doubleO7

HI Shadow

I can see why we have a difference of opinion on the shifter location and I respect that. I think it has to do with our differences in height. Since I am shorter ( 5'6"), I have to have my seat up a little closer to the steering wheel then you have to in order to reach the accelerator. Damn, being shorter has its disadvantages. The postion of the seat that feels comfortable for me puts my right arm so close to the shift lever, my elbow is actually slightly behind my body when I have it in manual mode (which I use a lot). Just awkward for me, would still like to see the cupholders behind (can still be lower). I don't use the cupholders, but I would think that if one had a coffee and they lifted the drink out of the cupholder, that there could be a chance of the cup hitting the shifter. If the cupholder is behind, it eliminates that possibiltiy IMHO. Most other SUV/CUV/s seem to have shifter ahead of cupholders.

I am so used to driving manual tranmissions where I have my elbow extended from my body, that it just feels weird to me to have my elbow at my side when shifting. I can see what you mean about just using your fingers for shifting, that part is nice as I do that also.

HI DodgeCares

I have a May 2012 build on my Journey R/T and have the same problem with the satellite area of the infotaiment system, randomly changing stations on start up. I think I mentioned this 'gremlin' in my two month review.

Will there be any flash updates in the near future fro this problem for builds after March 2012?

I remember reading somewhere (and I'll see if I can track it down) that the AWD system directs power to different wheels as needed during acceleration and certain other driving maneuvers to increase performance and handling so I think that this would partially explain the FWD/AWD suspension differences.

CCCacher, I came across this review when I was doing my research on the AWD system on the Journey. I have to say this article certainly played apart in my final decision. Could this be the info you were thinking of.

The part of how the AWD system works is near the end of the review.

http://www.autospectator.com/cars/models/2012-dodge-journey-avp-se-sxt-crew-rt-review-pictures-features-specs

Yeah, the heated steering wheel would have been nice. No buyers remorse though. One could be waiting forever to get everthing they want in a vehicle. Like DodgeCACares says the Journey gets better and better.

That sucks big time. Glad mine came with the locking wheel nuts.

Hope everything works out Ok in the end.

Welome to the forum, Pablo. Another BC'er, thats nice.

To bad about the Journey not having the built in nav, when thats something you wanted. But overall, you made a great choice.

I've had my Journey almost 4 months, and am very happy with my choice.

I would assume it focused on the Journey because the people who owned it, probably contacted Marketplace about their problem, which then created the article on Lemon Law legistation and why we don't have it.

At the beginning when they were showing the "roulette wheel", and clips of people mentioning their problems, there were different makes shown. I noticed Hyundai, Toyota, Honda emblems on the steering wheels, so lemons show up with all different manufacturers.

It would be nice to have Lemon laws like California. But it doesn't seem our government officials (both Provincal and Federal) have the guts to enact a very important part of consumer legislation.

This is probably meant more for the Canadian Dodge Journey members as Marketplace is a program here in Canada that looks at different issues concerning consumers. However, American members of the forum who live in the border states and have access to the CBC television channel may want to watch.

I watched Marketplace on CBC last night and the preview for next weeks subject is "Lemon Laws-should the Canadian Gov't force manufacturers to buy back vehicles that have chronic problems". What really peaked my interest was the vehicles that were in the background were Dodge Products. It appears in one of the clips, there was a vehicle with its hood up and it appeared to be a Journey.

I'm sure they will have examples of other manufactures who have the occassional lemon. However, since they showed Mopar products only in the preview, I wonder if the topic was suggested to Marketplace by a disgruntled Dodge Journey owner, so they will be focusing(bashing) solely on MOPAR products? Should be an interesting watch.

Welcome to the forum. I've had my R/T (not the rallye) since June 2012, and am enjoying it immensly. It's one sweet ride.

I have found the TPMS to be within 1 pound of my hand gauge, when I have been checking tire pressure manually.. I use the hand gauge for equalling out the tire pressure to the recommended inflation, then the TPMS just to monitor.

Bigtsr

Thats a good idea to use polymer product twice a year. Many years ago, I talked to a professional detailer and he said even if you have a paint protectant applied whemn buying a vehicle, you still have to do some maintenance when it comes to the finish.

