Long term ownership review

[bigbear372]

Been a member here for a while (lost original account due to email loss, this is 2nd account) but don't visit the forum much but probably a good thing as I think most people come to forums for 1 of 2 things.  1 for the banter and 2 because you have issues with your vehicle.  Not many issues so I don't visit much. 

 

Anyway, we bought a '14 RT  (6cyl, awd) back in late 2013 or early 2014, can't remember exactly.  We needed a reasonably priced 3rd row car and there just wasn't much out there at the time so we ended up with the Journey.

 

Fast forward somewhere around 9yrs 137k miles and here I am, and we still own the same dodge journey and it's carrying on quite fine and I'm not ashamed to admit that I like it.  

 

Only issue we ever had with it was the navi went out pretty early during ownership and the dealer wouldn't do anything for it but I never really use navi so I didn't care all that much.  Other than that wear and tear maintenance here and there throughout it's life.  It has needed it's fair share or replacement parts but most of that was within the last year and since we paid it off ages ago as long as the repairs per month are cheaper than a car payment I'm happy to do them.

 

One complaint about the car, the front brakes just never seem happy.  Not sure if it is how we drive, design, something going on somewhere but we went through front brakes on this thing way too quickly and it just never seemed right but every brake job everything always looked good, everything cleaned greased IDK?  Whatever.

 

So  maintenance over 9 years.

 

One of the front bearings went out fairly early at like 60k maybe?  The other 3 bears were replaced at some point between that one and 120k  All been good since.  I think the early replacement was about the only repair that was kinda disappointing.  The others seem reasonable while living driving in the NE with road conditions.

 

In the last year and a half it has received quite a few repairs but luckily I have a good mechanic that does good work at a reasonable price, and I do some things myself, mainly pads and rotors.  I do oil and oil filter like clock work at 5k, no questions asked at the dealer. 

 

List from last year and a half

Front struts replaced

crack in thermostat elbow (replaced)

Leak in power steering cooler (radiator) replaced

driver side tie rod replaced

tranny pan leak, fixed

passenger side diff output shaft seal leak, fixed (no wonder, the exhaust runs too close and no heat shield). Recommend a DIY heat shield or maybe wrap the pipe there to help. Anything is better than how it is)

New battery (battery lasted a long itme, a little over 7 years.  it is a bit of a pain to change though and the long anchor rod/bolt was completely rusted and could not be reused and needed replaced) 

 

That might be about it and I consider most of that stuff fairly normal wear and tear for the year and milage so I can't knock any of that stuff.  

 

Some rust in the wheel wells has started to rear it's ugly head but can't say i've been nice to the car and the salts and stuff on the roads here take a pretty heavy toll on vehicles.  I should have done more preventative measures earlier on.

 

Now vehicle use?  Not gonna lie I am not easy on this thing, drive it/ drove it pretty hard for many years commuting small mountain back roads, I tow with it, small trailer but it gets loaded down with anything and everything from motorcycles to landscaping stones/boulders, firewood, appliances, building supplies you name it.  It's been on 8 hr round trips to pick something up.  Drove it 4 hr round trip this summer pulling a 12ft trailer to pick up a backhoe for a tractor.  Pulled like a champ on the highway in 90 degree heat on the way home.  Fun note, you can easily get 10ft long boards or whatever into the journey.  Loaded from the rear gate up tot he top of the passenger side dash.  Just make sure you put some cushion down to rest things on and keep them from directly contacting the windshield.  Securing them to something inside is not a bad idea either. 

 

What I like about the vehicle

   The AWD system is pretty decent and feels balanced, with a decent set of tires I really like how this car handles any kind of snow, mud you name it.  The tires are key though.  Those stock new tires are terrible.  When car first came out there was not a good selection of 225/55 -19s out there, most people opting to go 235 and even that wasn't great.  Now there is a few all terrain tires available in these sizes that are super good all purpose tires that can be run year around here in the NE and still get decent wear.

So cabin is a bit tight for lots of people, we have small kids so it's not a huge deal and both myself and my wife are not large people or tall whatever so it does work for us.  I would find it hard to believe someone big frame, 6 foot tall being comfortable in the journey though.  YMMV

 

I like how the journey handles, it feels like a car because it is so small but you know you have the power and traction to do more with it.

