Kate68 Posted September 7, 2010 Report Share Posted September 7, 2010 I bought the first dodge Journey Sold at the dealership in Oct 09. It is a 2010. I had my first set of brakes and Rotars at 9000 miles. Since then nothing but trouble. I have had my brakes and rotars changed 5 times. I most recently replaced my tires as well. What a hassle this car has been. The tires are 180 a piece and a special order!!!!!!!! This car is a piece of Crap! The dealer has been less then helpful each time telling me the brakes are my own fault! Im sorry but I know tons of people that have a car with over 100000 miles that have only changed their brakes ONCE!! It seems to me after all the postings i have found that DODGE is responsible for this faulty brake problem. I have spent almost 5000 on all the work! Nothing has been covered under my warranty! The worst of it all is I owe so much on the car its impossible to get rid of!! I need advise or help if anyone has any to suggest@!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
email4walker Posted September 7, 2010 Report Share Posted September 7, 2010 Sorry to hear about all your problems with the brakes. A lot of us on here have dealt with the brake problem, and your right, it is a problem. This might be a little too late, but don't have the dealer deal with your brake problems unless it is under warrenty. If they say it is not covered, take it to a third party to have your brakes done (everytime). What is happening is the dealer is changing and fixing your brakes, but they are using the same stuff that comes on a new journey(which caused the problem in the first place), so you are having the same problem over and over and over again. First thing, are you under 36,000? if yes, you can try and reason with them about it. That has work for a few people on here and it got their brakes fixed for free, but it does depend on the dealership. Can you go to a different dealership? Are you having any other problems with the car? If everything I asked above is "No", then you need to go and have your brakes changed at a auto shop (not a dealer!). If you know somebody who is good with cars, have them do it for you. You need to put on ceramic brake pads. They cost a little more, but it will solve most (if not all) your brake problems (assuming you rotors are in good/great condition). I have ceramics on mine now with the original rotors and no problems at all. You are NOT crazy. They are wrong. It is a problem. (more so, what they are putting ON the journey is the problem) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poznet Posted September 9, 2010 Report Share Posted September 9, 2010 I agree with email4walker. The second I noticed vibration (around 8000km) I went out and purchased high grade rotors and did the swap. Didn't even bother with the dealer knowing they would just swap out with the same garbage rotors. Not worth the time. Any of the online stores carry rotors for the Journey, $40-$60 for good quality. Pads even less. It takes about 15 minutes per side to do the work. Remember, every time you get warranty work done, the dealer get paid by Chrysler, in this case they're getting paid to put faulty parts on your car. my 2 cents price9714 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgray1972 Posted September 16, 2010 Report Share Posted September 16, 2010 Same story here with brakes: 2009 Journey with 15k miles and they started to shudder under braking. THe dealer advised new rotors and pads all round as the disks were warped - supposedly due to driving style. Well we do like to use the brakes to stop !!!! The work was deemed to be out of warranty as it is a wear and tear part. Escalated to Dodge Customer Service and have been passed throuhg to the second tier to look into the issue, I will let you know how I get on as it ws $1100 for the replacement on a 1 year old vehicle. I suspect this will be the first and last Dodge I own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whenty Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 there has to be some place out there that will listen to us and do something about these lousy brakes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beebs220 Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 there has to be some place out there that will listen to us and do something about these lousy brakes I'm in the same boat as well. I bought my '09 Journey in April and I'm already having my brakes replaced. This should be taken care of by Dodge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2hot2handl Posted November 11, 2010 Report Share Posted November 11, 2010 Welcome to the club fellow Journey Owners, same issue here no difference models on 2008-2010 we are all f u c k - u p the only way is after market Ceramics pads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammy Posted November 19, 2010 Report Share Posted November 19, 2010 I am extremely disappointed with my journey (base model) : . Today when i was going home with my kids, when I step on my brakes heard heavy grinding sound, could not believe my ears. It is only 3 weeks old and has 700 km. