NorthStar1 Posted June 16, 2013 Report Share Posted June 16, 2013 I driven my 2013 Dodge Journey R/T with the 3.6L for the last 40 days and will give my thoughts...before I do, I need to explain my previous car was a 2012 Dodge Charger Blacktop Edition with the 3.6L & 8 speed automatic - great car but not alot of hauling room. I traded it as I needed more room for the dogs and hauling - I'm in my early 50's thus no kids but do need room to haul. Same engine but what a difference in transmissions - The DJ six speed tranny certainly shifts rather clunky when compared to the butter smooth shifting of the 8 speed in the Charger. With that said, I owned a Duramax diesel years ago with the Allison transmission...anyone who knows about trannies knows that Allison is bullet proof but shifts cluncky like the DJ. It takes some getting used to and will see how long it lasts. RIde is fantastic - Smooth over the bumps and handles quite well for a crossover. Seats - They take some adjusting and my 5' wife isn't liking the DJ too well as she can't adjust the seat into the straosphere to be able to see over the hood. Not great seats when comparing to a Charger or even a Silverado LT pickup but what do you expect for a $33K seven passenger x-over with sunroof, DVD player, leather, 8.4" display with nav, etc. Great gas mileage - While not as good as the Charger which routinely got 32 on the highway (remember, 3.6L with 8 speed tranny) but am getting a respectable 28 on the highway, 16 around town. Brakes - They don't appear to be a problem at the moment but I did have a lot of brake dust building on the rims during the first 600 miles but that has stopped. Granted, because it's a 2013, it has the larger rotors/pads so will see how they hold up. Fit and finish - Everything seems to fit well and the lines are smooth. The bright red paint job seems to be well done and about the only addition I would like to see FIat Chrysler do is add a rear bumper protecter to protect the bumper from scratches when loading/unloading the vehicle. Things I wish it had - power light gate activated via the remote, blind spot sensors/active cruise control/all - a complete package of optional safety features I had on the Charger which were very useful when changing lanes or vehciles merging onto the highway when you have your cruise set, splash guards which I purchased seperatly and installed myself, power seat for the front passenger, better seats which one could get up higher for those 5' or a little shorter, and finally the 8-speed transmission as it is simply the best on the market due to smoothness and exceptional fuel economy with gobs of power. Overall I'd have to give it an 8.5 out of 10 thus far simply because it's been trouble free, does what I need it to do, has gobs of power for getting up to speed, has a lot of nice amenities which most vehicles don't have (seven pax seating, under floor storage, under passenger seat storage, lay flat seats, remote start for cooling off the vehicle in the Texas sun, 8.4 which with Nav and XM is fantastic - even tells you when there is delayed traffic ahead and will reroute you). Also, changing the oil and filter on the 3.6 is a breeze as the filter is a cartridge/element style and is mounted on the top of the engine so very eady to do. Oil changes, like all of them I performed on my Charger, were very simple, not messy and easy to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtomatoman Posted June 17, 2013 Report Share Posted June 17, 2013 I'm with you, need the space for MTB and surf gear for trips. Never did test drive a Charger although I really like them. For the same amenities, does the Charger cost more? I feel like I got a lot for my $$ with the Journey. Only paid $26,800 for my 2011 R/T with no trade. I have been happy with the 6 speed tranny. Seems to shift fine for me. Wish I could change the computer to react to throttle input more quickly, but it is a CUV with family hauling, cargo space, and gas mileage in mind. Once I get the Journey in its power band above 3500, it has lots of power. Peace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journeyman425 Posted June 17, 2013 Report Share Posted June 17, 2013 Have to agree with most points here. How many miles on yours, Northstar1? The reason I ask is because today, I had another 100 mile trip in the Journey. It's the first time I've driven the car in a week and I noticed today that the shifting is noticeably smoother. Much more so overall, especially the 3-4 upshift. It now has 1500 miles on it. I know the transmission's electronics are adaptive but they usually don't take so long to learn. I suspect that the car, now being driven mostly by my wife, has finalized its adaptives to her style. In any case, it is still not as seamless as the eight speed - which I agree is probably the finest automatic on the planet - but it sure is a lot closer. Most of today's upshifts were nearly imperceptible. I also agree that the ride is perfectly balanced between smoothness and handling. I'm amazed at how flat the body remains in corners, yet the suspension soaks up most bumps easily and remains controlled. It doesn't dart or judder over broken pavement, either. I have the Touring setup which is supposedly more compliant than the R/T's High Performance Suspension, but I've not been able to compare the two. All of our stock Journeys at my store have been SXT's or Crews. Happy to hear that the R/T does not produce a jarring ride. I find the seats comfortable, but I definitely prefer the seat in my 300M - the most comfortable car seat I've ever ridden in, hands-down. Nothing ever aches no matter how many hours I sit in it. We have a Hershey trip coming up in a month - that will be a good test; it's about a six hour ride. I reset the fuel economy average at every fill-up. The lowest was the first tank @ 21.9. The last one was 22.1. The current tank is 24.3 - certainly not bad considering the car's size, power and capability. Chock that up mostly to the 3.6. All of my customers report improvements with their 3.6 liter-equipped vehicles over their previous ones with different powerplants - most noticeably the Jeep Grand Cherokee with the old 3.7 and the Grand Caravan / T&C with the old 3.8. I haven't noticed any excessive brake dust. However, I can't judge this fairly because I am