Good advice, thanks

I've been reading the forums about the 2011 battery problems. I am having the exact problems with my 1 month old 2012 Journey Crew 3.6L. Went to start it this morning, got the message that no key was detected, display was haywire saying temp was -40, then ticking sound from under the hood, then hazards flashing spastically inside, then everything went dead. Does anyone know of any fixes that apply to the battery drain problems on the 2012 models?

I am charging the battery now and would like to have some info to take with me to the dealership.

thanks

I haven't had the battery problem, but I have had the -40 problem. Taking it in today to have it looked at. Since there is a TSB out for battery draining I'll have them check that out also.

The build date on my Journey is May 2012, so I would say mine is a mid year build, so maybe I don't have the battery problem, but since there is a TSB out for battery draining I'll have them check that out also.

I have scheduled an appointment for Monday to have it looked at. The service adviser I talked to indicated there is a corelation between the outside ambient temperature and the amount of cold air the AC unit will emit. I had set my AC temp to low, but the indicated Ambient temperature was 15C (actual ambeint temp was around 23C), so the AC would not blow cold air.

We are having a very warm September here on the West Coast of Canada. Temperatures in the Vancover area and Fraser Valley have been around 23C (73F) to 28C (82F) depending on how far from the coast you are.

So, I get into my Journey yesterday as I am taking it in to get two wheels changed under warranty, and the EVIC external temp is showing -40C (-40F). Thats weird. So I start driving and stop in at MacDonalds for a coffee and free newspaper. Sit down read and finsih coffee. Get back in, start the vehicle and the EVIC displays what is probably the current early morning temperature of 11C (52C). OK everything is fine.

Leave the Journey at the dealer and get a call to pick it up around noontime. Get in the Journey and the EVIC is displaying 15C (59F), but the temperature is around 23C (73F) according to one of the radio stations. So maybe it just has to reset itself.

Since the Journey has been sitting in the sun, I open the windows and drive a few kilometers before turning on the AC. Set the temp on my side to low and set AC to auto. The AC will not blow cold air, even after 10 minutes, so I set it to manual, still no cold air. At this point, since I have almost finished my "chores", I decide to head back to the dealer and show them the problem. But before I can get there, the EVIC all of a sudden jumps to 23C(73F) and the AC starts to work normally, blowing cold air.

This morning I have to head back to the dealer as one of the wheels that they replaced, has been damaged during installation. (won't go into detail on wheels). The EVIC is still showing 23C (73F) at 6:30 AM in the morning. My weather station temperature is showing 10C (50F). When I start the vehicle the EVIC changes to 10C. So it looks like everything is OK. Go to the dealer, show them the damaged wheel, and mention the problem with the EVIC display to the service advisor and said I will keep an eye on the display.

Sure enough, the temperature is rising outside, but the EVIC is showing 10C still. The all of a sudden it jumps from the 10C (52F) to 18C (64F). We are about mid morning at this time, so the temp agrees with the radio station weather report.

So,when I go back to the dealer to get the wheel fixed, I am going to have this looked at.

I guess what concerns me the most, is that when the temp on the EVIC is showing a cooler temp on the outside then what it is, the air conditioner doesn't work.

It appears to me that what there is a problem with the external temperature sensor, but if the dealer can't replicate the problem, they may not do anything..

Has anybody else had this problem?

Dodgecares or DodgeCAcares, have you encountered this problem before?

You don't have to use the stock 225/55/19 tire size. It's a known dealer accepted option (they put out a bulletin) to use 235/55/19's instead (which have way more options and are cheaper).

Thanks onecrazyfoo4u, I wasn't aware that he 235's were OK. The certainly opens up options for me when I want to replace the Kumhos

I read somewhere that two changes to the interior are perfortated leather seats and heated steering wheel. LIke those changes; makes an already appealling vehicle just much more so.

At first, I was using an iPod touch with thousands of songs. But since I've been having the re-indexing problem, I've switched to an iPod Nano with 195 songs. It doesn't seem to make a difference. Can you select songs with voice command right after starting your car? I can't until it's done re-indexing, which makes the feature useless except on longer trips. It's not always 20 minutes, but it often is.

You system plays the remaining time on the song that was playing when you left? Mine starts the last song over every time. Another annoyance.

I have to usually wait about a minute or two after starting the vehicle before I can use the voice command. Having said that, this is where one of my 'gremlins' surface. When I use the voice command to play a specific piece of music, the song comes up on the screen, but immediately skips to the next one in the sequence. I will be having this looked at when I take the Journey in for its first oil change in the next week or two.