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silentdan Posted November 20, 2010 Report Share Posted November 20, 2010 My 2010 Journey has only 11500 km and like a month ago my steering wheel started to shake when I break. So I took it to the dealer and they changed my front rotors no questions asked but I have a feeling this will happen again so I'll have to look in to after market pads and rotors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diggit Posted November 21, 2010 Report Share Posted November 21, 2010 I bought the first dodge Journey Sold at the dealership in Oct 09. It is a 2010. I had my first set of brakes and Rotars at 9000 miles. Since then nothing but trouble. I have had my brakes and rotars changed 5 times. I most recently replaced my tires as well. What a hassle this car has been. The tires are 180 a piece and a special order!!!!!!!! This car is a piece of Crap! The dealer has been less then helpful each time telling me the brakes are my own fault! Im sorry but I know tons of people that have a car with over 100000 miles that have only changed their brakes ONCE!! It seems to me after all the postings i have found that DODGE is responsible for this faulty brake problem. I have spent almost 5000 on all the work! Nothing has been covered under my warranty! The worst of it all is I owe so much on the car its impossible to get rid of!! I need advise or help if anyone has any to suggest@!! First off, sorry to hear about your brake problems. Second, I hope you saved all your receipts. If ANYTHING goes wrong with your car during its first year or 20,000kms(canada), the repair is fully warrantied. right down to light bulbs, fuses, radio knobs and wiper blades. I would talk to the service manager at your dealership about getting refunded. If he doesn't budge ask for the dealership's owner and explain the situation. Take names and notes of whats said. If he/she isn't helpful then call the corporate customer service line (1-800-465-2001 Canada and US) and explain that your paying out of pocket for warranty work. Don't take any guff from the dealership. They are there to make a buck but they are also frontline reps for chrysler/dodge and unfortunately some are crooks. lavenderlilly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richo Eng Posted November 24, 2010 Report Share Posted November 24, 2010 First off, sorry to hear about your brake problems. Second, I hope you saved all your receipts. If ANYTHING goes wrong with your car during its first year or 20,000kms(canada), the repair is fully warrantied. right down to light bulbs, fuses, radio knobs and wiper blades. I would talk to the service manager at your dealership about getting refunded. If he doesn't budge ask for the dealership's owner and explain the situation. Take names and notes of whats said. If he/she isn't helpful then call the corporate customer service line (1-800-465-2001 Canada and US) and explain that your paying out of pocket for warranty work. Don't take any guff from the dealership. They are there to make a buck but they are also frontline reps for chrysler/dodge and unfortunately some are crooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richo Eng Posted November 24, 2010 Report Share Posted November 24, 2010 We have had brake problems to but dealer has been great. Somewhere around 20 000km had the rear rotors replaced as one caliper got hung up and got hot. Calipers replaced and the issue I heard was the brake sliders were not properly lubricated at the factory and I think they are adding a stainless steel shim or sleeve and greasing up this part. I had a slight warp in front rotors and they replaced at around 25 000 km. I paid them to put on ceramic aftermarket front pads, and brakes have been fine for now. I am at 29 000 km. I was told bake brake design similar to Caravan. Was told the back brakes may need more frequent servicing - not happy about that but I will have them look at them again in the Spring. Maybe its a matter of lubricating the sliding parts. Performance wise, the brakes perform very well. Other than that we really enjoy driving the Journey. We loaded it up and towed a trailer and had the mopar cargo carrier on and went out to Newfoundland from Ontario. Vehicle is a pleasure to drive on a long trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piersonj1 Posted December 18, 2010 Report Share Posted December 18, 2010 I've also had problems with my brakes, replaced my first set of front pads at 16,000 miles and first set of rear pads at 25,000. Now it sounds like the front ones are starting to squeak again and I feel jipped by dodge and there "it's your driving style" bs... I have never had to replace brakes at 25,000 miles let alone 16,000 miles dodge needs to own up to the brake issue and stop passing the buck. My style of braking is stopping when necessary; if that's a problem for dodge then they should get out of the business of making family vehicles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCS1 Posted December 24, 2010 Report Share Posted December 24, 2010 The whole issue with short brake life started many years ago when the US govt implemented the CAFE (corporateAverage fuel economy ) standards and the car mfg's had to do whatever they could to reduce weight in order to improve the average fuel economy. That's also about the same time you started to see a lot more plastic. I remember having several generations of GM company cars that gave very short disk brake life due to rotor warping caused by the thinner disc's and so it didn't surprise me to see the same thing cropping up with the Journey as it is a relatively heavy vehicle. My Journey has just over 18,000 km and since I occasionally felt some brake shudder and had been following the discussions here I had the dealer check the brakes and road test. As it only seems to occur under heavy loading I wasn't surprised that the tech couldn't feel anything but they recorded my complaint and also advised me that the disc's showed 95% life left. My question is if anyone else has experienced the brake pulsations only when you have a full vehicle of 4 or more adults, going down a steepish hill (common out here in BC) but not actually hard braking. Under these conditions it almost feels like the ABS is kicking in even though the road was dry and there was no "panic-stop" application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
