would be fun - it wasnt - 1996 Dodge Intrepid
  By onebigswede - October 20 - 2:00 am

  When I bought this car it seemed to be in pretty good condition. It had 69,000 miles on it, as well as a spotless interior and exterior. Shortly after i purchased it it began having problems from a non-working air conditioner, to brake problems, to the on-board computer going bad, etc etc etc. Finally in October 2003 the engine had a blow up and would have cost $3500 dollars to fix. Needless to say I am now saying good riddance. I dont know if the cars previous owner just abused the car, or what, but i never had more than a month or two of trouble free car ownership while i had this car.

• 

  Ok family car. - 2003 Dodge Neon
  By Shannara - October 20 - 2:00 am

  My wife is due to have our 2nd child (in 2 years..) any day now. All we had so far was a pickup truck :D So we went out and bought this car. I live in Alaska (ok, you can release your breath now). And, I work less then a mile away from home. We bought this car on October 8th @ 33 miles. It now have 298 miles.