JetSmooth

Any input on sun fading?

That does look great! I'll hopefully get around to trying this over the weekend. My only other concern is color fade. My Journey is the nice, dark Blue Pearl. Purchased in December of last year. How much fading might have happend over the course of a year? The new lettering won't fit over the old spaces. Will I have darker splotches underneath them?

I'd like to take the "D O D G E" off the back of my Journey and replace with a custom chrome lettering I've read plenty of guides on debadging and most are straightfroward "heat and peel" or "heat and use dental floss" operations. The only caveat is to beware of emblems that are pinned or bolted on. The guide of thumb was manufacturer logos or large emblems. Since the "D O D G E" is individual letters, I can't think there are holes underneath, but I want to be sure. Has anyone debadged a 2012 Journey SXT? Is anything pinned or bolted on?

Out, darned spammer! Well, we did the deal today. Had a hitch when I let the business off guy talk me into more warranty than we needed. But when my wife showed up to sign, he drew up a new deal. It wasn't pressure. I just sort of assumed I needed more than we needed. So, I LOVE the color. It drove great. Can't wait to really get it out on the road tomorrow. Now, to figure out how to play MP3s off the USB drive. I had a USB drive with some tune on it, but couldn't figure out how to get the mode to change to play off it.

Yes Yes, I keep messing up my terms. So there's no post-delivery option for uconnect voice command (the bluetooth module)? I asked my dealer and he said he would check tomorrow to see if they could add it after the car comes in. Either way, the SXT with flexible seating in the color I want is on the way to me tomorrow. Maybe they'll be able to add bluetooth later. If not, I have a headset. Glad to almost be over with this experience and looking forward to actually enjoying the auto.

GAH! Got a call from my dealer. The SXTwe found in Pennsylvania isn't due to be delivered to the originating dealer until mid January. That won't do. We found one without UConnect (I'll install that later) for a bit less (obviously), but it's in New Jersey. 150 miles away. I told him to go after it and get it. Maybe I can have it by Thursday. Did I mention I HATE car shopping?

I need to get used to you guys quoting your efficiency in kms and not miles. I was freaking out over 8MPG. That's like what a Hummer gets. haha. I'm pretty sure I'll be very happy with the V6 in the SXT. I can be a conservative driver when I need to be. I'm hoping the EVIC will give me som good feedback on my driving and help me tone it down sometimes. Normally, I drive a little fast in the morning when I'm on my way to the train. It's 4:30am and there's nobody else on the road.

Well, we settled on the costs and everything. But the dealership with the car I want (65 miles away) wasn't trading today. They trade manager is out. So, they called to ensure the car was still available and on their inventory. It is. So as long as they don't sell it out from under us tonight, the dealerships will haggle on Monday and we should take deliver on Tuesday. In all, this has been a decent sales experience. I feel we've been treated very fairly and I'm excited about the SXT. There were a bunch of other blue Dodges and such in the parking lot and my wife keeps asking, "Is the blue more like this or that?" I'm pretty confident I'm going to love the color, but she's not really hot on any blue cars. But I wasn't hot on her choice of the red Corolla, so now we're even. Haha.

Yeah, but even the swatch and photo in the 2012 brochure and the online Build Your Own system looks darker than some of the stock example photos I'm seeing on dealer online sites. I've seen what I think was the surf blue, which looks more like what you'd see on a Jeep Wrangler. I can't say there's a blue I don't like, as long as it's not baby or sky blue.

Well, we just got back from the dealer. My wife drove the 4cyl but liked how it felt. I told her the V6 was peppier, but she didn't need to feel it. Showed her some of the features and put the stroller in for the official stroller test. MASSIVE amounts of space. What I also liked was putting the car seat on the 60 split and having a whole , adult-sized seat to sit in next to it. I was really uncomfortable in the Patriot. So that was another plus. My dealer managed to find a blue SXT with UConnect and the Flexible Seating. My wife decided the rear climate control was worth having. I agree. The car is in PA and they will have to see if they can get it, since it was late (about 9:00pm) when we got out of there. We're real party animals. We shut the place down. Generaltso, there are apparently two blue colors. 2011 had a Blackberry Blue and 2012 has Blue Pearl. Either one looks good to me. We walked away with a bunch of numbers. My wife is a finance person, so she's going to probably drive herself crazy tonight running scenarios. But I think we have a decent price overall. I didn't tell them about the $576 in purchase credit or the coupon I have for 25% off the extended warranty. I'll bring those up with the business manager when we go to sign. :spiteful: So, I may not get my DJ this weekend. But hopefully mid-week. Now, to figure out what the plates will say. Haha.

Thanks for that info. Yes, I definitely want to use the latches. I got to my dealer today and looked at how the seats were laid out. Pretty smart design. Even if the seat isn't in the EXACT center, it's in enough for my wife to feel a bit more confident about it. Plus, it allows another person to sit on the left side as it doesn't straddle into the "40" side of the seat. When we put the carseat in the Jeep Patriot, I couldn't sit on either side very comfortably. I think this design is MUCH better!