note6w Posted December 26, 2010 Report Share Posted December 26, 2010 My wife complained of car pulling and making some noise when braking but since she only had 15,000 miles I kinda of ignored it but then my sister-in-law who bought a journey at the same time call and told us that she had to replace front and rear brakes and only had about 19,000 miles on hers. I pulled the front wheels and sure enough the pads were worn so I replaced them with new lifetime pads at the cost of about $50 per axel. They are very easy to replace after wheel is removed, just two bolts holding caliper on, pull old pads and use c-clamp to retract piston and install new pads and reinstall calipers and step on brakes to reset and off you go, (if the rotors are fine) and now lets see out the new pads hold up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnhappyDodgeBuyer Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 (edited) http://classactionlawsuitsinthenews.com/class-action-lawsuit-complaints/chrysler-dodge-journey-class-action-lawsuit-complaint-filed-over-chrysler-dodge-journey-brake-pads-brake-rotors/ Above is a link to a lawsuit being filed in New Jersey. Maybe its outcome will help us all. I was told at 6,000 miles the light shimmy I felt coming down a steep hill near our home was because the car was a front wheel drive and that was normal. at about 13,000 it became worse and now at 14,000 it is beginning to do it on other steep inclines. Taking it in this week to see what they say. I am sure 1) It is past 12,000 so I am out of luck and 2) they'll put new pads on which will need replaced in six months for $400 (in which my local guy could do it for $150). The thing is no one should have to have rotors turned or brakes put on under 25,000 miles and every 15,000 miles after that. Wished I had replaced my Suzuki I had with no problems in five years for another Suzuki. Thanks Dodge for renewing my faith in the American Auto Industry (please note sarcasm). Edited January 31, 2011 by UnhappyDodgeBuyer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 Ok, we purchased our piece of scrap metal the day after I had our third child! May 20th 2010 Our first brand new car . We went to pick it up and I was only 24hrs post partum from a home birth!!! I was that excited to pick it up. I drove and my husband drove our old van home. Almost immediately I was not to sure about the drive of the car. Everytime I drove I would say to my husband "something doesn't feel right" as usual I'm crazy! Then I began to notice steering vibration when slowing down.. Hmmmm?! I'm no mechanic and yes I'm a woman but I have driven enough vehicles to know when something is up!! 19,000km front rotors are warped again I'm thinking that's not right "it's brand new".... Sooooo here we are at 29,000 I took it in for oil change and tire rotation. No mention of anything oh except I need a new air filter. 31,000 Feb 15 2011 feels like my breaks are going. Go into the dealership to book an appointment. I asked the guy if there are any problems ongoing with this model.. "no do you do a lot of city driving or highway driving" As soon as he said that I knew he was full of it! Anyhoo that brings me here to the forum.. My appointment for the brake check is on tuesday and I already know what they will say thanks to everyone on here!! I am concerned with the safety of my family they can keep replacing brakes but god forbid they can't replace us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmttoxics Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 Ok, we purchased our piece of scrap metal the day after I had our third child! May 20th 2010 Our first brand new car . We went to pick it up and I was only 24hrs post partum from a home birth!!! I was that excited to pick it up. I drove and my husband drove our old van home. Almost immediately I was not to sure about the drive of the car. Everytime I drove I would say to my husband "something doesn't feel right" as usual I'm crazy! Then I began to notice steering vibration when slowing down.. Hmmmm?! I'm no mechanic and yes I'm a woman but I have driven enough vehicles to know when something is up!! 19,000km front rotors are warped again I'm thinking that's not right "it's brand new".... Sooooo here we are at 29,000 I took it in for oil change and tire rotation. No mention of anything oh except I need a new air filter. 