[Steven]

I looked at the Tahoe hybrid, read about and thought maybe a Durango hybrid, looked at a Honda Civic GX (natural gas car), which I will need to talk about later, i am still thinking about that, i also looked at and considered:

caliber
regular durango
avenger
regular civic
hybrid civic
honda pilot
minivans of different makes
toyota highlander
toyota sequioua (sic)
and probably a few others.

What did everyone else consider and why?

My main focus was mileage and fitting the entire family to replace the durango (2000 w/130k miles). I kept the durango until i decide on another car. i have a truck (ram 2500 diesel 12 valve) that i love with 160k, that i use to pull a trailer for camping. i figured i may as well get something to park the truck and save on wear and save on the price of diesel. This journey about doubles my mileage in the durango, so i am saving some off the cost (per month payment), saving on the wear on the truck, etcetera. But i still need to do something about the durango's mileage. Its paid, but still costs a lot to drive. my wife is driving the journey.

steve

[kwirges]

Steven, on Apr 1 2008, 09:31 PM, said:

I looked at the Tahoe hybrid, read about and thought maybe a Durango hybrid, looked at a Honda Civic GX (natural gas car), which I will need to talk about later, i am still thinking about that, i also looked at and considered:

caliber
regular durango
avenger
regular civic
hybrid civic
honda pilot
minivans of different makes
toyota highlander
toyota sequioua (sic)
and probably a few others.

What did everyone else consider and why?

My main focus was mileage and fitting the entire family to replace the durango (2000 w/130k miles). I kept the durango until i decide on another car. i have a truck (ram 2500 diesel 12 valve) that i love with 160k, that i use to pull a trailer for camping. i figured i may as well get something to park the truck and save on wear and save on the price of diesel. This journey about doubles my mileage in the durango, so i am saving some off the cost (per month payment), saving on the wear on the truck, etcetera. But i still need to do something about the durango's mileage. Its paid, but still costs a lot to drive. my wife is driving the journey.

steve

I looked (and testdrove) a Pontiac Torrent. I chose the Journey because it just seemed not as "plastic" inside. The Torrent seemed pretty low-budget on the interior.

[crh47]

We test drove the Journey, Toyota Higlander, and GMC Acadia. I considered a Honda Pilot and Mazda
CX-9 but my wife said they were too ugly to even test drive. We went into this thinking we wanted an Acadia/Outlook, but after test driving the Acadia, my wife realized it was just too big, and the tranny wasn't smooth either (always searching for a gear). She fell in love with the built in car seats and conversation mirror of the Journey. Turns out, this was the cheapest of the whole bunch.

Can't wait for it to come in.

[jack]

kwirges, on Apr 3 2008, 09:00 AM, said:

I looked (and testdrove) a Pontiac Torrent. I chose the Journey because it just seemed not as "plastic" inside. The Torrent seemed pretty low-budget on the interior.

I've heard the same thing about the Torrent too. I think they are going to discontinue this model anyway.

[Steven]

I can't believe how expensive the Acadia is. I looked at some between 38k to 45k. really, i can't believe how affordable the journey is, i got the fully loaded R/T AWD for way less than anything else, 30k.
Steve

[kconnors]

I wanted an AWD that was easy on gas, low in price and had good performance.
I performed a paper comparison on six vehicles that I was interested in, which included the Ford Escape XLT, Mitsubishi Outlander, Suzuki Grand Vitara, Jeep Liberty Sport, Jeep Patriot Limited and Dodge Journey SXT.
I awarded points (1-6) in the following categorys; Price, Fuel Economy, Engine Performance, Transmission, Available Options, Trade-In Value, Overall Performance, Trailor Towing and Looks /My impression.
The Journey received the highest rating for Price, Transmission and Overall Performance but it received the lowest points for Fuel Economy and Trade in Value. Bye the way my choice was the Jeep Liberty which received the Highest Points in Engine Performance, Looks/My Impressions and Trailor Towing but it was the highest priced.
Anyway the order of finish after adding up all the points was:
Dodge Journey
Jeep Liberty
Mitsubishi Outlander
Suzuki Grand Vitara
Jeep Patriot, and in last place
Ford Escape XLT

I took a trip to my dealership to try out the Dodge and Jeeps. They gave me a Journey SXT AWD to test drive and I was sold. The testing and searching was over. I knew this was the vehicle for me so we worked out a deal and the vehicle was on order.

Now, my wife on the other hand was a different story. She didn't think we needed a new vehicle and the one we had was perfectly good. Mind you, she is no doubt right but I'm a guy and you know the rest. She wasn't quite as peaved as when I bought my new Goldwing Motorcycle 4 years ago.

Everything is good now and she looks forward to the new vehicle. I think???

Keith

[indianrefining]

kconnors, on Apr 9 2008, 08:44 AM, said:

Now, my wife on the other hand was a different story. She didn't think we needed a new vehicle and the one we had was perfectly good.

