First full year

[B4ZINGA]

As of Wednesday, 5/20/2014, it has been one full year since I switched from my beloved 2007 Charger R/T with 29R Road & Track sport package to my 2014 Journey R/T AWD with Rallye appearance package. I took delivery with 2,086 miles as the second owner (first in-service date was 3/20/2014). It currently has about 12,850 miles. It has had one oil change and one tire rotation, and otherwise has not been back to the dealer (for the moment).

My impression so far...

This has been an excellent vehicle. It has filled every single need I had that I bought it for and which my Charger had a very difficult time filling. I needed a wagon-type vehicle to drive my new retriever around in (he loves it, too), and I needed a vehicle with extra cargo volume to transport test samples between labs (I currently work as a validation engineer for a tier 1 supplier on interior components to most of the major automakers in the world, moving to product engineering in a week). The Journey does this flawlessly, while the Charger was only barely capable of doing it. I often had to drive with the rear seat folded down, which introduced a lot of exhaust drone, and I was constantly paranoid that my dogs hair and nails would destroy the suede backseat in spite of the seat cover I have. I hate having to make car payments for a longer length of time, but I like the lower cost of insurance.

Interestingly, my partner has a 2014 4-cyl FWD SXT Blacktop in Redline 2-coat Pearl, and we noticed my R/T handles the pockmarked roads around Detroit better than the B/T.

One of the things I've recently started noticing that makes me glad I went for the Journey instead of the Durango is how nimble the car is. Since it's based on a stretched Avenger platform, it doesn't lurch and lumber like a large SUV does. I can whip the thing through parking lots and not feel like it's losing control. I'm sure once I put 245 tires on it, I can drive it with as much confidence as I drive my 300M Special. I'm not sure if all Journey's act this way, as I do have the R/T with the sport-tuned suspension... whatever that amounts to on a car designed to be a people-mover.

To date, there has been only one issue. When the washer fluid ran out late last year, I poured in the usual RainX fluid that I have used on all of my Chrysler and Dodge vehicles for more than a decade. This is the first one that had a problem. The low fluid light has stayed on. Google tells me late model Dodge washer fluid sensors don't play nice with RainX, and Rams are able to overcome this by draining the RainX and using the standard blue solvent. Not so with the Journey. I ran my bottle out today for the second time since using the RainX and poured in the basic solvent... and the light is still on. So I'll be making an appointment soon to have the sensor replaced under warranty. No big deal, that's what warranty's are for.

The aforementioned Blacktop, however, was just in the shop for a week to have a wheel speed sensor replaced. That car has 7500 miles on it and already needed that sensor... it has also had intermittent issues with the screen on the 8.4A Uconnect. Very odd. I suppose those units are hit-n-miss, as mine has had no issues.

Am I going to keep it for the long haul? Short answer: No. Long answer: A 2015 Charger Road & Track in Jazz Blue with Mopar front splitter and Mopar rear valence is calling out to me something fierce... but then I'd be right back to square one with my dog. On the other hand, I'm keeping my eyes and ears out for the promised 2017 Journey-replacement SRT, and the re-engineered 2018 Grand Cherokee. Until those models arrive, I'm happy with my 2014 R/T!

[dhh3]

I'll be crossing a year next month.