Need 2012 Journey R/T Impressions

[OddJob]

So far;

-2012 R/T rides way better than my 2010 R/T

-Very quiet interior

-Had a rattle in the dash ahead of the driver. intermitant. Still looking into.

-On heavy pull or acceleration there is a very high pitched whistle from the engine. Intermittant. On a bump or rough surface it warbles in time with the bumps. Fades off at idle. Dealer cant figure it out.

-Rattle in pass side rear with a right to left cross wind. Inner plastic wheel well liner very loose. I glued it with silicone to the metal underneath. Fixed. Dealer couldnt figure it out.

- Very comfortable.

-Drove from Helena MT to Canadian boarder at 80mph. Dash fuel thing said 29US mpg. Even if not accurate, this is great MPG. On another trip I calculated the fuel with actual km vrs Liters and it was getting 8.6km/100l driving 105km/hr over about 6 hours. Very happy with the engine and fuel.

-Good power. Transmission programming is still a bit kindergarden.

-Have rear heat-A/C. Fantastic. Keeps cool WAY better than previous unit with front only.

-Havent used the 3rd row yet. Only have it to get the rear heat-a/c option.

-Garmin GPS is a bit slow and not as good as my Garmin 1450T although it looks like the same readout. The GPS provision between the speedo and the tach for turns and intersections is great.

-To date I have just over 5500km on it.

[redtomatoman]

Oh, and here's a video I found about the mp3 skipping, not made by me but it's the same problem:

I am assuming that the poor quality sound is actually the stereo and not the video quality, but it seems to show a stereo that skips very frequently. For my 8.4, the iPod will skip only one time every 20-30 minutes. It is not very frequent like that video seems to show. Even one time every 20-30 minutes is mildly annoying, but I have let it go because either no one else on this forum has that problem or they don't think occasional skipping is a problem. So it is unlikely that I will get any traction at the dealer for a problem they have never heard of. Additionally, I will certainly have a hard time reproducing the skip since it happens for only a fraction of a second every 20-30 minutes. Skipping like that on the video would drive me crazy. I agree with Mcgusto, your radio is just broken. Forget trying to fix it, I'd demand a new one.

If they acknowledge the problem but have no fix for Fiats in Spain, that makes me wonder if the 4.3 Journeys in the US and Canada are the same. If not, order a Dodge unit from the US and have Fiat install that. Good Luck.

Peace.

[Lebowski]

It is not very frequent like that video seems to show. Even one time every 20-30 minutes is mildly annoying, but I have let it go because either no one else on this forum has that problem or they don't think occasional skipping is a problem.

As strange as it may seem, and as I said before, it depends on the radio and the AF (alternate frequencies) function: if reception is good there's no skipping or it happens just from time to time, if it's bad it can be even worse than that video.

One can turn off the AF function or select an AM station before switching to the player, but in 2011 one shouldn't have to resort to these nasty workarounds.

I agree with Mcgusto, your radio is just broken. Forget trying to fix it, I'd demand a new one.

I can try but I doubt they're willing to change it, and if it's a software problem the new one would probably perform equally bad.

If they acknowledge the problem but have no fix for Fiats in Spain, that makes me wonder if the 4.3 Journeys in the US and Canada are the same.

It seems that the US/Canada version has limited RDS functionality: no AF function and it doesn't even show the stations' names.

If not, order a Dodge unit from the US and have Fiat install that.

I don't think that's an option.

[bigtsr]

Your right with alternate freqs however my 4.3 does show name of station

and if you press INFO button shows song/artist.

[lg68jcu]

Question about shift points. If you put it to the floor from say 0-80 what are the shift points? 40,60,80? Just curious about the gear ratios? Also Is the Auto stick a true auto stick? It wont shift until you hit it to the right to up shift and will it automatically shift to the next gear if you hit red line or will it just bounce off of the limitter until you upshift. I am going to go drive one but I dont think the sales person would appreciate if I tried to see what happens. Thanks Guys and Gals

[drb227]

Don't know about the shift points.

It is a true auto stick, unlike many current Chrysler vehicles. It won't shift until you tap it or it goes to redline. It will also automatically downshift if your speed gets too low for the current gear. Works quite well.

[Mcgusto82]

Don't know about the shift points.

