bramfrank

3000 miles? Your dealer is trying to scam you for more service revenue - I would quickly find another dealer before he hits you up for serious money.
Oil needs to be changed at fairly short intervals for two reasons; Dirt and additive breakdown. A good filter handles most of the dirt issues. Impactful long chain molecule shearing takes more time than you will leave the oil in the crankcase for.

You do not need synthetic oil - it does last longer before breaking down, but we're talking tens of thousands of miles and hundred upon hundreds of hours of operation - the scheduled and calculated oil changes are very conservative, even for 'dyno' oil.

So, listen to the oil change reminder and you'll be fine - and if you get your oil changed at Costco you'll be getting synthetic anyway (they stopped offering dyno oil earlier this year) and save a bundle over what the dealer charges, though you may need to reset the reminder yourself.

Actually, the Canadian model won't bother you at all (no light, nothing) after it first discovers that you have no TPS sensors and you acknowledge it . . . you get the one message and once you clear that it is completely quiet.
Come spring, when you re-install your summer wheels you get one chime and the car figures out which sensor is where and that's the end of it.

My reply to 'we're out of loaners' would have been to 'call me back when you have some and we'll do this at that time'.

My reply to 'we're out of loaners' would have been to 'call me back when you have some and we'll do this at that time'.

Was the ignition switch recall done? If you have a wack of keys hanging from the fob it can cause the key to turn just enough to kill the ignition . . . . the solution is to put in a stronger spring, but it is even easier just to remove all that mass that causes the problem in the first place.
As to the leak? If you aren't handy take it to a responsible mechanic for a diagnosis.

That last comment can be taken a couple of different ways . . . .

Mine ticked over 45000 km yesterday - I have the original pads and disks and no pulsation - about 30% wear left on the pads all around. I do about 50/50 city/highway driving and while I'm not a leadfoot, I don't drive like a grandmother either. My kids certainly don't take it easy on the vehicle.
It sounds to me like wear is directly tied to how hard you work the vehicle and the conditions you use them in - Gritty, dirty environments likely contribute to increased break wear (clean those calipers and sliders); Frequent, hard stops likewise. If you carry heavy loads . . and so on.
Edit: It occurs to me to mention that back when the kids were young and before I got divorced my ex would get between 4K and 8K out of a set of brakes on the various vans she had (We used to buy GM vehicles) - she complained bitterly to the dealer (and to me) about how crappy the brakes were in the sense that she was always having to change them.
Well, our process was that she would always get the new vehicle and I would get her old one (since all I ever did with a car on weekdays was to drive from a garage at home to a garage at my office) noting that rush hour driving is especially hard on vehicles.
Something very interesting would always happen when I took over the vehicle;
1. Brakes started lasting
2. Fuel economy was vastly improved
Now, when I was with her she wouldn't drive like a cowboy, but clearly she wasn't driving the same way with me than she did when she wasn't.

Mine ticked over 45000 km yesterday - I have the original pads and disks and no pulsation - about 30% wear left on the pads all around. I do about 50/50 city/highway driving and while I'm not a leadfoot, I don't drive like a grandmother either. My kids certainly don't take it easy on the vehicle.
It sounds to me like wear is directly tied to how hard you work the vehicle and the conditions you use them in - Gritty, dirty environments likely contribute to increased break wear (clean those calipers and sliders); Frequent, hard stops likewise. If you carry heavy loads . . and so on.
Edit: It occurs to me to mention that back when the kids were young and before I got divorced my ex would get between 4K and 8K out of a set of brakes on the various vans she had (We used to buy GM vehicles) - she complained bitterly to the dealer (and to me) about how crappy the brakes were in the sense that she was always having to change them.
Well, our process was that she would always get the new vehicle and I would get her old one (since all I ever did with a car on weekdays was to drive from a garage at home to a garage at my office) noting that rush hour driving is especially hard on vehicles.
Something very interesting would always happen when I took over the vehicle;
1. Brakes started lasting
2. Fuel economy was vastly improved
Now, when I was with her she wouldn't drive like a cowboy, but clearly she wasn't driving the same way with me than she did when she wasn't.

Not without you paying a lot more than it is worth.

The only real issue with the 2nd gen Journey was with the brakes - and even then I have had no problem with mine. I have ~43,000 km (about 26,000 miles) on my original brakes with the smaller disks and pads, and the rear pads are pretty worn and will be changed next week when I put the summer wheels back on. The fronts are still fine.
I have the 4 cylinder engine - fuel economy is not much different than with the 6 (it takes the same amount of energy to move a vehicle equipped with either engine at any given speed), so the only real price to pay is that a 4 will not accelerate as quickly when floored.
There were a couple of vehicles with 6 cylinder engines that had head issues, but it wasn't a design defect.
CR's assessment criteria suck.

