Final Journey for our Journey

[cruisinbill]

Well, after an unexpectedly short time with our 2013 Journey R/T AWD, we had to say goodbye to it a couple of months ago. It had served us well, taken my spouse and I to and from work, hauled our two granddaughters to numerous functions and sports activities, and taken us on trips over three Canadian provinces. This year, it hauled hundreds of items to our new condo [and a lot of recyclables, and junk to our local depot before we moved].

 

Sadly, we had been experiencing shuddering and grinding noises since 2020. Despite a front-end repair under our extended warranty and another front-end inspection and work this past May, the problems continued. A diagnosis in June was that the electronic clutch control system had to be completely replaced, about $5,000 including labour [this is an assembly, not parts]. On a 9-year-old vehicle with about 60,000 km, my spouse and I debated what to do, and decided it had to go. After researching various makes and models, we traded it on a 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited. We were not looking for a Jeep but the model approximated what we wanted in an SUV.

 

I miss the Journey’s interior room [7-seater]; our new Grand Cherokee is a five-seater. I miss the underfloor and under passenger seat storage. I miss the wide-opening rear doors and the standard roof rack. I don’t miss the Journey’s AWD system; it was the source of a number of in-warranty repairs over the years and it just shuddered when going through snow or backing up a grade [this should have been a red flag to what occurred as described above]. I don’t miss its electrical issues (three batteries in the last 5 years, necessitating removing the left front wheel and wheel well cover each time to get the batteries replaced – I never understood why FCA could not find a place in the engine compartment to place the battery). It was also short on convenience items, safety features, had an old Uconnect interface with a terrible Garmin-based NAV system (more inaccurate than not, even after updating the software), and FCA never manufactured it with a power liftgate; the latter was important as my spouse is short and found it very difficult to pull the Journey’s hatch down to close. We don’t have regrets buying it, just keeping it as long as we did.

 

I appreciate the time as a member of this forum and the numerous posts regarding owners’ experiences. This will obviously be my last post and I will eventually cancel my membership. Good luck to everyone and I hope that you continue to enjoy your “journey with your Journey.”

[Armando G]

Good luck bud. I might be right behind you. Keep thinking I've been lucky so far, but I feel things may start going downhill soon. I know I can get a good trade in value, but other SUV's seem so damn expensive. Who knows, I go back and forth. 

Enjoy the Jeep. 

[Appalachian Journey]

So long Bill.

[Evlmarine]

Guys don't give up on your Journey just yet, If you have full coverage you may also have mechanical breakdown coverage and it will cover your Journey up to 100k miles or 10 yrs whichever comes first. Mine had a transmission and rear differential replaced and I only paid $250 deductible. Please go over your insurance coverage to see if you have the mechanical breakdown option. ?

[John/Horace]

Nice thought but...warranty’s not the same for the neighbours to the north.  Usually it’s 60k kilometres or 5 years bumper to bumper, power train is 100k or five years. Extended warranty would go a bit longer. Ten year coverage I think would be diesel engine type of thing.  Much smaller,  less competitive market, companies offer less...because they can.

Dealerships also like to focus on fine print for claims. So exact oil change records etc are often demanded. Consumer’s have less power generally. Unless you are a lawyer, of course.

I think owner should have shopped around and found more competitive quote for repair. Probably with auto recylcer parts.