When I first got the Joureny, the system would start over at the beginning.Not sure if its because I left the IPOD itself on when I left the vehicle and the IPOD went into pause mode?

I like the 8.4N system overall as well. But there are a few little issues that really annoy me. The biggest issue for me is that every time I cycle the ignition, the iPod has to be re-indexed and voice command isn't available until it's done, which can take 20 minutes. According to the manual, that's not supposed to happen unless you change the content on the iPod. I've complained about this issue to Chrysler and my dealer, but both say that it's working as designed, which makes absolutely no sense. Why would they design the system to re-index the iPod every time you restart the car when it already has a full index? I was hoping this would be fixed in a future update, but now I'm fearing that fixes and new features may just be added to future model years, and previous model years will be stuck with the version of Uconnect that came on them.

I haven't encountered any of those issues your having with your IPOD having to be re-indexed. I plug in my IPOD and the menu appears within a minute. If I leave the IPOD plugged in(I only do that if I will be out of the vehicle for less then 20 minutes) when I shut the vehicle down, upon my return, after starting the vehicle, the system starts up right away and plays the remaining time on the last song before shutdown. I don't know how many songs you have on your IPOD, but 20 minutes to re-index sounds unreasonable to me.

Out of curiosity sake, how many songs do you have on your IPOD? I have less then 400, so I wonder if the amount of music on the IPOD makes a difference in the time it takes to re-index?

There are lots of 19" tires availabe from various manufacturers. The problem seems to be the 225/55 profile. Michelin( my tire of choice for over 30 years) produces a 235/55 tire, but not a 225.

I knew going in, that if I purchased the R/T, tire selection will be limited as stated by other forum members, so I can't complain. It was certianly a concern when I was comparing with other vehicles, but once I took the test drive, damn the tire size problem, I'm going to get an R/T as the other makes I tested didn't even come close to the fun factor this vehicle provides.

I just hope that when I am in the market for tires, there is a better selection of 225/55 available from other manufacturers besides Kumho. I have already contacted Michelin and they are not planning on producing 225/55's at this point in time. Drat.

I also know that I can replace with other 19' tires when the time comes, but at the expense of speedomter accuracy. Something that I'm not really keen on. Oh well.

I think I can feel where lebowski is going with his comments. I'd feel left out too if fiat folks got everything while I was frustrated with some aspects of my Dodge vehicle. Not sure if Dodge/Chrysler support the freemont or if lebowski is left without the help of anyone to deal with fiat. Certainly I now have a better appreciation for his frustrations with the radio/uconnect in his freemont. I think I feel more realism in lebowski's comments than negativity. Besides, if there were only happy touchy feely posts, Dodge Chrysler Fiat would never do anything to solve anyone's issues.

Peace.

I totally agree with your comments about where lebowski is coming from with his frustations of getting some kind of support from Fiat. We are lucky in this forum to have Dodgecares and DodgeCAcares, to assist us. If I was to have lebowskis problems and got no support, I would be very frustrated also.

Cheers

DoubleO7

CCCacher

I might wait a year before buying snows as our other vehicle is a Subaru Legacy, that has snows for the winter, so if our son isn't using it, I can always use it in pinch if I have go somewhere during the snowy season.

But will let you know if I decide to get snows this year and what I end up with. I will be checking with the gentleman at the dealership as to what packages he is putting together, then once I know what size an actual Dodge dealer is recommending, I can comparison shop for the best deal.

I was re reading your post and I notice that you really like the back up camera. Me too, but still look both ways before backing. A couple of years ago we rented a motorhome that not only had a rear camera, but had side cameras also. Voila no blind spots. When you wanted to change lanes, just pick right or left camera and you had a great view of what might be in your blindspot otherwise. It would be neat if such an option was available for the Journey.

CCCacher

Storm grey was the Mrs DoubleO7's choice, I wanted Pearlescent white, but hey we have to comprimise right. But now I really like the colour.

When I mentioned the A/C, I don't have the rear air as I didn't want to get the third seat. So for my sister in law to complain its to cold in the back seat, remember the air is only coming from the front vents. The external temperature was 33 degrees celius that day, and I was a little worried that maybe the AC wouldn't be powerful enough to cool the back.