My experience is that the majority of winter handling comparisons are expressions of a drivers' ability to deal with winter conditions, moreso than issues related to the vehicle itself;
You have the usual 4 wheels, 2 (or 4) of which are driven. You have GREAT clearance with the Journey, as compared with standard cars. Weight distribution can be an issue, as can tire design. But there is very little differentiation between one example of a model and another, except for tires and wear - yet we see people who do well in snow and others who do not in supposedly almost identical situations driving similarly configured vehicles.
In my venue they've been scraping the snow down to pavement on all but rural roads for decades and, until it was legislated, I never bothered with snow tires and NEVER had any issues myself - and I'm not the type that stays home just because 10" or 15" of snow is in the process of falling . . .
Press the gas and brake gently and wheelspin will be minimised - the traction control in the Journey works in part by reducing power to eliminate wheelspin, so if you push it hard what happens is that you are pressing on the gas and the engine slows down to compensate..
I like to recount the story of my ex sister in law who couldn't get out of the driveway with OEM tires at the country house and blamed me, so I drove the vehicle out and bought snow tires. The next day she came in ranting that 'the car did it again'. I pointed out that first of all, when she gave up the previous day I simply drove up the driveway - and explained that I bought snow tires, yet she still managed to get stuck in the exact same place and I had again gone out and simply drove up the driveway . . . . and that the only person who had issues of this sort was her and that even $1200 in new tires didn't help her.
It is very often the driver and not the vehicle.
When we drive up to the ski hills I've noticed that the vehicles most often sitting in ditches, having slid off the road are AWD vehicles driven by people who simply can't properly handle a vehicle in difficult conditions. Snow tires IMO tend to embolden bad drivers into exceeding their limited skills.
In the end my ex sister in law did take a winter driving course and is much improved.

My experience is that the majority of winter handling comparisons are expressions of a drivers' ability to deal with winter conditions, moreso than issues related to the vehicle itself;
You have the usual 4 wheels, 2 (or 4) of which are driven. You have GREAT clearance with the Journey, as compared with standard cars. Weight distribution can be an issue, as can tire design. But there is very little differentiation between one example of a model and another, except for tires and wear - yet we see people who do well in snow and others who do not in supposedly almost identical situations driving similarly configured vehicles.
In my venue they've been scraping the snow down to pavement on all but rural roads for decades and, until it was legislated, I never bothered with snow tires and NEVER had any issues myself - and I'm not the type that stays home just because 10" or 15" of snow is in the process of falling . . .
Press the gas and brake gently and wheelspin will be minimised - the traction control in the Journey works in part by reducing power to eliminate wheelspin, so if you push it hard what happens is that you are pressing on the gas and the engine slows down to compensate..
I like to recount the story of my ex sister in law who couldn't get out of the driveway with OEM tires at the country house and blamed me, so I drove the vehicle out and bought snow tires. The next day she came in ranting that 'the car did it again'. I pointed out that first of all, when she gave up the previous day I simply drove up the driveway - and explained that I bought snow tires, yet she still managed to get stuck in the exact same place and I had again gone out and simply drove up the driveway . . . . and that the only person who had issues of this sort was her and that even $1200 in new tires didn't help her.
It is very often the driver and not the vehicle.
When we drive up to the ski hills I've noticed that the vehicles most often sitting in ditches, having slid off the road are AWD vehicles driven by people who simply can't properly handle a vehicle in difficult conditions. Snow tires IMO tend to embolden bad drivers into exceeding their limited skills.
In the end my ex sister in law did take a winter driving course and is much improved.

We rarely actually drive on snow up here, but rather paving, covered by lots of salt & grit until they scrape the roads clear - and note that the Kuhmo is an all-season tire, rather than a 'summer' tire.
On the other hand, while the snow is falling, and before they clear it away (which is a 12 hour period, once per storm) the big, blocky treads of a snow tire can help drag you through drifts and such.
And those who are comparing their worn out all-seasons with brand new snows will certainly notice a huge difference. I suspect they'd also notice a huge a difference with a fresh set of All Seasons.
Of course, the key is to drive for the conditions, no matter what tires you have installed - the tires are part of the equation.
The reason I recounted my story was to make it clear that the driver is probably the largest factor in snow season driving - I've been in the Yukon in February on all season on a rented car and I've been in Florida with snows (they don't last long down there, for certain) - I've logged huge miles driving the route from Sault St. Marie to Thunder Bay (at all times of the year, summer & winter), I've had the good fortune of driving in Atlanta and in London England during and after snow falls (noting that in Atlanta the real problem was sheer ice which resulted from the melting snow and snow tires don't help much with that - it doesn't help that Atlanta roads tend to be hilly) and I've driven through the mountains in Pennsylvania during snow storms. Snows help. But the driver is the real factor.

It would seem to me that the OP's vehicle wasn't babied. My ex used to complain about brake life on ANY vehicle she had - we used to give her the new one and I'd get her old one and strangely I always got twice as much mileage out of brakes and much better fuel economy than she did.
The OP might do himself a favour by perhaps taking a look at how his wife drives when 'unsupervised'.
I have 40K on mine and am still on original brakes & tires, though the rear pads will be replaced shortly. I do a pretty even mix of highway and urban driving. Fuel economy tends to sit at between 11-12 l/100 km, so I'm not driving like an old lady, either.
The only issues I've had to date were a leaking manifold gasket and a stuck air door in the heating system.