31,000 Feb 15 2011 feels like my breaks are going. Go into the dealership to book an appointment. I asked the guy if there are any problems ongoing with this model.. "no do you do a lot of city driving or highway driving" As soon as he said that I knew he was full of it! Anyhoo that brings me here to the forum.. My appointment for the brake check is on tuesday and I already know what they will say thanks to everyone on here!! I am concerned with the safety of my family they can keep replacing brakes but god forbid they can't replace us! Well, since my girlfriend was in an accident serious enough to write off both cars involved and she came out with out a scratch (face first in an airbag even), I think its pretty safe to call the Journey a safe car. That is pretty much the reason why we bought another one. The ongoing brake problem can apparently be solved by moving to higher quality after market rotors (slotted / drilled) and ceramic pads. There are several posts on the forum about where to get these kits and you should be able to get a local garage to install them. Good luck! Kari 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgey09 Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 I just had my Journey look at by a local mechanic to find out that it needs new rotors and brakes with only 23,000 miles to it. I am shocked awed over it. I drive around 800 miles a month through the Colorado Mountains to discover the shimmy was in my head. Now to read that this is occuring to others. I just wonder why there has not been a recall! My local dealership is luckily only charging me 50 - 100 to fix it. Hell of alot better than 450 that the local mechanic said. Now knowing that the brakes and rotors are the trouble my accident I had last month was due to them. I am thinking about turning the accident into my insurance had have them go after Dodge. I still love my dodge but I am dismayed about all the brake issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 Ok, we purchased our piece of scrap metal the day after I had our third child! May 20th 2010 Our first brand new car . We went to pick it up and I was only 24hrs post partum from a home birth!!! I was that excited to pick it up. I drove and my husband drove our old van home. Almost immediately I was not to sure about the drive of the car. Everytime I drove I would say to my husband "something doesn't feel right" as usual I'm crazy! Then I began to notice steering vibration when slowing down.. Hmmmm?! I'm no mechanic and yes I'm a woman but I have driven enough vehicles to know when something is up!! 19,000km front rotors are warped again I'm thinking that's not right "it's brand new".... Sooooo here we are at 29,000 I took it in for oil change and tire rotation. No mention of anything oh except I need a new air filter. 31,000 Feb 15 2011 feels like my breaks are going. Go into the dealership to book an appointment. I asked the guy if there are any problems ongoing with this model.. "no do you do a lot of city driving or highway driving" As soon as he said that I knew he was full of it! Anyhoo that brings me here to the forum.. My appointment for the brake check is on tuesday and I already know what they will say thanks to everyone on here!! I am concerned with the safety of my family they can keep replacing brakes but god forbid they can't replace us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 I went in for my brake check. My parents neighbor was already there kicking up a fuss about his caravan!!!!!!!!!! Lol I was laughing to myself because I didn't have to have an argument about my damn car at 8 in the morning! The neighbors van only has nine thousand km on it! But past warranty he told the manager he wasn't going to pay for a thing! Turns out his calipers were siezing! No charge to fix it! My turn according to them there's nothing wrong with my brakes!!! Lol they have 60% left on them! Interesting that both my husband and myself hear the noise it makes! Oh and ps my steering is vibrating again! Already had the rotors changed once! They are just buying time at the dealership!!!!! I'm not paying for anything! I drove a really old minivan across this country and my brakes were fine! I drive my "journey" across the city and I need new rotors and brake pads!!!!!! Makes no sense!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartianKing Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 I just brought my '09 Journey in for an oil change, and I was told that my brake pads and rotors were to be replaced by a new third-party suppliers parts, since the previous ones were poorly made! I knew of the previous issues with the brakes people were having, and was just accepting of the fact I would need to replace them soon and often. Hearing this from my dealer was definitely good news to my ears. The service writer said that my vehicle was covered under a $100 deductable, which, compared to a full brake job, I was willing to pay. So hopefully others out there will be able to get the same deal I did and get their brakes replaced with these new ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Germax Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 That is correct, I got the letter in today. 12-24 months / 24.000 miles : $50 deductible 24-36 months / 36.000 miles : $100 deductible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JourneyRT11 Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 I just got my 2011 Journey R/T two weeks ago and I only have 400 km on it. This morning I wake up to move my vehicle's around in the driveway and when I go to brake, my brakes make a loud grinding noise and my vehicle stops alot faster then normal. It feel like my brakes were sticking. It's a rainy day outside but I have never had any issues like this with any of my other car's I've had! I'm going to take it out for a drive soon to see if they will stop sticking, so i will keep everyone posted! Has anybody else had this problem? Should I take the vehicle in to get checked? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drb227 Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 Haven't yet had any brake issues with my 9 day old 2011 Crew with 500kms on it. Please do keep us posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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