denwendairy

We had this issue- shaking and engine light flashing at high rates of speed. Our 2009 RT was in the shop for over 8 weeks of the 8 months we owned it. The shaking issue took 3 weeks, 3 trips to the dealer and 2 rental cars to figure out. Ended up having to replace 2 engine cylinders, waterpump and various other parts. 2 months after that issue was resolved, we ended up having to replace the leaking transfer case. After getting the car back from that adventure, it never had the same amount of power but the dealer did not think there was a problem. This combined with various electrical issues (radio/navigation would not have power intermittently) and non-stop growling made the decision to trade this lemon an easy one. The dealer treated us fantastically and helped us out beyond what we could have ever expected (3 weeks of car rentals!) Loved the features and size of this vehicle but could not keep it on the road reliably. If Dodge can get the reliability issues worked out, they have a winner. I went back to Jeep, still a Chrysler product but we've never had any issues with our Jeeps!

We had the growling/vibration noise that was mentioned earlier in this discussion. It sounded like the muffler had issues but only when accelerating. Strangely, it seemed to get worse after the car warmed up. After two trips back to the dealer, they isolated it to a number of issues. The Y Pipe fasteners needed to be repositioned and retorqued. This eliminated the vibration felt at 100km/hr but did not eliminate the buzz/drone that I experienced when accelerating. They then inspected and retorqued all of the fasteners on the crossmember/engine mounts. They also found that the front vibration dampener ring was contacting a bolt washer. After the washer was properly isolated, the drone is gone! That being said, we only got it back this afternoon and I'm always a bit pessimistic when it comes to car repairs. We have a 2009 R/T that has caused us some grief. Our Dodge dealer has always treated us well and did their best to find out the source of the aggravation. When the vehicle is running well, it is a pleasure to drive and has some incredible features. I hope that they've fixed a few of the 2009 bugs in the 2010s-if they can improve the reliability on this car, they've got a real winner.

We've got almost 40000k on our 09 and no issues with the leather yet. All of our issues have been under the hood!

I noticed that you wrote this quite a while ago but I'm experiencing the same phenomenon in my 2009 R/T. Did you ever find a solution?

We had to have 2 pistons replaced at 20000km but for a very different reason. I experienced aggressive shaking and loss of power at high speeds intermittently. It took almost 3 weeks to work it out. The technician drove the vehicle for that time period with a computer attached to the vehicle. Although a frustrating experience, they treated me extremely well (Londonderry Dodge in Edmonton, Alberta). The car rental was not a problem at all and the staff was professional and courteous. We've had various other issues (replace power steering and transfer case) but have never had to fight for warranty coverage.

I'm happy to report that the Journey is a very popular vehicle in Edmonton, Alberta! Maybe it's our ridiculous winters that make the price for an AWD Journey look so appealing but we're seeing them more and more on the roads. Not quite as common as the Caravan but as popular as the Ford Edge in this area! I think that once they get a few of the bugs worked out of the early year models, more people will consider them.

We share a similar story- we spent alot of time and effort shopping for the right vehicle at the right price. Unfortunately, our R/T has given us nothing but grief (purchased with 13000km). In the 9 months we have owned it, it's been in the shop for almost 6 weeks! We had to have 2 cylinders replaced (along with the waterpump and various other potentially expensive bits) and we recently had a leaky transfer case, complete with burning oil smell. Also had a burst line in the power steering but we blamed that on our insanely cold weather. We did purchase the extended warranty and am grateful that we decided to do so. We will keep the car until it is close to running out as it is comfortable with great features. On a positive note, we figure that by that time we'll have almost entirely new parts! Dodge has been great through it all- lots of car rentals and I've not been asked to pay for anything. Not sure that I'll ever buy another one though... Good Luck