bfurth

Check the rotors to see if you can feel any obvious grooves being cut into them (shouldn't exist with that kind of mileage). Honestly, at 150 miles, you're still probably bedding in the pads. Get out onto a highway (with few cars around) and do a few speed drops from 50 to 20 (not panic stops) with at least 30 seconds between to let the rotors cool down.

Or take it to a dealer. With 150 miles on it, there should be absolutely nothing wrong with that vehicle in any stretch of the imagination (unless you punctured some tires, but those were never covered anyway).

I love the detailing spray. Use it every wash.

I used what was left in the bottle (the clay kit I had was what was left over from removing polyurethane from the windshield of my T&C) to clean up some water spots after the windshield was clean. And then used it to clean the door jambs, and what looks like adhesive residue on the chrome lettering on the back from whatever had been taped on to protect it from the first paint work that had to be done. Early next month (once the front body work paint is cured), the whole thing is getting clayed and waxed (got Maguiar's sitting at home waiting to get opened for those jobs). In the mean time, weekly washing.

I love how polished it looks right now. I washed/waxed the T&C yesterday, and looking at either of them, you can see the reflection of itself in the reflection of the other vehicle on the body of the first one (T&C in reflection of Journey on T&C or Journey in reflection of T&C on Journey). It's a pretty cool effect.

Fortunately, no chemicals were needed. A quick swipe with a clay bar and the windshield is back to being silent when the wiper blades run over it (dry - and only done once to test for how clean I had gotten the windshield).

This is now two issues I've fixed (only the first for my Journey) with nothing more than wax and "detailing spray." Seriously - how did I not know of the usefulness of this stuff until last year?

I'm going to do my best to never let my Journey go to Virginia. Every time I've driven a vehicle there for the last 5 years, I've gotten a crack in the windshield. That state hates my cars.

Anyone know if there is an override switch so if the driver wanted AWD at any particular moment they could select it? I'm talking about manually selecting AWD, not letting the vehicle select it.

If that is a function you really want, get a Jeep.

Paint thinner works just as well. I had overspray on my Sebring. I tried the razor blade, tried clay bar, tried rubbing compound...nothing got rid of it completely. Finally I got some paint thinner and wiped it off.

Any special precautions for that, or just apply to rag, tape off the panels around the windshield, and wipe gently?

For the windows I always use a razor blade, held at 45deg angle or so. Just scrape all along every window. It doesn't scratch at all...like steel wool might.

For paint, I would use any old claybar and get to work...I use meguiars. But, I would let the new paint/clear coat cure for a few weeks before claybaring.

I was planning on doing the body panels early next month.

At least clearcoat is not the polyurethane I got all over my T&C

So I just got my DJ back from the body shop after a 2 week mess from getting hit in a three car collision. I noticed last night that there was paint overspray on the driver window. Took it back to the body shop this morning and they came out with steel wool to clean it off - it was the lower front corner, and it would never have affected visibility, so I'm not overly concerned with steel wool having been used there.

The problem is the clear coat overspray on the windshield. I'm not willing to let them put anything abrasive near it. So, I need a good clay bar option for removing it. The clear coat was baked on at 180 (according to the shop owner) for a few hours, but it's still not fully cured (needs 30 days). It's a very fine mist all across the entire windshield (and inevitably the rest of the car I'm sure).

Any specific recommendations, or will any old clay bar do?

I got my wheels back! Now to finish the rest of t he claim against the responsible party, but T least I'm mobile again (with something other than a POS Ford rental.)

Yeah, I think they are a part of the hub... you know, so they can charge an arm and a leg should they ever fail. At least your dealer is competent enough to make the diagnosis and repair. With all of the horror stories you hear, I sometimes wonder if I am just really lucky to have 2 good dealers withing 20 miles of my home.

I know this is somewhat old, but wanted to add some info for changing out wheel hub/bearing parts. They generally now come as a single assembly (and with ABS equipped vehicles, have a wheel speed sensor built in as well). It also means you don't pack grease into a wheel bearing ever again. It's a single component that, for the front axle, allows the drive shaft to rest in the middle to drive the actual flange with mounting points for your rotor and wheel. The GC/T&C wheel hub has a total of 5 pieces of mounting hardware (4 bolts to hold the body of the wheel hub and bearing assembly to the steering knuckle, and 1 VERY large nut - I think it's a 30mm or 32mm - to hold the axle half shaft end in the hub assembly. I changed out the wheel hub/bearing on my sister's (my old) '05 Cavalier - it took about 2 hours, and was a job I had never done before. They aren't hard to work on (if you have the right tools).

