Addicted to Dodge

Thanks for sharing. It is good to see some positives. We need more of them!

I now have 26k miles on my 2012 Journey SXT. I have owned it for a year and a half already. I have rotated my tires 3 times, changed the oil 4 times, cleaned and inspected the brakes (almost good as new), and changed my front wiper blades (I try to do all my own servicing when possible). Other than that I haven't had any issues at all with my Journey. Its been great!! My Kuhmos are starting to show some wear but I should be good til next year, I am actually looking forward to putting a better quality tire on, but for now I will milk these Kuhmos for all they are worth.
I originally bought the Journey for my wife and kids, but we soon realized that the Journey was a little small for our needs. So I bought her a new T&C a few months after purchasing our Journey. I didn't want to take a big loss so I just kept the Journey as a backup. To my surprise the damn thing started growing on me!! I was always a truck man, and had no interest in making our Journey my daily driver. But the past year has been all Journey for me. I save a ton in gas and it is so much easier to park.
While there are some things that annoy me with the Journey, I can honestly say that "my" Journey has been surprisingly fun to own so far.
This has been my experience for what its worth, so thanks for reading my long post.

Completely normal!! In fact those parts were likely installed with a small amount of surface rust as shown. I used to work for a company which made these and many important structural parts for vehicles and brand new parts, fresh of the press will often times look like this. This is very strong and pretty thick steel and it would take decades in the moistest of climates for that rust to cause any structural concernes. Again completely normal and will be present in many areas of every single car made. If it is that bothersome to you I could only suggest not purchasing new vehicles as you will always be disappointed.

Glad to hear. I have had a similar good experience with mine, now at 33,000 miles I believe. The DJ is surprisingly fun to drive and VERY versatile. I wish you continued fun.
Peace.

I now have 26k miles on my 2012 Journey SXT. I have owned it for a year and a half already. I have rotated my tires 3 times, changed the oil 4 times, cleaned and inspected the brakes (almost good as new), and changed my front wiper blades (I try to do all my own servicing when possible). Other than that I haven't had any issues at all with my Journey. Its been great!! My Kuhmos are starting to show some wear but I should be good til next year, I am actually looking forward to putting a better quality tire on, but for now I will milk these Kuhmos for all they are worth.
I originally bought the Journey for my wife and kids, but we soon realized that the Journey was a little small for our needs. So I bought her a new T&C a few months after purchasing our Journey. I didn't want to take a big loss so I just kept the Journey as a backup. To my surprise the damn thing started growing on me!! I was always a truck man, and had no interest in making our Journey my daily driver. But the past year has been all Journey for me. I save a ton in gas and it is so much easier to park.
While there are some things that annoy me with the Journey, I can honestly say that "my" Journey has been surprisingly fun to own so far.
This has been my experience for what its worth, so thanks for reading my long post.

I now have 26k miles on my 2012 Journey SXT. I have owned it for a year and a half already. I have rotated my tires 3 times, changed the oil 4 times, cleaned and inspected the brakes (almost good as new), and changed my front wiper blades (I try to do all my own servicing when possible). Other than that I haven't had any issues at all with my Journey. Its been great!! My Kuhmos are starting to show some wear but I should be good til next year, I am actually looking forward to putting a better quality tire on, but for now I will milk these Kuhmos for all they are worth.
I originally bought the Journey for my wife and kids, but we soon realized that the Journey was a little small for our needs. So I bought her a new T&C a few months after purchasing our Journey. I didn't want to take a big loss so I just kept the Journey as a backup. To my surprise the damn thing started growing on me!! I was always a truck man, and had no interest in making our Journey my daily driver. But the past year has been all Journey for me. I save a ton in gas and it is so much easier to park.
While there are some things that annoy me with the Journey, I can honestly say that "my" Journey has been surprisingly fun to own so far.
This has been my experience for what its worth, so thanks for reading my long post.

My 2013 Journey SXT with the 6 cylinder is fantastic. I have over 34,000 km's on it and have had no problems. Best vehicle I've ever had. My brother-in-law was so impressed with mine, he bought one too and loves it!

Love my 2012 6 cylinder!!
Smooth as silk it is.

My Journey is a 6 cylinder too! And it is the BEST car I have ever had! Good luck with the Kia.
I have a request racer102354: Would you kindly refrain from hijacking new members threads in this section to compain about your car? This section is for new forum members to introduce themselves to the Dodge Journey community. If you have specific problems you would like to discuss or get input on, please start your own thread. Thanks.

The Pentastar is a lightweight, thin walled, aluminum motor with miles of timing chain. The chains are stronger than belts but will make more noise than a belt. Then once you consider that most of the bolted on components are plastic, there just really isn't much to suppress noise when its below freezing and you attempt a cold start. Noises that were once covered up by thick steel forged blocks are now a little more pronounced due to the lightweight aluminum blocks.
I am no master mechanic and someone else might have a better answer. But through extensive research over the past couple years, these are a few things I have learned. I also leave my car out in the weather and these noises really bothered me after I bought my Journey. Now it doesn't seem to bother me, as the sounds seem to have gotten better with age.
I wouldn't worry to much about it unless the problem becomes worse.

