bramfrank

Not likely, considering the price point they are shooting for.

Larryl; That's an interesting observation; In all likelihood the extent of the 'repairs' they do is limited to simply reloading the firmware and maps, which gets the device working again and then they put the unit into replacement inventory, to be used when the next one corrupts it's memory and does the 'can't unlock maps' thing. The problem, of course is that whatever it is that made the unit in your vehicle, whether it is a vehicle or options configuration, something about the radio itself or some electrical glitch will likely still be there, so all that's really happening is that the unit they stick into the vehicle is more than likely going to fail again, while those people who do not have problems will continue to experience trouble-free operation. Essentially, they are treating the symptoms without dealing with the disease - they probably can't be bothered, for whatever reason to actually fix the underlying problem, assuming that it can be fixed . . . . . This, of course doesn't bode well for owners of DJs, 300s, Chargers and Darts who have the RB5 radio and have issues and plan to keep their vehicles past the warranty period UNLESS someone starts a campaign to force FCA to provide a formal perpetual warranty, and possibly financial compensation to people who have this radio in their cars, whether they came from the factory with them or if they were added post-sale, since the company supplied the product in either case and there is nothing specific about vehicles with the factory-installed version as opposed to one which is added after the fact - they all originally came from Chrysler and Chrysler was paid for them. Note to Dodgecares.ca: You might want to initiate a dialog with the customer relation and warranty groups in order to perhaps get the company to proactively act before someone starts a class action lawsuit noting that there are many jurisdictions around the world and absolutely in Quebec, where the provider of a device is held accountable for their product's reliability and for latent defects. It would seem to be pretty clear to observers, and to the industry that there is some inherent design flaw that results in a significant failure rate that limits the standard of usability expected for such items - and given the cost to recover from a failure (I wouldn't call it a repair, since they don't seem to actually repair these things, but simply reset them, which from all indications seems to be only a temporary solution), the company needs to stand up and accept responsibility for the problem before the driving public sues it. It will start small - as the 2011s are now off their basic guarantees, someone will take the company to small claims court and they will win - and on the basis of the award, others will do the same, using the jurisprudence of the cases that preceded them and eventually a lawyer who has one of these with problems will push the button and it will start to get a LOT MORE EXPENSIVE for Chrysler.

No Daniel; I suspect that there is some combination of features or settings that is at the root of the problem. I know a number of people who have the Nav in their vehicles, in most cases for years (in one case since he got his vehicle in 2011 - and he is a high mileage driver) and none of them has had any problems. Some have Sirius, others don't, so it isn't that which is the problem.

And I also fixed the spelling mistakes in my post . . . . .

Lobitz68 - I at least tried to be nice and explain things . . . . . LOL

Well, if you don't hang keys off your FOB then you don't have anything to worry about since the problem is that the weight of the keys and ring can (as in 'could possibly', rather than 'will') cause the token to be moved to the accessory position. No keys? No turning. GM had the same problem and they are still in the process of executing their recall. The solution could have been to put a sticker on the dash that simply warned not to put your keys together with the Fobik - that would have solved the problem from the perspective of liability - and while I have not seen the recall documents, if they have told you not to have keys attached to your Fobik until after he recall is performed, then tell your heirs to save your estate the cost, becayse you have been warned. If you are 12th in line at your dealer according to FCA customer service, then your dealer must have ordered the parts (because you wouldn't HAVE a position if they didn't) and they are probably overwhelmed with the many hundreds of thousands of recalls that they need to provide parts and organise installations for. If you are unhappy with your dealer just go and place the order with another.

They're not in yet - but no alignment required (unless they were out of alignment before you swapped bulbs) - you cut down the extra material from the oversized tab that HIR bulbs have and simply install them in the reflectors.

http://store.candlepower.com/hirlighting.html

No. But the breakdown rate does seem to be higher than it should be. Only a minority of radios is affected by the problem - it just seems bad because you are on a site where people come primarily to ask questions and to complain about problems. These radios are in millions of Journeys, 300s, Chargers and Darts manufactured as of the 2011 model year and though to today (though while the radios in Darts use the same hardware, they are not interchangeable with those of the other models because of differences in the CANbus they used in that car) - if they all died you'd have been reading about that everywhere on line and they'd have either resolved the problem or stopped providing them a long time ago. Having said that, if you plan to keep the vehicle past the basic coverage term and given the amount of technology in today's vehicles you would be well advised to spend the extra money for an extended OEM warranty (with emphasis on the fact that it should be a Chrysler branded warranty).

