dp360

Well, so much for my theory! Hopefully your computer will throw some codes soon! I wish you all the best. BTW, is there another Dodge dealer you could take your car to? I'm not saying your dealer is bad, but perhaps another dealer has seen the problem before and will know better how to diagnose it. I know a lot of people feel compelled to take their vehicles to the dealer they purchased from but that simply isn't necessary.

Are you sure that's the check engine light and not the ESC light? The ESC light flashes whenever it kicks in - like when you're experiencing wheel slippage on wet pavement. It could be some bad sensor that is tricking the ESC system to kick in and that would explain vibration because ESC is trying to correct a problem that doesn't exist. That would also explain why no codes are thrown in the computer because, as far as the computer is concerned, everything is normal. Just a theory...

There's also plenty of good stories here, too, myself included. If you map out the problems on a timeline you'll see that the complains are definitely more concentrated towards vehicles purchased earlier in 2009 model year. That doesn't mean later MY 2009 or 2010 problems don't exist but they are fewer and farther between. The Journey definitely had it's share of growing pains but the general indications are that they have leveled out to "normal". If you check out TrueDelta.com, you can see this trend. The Journey's initial quality rating was clearly below average but it has recently attained an "about average" ranking.

Driving style will have more impact on fuel economy than anything else. My wife is a binary driver - it's either full on or full off with the accelerator. I'm real smooth. No matter what the vehicle, I always get 15-20% better fuel economy than she does. My 3.5L V6 SXT gets 19-20 MPG (U.S.) around town (which is a 60/40 mix of hwy/city driving). On a recent road trip I averaged 25 MPG hwy, but it was really 23 one way and 27 the other.

Let me just reiterate the plea for people with '10 model years to sign up. It's quick and painless and you're not going to get harassed by a bunch of email solicitations after you do it! You're also doing yourself a service - how else can you reliably learn about issues that may or may not exist? For example, has the infamous brake wear issue been resolved in MY '10? Is it really an issue at all? Signing up on TrueDelta will allow you to reliably monitor what other owners are experiencing with their Journey's and can be a good "head's up" if a common problem starts to emerge.

I've been looking for a thread to post this and I guess this one is as good as any... Bought my '10 SXT back in mid November '09. It was manufactured in October '09. Had 4 miles on the odometer when I picked it up. It's now been over 4 months and 6,600+ miles. It's only been to the dealer for an oil change (synthetic) and tire rotation. I have no real complaints, just minor little details here and there that I think they could have done better. This past week I finally took it on my first "real" road trip - 1,400 miles round-trip to Santa Fe, NM. On the way out, which was "uphill" and into a headwind, I averaged 23 MPG, which was disappointing because EPA estimates the V6 at 24 highway (and I get 19-20 in town). On the way back, which was "downhill" and with a tailwind, I averaged 27 MPG, which made up for the initial disappointment. The ride was smooth and comfortable. The Journey performed admirably and I even got a chance to drive around during/after an 8.5" snowfall. ESC kicked in a couple times but I had no problem holding the road. I only have FWD. My only complaint is that I experienced first hand the "econo" cruise control when driving through the mountains. This has been discussed elsewhere, but I'll recap here: basically, the cruise control will hold your speed just fine on flat or moderately hilly terrain, but when going up a steeper hill, it lets your speed drop about 4 MPH before downshifting. This bothers some people, myself included. It's especially bothersome when you are driving in a "pack" and suddenly slow down forcing everyone to pass you, only to eventually downshift and speed back up as they are passing. Makes you look like an a**hole driver! The solution, as mentioned elsewhere, is to drop into autostick and downshift to 5th as you're going uphill. The cruise will still work and hold your speed just fine. All-in-all, I like the car and don't regret the purchase, especially since it wasn't an expensive car at all. I know plenty of people who have significantly higher payments than me but can't say they have significantly more car. In many respects, quite the contrary!