That seems to be a common complaint with wives. I think that it stems from misplaced priorities or a lack of vision! :rolleyes:

[Goldmember]

we looked at a Caliper I banged my knees and head trying to get into it. Also tried the Compass and the Liberty, same thing.
We wanted another PT however Chrysler stopped selling 2008's in Canada. I would love to have a PT with 2.2 CRD diesel engine which Chrysler only sells in europe. It gets 58 mpg. My next daily driver to replace the Acclaim maybe an SSR or HHR SS Panel. My wife and I both love the Journey but we have a fleet of cars. Don't tell my wife but I am looking at a 57 Caddy. Its easy to spot our house its the house with the driveway full of cars.

In happier news I added insurance on my PT spring must be around the corner

[stl_hemi]

Jetta TDI
Caliber
Torrent
All were too small
Journey has plenty of room for us. Were both 6'2"

[muddaofthree]

We looked at the Torrent, too plastic is a good description, the Equinox - every other vehicle we saw was one.
Loved the Acadia, but too high priced for our budget. Really wanted to look at the Durango, but with the price of oil these days, not.
We wanted to get away from the mini-van, downsize a little for gas mileage, although we have three boys and the 7 seats in the Journey caught our eye.
I have always loved the Pacifica, very classy looking car, with 6 seats, but if we all wanted to go somewhere we would have absolutely no trunk space. Because of the configuration, 2, 2, and 2, whereas the Journey is a 5 seater with the option of 7. The trunk space will still hold our hockey or lacrosse bags.
It kind of looks like the Pacifica, just a little chunkier, beafier, so I like that, but the price is what absolutely sold us. We have so many bells and whistles, and we are paying less monthly than our minivan.
Just my two cents, hope it helps,
Angie

[Florida_Panhandle]

We didn't drive any competing cars, but a friend of the wife's owns an Equinox and Pam has ridden in it several times. The Escape looked too small. I'd considered a Pacifica, but it is pretty pricey. We didn't like the styling of the Caliber or Nitro. We like and have had no trouble with our Grand Caravan, so buyinbg another Dodge wasn't a stretch. She loves "her" Journey and I can't pry it away from her.

[LBD-CT]

We test drove a Torrent, a Ford Edge, and a Saturn Vue. We also looked at The Equinox, Rav 4 and the Pilot.

Saturn actually gave us a car to keep overnight.

The pontiac dealer told us to be back in 10 minutes with the torrent.

But the Journey was just the best fit

Right size

Right seating

Right options

Right price

[SuperTurbo]

Right now I still don't know should I get a minivan or the Journey....

Truth is minivan have more space (Hoping the 4L V6 end up on the cheaper dodge model)

For Journey, my major worries is the quality of the car, and how comfortable for a long trip.... (Those seats looks like temp seats doesn't even looks like a properly build seats)

[SteelCityJourney]

We were looking at the GMC Acadia or the Toyota Highlander. We liked the Acadia but the price was ridiculously high and it was built of a truck platform. I like the Journey because it drives and handles like a car but has the room I need for my family. It should be pretty reliable since it is built off an existing and proven platform with a likewise proven 3.5 V6 pwertrain.

[Red Delta]

Caliber, Malibu. Then, suddenly realized that I needed a bigger car.

[scott4751]

Well - my wife didn't want an SUV or a minivan, but she did want 3rd row seating. This criteria did not leave me many vehicles to consider.

Ford Freestyle/Taurus X
Mazda CX9
Kia Rondo (momentarily)

The Journey was by far the best looking and equipped for the price and once she took it for a drive it was a done deal.

[jaymista]

My wife and I tried out the Caliper, Compass, Patriot, Avenger, Nitro, Chev Malibu, HHR, Pontiac Vibe, Kia Rondo and the Journey. I did a lot of reading of car reviews on the internet and I narrowed things down to the Malibu and the Journey. I really liked the new 2008 Malibu and I think it is a fine car this year. The Journey just offered more features that we thought we needed, especially the extra storage space and the bigger V-6 engine. Overall, the Journey with taxes and all the other special prices thrown in, cost another 3-4 thousand more than the 4 cylinder Malibu would have cost.

[TheStewie]

My wife and I considered most of the smaller vehicles, many the same as listed above. 30k on average was the price range we looked at and many like Honda and Toyota were way out of our budget. Mileage was the first concern for my wife until she realized that only minivans and a vehicle like the Journey had the space she wanted and 7 seats if needed. All the other vehicles had 4 or 4 and a half seating which was not enough and little space for storage.

If we did not need the extra seating and space we would have bought/leased the 2009 Suburu Forrester. It is a fantastic vehicle with a great ride, mileage and options but only really seats 4 comfortably and didn't have the space we needed in the back.

When we downsize in the future we will look at them again.

The Stewie

[dodgeram]

We looked at the Nissan Murano, Nissan Xterra, Jeep Patriot, and Dodge Grand Caravan. The Murano was nice but was pricey and took premium gas. The Xterra had poor gas mileage and too few features for the money. The Patriot was too small and noisy. The Journey has many of the same features and conveniences as the Grand Caravan, while gaining a more sporty look.

[Booker T]

I really wanted the Acadia until I drove it and looked at the price...it drives like a truck. I stumbled on the Journey and bought it within an hour. Great ride, tons of features, and an amazing price.