It is a true auto stick, unlike many current Chrysler vehicles. It won't shift until you tap it or it goes to redline. It will also automatically downshift if your speed gets too low for the current gear. Works quite well.

It's an auto downshift stick.

You can demand it down shift, but you can't demand an up shift.

Kinda works like a gear limiter. It won't up shift from what ever fear you have it on.

Same on the caravan.

[Lebowski]

Your right with alternate freqs however my 4.3 does show name of station

and if you press INFO button shows song/artist.

Ah, OK, in another thread somebody said that the radio didn't show the station name.

Without pressing info does it show the full, 8 characters, name, or does it cut it to 3-4 characters?

[bigtsr]

No without pressing info it only shows the freq i.e. 102.9.

When info is pressed it shows like this:

Classic Rock

102.9-Lennon

the 2nd line will change to indicate song title

then go back to previous display.

The info screen will stay on thru all station changes

until you manually clear it or turn radio off.

[drb227]

It's an auto downshift stick.

You can demand it down shift, but you can't demand an up shift.

Kinda works like a gear limiter. It won't up shift from what ever fear you have it on.

Same on the caravan.

Absolutely not the same as the Caravan. As I said, it does not work like the auto stick in many other Chrysler vehicles (which are just gear limiters).

I use it frequently and it absolutely will upshift when you tap it to the right and downshift when you tap to the left.

[lg68jcu]

Great. Thanks for the info on the auto stick. Just like my stratus r/t s auto stick. That's definitly what I wanted to hear

[Mcgusto82]

Absolutely not the same as the Caravan. As I said, it does not work like the auto stick in many other Chrysler vehicles (which are just gear limiters).

I use it frequently and it absolutely will upshift when you tap it to the right and downshift when you tap to the left.

My friend... I have both of these cars parked right outside of my house.

They are even both white.

You can tap + a million times, if the car is not ready to be in 6th gear, it will NOT put the car in 6th gear.

[bigtsr]

Absolutely right with 6th gear change,

I have found that it won't change unless

I am doing approx 63 km/hr.

I use manual mode quite often in the city

to slow or anticipate traffic light changes

or in heavier traffic to save on braking.

[Mcgusto82]

Same thing with 5th, 4th, and even 3rd.

The car can roll on 1st or 2nd, but won't roll on higher gears. If have it on 4th, and come to a complete stop, the car will down shift itself to keep from stalling. Then as you roll forward, the car will step thru its gears to 4th. It may roll off of 2nd, but it don't start on 4th.

That's what am saying. It's more of a gear limiter.

You can still have a little fun by downshifting. But it's far from manual.

[drb227]

Mcgusto82 and bigtsr: What I have described is exactly how my 2011 Crew with the V6 works. I am not making this up. It most definitely will upshift and downshift to every gear manually, including 6th.

It won't downshift to 1st until you are practically stopped but it does do it. It also absolutely upshifts to 6th(above 70 kph) but I have found that you need to let up a bit on the gas pedal most of the time for the upshift to 6th but it ALWAYS works.

Also, I can start out in any gear from 1st to 4th, no stalling, no problem.

Please stop telling me that I am wrong. I know what I am talking about.

Edited August 10, 2012 by drb227

[bigtsr]

Mcgusto82 and bigtsr: What I have described is exactly how my 2011 Crew with the V6 works. I am not making this up. It most definitely will upshift and downshift to every gear manually, including 6th.

It won't downshift to 1st until you are practically stopped but it does do it. It also absolutely upshifts to 6th(above 70 kph) but I have found that you need to let up a bit on the gas pedal most of the time for the upshift to 6th but it ALWAYS works.

Also, I can start out in any gear from 1st to 4th, no stalling, no problem.

Please stop telling me that I am wrong. I know what I am talking about.

I believe you interpeted what I was stating incorrectly,I agree with you

as that's exactly how my DJ shifts when using manual mode.

I was simply saying that during upshifting (at least mine) won't

go into 6th manually until I am at approx 63km/hr,it will flash

the 6 in display but revert to 5.

[drb227]

Mine will definitely shift into 6 but it has to be over 70 kph as that appears to be the minimum speed at which it will normally shift automatically into 6th if you are accelerating very lightly. Next time you get to 70+, try letting off the gas pedal a bit and manually shifting into 6th. It should work just like mine does.