That's not likely the problem, since I often leave my keys in the vehicle, just outside it on a shelf, of the kitchen and so on, and have never had a dead battery (strangely except for the one time when the dealer tried to start the Crossroad when I went to collect it when I bought it) with either of the 2 journeys that I've owned.

You can get a full set of pads and disks for under $200 - takes about 90 minutes to do yourself or have an indie mechanic do it. There is a thread somewhere here complete with photos and you can find how-to videos on youtube.

There's a 'not' missing from Lobitz68's post, but I concur on the expanded warranty - and I'm in the land of overpriced warranties. Make certain that whatever you get it is the official Chrysler one. Keep in mind that people who haven't owned both the 4 AND the 6 have no basis for comparison. I had a 4 cylinder SE and it is just fine. My current drive is the Crossroad which is not available in a 4 cylinder version in Canada - go figure. The 6 has more power, and the mileage is a bit worse, but the cost is a few thou higher - so go for the 4 if you aren't hauling freight. Mileage in mixed driving envinronments will be about 12l/100km (close enough to 20 mpg).

Don't be so quick to blame Hella - the bulb could have been abused before you got it.

Welcome to the forum. First of all, I suggest that you'll get more input if you open your own topic - piggybacking on another is bad form and besides, your problem isn't the same as what's been described. Your problem can be one of many things - the backlighting or some associated circuitry may have gone bad; the connector may have come loose; a fuse could have blown or your radio could simply be weird (can you get music from the system? Does the aircon not work at all? Or do you simply have no access via the touchscreen)? The first thing I would suggest is that you disconnect the battery for 30 minutes and then reconnect it to see if it just glitched.

The dealer is going to have to look into this for you . . . . but an intermittent problem is extremely difficult to diagnose unless the symptoms are obvious. Good luck.

But you must measure the running voltage to know if the alternator and regulator are working. in any case, while there was a problem with some of the 2011 modems discharging their batteries, as far as I know there is no fault in the Journey that remains - so there could be a fault of some sort (sometimes one of the bond strips between the battery cells gets loose and makes an intermittent connection that would seem like a discharged battery), there could be a loose bolt on the battery or jumper terminals, or perhaps you had an accessory plugged in to one of the power outlets that isn't controlled by the ignition?

With the engine running you expect to measure between 13.6 and 14.2 volts.

There's a class? Well, if you have Navigation there will be a 'Nav' softkey at the bottom of the display. If the salesman said the vehicle has Nav (and if it is detailed on the invoice) you should insist on having it provided. I know that I would. If the vehicle is leased and the documentation says there should be a factory navigation system you could be on the hook for $2K (the retail price of the nav module) when you go to turn it in. One really nice feature of the OEM navigation unit in the Journey is that it is augmented with a dead reckoning system - it uses the compass and speed inputs from the vehicle to maintain track when the satellites are out of range, so it works in long tunnels and in covered parking.

Easiest to just point to the page and let you read up on it: http://www.coastaletech.com/JOURNEYC8.htm

The speakers can be changed, but you should know that it will play DVDs, just not when the vehicle is not in park unless you install a lockpick.

Buy whichever has the higher treadware rating.

Well, they are made in Taiwan and they are not HID, so aside from the look, what's the point?

So everyone knows, Chrome IS a metal.

This does not sound like a brake switch problem - not to mention that resetting the ECU would not restore service if it was.

The warm up time for HIDs make their use in high beams an issue - and if you have DRLs that use the high beams (Dodge has them both ways; DRLs on the turn signals and DRLs on the high beams) then they won't work properly at all. That's why vehicles with factory HIDs do not have them in the high beam reflector.