NavalLacrosse

Before you go chasing the electrical gremlins, keep it simple:
Does it start when you jump it?  Have you Swapped the battery with a new one?

I was suffering from issues similar to what you described; I feared the worse.
Ultimately, just replacing the battery with a new battery solved all the issues (radio crashing, failure to start, failure to sustain power, fob not detected, BT failure)

Dodge Journey is known for having many electrical gremlins show up when the battery START failing.

True. The Federal penalty for going over under MPG requirements must be mounting up. 18mpg combined is pretty low for a 2020 crossover, IMO.

Perhaps it's because CAFE standards go up in 2020 and the Dart is no longer there to lower the average.
 
I own a 4 cylinder Journey and it has been a good car but I wouldn't buy another or recommend it. The V6 Journey made my next car in a couple of years short list. Oh well.
 
 

My calculation must be off... I didn't account for the slosh of oil in the V6 engine. Guess my number are off.
Throw them all out.

My calculation must be off... I didn't account for the slosh of oil in the V6 engine. Guess my number are off.
Throw them all out.

I Live/work in Detroit metro,: 
I can confirm Dodge Journey is a VERY popular choice of inexpensive crossover, especially in blue collar metro-Detroit. I'll often find myself in mini herds of DJs while zipping through traffic.

As far as a car goes, It checks all the boxes:
-'American' (this is a pre-req for 90% of car owners in Metro Detroit)
-SUV, so it's presumed safe (this is up to debate)
-Inexpensive to own and repair
-Good Looking exterior (if your sense of automotive style is grounded in 2008, which wasn't a bad time at all)
-Very Very Good looking interior.
 
 
GM and Ford's product is more expensive. I think this stems from GM and Ford constantly innovating to better their lineup as far as  safety, efficiency, and style... and FCA is doing what they do- Hitting a home run from the start, and beating the golden goose to a pulp. "Why spend money innovating, if what we've got now is stupidly profitable"

In an Ironic twist, FCA's headquarters is located in a slightly more affluent area, meaning there are fewer DJ, or Chyslers, in general,per person- and more Buicks, Caddys, Lincolns, and Lux imports,... 

That's what I was going to say... but I got 2.69% 

Huh.  I got 2.697%....but I was never that good at math....

Agreed with Jkeaton,
TLDR;  moving people around the cabin will not have an effect that you'll notice, just don't exceed the tongue weight (250.lbs). Use weight distribution hitches if you are really worried:
 
Do not exceed the rated Tongue weight- (which is an abysmal 250.lbs)
The biggest issue is going to be have with a trailer of 1500 lbs gross-weight trailer will be tongue weight. if it vastly exceeds 250.lbs while going over bumps, it will 'lift' the front wheels during dynamic loads- severely reducing the ability to steer. (imagine a dip on the road while travelling 45mph: when the your trailer hits it- and you may have reduced traction for steering for 1 second, and your trailer's left-right sway gets to choose your direction for you before you regain full control.) This phenomenon can be corrected using a 'weight distribution hitch ($$)' far better than adjusting the weight of the people in the cabin.
 
now for math about moving people around the cabin:
(all the math is on a sticky note here at my desk- and I used the method of summing moments to make the following calculations:)
The weight of people in the car, as described, will provide no noticeable difference of steering performance: 
moving the weight difference of 240 lbs together from rear seat to front seat (max difference in weight of 4 total passengers switching seats) will only add an additional 70lbs to the front axle. if The Dodge Journey (assuming balance 50/50, which it's not. it's nose heavy SUV with a likely 60/40 distribution, but lets go 50/50 for conservative estimates.) has 2500 lbs per axle while sitting empty. Moving, and exchanging the heavy people from the rear to front of the cabin will have a max 2.7% increase of weight on the front axle.
 


so, no. it doesn't matter where people sit.
 

Agreed with Jkeaton,
TLDR;  moving people around the cabin will not have an effect that you'll notice, just don't exceed the tongue weight (250.lbs). Use weight distribution hitches if you are really worried:
 
Do not exceed the rated Tongue weight- (which is an abysmal 250.lbs)
The biggest issue is going to be have with a trailer of 1500 lbs gross-weight trailer will be tongue weight. if it vastly exceeds 250.lbs while going over bumps, it will 'lift' the front wheels during dynamic loads- severely reducing the ability to steer. (imagine a dip on the road while travelling 45mph: when the your trailer hits it- and you may have reduced traction for steering for 1 second, and your trailer's left-right sway gets to choose your direction for you before you regain full control.) This phenomenon can be corrected using a 'weight distribution hitch ($$)' far better than adjusting the weight of the people in the cabin.
 
now for math about moving people around the cabin:
(all the math is on a sticky note here at my desk- and I used the method of summing moments to make the following calculations:)
The weight of people in the car, as described, will provide no noticeable difference of steering performance: 
moving the weight difference of 240 lbs together from rear seat to front seat (max difference in weight of 4 total passengers switching seats) will only add an additional 70lbs to the front axle. if The Dodge Journey (assuming balance 50/50, which it's not. it's nose heavy SUV with a likely 60/40 distribution, but lets go 50/50 for conservative estimates.) has 2500 lbs per axle while sitting empty. Moving, and exchanging the heavy people from the rear to front of the cabin will have a max 2.7% increase of weight on the front axle.
 


so, no. it doesn't matter where people sit.
 

Resurrecting old posts is fun!
 
