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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  Ups and downs - 1993 Dodge Dakota
  By idahoguy - April 21 - 2:00 am

  The place we got it from was a rip off joint.We had to get the transfer case rebult twice and it had bad motor mounts.The exhuast crapped out about about a year and so on...........

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  Too many repairs - 1996 Dodge Neon
  By Neonowner - April 12 - 2:00 am

  I have had my neon for about 7 mths. i bought it in 2002 with 63k miles. Within 2 months i had to replace a circuit board which costed $343 then i had an oil leak that costed $80. Now i am having a new valve put on i dont rem. what the valve was called. and motor mounts because they were corroded and cracked. this repair will cost over $600 dollars. take my advice dont buy a neon.. they are decent cars but you will end up spending as much money as you paid for it in repairs.

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  Buy a Mercury Villager - 1998 Dodge Caravan
  By Chris P - April 11 - 2:00 am

  Purchased this van because we got a good deal on it. Its turned out to be the worst vehical anyone in the family has ever owned. Handeling and cornering is very poor compared to the Ford Aerostar and Mercury Villager. At 55-60k miles we have replaced the following on our 1998 Caraven Sport Transmission and differential - $2200 2 Axels, both rear brake calipers, differential again, transmission sensor. Car left us stranded in PA with a "loose battery cable"...Funny we tightend all those when trying to get it to start. Not to mention the passenger sliding door is falling apart, interior panel is falling off, held on with one screw, rest is snaps.

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  99 Dodge Intrepid - 1999 Dodge Intrepid
  By ichabod - April 8 - 2:00 am

  This vehicle has very unreliable. Numerous repairs include computer, brakes,windows, windshield wipers, and transmission. The vehicle has a pronounced pull to the left,which despite endless efforts to eliminate, cannot be corrected. Getting into and exiting the car is very difficult for a six footer due to the low head clearance. In summary the car is long on style and short on substsance. It full of 10 cent parts.

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  Almost A Truck! - 1998 Dodge Dakota
  By Mazda Fan - March 29 - 2:00 am

  Bucket seat cushions seem to be too long for my 56" frame and the backs are to flat and non supporting. Visability is horrible with the huge A pillars. Ours also has the fuel pick up problem that has left us stranded twice! It ate left front brakes and rotors untill I upgraded the front pads. Resale value is poor,along with the gas mileage. 13/17, worse than a full size suv! Engine rattles on anything less than premium fuel, sometimes on that too!Rear seats too small, even for children. No locking glove box. Noisy fan motor. No overhead console on this year. Rear bumper design to weak for towing any weight. This COULD be a good truck.

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  Dodge Shadow - 1994 Dodge Shadow
  By Holly Fries - March 27 - 2:00 am

  Overall, my car has been good, no major problems.

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  Love it! Hate it! - 1999 Dodge Durango
  By vonblue - March 22 - 2:00 am

  I absolutely love this vehicle for its style and usability, and absolutely hate it for gas mileage and reliabilty. Folom Lake Dodge has got to be the worst dealership I have ever delt with. The 5.2L V-8 engine has a terrible pinging or spark knocking sound when accelerating. The dealership told us that this is a common problem with the Durango, and that the engine system had to be "FLASHED", and that the extended warranty we paid $2,000 for would not cover the work. We had the service and a complete tune-up done and it still pings. At 22,000 miles three of the four electric window switches went out on it. It is slowly becoming a frustrating vehicle.

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  Dodge Caravan Transmission Warning - 1993 Dodge Caravan
  By EW - March 20 - 2:00 am

  This was the first of two Dodge Caravan purchases. The 1993 has 192,000 miles and the 1996 has 152,000 miles. Both have the 3.0 engine. In both vehicles, the engines are extraordinarily reliable with VERY FEW repairs. On the other hand, both have needed transmissions within 70,000 miles and each van has had three transmissions (two replacements each). Neither vehicle was used in towing or hill climbing nor have they been overloaded. Both were used for daily commuting on the FLAT Chicago area roadways. If it werent for the poor transmission quality, these would be outstanding vehicles.

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  Nice Design, low quality - 2000 Dodge Neon
  By metamatrix - March 20 - 2:00 am

  This car drives nice, has excellent gas mileage, is very roomy, and has good handling and decent acceleration for an economy car. The downside is quality. Everything rusts very quickly, I have already fixed the front brakes once, the rear drums twice, and several minor things have gone wrong. Although it has never broke down and always starts, I dont have confidence in this car after 3 years and 24k miles.

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  Critical missing specification - 2004 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By Sabiers - March 19 - 2:00 am

  The only thing that is important to the buyer of a cargo carring vehicle is the interior size of the biggest box I can put into its cargo space: Length, width and height. Please add in the future. Incidentally, if it does not have a minimum of 4 foot width in the cargo space, it is not considered as a vehicle useful to one needing to haul anything other than small vacation, grocery or household items.