It would seem to me that the OP's vehicle wasn't babied. My ex used to complain about brake life on ANY vehicle she had - we used to give her the new one and I'd get her old one and strangely I always got twice as much mileage out of brakes and much better fuel economy than she did.
The OP might do himself a favour by perhaps taking a look at how his wife drives when 'unsupervised'.
I have 40K on mine and am still on original brakes & tires, though the rear pads will be replaced shortly. I do a pretty even mix of highway and urban driving. Fuel economy tends to sit at between 11-12 l/100 km, so I'm not driving like an old lady, either.
The only issues I've had to date were a leaking manifold gasket and a stuck air door in the heating system.

It would seem to me that the OP's vehicle wasn't babied. My ex used to complain about brake life on ANY vehicle she had - we used to give her the new one and I'd get her old one and strangely I always got twice as much mileage out of brakes and much better fuel economy than she did.
The OP might do himself a favour by perhaps taking a look at how his wife drives when 'unsupervised'.
I have 40K on mine and am still on original brakes & tires, though the rear pads will be replaced shortly. I do a pretty even mix of highway and urban driving. Fuel economy tends to sit at between 11-12 l/100 km, so I'm not driving like an old lady, either.
The only issues I've had to date were a leaking manifold gasket and a stuck air door in the heating system.

It would seem to me that the OP's vehicle wasn't babied. My ex used to complain about brake life on ANY vehicle she had - we used to give her the new one and I'd get her old one and strangely I always got twice as much mileage out of brakes and much better fuel economy than she did.
The OP might do himself a favour by perhaps taking a look at how his wife drives when 'unsupervised'.
I have 40K on mine and am still on original brakes & tires, though the rear pads will be replaced shortly. I do a pretty even mix of highway and urban driving. Fuel economy tends to sit at between 11-12 l/100 km, so I'm not driving like an old lady, either.
The only issues I've had to date were a leaking manifold gasket and a stuck air door in the heating system.

If it's a '12 it won't have the valve issues . . . it could well be a bad sensor or corroded connector, however.

I didn't bother with TPMS sensors on the winter wheels. The warning light came on the first time I drove with the winters installed and after that the dash was clear. It all quietly goes back to normal when the summer tires are re-installed.

Having been through the mill with aftermarket policy writers (including having had to take one to court to get them to pay) I would NEVER buy an extended warranty from anyone except the manufacturer.
The OEM policies are easier to deal with, don't force you to pay for diagnostics and replacement fluids, they provide for rental cars if there's an overnight repair and best of all, no haggling - and you get your vehicle fixed at a dealer who uses factory original parts.
I ran a buyer's group for factory warranties for Canadian owners last year - it went well enough and we had about 15 buyers (though the selling dealer has since closed their doors, not that it affects the policy). So I have the 7/115 with zero deductible on my '11 - that, or the 7/160 make the most sense IMO, since a 5 year policy really only covers things like the radio, power windows and air conditioning, given that the power train is covered for 5 years anyway.
My DJ turned 2 in September and runs just fine. I've been to the dealer only once to have a few issues resolved (mostly minor, the big one being a leaking valve cover gasket) and they gave me a loaner, did the work and gave me the vehicle back washed. All dealers should be so accommodating.

The paint protection package is as required as the 'stain guard' - it represents extra money for the dealership at 100% markup for the MSRP - There is a dialog on the subject at www.redflagdeals.com. Here's a link to the first post in the thread: http://forums.redfla...up-buy-1102770/
For some reason; either there was some sort of database issue or else management seems to have deleted my signature with the details (no notes, no PMs, just found it missing this morning) - so rather than tempt fate, I edited it to suggest people PM me for details.

4 is adequate and less expensive initially. The 4 will pull the vehicle around at any speed, even well above legal maximums without any problem. If you never drive a 6 you won't miss the extra power.

Just to be correct, it should perhaps be noted that Nokia owns Navteq, not Garmin, and that Garmin is a publicly traded company owned by . . . whomever.
As to why they charge for in-dash navigator map updates? Simple: The owners are a captive market - they have no options and, the reality is that Chrysler COULD have negotiated lifetime map updates for owners, but they want to keep their costs as low as possible - that's also why there are no tire warranties and why battery warranties are limited - they'd need to pay for them.

A plastic cover? Like a hub cap?
Chrome is a plating process where the shiny chromium metal is deposited on top of the base metal - it can certainly peel away if the surface is improperly prepared or if there is a hole where moisture can get between the two surfaces.
http://www.answers.com/guides/what-is-chrome-plating
My old 2000 LHS has chrome wheels (actually I have 2.25 sets of them, one with all season tires and the other with my snows - the summers have TPS sensors) and the big problem is that the well where the TPS sensor/valve is installed corrodes and needs to be ground and grease coated every so often or else the wheel starts leaking - all 8 wheels (of the 9 - the spare is also chrome, but it's never been out of the trunk) have done this.

Nothing higher than 4300K for anything I have them on . . . and I will never rework factory headlights - too easy for a patrolman to write up an equipment violation as a reward for spending money on extra lighting that doesn't meet the federal sttatutes.