I truly sympathize about the situation with your father and let me offer my condolences. I lost my father recently and he was in pretty bad shape, too. As for your anti-Chrysler advocacy, that is certainly in your right to do so. I can't say I blame you - I've been outspoken against numerous products/manufacturers over the years that I've felt have done me wrong. I just want to point out something about your opening line: "Just wanted to let Chrysler know after 20yrs of Chrysler products NEVER AGAIN!" Well, this forum is unaffiliated with Chrysler Group LLC, so unless someone from the company is monitoring it, you're really not telling them anything here. I would suggest contacting the customer service number listed in your owners manual. Just because you may have expressed your grievances with your dealer doesn't mean you have expressed them with the manufacturer. Unfortunately, there is a dealer/manufacturer disconnect and sometimes you just have to bypass the dealer completely. Regarding your problems, the shifting doesn't sound normal, although its very hard to diagnose over the internet. I certainly don't experience what I'd refer to as "harsh" shifting though I have observed the tendency for the transmission to shift up to sixth gear (assuming you have the six speed) faster than I'd like and for it to hold on to sixth longer than I think it should. As others have pointed out, auto-stick is a good workaround to that problem, but it really isn't that big of an issue for me that I have to resort to it often. Also, someone else mentioned that they reported hard shifting to their tech and, after re flashing the PCM, the shifting was smooth again. So maybe you should insist your dealer do this and perhaps go to another dealer if they refuse. Lastly, the brake problems have been well documented here and elsewhere but are still perplexing to me. It seems to me that for everyone I find complaining about sub 20,000 mi brake wear, I can find another that has no abnormal brake wear at all. I wont even speculate on that. All I can say is that anyone with a Journey should take advantage of the open spoke rims and just keep an eye on the brakes. I can easily "get a finger on" each brake pad and determine if they are wearing thin. Luckily for me, after 6,600 miles, I can still report a lot of "meat" on my pads. At this rate, they'll be fine by the time my 12,000 mi brake warranty is up, but who knows what they'll be like at 20,000. If I see them getting thin, I can replace the pads a whole lot cheaper than the rotors, and that's the whole point of keeping an eye on them.

Bummer on the bolts BUT things happen. If the bolts thread into the exhaust then, yes, you'll get a horrendously loud noise when they are missing. Hopefully you don't have to drive too long that way. As for getting bummed about the car, don't let anyone else tell you whether you should or should not like it. YOU need to be the judge of that. If the car satisfies your needs and you enjoy driving it, then the heck with what anyone else says. As for Consumer Reports, well, I stopped reading them about 20 years ago because I concluded their methodologies were completely flawed. This decision wasn't even based on car reviews but for other, non car related products. But don't take my word for it - read this: http://www.truedelta.com/pieces/shortcomings.php Unfortunately, the masses aren't aware of any of this and thus Consumer Reports still carries a lot of influence in the industry.

Welcome to the forum! I really like the Silver Steel. That was my first choice but the dealer didn't have any in stock.

I just tried that. Seems pretty secure to me and I pulled fairly hard. The very bottom of the bumper flexes, but not what I would consider an unusual amount. What model Journey do you have and what splash guards did you have installed?

If that's the case, then every Journey owner on the road would be complaining about road vibration from the rear. I've had mine up to 90 MPH without noticing any such thing. If my rear bumper is flapping then I'm not feeling it. Besides, the problem here sounds definitely front-end related and there's a correlation with a "Check Engine" light, so there's no way it could be simple turbulence. I'm curious about your experience, though. You said you discovered this AFTER taking it to the dealer to have splash guards installed. Is there any chance the two are related e.g. they installed the splash guards but did not secure the bumper properly?

Bonehead dealers. Stories like this just amaze me. It's not like the dealer is trying to avoid doing warranty work - they get PAID to do warranty work! You'd think they'd be looking real hard to find a problem. Sheer incompetence!

Sounds like a malfunction to me but I don't have a 2009 so I couldn't tell you for sure.

Welcome!