I'm sure you will get used to the autostick. I had this in my Grand Caravan, and really got to like it. I have owned many manual transmission vehicles in the past, and still like to be able to select the proper gear for the situation, rather then rely on an automatic to select for me. Left leg injury a few years ago, negates having a manual transmission now. Darn.

I'm with you on the boxy look, it looks much better and makes loading and unloading boxy items a lot easier.

Yes, one last expense, snow tires and rims. When I was looking at the Journey in February, I actually went around to different Tire Dealerships. They were all suggesting 17" rims, but now with the newer larger brakes, I'm not sure if 17" rims will fit. Snow tire/rim shopping could be interesting.

My apologies to the rest of the people on the forum for some errors in spelling, missing parts of sentences, on my original post, but when I went to edit, for some reason I was unable to correct the errors.

Cheers

DoubleO7

I have had my Journey just over two months so I thought its time to write a review

Model: R/T

Colour: Storm Grey

Options: Trailer two prep

Navigation

Sunroof

Current Odometer reading: 3600 km (2236 mi)

Vehilce rating 9 out of 10

Driving has been mainly in a combination of rural/city (60/40) percentage. Finally had the vehicle on a 100% road trip.

To say the least, I have been very happy with my choice. After looking at many other CUV's, the Journey just stood out for me. I looked at other CUV's in the same price range, nothing over $36,000, so I was comparing apples to apples and not apples to oranges.

The three deciding factors that led to the Joureny purchase were as follows:

1. Penastar engine- love the smoothness of this engine and when called upon, it really moves the vehicle with

authority

2. Interior is well laid out (one expection-will mention in the Dislikes)

3. Depsite Dodge reputation for "poor quality" , my experience with my 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan, kept me in the Dodge family. Over 200,000 km and other then regular and preventative maintenance, absolutely no issues.

So, yesterday, I took the vehicle out for a drive in the mountains here in BC. I filled up the vehicle just before entering the freeway and knowing that I would be returning the same way, I could fill up at the same location, which should give me a fairly accurate reading for straight highway driving.

First part of trip was in the Fraser Valley(completely flat, tailwind, avg speed 110 to 120Km/hr ( 60-70 mph), and the EVIC for that part of the trip was showing 7.9l/100km (a switch of the unit measuremet to US gallons indicated around 29 mpg)

Once we got into the Fraser Canyon ( mainly a two lane hwy except for some short streches of 4 lane, and started to do any signifcant climbing, I dropped it into manual mode and downshifted once the climb started. I was able to find the right gear very quickly and wow, I had had no problems, in fact a light touch on the accelerator peddle and I was gaining speed with ease. In areas where I was descending, I would drop down one or two gears and not have to use the brakes at all. This vehicle is made for mountain driving.

Of course once we were in areas where there the road was flat, back into auto mode.

Had once incident where some moron who was doing 30km under the speed limit. Speed limit is 100, they were doing 70. So there was a line of cars (we were third in line behind this person). Behind me is a lady driving a Chev Cruze, who decides when we get to a passing lane, that she is going to get right on my bumper. The first two vehicles, a Hundai Accent and a Chev Silverado pulling a trailer with a dragster on it, are ahead of me and they have no guts to pass quickly. So this lady behind me won't back off, but I can't get over as I haven't passed anything yet. Well once the other two vehicles got over, I dropped down a gear and floored it, the lady in the Cruze couldn't keep up. Once I got over in the other lane, I settled back down to around 110 km but she was determined to get ahead of me, and I thought go ahead, better to rear end someone else.

The return trip took us over the the Coquihalla Hwy, a four lane (sometimes six lanes). When you in a hurry, this is the road to travel on. Speed limit is 110 km/hr, but most people do between 120 and 130 km/hr ( 70-80 mph). I usually do somewhere around 110 to 115 km/hr

Out of Merrit, there is a steep climb heading south, but I thought I would keep it in auto mode, to see (experience the downshift lag that others have talked about in the forum). Yes, it occured, back into manual mode for the steep climbs only then back into auto mode, however where the climbs were more gentle, a slight push of the accelerator and the vehicle found the correct gear quickly.

For those not familiar with the Coquihalla Hwy, heading inland from the coast, the first part of the highway from Hope to where a toll booth used to be, is around 60 km of very steep climb. Consequently heading from the interior to the coast, you have a very steep descent. While everybody is riding their brakes, I just geared down on the steepest parts and I never had to use the brakes once.