Well, I had to do a few important errands (tape to wrap a present), sooooooooooo, I stopped by and test drove both an AVP and SXT. I can definitely feel the difference in the engines, but could be very happy with the 4cyl, I think. Though I told him I would look at the SXT for the additional trim options. I want alloy wheels (NA on the AVP and $1000 extra option package on the SE). So, if you get a SXT with UConnect and nothing else, versus the SE with uConnect and the Popular Package, that's like getting the V6 for only like a $1500 jump. Seems like the thing to do. UConnect Voice Command for Bluetooth connectivity (that's what I meant before, not just the radio) is still a must because I figured it'd be a hassle to get it put in as an post-delivery option, plus the dash would have to be pulled. As for the blue, I haven't yet seen one in person, but I'm 99% it's exactly what I want. Looks like the TARDIS from Doctor Who. I've already told him to try to find the trades from local dealers around and if we can make a deal tomorrow, we should have it Monday. (if he can find one)

I wonder if that third row free thing is only in Canada. I'll be sure to ask about that. If I can knock $995 off the "internet" price of one I see on my dealer's site, that would be good. I think uConnect can be added aftermarket as well. So I won't hold my breath for an SXT with UConnect but no third row. Most of what I see seems to have them both or neither. Can you order an aftermarket cargo cover to use if the third row of seats is down? Like, are the connectors and hooks all still in the car? I can see us putting the seats down 80% of the time, and want the cover. My main concern now is the color. I don't see blue one's anywhere near me, according to the Dodge locator. Well, the closest that's configured the way I want is 600 miles away.

Yeah. I'm leaning toward the SXT without the third row. I don't see the need for it since there's only three of us and we don't see any other kids on the horizon. The third row wouldn't be useful for any of our family because they're all rather tall. Though, if the dealer can't find me a base SXT in the color I want and only has he third row option and has to throw it in for free. . . so be it. The Pentastar is REALLY tempting. I'm trying to be as fuel efficient as I can and even the 2.4-l represents an estimated overall fuel increase over my xA of like 27%. And the V6 is 30% But, I guess that's the price of the size of vehicle. I'm starting to think that power is necessary to be able to pass on the highway or go up steep hills. I just have to convince my wife that we can't do any better in a crossover with a V6. I'm working from home today and might just have to take lunch to go test drive before my wife gets home.

Greetings! My name's Joel and I'm knee-deep in car shopping. The Journeys are tops on my list but there are a few things nagging at my mind. I've always driven smaller hatchbacks. My high school car was an '89 Hyundai Excel. The first car I bought myself was a VW New Beetle (2 point slow). I am currently in an '05 Scion xA. But we have a kiddo now and he's starting to kick the xA's driver and passenger seats from his car seat in the center position. We also took a road trip recently in my wife's '09 Toyota Corolla S and it was a bit cramped. We want something bigger where we can put everything in the trunk and not have to pack it into the foot spaces in the passenger cabin. It's for safety and also to keep things more comfy. Here are some of my questions Cargo/Seating: I previously had my heart set on a Jeep Patriot, until we did the old "stroller test" and the darned rear hatch wouldn't even close. We had to tilt the stroller to get it to close and wouldn't have had even a quarter of the space in my wife's Corolla trunk. Now, I know that's not an issue for the Journey with the ample back end space. What I'm wondering about is if I NEED the flexible seating package. My question is, if you DON'T get the flexible seating option, what's the vehicle like? I'm assuming you have a big, flat space where the third row would have been. But the flexible seating option mentions the fold flat second row. If you get a five-seater, does the second row not fold flat? Sort of seems a little like you'd sacrifice that ability to fold all seats but the driver's down for hauling stuff. Or do you just miss out on the 60/40 split and Tilt and slide? That wouldn't be so bad since you don't need to get back to seats that don't exist. Power: I'm not a speed junkie. My xA has like 108hp and I do just fine. I'm considering going with the SE and adding all the packages (except the flexible seating, if I don't need it) to get the alloy wheels, security system and spruce it up a bit. I read a lot about how the base engine is sluggish and detracts from the experience. But does it REALLY if you're not a car guy and want something for basic transportation? At 173hp, versus the Corolla's 132, it's got to move a bit nicer, even in a larger vehicle, right? It's definitely got to be spritlier than my xA's 108hp. Our car trip involved some large inclines through the mountains of West Virginia. The Corolla did decently. It didn't poke up the hills like my xA would have or a minivan. My normal driving routine is get up at 4:00am, out the door by 4:15 (or 5:15 on a "late day") and take a decently straight country road (a few lights here and there as we cross main roads) for about a 30 minute drive to the commuter train station. At the end of the day, I take the highway back for a few exits and it's back in suburban traffic for another 20 minutes. So it's not like I'm going to be driving an insane amount in this thing. We mainly want a bigger vehicle for family outings, trips t the grandparents, etc. Her Corolla needs a break My wife drives an hour into Baltimore for her commute in the Corolla, so upgrading her doesn't make sense. So, I guess I'm asking does this sound like a good fit? I'll probably get to test drive one tomorrow, but am looking for opinions from those who have them and not a sales person. I also see a lot of mentions of problems, but those seem to be in the '09 and '10's. I'm looking at a 2012. Surely they've tightened things up a bit since then.