Buddy Review: The AWD 2020 Dodge Charger Looks Great, Rides Great, But Is It Really Worth The Money?

The price can jump up quickly once you get it with a few options.

You wouldn’t think it, but the 2020 Dodge Charger — one of the oldest sedans (at least based on platform) in current production — actually outlived its full-size sedan rivals. But that’s exactly what we have here with this 2020 Dodge Charger GT, complete with all-wheel drive. With no more Ford Taurus or Chevrolet Impala to worry about, the Charger’s only true all-wheel drive competition comes from luxury brands. For its parts, the Charger starts off at an economical price, but is it worth the money once you start piling on options? In this buddy review, Tommy and Roman take the Charger out to see what it’s like.

2020 Dodge Charger GT: By the numbers

The 2020 Dodge Charger GT is the only trim of the sedan you can get with all-wheel drive. At $34,995 to start, it’s really not badly priced, especially when you stack it against the mid-sized competition like the Toyota Camry or Nissan Altima and the full-sized luxury models. You get a lot of car for the money, including the ubiquitous 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6. The engine manages to send 300 horsepower and 264 lb-ft of torque to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission. Fuel economy isn’t great in the city at just 19 mpg (it is a big heavy car, remember), but it does manage a decent 30 mpg on the highway.

The 2020 Dodge Charger GT also offers some loud colors like Go Mango orange and Hellraisin purple. That’s a point in the car’s favor against its more sedate competition, but where this all-wheel drive sedan starts getting scary is when you get into the options.

A shade under $35,000 isn’t bad to start, but if you want pretty much any modern technology you’d come to expect, you’ll have to pay extra. Heated seats, blind spot monitoring and LED interior lights? That will be $2,695 as part of the Plus Group (although you do get several other options as well). The $1,895 Technology Group adds advanced brake assist, adaptive cruise control and lane departure warning. The Navigation & Travel Group adds the 8.4-inch Uconnect 4C NAV system to the mix with SiriusXM Travel Link.

The 2020 Dodge Charger GT, despite its age, has a comfortable and smooth ride, as well as a good amount of tech once you check some options. But when you do that, the price creeps up toward the $45,000 mark. If you could still buy the R/T AWD with a 5.7-liter Hemi V8 that wouldn’t be a terrible deal, but with the V6…we’re not so sure. At the moment, only police offers can get AWD with V8 power in the Charger Pursuit. If you are looking for one, though, you can probably get a good deal as dealers tend to incentivize Chargers regularly.

What do you think of the Charger? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more buddy reviews coming soon!