I got this vehicle for highway driving and more then thrilled with the performance. So on the way back, I filled up at the same service station.

Before trip: fill -46.81 litres -distance travelled 352.6 km l/100km - 12.5

After trip: fill 46.97 litres- distance travelled 515.3 km l/100km- 9.0

I could probably go onto Fuelly and get more accurate numbers, but for the few times I was on there and entered my data, I was probably .5 yo .7 km/100 over what the evic says. Not enough to worry about. So, I will just go by what the EVIC reading is.

Likes:

Performance - I don't think anything in its class can come close.

Interior comfort - outstanding

Exterior styling - love the presence it has on the road. From the front, only Kia comes close to having a front end that I like the looks of

Air conditioning: since I have a five seater, I don't have the rear air like I did in our van, but when its 33 celius (91 degrees fahrenheit) and my sister inlaw complains that its to cold in the back seat, I don't see a problem with only having air up front)

EVIC display - love the information it provides

Steering wheel controls - I have had no issues with the steering wheel controls, love that I can change stations or volume without having to take hands off wheel, or use voice commands. Had this feature on the van and thought it was great

I have also had not issues with the steering wheel controls for EVIC, I am able to change the display without taking my eyes of the road. Just takes practice (feel) to know which button your thumb is going to push.

Neutrals:

LED light pattern: Not enough to be a dislike, but I really don't care for the LED design. I knew of the design when I bought it, but would think it would have been more of presence if the leds on the body panel area went horizontal to meet the leds on the hatch.

Windshield wipers block view: I listed this as neutral, as it may have more to do with my driving postion. It would have been nice if they sat below the windshield surface. I know I can raise my seat, but if I do, I block

Gremlins: mostly with radio/ bluetooth (and not a dislike because I don't think this problem is just a Dodge thing)

Voice command: sometimes it just doesn't understand. So when she says "she doesn't understand", I just say shut up and she comes up with "she doesn't understand", the Mrs and I have a good laugh.

Presets for Radio: sometimes when I start the vehicle, it has switched stations.

Using voice command to play a particular piece of music - when I say the song, it goes to the song but then immediatley goes to the next one. Oh well, I just use the steering wheel control.

Dislikes:

Drone between 60 and 70km/h - apparently only an issue with AWD models, and is only noticeable when accelerating lightly. According to dealer it has to do with clearances between the exhaust and the AWD appratus. You would think, the design team woud design for the more complex applicaton (AWD), rather the the simple one (FWD) and then try and adapt.

Gear Selecotr location: I missed this when I test drove the vehcile, because I didn't test the manual shift mode. My problem is that when I go into manual shift mode, my arm is at my side, which feels very unatural. I think if the gear selector and the cup holders were reversed, a more natural feel of having the arm slightly extended for shifting manually would be achieved. Again, it may be more that I have to have the seat up a little closer then others. I consider myself average height at 5'8", so I don't think it could be a "short" thing.

Accelerator pedal: Again it just may be me, but I find the accelerator pedal a little on the small side, as once in awhile my foot slips off for no apparent reason.

None of the disikes makes me think I made the wrong choice. NO vehicle is perfect.

Cheers

DoubleO7

Possibly it's the routing of the pipes required by AWD components.

My FWD is dead quiet at all speeds.

Thats what I am thinking also. With additional compoments for the AWD to the rear wheels, I would assume the area where the tailpipes are routed have less clearance than non AWD models.

I have experienced the same droning noise between 60 and 70km (40-50 mph) and took it in to the dealer. I went for a drive with the techician who was going to look into my issue. He said he had heard the drone before, but mine was the loudest.

He indicated that it was an exhaust pipe issue on R/T models. Something about stress on the pipes, so he contacted his support group and they said it was stress on the exhaust system which could be do to over tightning of the hanger bolts. So these have been re-torqued and the noise has been lessened. According to the comments on the work order, this seems to be limited to R/T models and they do not have a fix that will completely eliminate the drone as yet. The unforuntate thing is that were I live, most driving is in the 60 to 70 km range.

I just don't remember hearing this drone during my test drives of various R/T's. Oh well, still loving the vehicle, and I just love driving it on the highway. Boy is that where this vehicle shines.