Gas milage could be better but that is probably a bit dependent on drivers and area you live ect... it is what it is.

 

I like the back up camera, it is great.  Not goofy distorted fish lens feeling, you know where the car is and where it is going.  I also like the manual rear gate / hatch to oepn. We have a '19 Chevy traverse and i can't stand the backup camera in that thing, to the point ic an barely use it.  It is also electronic only rear gate open I hate that.  More on that vehicle in a moment. 

 

All and all it seems the Journey gets a bad rep for various reasons, being cheep, a kid carter, "uninspiring", not having latest tech ect... but let me tell you, that is part of the reason I like it.  It doesn't have 100 bells and whistles, all this electronic garbage.  I want a vehicle that is easy to maintain, one that my basic mechanic and or I can work on and one that is reliable and dependable that isn't overpriced crap because it has all this electronic gizmo crap.

 

This dodge journey has been one of the better vehicles we have ever owned.  It will be sad to see it go whenever that happens. 

 

Let me tell you a story now

 

Bought a '19 chevy traverse in Jan 2020, new.  25k on it and that thing has been nothing but a total pain for the last year and a half.  It was fine for about the first year and a half then all this stuff just started happening with it.  Mostly electronic stuff that nor I or my mechanic can really do anything about, or the dealership for that matter, they will just keep making you pay to replace things until they finally get whatever is wrong to go away.  I don't like this method of "repair". 

 

The car has tranny issues, had the torque converter replaced already, they replaced the fuel pump during that debacle, said it was bad but I have my doubts, had to fight with them to get it covered under warranty.  Then it gets random electronic gremlins which can leave the car in a practically useless state.  Electronic parking brakes are the dumbest thing ever.  If there is anything wonky in that circuit, tiniest little hiccup it will kick on all these service issues, put the car in limp mode, or lock the brake you can't release it, do anything, you are screwed just hope it decides to kick back off and stay off for no reason.  Same with the traction control AWD system, will kick everything off and un usable randomly.  Really sucks for living in remote areas during winter.  This car is a big heavy pig and without legit winter tires you are not going anywhere with just the FWD and no where without the traction control working.  The acceleration of it is bad and the pedal feels removed from the performance of the engine.  It's way bigger heavier than the dodge and you really feel it at stops, like a lot.  It does have way more space inside which is the main nice thing about the whole car.   It's not designed for cold weather areas at all, no thought was put into this thing about ownership where routine snow occurs.   What to change your own rear brakes, too bad unless you have a scanner tool to retract the electronic parking brake, now you can just take it to your dealer and they get to charge you $600+ for a poorly done brake job.  What a crock. 

 

Take all your electronic bells and whistles and shove'em.  Looking to get rid of that thing asap while it's still worth something, maybe another Journey  JK....but seriously I'd probably consider it.  

 

 

 

Edited January 10, 2023 by bigbear372

[Neto]

I definitely get it about all of the computerized bells & whistles.  I don't even care for the electric stuff, like power window winders.  I know how to roll a window up & down, no problem.  Personally, having learned to drive w/o even power brakes etc, I also have a strong dislike for ABS.  Our small street empties out on a larger street on a fairly steep down-hill slope.  When there is heavy snow fall, the township usually only gets the center of our street cleared.  So descending to the stop sign, the right wheels are both on packed snow, while only the left wheels have traction.  So the ABS senses that the right wheels are sliding while the left side wheels are still rotating, and shuts down the brakes.  So then you just go right on down the hill into the cross traffic.  My wife just takes the long route, out the other way.  (I do find that it stops better if I put it into neutral going down that hill.  Something about having the main braking wheels - the front - being the powered wheels as well just doesn't help vehicle control on slippery surfaces.  The wheels that are expected to do the majority of the braking are trying to spin at the same time.)

Edited January 11, 2023 by Neto

[bigbear372]

2 hours ago, Neto said:

I definitely get it about all of the computerized bells & whistles.  I don't even care for the electric stuff, like power window winders.  I know how to roll a window up & down, no problem.  Personally, having learned to drive w/o even power brakes etc, I also have a strong dislike for ABS.  Our small street empties out on a larger street on a fairly steep down-hill slope.  When there is heavy snow fall, the township usually only gets the center of our street cleared.  So descending to the stop sign, the right wheels are both on packed snow, while only the left wheels have traction.  So the ABS senses that the right wheels are sliding while the left side wheels are still rotating, and shuts down the brakes.  So then you just go right on down the hill into the cross traffic.  My wife just takes the long route, out the other way.  (I do find that it stops better if I put it into neutral going down that hill.  Something about having the main braking wheels - the front - being the powered wheels as well just doesn't help vehicle control on slippery surfaces.  The wheels that are expected to do the majority of the braking are trying to spin at the same time.)

