Journey_SeXT

You can always change the fluids early, no harm to anything but your pocket book. On my 09 with 60,000 miles, this fall I changed trans fluid, and coolant. I change the oil every 5,000 with Mobil 1. I never tow, but live in the city, in Chicago where temps can be -20 to 105! I'd rather change early than be on the side of the road! Owners manual are kinda like guidelines, stating the max. time and miles, imo. Good luck!

Yup, 32,000 miles for 2.4L and 96,000 miles for 3.6L. I've attached the 2011 owners manual.and spark plug replacement guide for 4 cylinder 2.4L if needed.
2011-Journey-OM-6th.pdf
Spark plugs removal DJ 2.4.pdf
Spark plugs installation DJ 2.4.pdf

I'm not about to get out the manual, but from what you've quoted it seems clear enough to me;
At 64K you check the fluid for level and color. At 120K you drain, flush, replace filters and refill.
Same story for coolant; check at 80K, flush and fill at 5 years or 104K miles.
Of course nothing prevents you from doing these maintenance procedures more often - a clean engine is a happy engine.

Which there is nothing wrong with that....just don't have them learn how to change oil on my car.

Same here. There is no way that any oil changer would put the same TLC in an oil change like I do.

Not all oils are the same so I would at least like to know what they are using. Chrysler (under FIAT) does have a deal in place with Sopus so that $15 oil change would be real sweet if they are using Pennzoil or Quaker State.

well i usually feel the same way at certain places like oil change places or walmart but having it done at a dodge dealership is kind of different also if anything goes wrong they cant blame any one but themselves.and i always double check the oil level before leaving the times i have had it done there....

Even at that price I wouldn't bite personally. I'm a strictler for doing my own maintenance. I don't like other people messing with my car. I like to know exactly what goes into my engine. Plus I enjoy working on my vehicles. But that's just me .

I just got my 2015 Crossroad about 3wks ago, noticed some wear on the front seats that looked like the leather was cracking. Well, took it back to the dealer, the sales person walked me over to service. They took pictures and said they would file a claim with Chrysler, it took about 2wks, but finally got a call back from the service advisor and she told me that Chrysler said it's normal wear and tear, she then responded with a picture of my odometer with only 400 miles on it and a picture of my 2005 Jeep Liberty with 125k miles on the factory leather and not one crack. She called me back today to let me know that they approved 2 replacement seats. If anyone has this issue, I'd suggest taking it back to the dealer.

My (now ex) wife would complain about mileage and blew off my observations about how it is about the driver, more than the vehicle. She also ran through brakes like they were made of balsa wood. 5,000 miles a set . . .
She kept saying it was the vehicle, yet when we traded, she killed my mileage and my brakes and I got great mileage and 30,000 miles (before I traded) from the pads she had already half burned through.
After that vehicle pairing (we always had 2 of the same in the driveway) I made it a point to switch with her halfway through the ownership, fuel economy was a lot worse and brake life a lot shorter during her term with whatever vehicles we had.
Think about it.

I must admit that is very poor mileage, it sounds almost too easy, but I would take it in to the dealer and see what he has to say about this problem Defensder007. I know the mileage in our winter gets much worse than the summer, but that is going way too far.
Terry

Oh, I hear ya Journey_SeXT! I've know plenty of neighbors who were the "keep the ball because it's on my property". I'm lucky now, my neighbors are great and living in the city, pretty close. Like you said, Fear thy neighbor!"

Fear thy neighbor. Ohare, when I posted this I wasn't aware of how loud their squeal really was I thought it was just some crabby neighbor who likes to cause trouble....there are plenty of those around too.

8 mpg in a vehicle rated for 19-21 overall mpg? K&N isn't going to help. You've got problem and it needs to be diagnosed by your dealer service center. Best of luck.
Peace.

Wow, that is freaking horrible mileage! I'd be interested to see if the spark plugs are fuel soaked or if it's running really rich. What kind of highway mileage do you get?

Wow, posting this after we get hit with 15 cm of snow.... not cool JK.

You could always trade in your Dodge for a new Pontiac...Oh yah, i forgot they don't exist anymore!

Noise reduction...

Grab the engine cover from both ends and pull up and you will see the beauty of the Pentastar engine. To put back on just press down until it snaps in place.

The power steering hose issue I thought was an isolated problem with 2010 DJ's (posted the recall below). We do get cold weather here in Toronto but not as bad as the Prairie region of Canadat so I'm going to stick with the factory hoses and just replace the fluid with synthetic ATF+4.
Power Steering Pressure Hose Recall.pdf

I've always used the ATF+4 on my Dodge vehicles...

Great, looking forward to hearing about a job well done. BTW before you complete this weekend DIY project don't forget to pull out the caliper slide pins clean and grease them. I use this one http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/permatex-caliper-lube-80-ml-0383794p.html#.VML5r_7F-Hw and this one is also great http://www.amazon.com/Sil-Glyde-Silicone-Lubricating-Compound-Ounce/dp/B0054DWS1W

The only issue of 4 cylinders is that they are considerably under powered compared to the 3.6L. Other than that they are a pretty rock solid engine as I don't see to many complaints about them. I know that Bramfrank had the 4 cylinder so maybe he can chime in and give his opinion on them.

I had no real complaints about my '11 with the 4 cylinder - on the highway it won't fly by traffic you want to pass, but it is more than adequate for any sane speeds and for proper passing - and there is the marginally better gas mileage to consider (gas prices will be going back up at some point).
The 6 can be faster if you press the pedal to the floor, but for regular daily driving, both in town and on the highway the 4 is fine.
As to the AWD - I have written my posts on the topic - never needed it - and I used to drive into the mountains twice each weekend in the winter with all season tires and front wheel drive - I never got stuck and even used to get other people out of trouble - it is more about the driver than the number of powered wheels.

I have a 2011 with no problems (knock on wood). The only chronic problem that I know of is the brakes tend to go quickly on the 09-11....also some of the earlier built 2012's have the smaller brakes and were changed mid way through the year so you may want to be aware of that before your purchase. Good Luck and hopefully we will see you here in the future posting about your new Journey purchase.