bfurth

Tire rotations are done at every oil change (or the first time you notice uneven wear).
The only requirement you have to meet to keep the powertrain warranty is to change it when the light comes on, and be able to document that it was changed should the delaership question you. Past that, your responsibility for maintenance starts and ends with what is in the owner's manual.

Depending on how you have the front seats reclined and where set in their travel, I got about 74 inches. That was on the passenger side. It would be a bit less on the driver side for me as I like my seat back a bit further.

That photo should be flagged for abuse! The Transit has to be the one of the ugliest vehicles on the road.

The 2nd row in mine has a lever at the top of each side of the 60/40 split. Let's say you put the infant carrier on the driver side (the 40 split). With just the base installed, the seat back is still movable. The easy entry lever will allow the seat to slide forward, lift up the seat, and fold the seat back forward slightly (the base should still be able to be attached while all this is going on). You leave the driver side 3rd row seat up at all times, let the 5 year old hop in, and help him buckle. Then, slide everything back into place and put the infant carrier in place. At the point that you'd need to switch to a larger car seat (the big convertable), you might be switching your middle child to a high back booster (it's at the lower end of the age/weight range, but still legal (in most of the US) and safe enough - dependong in the child), or getting a smaller 5 point harness seat (like a Graco Nautilus or equivalent). Either way, your 6 year old (by then) could probably sit in a backless booster wherever he wants. The worst of it is year 1. After that, it gets easier.
If you've already got the base for the infant carrier, go try it out. If it works well enough, then you don't need to buy a new vehicle (and can then work around the storage capacity issue with a significantly lower budget). If it doesn't, then you have a more definitive answer.

To follow up to Journey_SeXT:
The dipstick can be made at home with the following items:
1 wire hangar
duct tape
some marking tool (file, knife, whatever)
Straighten the hangar - you need something more than 18 inches in length (so you drop it into the fill tube). Measure 424mm from one end, and mark this off (use the duct tape). Everything below that point will go into the filler tube (marked with the "Dealer Only" cap). Use the chart Journey_SeXT posted and mark your min/max levels.

Mine was done at the dealer - they used Mopar ATF+4 and a Mopar filter. ATF+4 is already a synthetic lubricant. It's also $8/quart. The total cost of parts to do a drain and filter change is about $110 (8 bottles of fluid, plus a $30 filter, plus applicable taxes). The 62te should not be "flushed," ever. Just a drain and fill with filter change. When done at the appropriate interval, you shouldn't have problems. Having the dealer do it eliminates any headaches you'd ever have, just make sure you get a good discount on them actually performing the service.
For a dealer to do it, it's really about 30-40 minutes of actual work, most of which is cleaning the RTV off the mating surfaces. The only reason you "can't" do it at home is that you don't necessarily know the temperature of the transmission fluid. Though, if your EVIC tells you what the transmission temp is (as my 2015 does), then the only thing you need is the correct dip stick (which can be found for the minivan platform with the 62te, and I'd imagine the fluid level is the same, but I don't work for a dealer, so I don't know for a fact).

I have a 2010 Town and Country with the same 62te transmission. I had the transmission fluid changed for $140, taxes and shop fees included (had a dealer coupon). The only "reason" you can't get the fluid level correct without going to a dealer is because the level on the dealer dipstick is based on the current temperature of the transmission.
The pan needs to be dropped, there is a filter that gets replaced, and the gasket is made with RTV. If you can get the cost down to $140, it's not much more than the cost of doing it yourself (and has the added advantage of being documented, and on someone else's dime if it's been done incorrectly).

I have a 2010 Town and Country with the same 62te transmission. I had the transmission fluid changed for $140, taxes and shop fees included (had a dealer coupon). The only "reason" you can't get the fluid level correct without going to a dealer is because the level on the dealer dipstick is based on the current temperature of the transmission.
The pan needs to be dropped, there is a filter that gets replaced, and the gasket is made with RTV. If you can get the cost down to $140, it's not much more than the cost of doing it yourself (and has the added advantage of being documented, and on someone else's dime if it's been done incorrectly).

Just got my Journey back this afternoon. I'm VERY happy to be out of the rental car and back in my own vehicle. Bumper looks good as new.

FAT32 is a VERY old standard - it works across multiple platforms because software developers recognize that their operating systems are not the only systems that exist. Mac, Linux, Windows, Unix, etc. can all read FAT32. NTFS is basically Windows XP and up only. HFS/HFS+ is Mac OS X (all flavors).
You have one limitation with FAT32 - file size. No files can exceed 4 GB. So if you have ridiculously large audio files, say a book in audio format that hasn't been broken down by chapter for some reason, you might have a problem.

I bring the IT troubleshooting method to everything - I don't care if something happens once. When it happens again, then I start to believe there is a problem. You fix the cheapest indicated component first, and work your way up. Dealers work the other way around. If it happens in their presence, fix the most expensive assembly first, and then warranty the cheap stuff under "good will."
I hope I never need the factory warranty, but that's about the only reason my Journey will see a dealer. I've now encountered enough brake problems in my time to be able to diagnose most of the hydraulic portions of the styem on the Journey - and I'm VERY happy to see that it has the HD brakes from the Grand Caravan/T&C.
The salesman at my dealer was shocked that I've never worked in a garage. He told me that I knew more about the Journey than most of the guys selling it (and I only did a day of research!), and clearly had enough knowledge (from his point of view) to be running a shop myself. Half of that is smoke, to be sure. Still, it was a nice little ego stroke. Not that I need such a thing... :blush:

I actually prefer the electronics - as an IT professional, I work with computers all day long. The elctrical components generally don't fail. It's the mechanical stuff that tends to break down. As far as repair goes, diagnosis is easier. Does it work? If not, replace that component. Reboot, runs like new. There's a reason the technicians don't have the diagnosis skills they used to. If only they'd keep a diagnostic part around so they could add "test with known good component" to their troubleshooting list. It would save the consumer an enourmous amount of time and money, and give dealers a better reputation (they've got the resources to keep every component from each vehicle they sell around for a while.) Independent shops can't do that.

The ease of maintenance is one of the reasons I wanted the 2.4. I've got a 2010 T&C with the old 3.8L, and that thing is going to be a monster to get the back 3 plugs. Copper core plugs are dirt cheap (NGK ZFR5F-11 priced on Amazon are $2 each). At $8 for a complete plug change, versus $26-$28 if you switch to platinum or iridium at 100,000 mile intervals, you're really not gaining anything (other than the half hour it would take to change them out). The first plug change I ever did was on a 2005 Cavalier (GMs 2.2 EcoTec - very solid engine). It took me about 2 hours due to taking my time and the throttle cable runs right over the coil pack, making it difficult to remove. The WGE 2.4 looks brain dead simple to swap out. Simple is good - it doesn't cost me anything!