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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  Transmission problems - 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By mcltk - June 21 - 1:33 pm

  Ive had my 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan for 18mo. Ive been without my van for over ten weeks because of multiple problems. In fact it has been in the shop for over seven weeks because they cannot find parts to repair the transmission that has gone out for the second time. Great quality Dodge! Do yourself a favor and never look at a dodge or chrysler product ever. Oh yea, its not their fault that they cannot get the parts to repair my van. Its the suppliers fault. They probably wont make them for dodge anymore because they were just screwed by them with the recent bankrupcy.

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  Sewing machine sounding engine / The worst Vehcle - 2010 Dodge Journey
  By Tony - June 1 - 9:14 pm

  My engine sounds like a sewing machine. now that I am dealing with this and looking into it. I am finding out that theres been several engine issues with the 3.5 v6 engine. Many different causes and situations that all make the engine have a sewing machine sound. I have been buying the extended warranties because I didnt trust this vehicle from the beginning for some reason. I was right, there has been about $7,000 of repairs done to this vehicle and I am sure we are not done. Cant get rid of the sewing machine sound. Basically I have to live with it and drive it the way it sounds until it dies. DO NOT BUY A 2010 DODGE JOURNEY. PLEASE TRUST ME ON THIS. I have had over 50 different vehicles in my lifetime. This one is the worst of all of them.

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  Fool me once shame on you - 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By Mike - June 1 - 12:06 am

  Purchased as grocery getter/kid transport with around 11,000 miles on it. We were leery about buying this but decided to give it a shot based on consumer reports review at the time. First 6 months we had it in 3 times for various sensor issues and to replace the steering rack (under warranty). Not including the 3 recalls on the van. It has 35,600 miles just out of warranty weÂ’re told it needs steering rack replaced again $1000 parts and labor our cost. The transmission is starting to slip as well. This van is junk, no two ways about it. When we took the van in to have the steering looked at, the service manager told me heÂ’s owned Chryslers for 20 years and he always buys an extended warranty

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  The worst van ever - 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By ROTCGirl - May 30 - 1:43 pm

  This is the worst van Ive ever owned! We have put THREE transmissions in there so far. 1 water pump had AC fixed twice and maybe a third time. The ghost wipers happen, the rear window motor always runs out and the window washers are horrid.

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  Worst choice i have made. - 2015 Dodge Dart
  By Justin - May 14 - 9:10 am

  I Recently bought a 2015 dart se base model and i absolute hate! at 1600 miles, i had to get the transmission control replaced because they didnt do the recall. Now im at 6500 miles and the car randomly dies. Sometimes it wont start and i have to sit and wait 20 minutes. I have been to several dealers and all of them are telling me something is wrong. Do not buy this car!

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  do not buy - 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By bayof3 - May 4 - 10:00 am

  bought brand new in 1997 just sold it for 6000k. this car is junk. you name it is was replaced. the trannsmission, rotars, brakes, waterpump,radiator...etc the seats are uncomfortable, the body gets dings very easily. they recalled this year of the van for the o-rings igniting a fire in the engine!!

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  Never buy anymore - 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By dltrautmann - April 22 - 12:33 am

  We have had 3 Dodge Grand Caravans will never have another. We dealt with Chrysler on problems and they never repaired or fixed them. We traded and still had a problem. The last Caravan we had, the transmission went out at 49000 miles and then we had two more transmissions put in still had problems. We are done with Dodge, Chrysler, etc.

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  Worst vehicle I have ever owned! - 2009 Dodge Journey
  By wjwheeler - April 13 - 1:43 pm

  My transmission has had problems since day one and the dealership has been unable to duplicate the problem. 2 weeks ago it stuck in first gear. I drove it about 3 miles to the dealership and let the service manager ride with me to verify that I had a valid complaint. We drove several miles and it would not change out of 1st gear. I left it at the dealership and returned several days later only to learn that the transmission was working fine. Normally the transmission will slip and jerk in to gear after a delay. The Journey also will "die" for no apparent reason. The seats are uncomfortable and the ride is terrible! I would not recommend this vehicle.

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  Dont Buy One - 2009 Dodge Journey
  By ruth brown - March 26 - 2:06 pm

  After having the vehicle a month, the computer had to be replaced. It has a honking noise when I turn left. I just got it back after a third visit, it still honks. The right strut squeaks on bumps (a new strut is ordered), has a squeal (like a water pump sound) who knows what that is, and has a high pitch whistle when I excellerate. The plastic pieces are falling off the interior and constantly have to be popped back on.

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  Dissapointment Abound - 2004 Dodge Neon
  By Very dissapointed - March 18 - 10:00 am

  Less than 1 year and it has been in the shop at least 7 times. The worst being after 6 months I was told that the engine came off the motor mount. It was a good thing they finally found it after several tries. I recently took it for the power outlet kept shorting and blowing the fuse for the locking system. They told me my phone was to powerful to charge in it and that I would have to pay to get a stronger outlet installed. ARE YOU SERIOUS. Needless to say after several attempts to get my care properly repaired I am giving up. Time to SELL