ridiculously anal about keeping the car, and the wheels in particular, clean. It has rained here relentlessly since we bought the car and I have washed it at least a half-dozen times in the four weeks we've owned it! This weekend I was able to get two whole days out of a wash job - it is forecast to rain tonight, tomorrow night and Tuesday. Guess what I'll be doing on Wednesday... The fit and finish on mine is also excellent. There is, however, one paint defect in the tailgate. There is a sploch in the lower left corner of the tailgate - almost looks like there was a clog in the paint nozzle. You don't see it unless you lift the tailgate and look at it at eye level, and for this reason I refuse to have it repaired. A bodyshop would have to blend into the bumper and left rear quarterpanel in the repair process, and I don't want to do that with this color. If it ever gets hit in the rear, then it will be fixed by default. I also wish it had a power liftgate. I guess they have to cut off the equipment level at some point, otherwise no one would buy a Durango! And yes, if it had an eight speed, then the powertrain would be indeed perfect. Redtomatoman is right, though - the engine has good torque but above 3500 RPM it screams. Sounds damn good getting it done, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris1276 Posted June 17, 2013 Report Share Posted June 17, 2013 I feel like I got a lot for my $$ with the Journey. Only paid $26,800 for my 2011 R/T with no trade. Peace. How did that happen?????? You one lucky guy.. Qq Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtomatoman Posted June 17, 2013 Report Share Posted June 17, 2013 (edited) How did that happen?????? You one lucky guy.. Qq I played hardball with the dealer. Out the door was about $27,400 if I recall correctly. I found some dealers with internet prices as low as $24,800 with trade-in in Las Vegas and LA. I told them I wanted to buy local but if they didn't come down I'd walk. Amazingly, it worked. I didn't get anywhere near the trade-in price, but I got them to come down a lot. Could have had something to do with timing. Mine is a 2011. Maybe Chrysler was more desperate to sell vehicles then. Dunno. During the process I also had a friend that acted kind of like my representative. He thinks its fun to try to get cars as low as possible. He wouldn't let me call, but he called the sales manager relentlessly asking questions about options and financing. Honestly, I'm not sure what he told them, but the dealer even threw in the chrome gas door and mopar t-shifter for cost and installed them prior to pickup. The whole process took about 3 weeks. The whole time I was afraid they would sell my R/T out from under me!! Glad that didn't happen. Prices for the 2012 and 2013 models came down in subsequent years, I think the pricing for 2011 was kinda bloated. I think the sticker was $33,800 or something. Also, I bought the lifetime warranty from that same dealer, so they made their money off me. I've only had one problem so far, which would've been covered by the regular warranty anyway. Peace. Edited June 17, 2013 by redtomatoman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthStar1 Posted June 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 (edited) I just rolled 2092 miles today...and not a problem one. The 2012 Charger Blacktop was almost the same out the door as my Journey equipped with the same features but of course the Journey can haul alot more, has a DVD player in the back, hauls more people and simply has alot more versatility. And the price of my DJ R/T out the door was $27,900...msrp was just over $34,000. Edited June 18, 2013 by NorthStar1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubleO7 Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Northstar, I am about to give my one year review. Tried to do it the other night, but I guess I went into to much detail and it wouldn't post. Mrs DoubleO7, is just over 5' and also complains about the seat, but mainly being to hard, and yes she would have liked a height adjustment as well. Having said that the windows are larger then most of the other competition, so even though the seat is low, she doesn't feel claustrophobic like she did in other vehicles we looked at. I will post my review in a few more days. Regards DoubleO7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris1276 Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 And the price of my DJ R/T out the door was $27,900...msrp was just over $34,000. My journey r/t fully loaded except booster seat went out the door $35,900 + 10%tax! ..plus 4.9% financing ofcourse. Did you find it kinda steep? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthStar1 Posted June 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 Wow! Steep, yes! I have the same vehicle with the booster seats, in floor storage, etc., and didn't pay near that much...that or the Canadian exchange rate is really bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris1276 Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 Ouch,,, i dont know what happened! Its my first brand new vehicle. I thought all msrp are same! And i manage to squeeze $500 discount from the dealerwhich made me thought i did a good deal! I dont think theres much difference in canada and us exchange rate! As far as i remember canadian dollar was bit stronger that time!. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey_SeXT Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 We really get ripped off here in Canada when it comes to the purchase of vehicles compared to the U.S. We all know it, we complain and yet we are still getting screwed even with a strong Canadian dollar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryl Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 It is sad in the US you can get an RT in fwd here in Canada no such luck awd or nothing and pay top $ to get it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecrazyfoo4u Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 We got our 2012 Crew FWD with 4.3" screen, leather, 3rd row seat/HVAC option, and 19" chrome clads for $25k out the door (over a year ago in California). I thought that was a pretty good deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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