mmarshall

Even though we currently have an active General-Discussion-thread about the latest Consumer Reports reliability rankings for 2020, Dodge's dramatic rise, from near the bottom of the list where most FCA brands have been for years, to Eighth place overall, IMO, merits separate discussion and a new thread solely for that purpose. Dodge, as a brand, is now the top-ranked domestic (American) nameplate, with second-place Lincoln at #15 and Ford at #16. Some stablemate Chryslers have also benefitted, and the Chrysler nameplate, which uses some of the same platforms and drivetrains that Dodge does, took a jump, too...to #19.

But I want to focus on Dodge here. Their Charger and Challenger passenger cars, of course, have had a performance image for years, and, especially with the big engines, tend to be driven hard (sometimes very hard, at drag-strips) and that puts a lot of strain on their components. Their customer-satisfaction ratings have been very high despite their poor reliability of the past....and although I can't out-and-out prove it, a likely reason for that, like with Mustangs, Camaros, and Corvettes, is people my age buying them, especially in the retro-paint-colors, to re-live their high-school years. We grew up, of course, during the Great American Muscle-Car Age....and even though I wasn't that huge a fan of them (I liked big American luxury cars), many people my age simply never forgot the muscle-car craze, and keep it going today.

But why have Dodges risen so significantly in reliability lately? I think the simplest and most obvious answer is that most of them have not been significantly-redesigned for years, and the manufacturer has (now) had time to correct many of the earlier problems. That, plus the fact that Dodge, Chrysler, and Jeep management are acutely aware of criticism of their build-quality, and all three are working to improve that quality and image. (too bad we don't see some better results at Fiat itself, Chrysler's owner....their only reasonably reliable vehicle in the American market is the Mazda-sourced Fiat 124 Spyder roadster). But American (and, in some cases, foreign) automakers often have teething problems with new or recently introduced vehicles It is unusual to see reliable domestic-nameplate vehicles the first couple of years in production, although some Opel-designed Buicks were an exception because of Opel's good reputation.

Today's Dodges, of course, have (mostly) reached the point where many of those earlier troublesome components have been made more reliable, although, of course, manufacturers still can't prevent people from taking them to drag strips and abusing them if they are determined to do so.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Sums it up.

/end

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

zero issues with the Ram after almost 6 months of ownership. Although some people have had multiple issues. Even my mustang only had one issue i had to take in for warranty work.

JDR76

I don't have a lot of exposure to Chrysler products. My only real link is that my in-laws have a 2018 Durango V6. They've had it for almost 2 years now and taken it on several road trips, including towing their camping trailer from Oregon to Illinois and back. They haven't had any issue with theirs to date.

IS350jet

To this day, I would never buy a FCA product. I've been in the business for nearly 40 years, many of which have been in a body shop. I've seen first hand how Chrysler builds these things from below the surface and let me tell you, it ain't pretty. The wiring, and welding of components you can't see are truly pathetic. Heck, I've rented 2 of them and got stranded both times. I've had friends that have rented them and they've also been left stranded. Come on!! I simply don't care what the CR ratings say, they're junk. Just my .02.

mmarshall

Hyundai and Kia products were doing the same thing (leaving people stranded) up until the late 90s to early 2000s...then rapidly improved. Like it or not, times change.

Just my $.02

IS350jet

I'll accept that. I would still never buy one, though.

Toys4RJill

My brother has a Dodge Charger. He likes it. He was obsessed with it when it came out, I think his is now 8 years old. Only one significant issue and that was AC I believe. I think he will keep it for a while.

RNM GS3

With the 3 American companies its not the reliability that is the big turn off but the horrendous Fit and Finish.

All 3 of them are well below Germans and Japanese.

Poor fitting panels, paint chips, missing covers, poorly tightened bolts/screws etc.
Basically overall attention to detail is not up to par.

MattyG

The Dodge pickups are sort of the new luxury division at FCA. They've been refined quite a bit as has Jeep GC. But you get what you pay for. Spend big and you'll get better RWD based vehicles. Spend smaller and you get Dodge Dart and Chrysler 200. They flopped. The 300 is the exception but there is a lot of competition from the Japanese and Korean vehicles.

mmarshall

It will be interesting to see, if FCA gets new leadership with the upcoming Renault takeover, whether we will finally get a full-size BOF truck-based Dodge or Chrysler SUV to compete with Ford's Expedition/Navigator and GM's Tahoe/Suburban/Yukon/Escalade. Past FCA leadership kept nixing it.


Not any more. They are both gone from the American market. Dodge/Chrysler passenger-cars are all RWD now.

The 200 sold in some good numbers, in fleet-sales, to Government agencies. I liked it when I did a test-drive of the V6, but you could have the four.

The 300 has little if any RWD competition in its size/price range. The Asian RWD sedans (Lexus IS excepted) generally start at a significantly higher base price than a 300.

Propulsion

Those Dodge Chargers and Chrysler 300s are still riding on the (very) old Mercedes E class architecture. Perhaps that says a lot.

patgilm

Short term reliability isn't a big deal for me since I lease, but I don't want to be at the dealer based on my limited time these days with kid's activities, etc. so it would still bother me a good bit. If I were a buyer long term reliability would be a very big deal.

After finally letting go of my GX460, I leased my first American car in my Durango (though I previously owned a Viper for 10 years) and I knew reliability was going to be questionable based on history but really liked the Durango for everything it had to offer (third row seats, tons of power, tons of features, good looks, etc.). Surprisingly, my Durango has been reliable with my only visit to the dealer being for two oil changes. The only issue I have had since owning it for the past one and half years and 16,000 miles is that when filling up gas I have to turn the nozzle sideways or the gas will cut off. There is a fix for this but I don't trust the Dodge service department like I did with Lexus.

As for the fit and finish, I do agree but it wasn't a deal breaker as I knew it wouldn't be as good as I am used to. Surprisingly, I got lucky again in that all of my panel gaps are perfect and no missing bolts or panels existed. The paint however is where I clearly notice the fit and finish difference as I found three places where there is a piece of dirt under the paint and I have never seen this in any of my prior cars although most people would never notice. The paint quality itself isn't all that great either, although I am exaggerating, it's as if someone used a paint roller to paint my car.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer are coming

mmarshall

I may be mistaken, but, as far as I know, they will not be from the big full-sized Ram platform. That is where FCA is missing out.....and giving all of that market away to Ford and GM.