 

Experience the same thing on occasion, similar with TC too.  One side has good pavement bite and traction but the computer doesn't send enough power to that wheel to make it go because the other side is on ice and spins with the slightest bit of power.  Computers can be pretty dumb sometimes lol 

 

Had a '10 civic years back and the ABS would kick on when braking over bumpy bad pavement.  It was a little unnerving at times in traffic.  ABS kicking on in the dead of summer because you hit a few cracks in the road. 

 

In theory all the fancy computer safety feature make a lot of sense, I just think the execution has a ways to go.  Might have something to do with budget on these general consumer cars IDK?  Never drove a 150k + purposefully designed vehicle to see if there is a difference. 

[2late4u]

interesting on your views on your journey problems,, i also have a 2014 crossroad 138 k on it and my problems to date are as follows, oil sender unit went out and covered under my extended warranty ( mopar max warranty)then later on started wearing my rear tires on the inside which was due to the upper rear control/ trailer links ( NON -adjustable) would have been covered under my warranty as well, but i had adjustable upper rear arms installed under my own dollar, then i had my back up camera going crazy like most folks have complained about here, and that was covered under my warranty as well , and then my thermostat went bad i replaced that myself as it was cheaper than my ded on my warranty ($100),and then brings me to my grand repair which i am still waiting on which will be covered as well by my warranty my ABS brake module went bad ( C 2200  code internal fault) and have been waiting about 3 months now with the lights on and no cruise control which i miss dearly,other than that has been a great vehicle, we  just got back from our trip to biloxi ms from huntsville al  avg 27 mpg on the way home so really cant complain,,,BIGGEST reason i believe on a cars repair would be miles driven and how hard or easy on it and the type of roads and weather in a northern climate with lost of sulsh and salt on the roads to a more mild climate as mine with maybe a snow or two during the winter, which might explain your wheel bearings and struts failures as well..also running 235 55 19 as well,,I  kind of wish i had the 17 rims that i had on my 2011 journey,, a lot cheaper to replace and they seemed to last longer that the 19 inch do

[gbwaller]

I have a 2016 Journey SXT, 4-cyl that I bought new.  An ongoing problem that I have had is the the cruise control will randomly not turn on.  This will correct when I turn off the engine and turn it back on.  Another weird - recent - thing is that when I run the windshield wipers for any length of time, the check engine light will come on.  It usually will turn off when you cycle the engine on and off but sometimes it will stay on for a few cycles and then go off.  This particular thing only started when the battery was replaced.  Any ideas? Is this just typical Chrysler "gremlins?"  I've owned Chrysler products most of my life and I am a devoted customer but every model just seems to have their own set of peculiarities.  Thanks.

[John/Horace]

Need to get a scanner and check for codes or go to auto parts store with free scans.

Some codes like abs will disable cruise control function. If it’s intermittent like a faulty wheel sensor then it will randomly disable cruise before resetting itself. Wiper issue may not be caused by new battery, just coincidence. Once again, code is the starting point, parts throwing gets expensive. Wipers in some cars tied to awd activation.

 

Front bearings have abs sensor build in,  so rear sensor more likely the issue for cruise.

Edited April 28, 2023 by John/Horace

[Locosiete]

Honestly I can't really say I have had any major mechanical issues with mine, 99% issues I have had were due to my error. The only issues I have had is the awd stops working while while driving on very icy or snowy conditions which going forward doubt that will be a problem, love TX. The other is a small and slow oil leak from side of engine around the crank pulley. So under heavy acceleration I get burned rubber smell, my guess is oil on the belt causing it to slip.

Otherwise I have a 2013 SXT that I bought in late 2014 that had about 35,000 miles on it at the time of purchase and now fast forward to today and now it's at about 80,000 so I think I am one of the luckier owners not having any major issues.