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:

• 

  Nice vehicle Poor engine - 1999 Dodge Durango
  By 025433 - February 11 - 2:00 am

  A good vehicle. I have had several engine problems the last 14 months. I will not be able to keep this vehicle after the warrenty runs out. I would go broke fixing it. Very disapointing!!

• 

  Whats Next ? - 2000 Dodge Intrepid
  By The Hypnotist - February 6 - 2:00 am

  Right rear door actuator went at 39,000 miles Drivers side door actuator went at 42,000 then a week later the check engine light and two weeks later the starter went at 43,000 I am the original owner and the mileage is all highway .What a shame that this car is falling apart on its own. Whats Next?

• 

  Brakes - 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan
  By markcanada - February 3 - 7:23 pm

  The vehicle is nice to drive and very comfortable. The acceleration of the motor when taking off is very slow. Brakes and rotors on the vehicle had to be changed on the front after 23000km.The back brakes were fixed on this day at 24000km, due to the squealing on the back passenger side and it turns out the pads were cracked and chipped. There was quite a bit of the pads left in the back brakes. Called Chrysler about it and waiting to see what happens. My mechanic and car part supplier of the new brakes said they have seen a lot of theses problems.

• 

  DONT BUY THIS CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - 1997 Dodge Avenger
  By JKauf05 - February 2 - 2:00 am

  I bought this car with 58K and I have had nothing but problems with it. Here is a list of what i have had to fix in the last year. New tie rod and tie rod ends $960, New automatic trans. $1200, All new breaks $450, New control arm $120, All new coolent hoses $100. If you are looking at Avenger I would strongly suggest you change your mind. The car has been nothing but a headache and a money pit. And the performance is not that good.

• 

  Heed these warnings! - 1996 Dodge Neon
  By Tish - January 29 - 2:00 am

  read this page before, bought the car anyway, and so far ive had the head gasket replaced once, the air conditioned "recharged" once and will need replaced this summer, and now i found out theres been a brake recall on these cars! Too much hassle and $$$ for this fairly so-so car.

• 

  Underwhelmed - 2016 Dodge Charger
  By Carel van der Merwe - January 28 - 1:20 pm

• 

  Rented Once, Just Once - 2016 Dodge Dart
  By M. Schneider - January 26 - 6:07 pm

  I had this car for almost a week. Should have picked the Corolla in hind sight. The car is so-so for a rental. Id be hard pressed to buy one considering better choices out there. The 2.4L engine is smooth and adequate. As long as it holds up long term to higher reving, it will do. The biggest issue is that the transmission has copious amount of slack and Im fairly sure the whole power train sits on coil springs rather than regular mounts. Under steady acceleration the trans works just fine. When the traffic is caterpillaring down the road between 20 and 50, the power train slack and bounce when going into the accelerator is awful. The torq converter and transmission seem to be both slacking. If Dodge cannot tighten down the transmission, they should at least add shock absorbers to the power train. The front seats are mounted too high for my 61" frame. I bump my head getting out and the rear view mirror blocks a lot of my vision. The brakes only use 1/3 of the pedal travel. What the remaining 2/3 of the travel will contribute to stopping is unknown. Even still, the brakes are linear and not too squishy. Steering is good, surprisingly for this class of car. Stereo is basic in appearance, but does have SXM, Aux input and phone capability. Didnt see HD radio option. Sound is respectable. Vibrations for the road and from the A/C fan at full speed can be felt in the foot well. Handling does remind you that you are in an econo/compact car. It softens road imperfections, but is not a sports car. The switchgear is spartan. The instrumentation is nice and a little retro. Surprised to find auto-headlights. Overall, this car needs a healthy dose of power train work. Once that is done, it may be good for shorter people on a serious budget. The Chevrolet Cruz, Hyundai Elantra, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, VW Jetta, Ford Focus and most other compact cars beat the Dart. The Dart reminds me greatly of the Chevrolet Cobalt or early Kia offerings. No wonder sales are disappointing.

• 

  Not Satisfied - 2002 Dodge Neon
  By hoody19 - January 22 - 2:00 am

  This is my first new car, and it will be my last new car from Dodge. I bought this brand new, and have had troubles from the begining. My car rattles from all corners of the car, and all 4 doors. Not a big deal you might say. But when u can hear the rattling over the stereo, it can drive u insane.

• 

  Dont buy one of these(Unless its mine) - 2000 Dodge Dakota
  By GasHog - January 21 - 2:00 am

  The best fuel economy I ever saw was 11mpg on the highway on a several state road trip. The EPA claims 17mpg on the highway and a few less for the city. I could expect 7 to _maybe_ 8mpg on an average tank of mixed city/highway driving. This truck is supposed to be performance oriented. It is not very quick considering it has a 360cid engine and gets such lousy fuel economy. If you are in the market for a high performance truck, spend the extra money and buy a Ford Lightning (I dont even like Ford and am suggesting it over my Dodge).

• 

  Bad Engine!!!!! - 1998 Dodge Intrepid
  By Kristina - January 19 - 2:00 am

  We have a 98 Dodge Intrepid with 66,000 miles and the engine blew up! We paid 10,000 for it a year ago and now were lucky to get $2000. To replace the engine it will cost between $5000-$7500!!!!!! I will never buy another Dodge! We ran a CarFax report and there were no problems. It has had regular maintaince and oil changes. The Dodge intrepid recieves a "9" for looks but a "0" for overall reliabilty! By the way there is a 99 that looks exactly like ours with the same engine in the trading post with the same problem, a bad engine!!!