Also, the wheel bearing/hub assembly is the first component in the drive line that is NOT covered by the powertrain warranty. It is covered under bumper-to-bumper warranty, and may be covered by a Chrysler service contract depending on which one you bought, but the 60 month/100,000 mile (or km if you live north of the border) powertrain warranty does not cover them (as far as I remember from the warranty booklet).

can someone tell me if the 2015 dodge journey have tpms

All passenger vehicles sold in the USA are required to have some form of TPMS (how it is implemented is up to the manufacturer.) Starting in May 2016 (and phased in to 100% by May 2018), all new vehicles sold in the USA will be required to have backup cameras as well.

Thank you, NHTSA, for increasing the cost of my vehicles while doing very little to address the most troubling cause (and easiest to fix) of vehicular injuries and death (drunk driving). Put a breathalyzer in every new car (and find a way to hide it so it doesn't look terrible) and drunk driving is gone forever (once the older vehicles phase out). And it's perfectly legal - I know Maryland puts a condition in the driver's license that by driving with a state license, you have already consented to sobriety checks.

Come on man, put a NSFW label on that!

Would the rear wheel bearings need to be changed as well? Most FWD vehicles I've owned did not have a means of attaching a drive axle into the hub for the rear wheels.

Well, it's not going to be ready today. Got a call from the body shop that they were doing the wheel alignment now. It was delayed because of two things - one other vehicle they had issues with, and they had to take off all the body panels after it was painted because the bumper wasn't lining up right. It wasn't lining up right because the front frame member was out of alignment (ie, frame damage) that they hadn't discovered until that point. The bumper cover was 3mm off due to the damage. The damage adjuster from my insurance company (because the likely at fault party's insurance company is STILL dragging their feet) authorized the repair WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE!

How crazy am I for going back to that damage adjuster and A ripping him a new one for not informing me of this, and B start talking about them replacing it?

9 days and counting. It took 3 days to figure out how I wanted to proceed with the repair, and then was quoted 5 days for the repair work to be completed. 3 stage paint is a pain.

Body shop has got it in paint now - they started painting on Friday. Three stage paint = 3 days to paint the vehicle. Fun stuff.

So, one more day of paint (tomorrow), then alignment in the morning on Wednesday, and I should get it back Wednesday afternoon. Then it's off to the dealer to get an appraisal done so I'm loaded for my diminished value claim. Yay - more paperwork!!!

300k is seriously impressive. The body work on that looks flawless. My 2010 T&C just passed 90k. It's getting new plugs and a serpentine belt later this year. It's already got new calipers (but they at least carry a lifetime warranty now). I'd be happy if I coul dkeep it half as long as your 300M!

So, finally some news!

NO frame damage. That was my stopping point. Everything else can be repaired properly with OEM parts, but the frame is what it is. Anything that was damaged is a bolt-on component, so as long as they're replacing with OEM (which I have assurances from the body shop that they are), I'm ok with it.

The full damage list is:

Front Bumper:

front bumper cover (replace)

lower air deflector (replace)

reinforcement (replace)

Front Lamps:

driver side headlight (replace)

Hood:

hood (re-allign, re-paint)

Fender:

driver side fender (replace)

passenger fender (re-paint)

Radiator Support:

radiator support (replace)

evacuate/recharge refrigerant

It needs an alignment, and may have some damaged suspension components (which they won't know until everything else is done), but the big news is that it is fairly light (considering what it could have been). The worst theing they can tell me from this point on is that the transmission was affected (so fine, replace it with factory new if that's the case) or that the steering components need to be replaced (again, use OEM, and I'll be satisfied).

The body shop has agreed to provide me with copies of the invoices for every part they install on the vehicle (it's a good shop, but I still want documented proof of all parts being OEM).

My wife has been in a couple small accidents and our insurance has never gone up.... Maybe it's the accident forgiveness or whatever. 2 accidents in just as many decades between 2 drivers isn't that bad I guess... especially since they were both minor.

EDIT: Just looked it up... No fault refers only to personal injury.

Most companies I've seen around here (Maryland) do accident forgiveness for the first incident of an at-fault collision. After 3 years, they legally cannot hold a claim against you for determining your rate. 1 accident every 10 years? If insurance companies could guarantee that rate of incident for all drivers, everyone's rates would be dirt cheap.