I concur with the minivans. Present generation just doesn't do it for me. My wife has a 2002 Caravan with 140,000+ miles and it's still fine. As for questions, here's my thoughts: 1) Can tow 3200 lbs I believe the Journey is 3500lbs with tow package. 2) Can carry 6+ people No problem with 5+2 seating. Back row is better suited for smaller people/kids, though. 3) Can carry 4 people + a decent amount of cargo (say, two coolers and 4 medium sized suitcases). Shouldn't be a problem, though you might need to stack & lose some visibility. 4) Decent snow performance Couldn't tell you. Our only decent snofall this season came when I was out of town! 5) Excellent full-back area cargo space with just two passengers Yep! 4) 500km+ range I get 330-350 miles (530-560 km) between fill ups with around-town (mixed) driving. I have the 3.5L V6. 5) AWD I have FWD. 6) REAL Fuel economy: city: 14l/100kms or better ; Hwy: 11l/100km or better on 120km/h trips (mild conditions) For my around-town driving, I get 19-20 miles per gallon. I have yet to take it on a true road trip so I can't tell you pure highway mileage. Sometimes I get a spectacularly good spike and vice versa, but rating it 19.5 MPG is fair. 7) Seats that fold fown for cargo hauling that don't need removal from the vehicle. All seats (except driver) fold down. I can get 8+ foot lengths of lumber in there with tailgate closed. I love that! If I had to do it all over again, I'd say definitely. Only regret is that I didn't get chrome rims! One thing to keep in mind - new trim levels are supposed to be available "any day now". I don't know if that would affect your decision but its good to know. I hate it when I buy something only to find it gets replaced with something better and/or cheaper a few weeks later.

I've got nearly 5000 miles on some of the worst roads in the country and it hasn't begun falling apart yet. It's certainly no luxury cruiser but that's not its intended role. It's utilitarian, practical and comfortable. I wouldn't have it any other way. Sure, I could have spent an extra $6000 - $7000 (US) and gone more "upscale" but why? I would just end up freaking out every time the kids clambered in with their dirty shoes!

I just checked. Once I put it into ECO mode, it stays there, even after turning the engine off and restarting. I'm not sure if you have the same system as I do, but on mine, "ECO" is displayed in place of the trip odometer reading under the tachometer. You have to repeatedly push the right button under the speedometer to cycle through the two trip odometers, the regular odometer and eventually, the "ECO" mode.

I just cycle through the trip odometer(s) to the ECO mode after the engine is running. I thought that once I put it in that mode, it stayed there indefinitely, but I don't use the feature enough to be sure. If no one else answers by tomorrow, I'll try it out in the morning and report my findings. As for the express window feature, I couldn't say if it is standard on all models. Works on mine, a '10 SXT here in the States. I think it's a reprogrammable feature so maybe it became "un-programmed" for you?

I haven't encountered any such problem but perhaps someone else here has. In the meantime, the only thing I'd ask if you've taken it up to speed to the point of vibration and then popped into neutral - does the vibration immediately disappear or does it gradually subside as the car coasts below 60 MPH? This would at least isolate it to drivetrain or engine related. My guess would be something in the drivetrain. Obviously not wheels, since they have been balanced, but maybe a driveshaft or warped rotor?

Well that is really great to hear! I hope all works out well. Now wouldn't it be funny if one of those items that is getting swapped over is what caused all the problems in the first place? No, I guess not...

Is that a permanent replacement or just a temporary one until yours gets sorted out? From what I've read here (and in other posts you've made), your Journey definitely seems to be possessed!

Well, my experience so far has been completely positive, although I've only owned mine for three months. Not one single problem after driving it for 4200+ miles. That said, there are others here on the forum that have certainly had a negative experience. My feeling is that the early '09 model year had numerous problems and they were exacerbated by all the problems with the old Chrysler company. Now that the company has been reorganized and is moving forward, they seem to have worked out most of the glitches with the '10 MY. That still doesn't guarantee that you wont have a problem or two, but no car company can guarantee that.

Not all these recalls apply to all Journey's on the road. Some only apply to a small number of vehicles. Depending on when and where you purchased yours, it's very likely that any recalls that apply to it have already been performed.

I don't know anything about that particular firmware upgrade, but that sort of thing is common. Many times they'll apply such updates when you bring the car in for regular service, which is why it's important to go to the dealer at least once in a while.

Bought my '10 SXT last November. It now has about 4200 miles on it and is as good today as the day I bought it, although it could use a good wash & wax right now. No problems whatsoever. I get about 19-20 MPG with mixed city & hwy driving, which is exactly what I expected given the EPA ratings.