My 2011  Crew has rolled 78,000 miles.
So far this is all that's wrong:

Brakes all around at 32k, and brakes again at 70k
One set of 4 new tires at 32k, and I'll need new ones in the next month or so.
New battery at 65k,
and broken driver's side power seat plastic cover, but the switches still work. Not going to fix it.
There's an active recall on a wiring harness in the steering wheel. I'll do that later this week.

All I've been doing is changing the oil when the car says, with Full/Syn DexOs, and FRAM walmart filters.
And... for what it's worth, I use Speedway regular gasoline. My goal is to pay for the next car with speedyrewards, and the DJ 18mpg combined is going to get me a new Speedycorvette at this rate.

This has been the best regular car ever. Glad I bought it.

 

I know this is an old topic, but I just want to say: I´m very happy.
 
My first Journey was a 2009 SE, brand new. Few years later in 2012 I trade my old 2009 for a brand new 2012 SE, a really huge change in the interiors!!.
 
3 years later, back in 2015, I taked again with my dealer and trade for a 2015 Limited 2.4. Now in 2019 I´m still happy with my 4 year old Journey. The only thing (and it is obvious) is a heavier model vs my previous 5 seater Journey. Now I have more weight (3rd row, more equipment) and I feel a little bit slower this Journey. 
 
Regards!

well still love my journey,,,had a 2011 put 70 k on it then traded it in for 2014 and bought the lifetime warranty on it and plan on driving it into the ground have 93 k on it right now

I've had my 2016 R/T for 32000 miles and have been very happy with it. It just turned over 50K miles. I have been planning to write a lengthy review of my experience with it once I hit that mark. Stay tuned. I may actually get around to doing it one day.
 
Maybe.

"HELP" is not going to work.
"Where is the front towing hard point location - 2013" is going to get results.

OhareFred's got the solution. This happened to me twice.

Disconnect the negative terminal from under the hood. Wait 30 minutes. (why the negative? Because it's easiest to remove, and has a neat plastic loop that keeps it neatly in place, near the grounding post).
 
As a bonus info;
IF this issue is reoccurring, and eventually results in being unable to start or sustain the engine running: It's FCA's friendly way of telling you the battery needs replacement.
 
Welcome to the fourm!

The first thing I would try is disconnect the battery for 30 mins.  While it’s disconnected you might want to check the connections.  Front trim piece just pops off, then it’s a few screws to remove the radio and HVAC controls.....

unplug the negative terminal for 30 minutes. This fixed my issue when the radio kept crashing and rebooting.

Additional Note: You might not have this issue like i did:
after letting the car sit with no battery for 30 minutes the immediate radio issues were solved-  about one month later, my battery died. The weak battery was causing the radio to act weird. after replacing the battery with a new one (goodyear tire, $140usd) all my radio issues have gone away. that was 6months ago.

For a little more than $1200 dollars, you can buy the installer kit that converts between 4.3 up to 8" (Check it out by googling 2012 dodge journey uconnect upgrade kit.) depending on your car it might cost between 1400, and 1500.

Try disconnecting the battery for 30 mins or longer.  Sometimes this will reset the radio system.
 
if you are handy you can pull the radio screen and check the connections....
 
$1200for the radio is about right.  Remember a lot more goes through that screen then just the radio.

Replacing the battery might fix all of these issues. When the battery gets faulty, all the gremlins start showing up.
 
When mine was showing similar symptoms, all I could think was about how much replacing the Bluetooth module would be. There was also a rumor that the battery temperature sensor (What?) was faulty. 
 
I took it in to swap the battery for a new one- all my issues went away.
 
My gremlins were that the volume knob wasn't working well (What's in have to do with the battery dying?!?!), and the radio kept resetting in the week prior to the battery failing on me.  After that, the car wouldn't recognize the key fob for key-less entry ("service keyless entry system" warning), and finally, it wouldn't start, and even after jumping, couldn't even hold idle without stalling. After the battery was swapped (no issues with the alternator, thankfully), I've not had any issues with the radio stack. Goodyear did mine for $145

For me, changing the battery was all I needed. I had Goodyear do it for 135 dollars. Totally worth it. 
The failed battery was causing the gremlins to come out. The new battery solved my issues....
Good luck OP

my dodge truck would sometimes make a grinding noise if i was stopped and barley let off the brake pedal just enough to creep forward and they would make that grinding noise and would drive my wife crazy telling me to stop doing that....i loved it hmm wonder if thats why iv been married three times, oh well i digress. any ways i pulled my wheels and checked the pads and rotors never found nothing wrong so wasn't worried about them of the noise....loved making that noises.

As was mentioned by NavalLacrosse, scratching is the main concern.  Another concern is the frequency and potency of detergents that your paint will be exposed to.   Even if you wash weekly,  that's 52 washes a year.  That's a lot!  Monthly washes should be sufficient,  imo.  If you're concerned about salt, get an undercarriage wash every few days, a monthly wash, and call it good.  I'd up the waxing schedule to every 2 months if you are constantly washing the car in this program.   
 
Peace.

OP, like many others, have the hope of getting that extra kick out of their DJ. 

I've not seen anyone actually do it. My personal take on it is, sadly, is the DJ is a family runabout crossover. It's purpose was to replace the short-bed caravan.  The V-6 isn't slow, but isn't quick either....  I've accepted the fact I bought a minivan(DJ) and not a R/T charger. 
 
And, for what it's worth- Welcome to the forms! Check out the performance section of the forums for ideas. There's been a lot a very determined people attempting to make their DJ faster.

"Fool's Bliss"
 
I like that. I need that on my license plate.