"No fault" means everyone's rates go up as a result of a collision. How wonderful that the lawyers decided to do that for you.

Shop around when it's time for your policy renewal. It won't hurt. If you find a lower quote, go back to your "guy" and see if they can price match. Competition is always a good thing.

Got a quote from my insurance (they will subrogate after fault is determined, but everyone else is moving too slow for my liking) - $2,000 in damage (so far). No evidence that they've seen of frame damage, but they won't know for sure until it's been disassembled. All things considered, it's not as bad as I thought.

Grand Caravan ,Town and Country, what's the difference? As long as FCA sells a stripped down version under the Chrysler badge, it will still be the best selling minivan platform in North America.

That was exactly the info my parents needed. They took delivery of a 2015 AVP earlier tonight.

Some dealers may list VIN numbers for new vehicles on their websites. Check the vehicle descriptions and use that.

The insurance company for the driver who did the t-boning (Liberty Mutual) has at least gotten statements from all three drivers now. They're waiting to hear back from the county police (trying to get to the officer). They told me that right now, they're currently getting 4-6 WEEKS to obtain copies of police reports (which according to the county can only be delivered by mail, and are $15/copy - hello?!?!?!? It's the 21st century!!! Automate this stuff!!!), so they need to speak to the officer directly to speed things up. Ultimately, they all need to talk to the witness (guy who was following the Acura that got hit first) who was ALSO making a left turn. His statement is all that is needed to assign fault, and then the rest of this gets bundled up nicely.

In the mean time, I'm out $500 because I don't want to wait a month to get an answer as to when I'll get my car back.

Lobitz - I understand your point about dealing with a particular person. However, I've been with GEICO for about 6 years now. Before them, I was with USAA. GEICO's service for me has been every bit as good as USAA had been in the past (and anyone who's ever dealt with USAA knows what high praise that is). The reason I switched was GEICO had a rate that was significantly lower at the time due to a university alumni association credit. As it stands now, no one can get within $200/year of what I pay through GEICO (for two vehicles). Good customer service (as good as one can expect from an insurance company), and the absolute rock bottom price available? Yeah, I'll stick with them (until someone matches one and beats the other - it matters little to me which is which).

So, agree to the deductible on an interim basis - subject to adjustment once the others get their statements filed. And put that in writing, with a disclaimer explaining that, based on the physical evidence you are categorically not at fault in any case and that you are only doing this to get the process started.

Next year go with a different company.

The collision coverage process through any other insurer would be the same, given the circumstances (3 cars, 3 insurance companies, one car clearly not at fault - me - and the other two blaming each other). I've spoken to reps from all three companies, they all agree I'm definitely not at fault (I was stopped at a red light, my only involvement in this was being in the wrong place at the wrong time). What they don't agree with yet is who is at fault. Ultimately, I'm inclined to believe fault lies with the 87 year old man who did the initial t-boning of the other vehicle (second vehicle was making a left turn, and I'm about 95% certain she had a protected left turn signal), but that's just me.

No insurance company is going to let the deductible go without being paid if the initial payment comes out of their fund. It will eventually be paid back to me through subrogation, I just don't want to have to put the money out up front. I've got another kid on the way (#3), and simply don't have the time or money to have to deal with all of this. Not dealing with vehicle repair nonsense is precisely WHY I bought a new car!

I've used the body shop that my carrier would recomend before - they're good. They also warranty the repairs for as long as I own the vehicle.

I'd answer this question for myself, but I don't have access to my Journey at the moment.

What is the distance from the back of the front passenger seat to the rear of the cargo area (all rear seats folded down) WITHOUT the fold-flat front seat? Dimensions with front passenger seat moved all the way forward and all the way back would be appreciated.

My mother has a 2007 Saturn Vue that needs (at minimum) two front tires (they're showing the steel belt on the inside tread of the wheels), significant front suspension work (see the horrible wear on the front tires), struts on all four corners, the passenger axle shaft (FWD model), and probably should have the front wheel bearings replaced as well (vehicle has 182,000 miles on it). Suffice it to say, the Vue is shot and needs to be replaced.

There are some good deals going on right now, and I think a Journey would be a good fit for her needs. The cargo capacity (without fold-flat seat) needs to be at least 72" with the hatch closed. She's a seamstress and deals with full bolts of fabric that usually come on 6 foot bolts. In the interest of being able to keep at least one or two other passengers with her when picking those materials up, she needs to know if it would fit. The vehicles that the local dealers have that include the fold-flat front seat might be out of her price range.