Powdered Toast Man

As for the handling, based on your vehicle history, I'd say you're just not used to a larger vehicle with a softer tuned suspension. It takes a little getting used to, but most larger vehicles handle this way. Actually, the Journey handles quite well for the segment it's in. Try driving the Equinox - that's so disconnected from the road it's almost uncomfortable. I rode with my friend in her Acura RSX a few weeks ago and that suspension was so stiff I thought it was going to rattle my fillings out. Fuel economy... welcome to a larger vehicle. Your previous cars were all smaller C-compact class with 4-bangers under the hood. Journey is in the D-midsize class - plus it's a CUV which makes it even heavier. My previous SWB Caravan got about the same mileage as the Journey.

Nice! Congrats!

Fuel mileage wasn't amazing over the winter, but every single vehicle I've ever owned has gotten worse mileage over the winter. In the summer, it's pretty decent. Consider though, that I have the V6 and AWD so that's the LEAST fuel efficient combo you can have. Still, in warm weather on the highway I was getting as low as 8.9L/100km. City, around 13-14L/100km. I'm in Canada - Winnipeg - so we know a thing or two about cold winters. I had ZERO issues with the 8.4 touch screen even in the coldest weather. It responded and displayed completely normally throughout the entire winter. You can even press the touch screen with gloves on. I can't imagine anyone telling you otherwise unless theirs is malfunctioning or they're making it up. I'm pretty sure that's not true about the brakes. As I said, a lot of the poor experiences seem to come from owners of the 2009 and 2010 models. I have not noticed really any brake dust on my rims, which is a sign they're wearing well. As a comparison, my former 2006 Caravan's front rims would be coated in brake dust every time I went to wash the van.

My father in law has a 2010 Equinox. It's pretty much loaded except he got the 4-cyl engine. He liked it at first, but over time he's now wishing he'd have opted for the 6-cyl engine. I've driven his vehicle and it feels very sluggish with the 4. The interior design is also something that looked appealing at first, but over time the layout feels cumbersome. I know when I drove it, I felt very disconnected from the road and my surroundings. Kind of like I was driving a tank. I can tell you that he's looked at my 2011 Journey and he's kind of jealous. He LOVES that 8.4" screen and the nav. I think he even prefers the styling of mine too. As for the problems with brakes, I believe those were mainly confined to the 2009 and 2010 models. FWIW, I've seen a lot of complaints on several new vehicles (other than Journey) about brake wear. It may go back to the banning of Asbestos which used to be used in brake pads. All I can tell you is that I'm coming up on 1 year of Journey ownership and I still drive around sometimes and think to myself what an nice vehicle it is. It's the first vehicle I've had in a LONG time where I'm really truly in love with it.

Sorry, nope. I love my LED rings!

I've just recently been told by someone who lives in the far North that Canadian gas stations switch to "winter gas" blend which has a higher ethanol content and more additives to prevent fuel line freezing and condensation in the tank. Apparently this leads to the poorer winter mileage we experience. That would explain why I saw the same phenomenon with my former 06 Caravan. I didn't track mileage but I did reset the trip OD on every fill up. In the summer I'd get about 425-450 km on a tank (city) and then in the winter it would drop to about 375 km per fill.

For my Canadian brothers with the 3.6 and AWD, how is your winter mileage so far? I've not been impressed. My on board mileage display is averaging between 18 and 19 L/100km. That converts to about 13 MPG. Not great at all.

Yeah, I see on their website now that they have an activation step you have to go through. Figures. Man, this is actually kind of crappy that updates are not covered under warranty. I mean, I've had my Journey less than 1 year and it's telling me the map is out of date and now I find out that an update is over $150? Not cool.

I'd be up for going in with a few of my Canadian Journey owners on buying the upgrade. If it just comes on a disc, then there's no reason why someone couldn't sell the used disc to another person when they're done.

I used the Armor All protectant wipes on my 2001 Neon and the dash started bubbling and blistering. I now just use their cleaning wipes, but I never put the protectant stuff on. Actually, I found a great way to clean the dash and keep that factory look is just use a Swiffer wand. I use the cleaning wipes on the grimy parts that actually get touched by hands.

Very cool. I actually feel safe driving the Journey. I used to have a Neon, and one of the big reasons I got rid of it was I never felt safe on the road. The car was solid, but I always dreaded getting t-boned by a large SUV because I knew I'd be dead.

Try reading your owner's manual. The answer is in there.

Thanks! I know, it's like a mirror!

Looks good! I would suggest that under Exterior, you should probably merge the "Appearance" and "Cleaning, Washing, Waxing" forums into one. Seems like they're pretty related topics and could probably go together.

I'd talk to the body shop at your dealer. One would thing they are interchangeable since the lower end Journeys still have the old fascia.

They also probably set it that way from the factory because it's illegal in enough places to just make it standard. Also, so many morons don't even know how to use their lights properly. I see so many vehicles driving around town with just their DRL's on at night. OR they're driving around with their high beams on all the time.

AGREED. Even the sticker on the side of the door has the recommended pressure in PSi.

Ok, let's think about this for a second. The purpose of FOG lights is to be able to see the road in FOG or heavy precipitation conditions. That's why they're low to the ground and are aimed pretty well down. Ever turn on your high beams in fog? It makes it worse. So the only reason you'd want your fog lights on with your high beams is a vanity thing, except no one is going to see because you can only use your high beams when no one else is around. I do not understand why anyone would go through the effort of defeating this thing. So the only reason I can think of that you'd want to is "just because".

Yeah, I had the nitrogen filled tires and have fluctuations as usual. Anyway, I got the tire over 36 psi and it shut up. For the record, it doesn't give you a warning until the tire gets below a threshold pressure. However, to CLEAR the warning, you have to get it back over 36psi. Which is also kind of irritating because the metric TPMS readout is in KPA, not psi.

Finally! A worthy successor to the Neon! Let's forget Caliber ever happened.

Aaah, maybe that's it. I think I got it up to 34 or so. It's difficult to gauge in winter because the temperatures keep swinging from below -20 to around -5ºC. I'll try inflating it some more and see if that clears the warning.

The other day I got a tire pressure warning for my left front. It was a bit low (probably due to the cold weather) so I took it over to the gas station and topped up all the tires. Well, the TPMS warning for that wheel will not go away! The pressure reading is the same as the other 3 tires, so it's not low anymore. I checked the owners manual and it says that the vehicle may have to be driven for 20 minutes before the warning disappears. Well, did that, and it's still there. Any suggestions?

I've seen a lot of posts on other enthusiast message boards and it seems to be something that many Americans are really bothered by. Lots of misconceptions and some people will go to great lengths to removed them from their vehicle. They've been law here in Canada for a long time and it's just normal.

I'll never understand why Americans are so upset by DRL's.