My parents love their Lincoln's. 60k for a fully loaded Lincoln these days. Although they are nice indeed, they are far from perfect. They have problems just as any other manufacturer. The Journey is the best bang for your buck CUV out there!

I truly hate to hear about your problems. Its an awful feeling when you pay that much for something and not get what you were promised.
I can't help but think that your problem "can" be fixed though. Not all Journeys with sunroofs leak and if they did, they wouldn't put them in. Me personally I don't care for sunroofs because of this, the small margin of error for water to enter is just to much for me, but they should not leak either especially being brand new. I know you don't want to hear it but a 3rd or 4th opinion might be something to consider before giving up. I would run as fast as possible from anyone who tells you it needs to be sealed/glued shut (that's ridiculous). I wouldn't necessarily give up on Chrysler Customer Service either. I have had great luck with them for the small issues I have had when dealers were giving me run around. They actually started getting on my nerves a bit. lol
I hope you don't but if you do decide to get rid of your Journey, then I wouldn't worry to much about it becoming someone else's problem. I have bought, fixed, and sold 2 or 3 vehicles a year as a hobby since I was 16, and you would be surprised how many people sale a car because they think something major is wrong with it, when in fact it turns out to be a simple fix that just took some detailed thought and a little knowledge to figure out. Someone needs to spend time diagnosing and troubleshooting your Journey. Not just throw parts at it hoping for a fix. I only chimed in because I believe this is your case.
I wish you all the best of luck in getting this resolved and I hate to hear about the loss of your friend. Good luck and hang in there!!

I truly hate to hear about your problems. Its an awful feeling when you pay that much for something and not get what you were promised.
I can't help but think that your problem "can" be fixed though. Not all Journeys with sunroofs leak and if they did, they wouldn't put them in. Me personally I don't care for sunroofs because of this, the small margin of error for water to enter is just to much for me, but they should not leak either especially being brand new. I know you don't want to hear it but a 3rd or 4th opinion might be something to consider before giving up. I would run as fast as possible from anyone who tells you it needs to be sealed/glued shut (that's ridiculous). I wouldn't necessarily give up on Chrysler Customer Service either. I have had great luck with them for the small issues I have had when dealers were giving me run around. They actually started getting on my nerves a bit. lol
I hope you don't but if you do decide to get rid of your Journey, then I wouldn't worry to much about it becoming someone else's problem. I have bought, fixed, and sold 2 or 3 vehicles a year as a hobby since I was 16, and you would be surprised how many people sale a car because they think something major is wrong with it, when in fact it turns out to be a simple fix that just took some detailed thought and a little knowledge to figure out. Someone needs to spend time diagnosing and troubleshooting your Journey. Not just throw parts at it hoping for a fix. I only chimed in because I believe this is your case.
I wish you all the best of luck in getting this resolved and I hate to hear about the loss of your friend. Good luck and hang in there!!

I love brilliant red tri-coat Dodge Journey! That would be my next journey..... If i won the lottery! :-)

Hmm, I guess I should go buy that lottery ticket... And if I win, I will buy a new 2014 Red R/T Journey!!

Hmm, I guess I should go buy that lottery ticket... And if I win, I will buy a new 2014 Red R/T Journey!!

I have to agree with what others have been saying about their positive experiences. Of all the many vehicles I've owned over the years the Journey has been the best. I'm sure that there are some owners who have had bad experiences, but I suspect a lot of them could be attributed to poor dealer response (a few bad apples). I'm also curious as to why the majority of these one time posters make these claims without any specifics. It's also telling that many of them mention legal action. Could we be witnessing another example of ambulance chasing? Another explanation is that Paul could be a Forbes magazine writer!

The "key has left the vehicle" dings are annoying but I think with what Journeyman425 pointed out is a necessary feature. The annoying dings for me is the seatbelt not fastened. Not that I am opposed to the use of seat belts but when you make a quick run to the corner store and the dings are constant you have no choice but to put the belt on to shut the thing up......damn that Chrysler and their safety vehicles!

I bought my 2011 Journey Mainstreet with 43,000 miles on it. Needless to say, it soon needed brakes. I purchased a set of pads and rotors from Callahan Brake through Amazon for $186.00. I had the wet rotor sound on these new pads right after I installed them. I contacted Callahan and they sent me a break-in procedure for the pads After performing the break-in they are working efficiently and quietly. Been about three months now and perfectly happy.
The pads are ceramic and so they do need the break-in. This consisted of five hard brakings from 40 mph to 5 mph. And then 5 medium brakings from 40 to 5 mph. Then drive for at least ten minutes with little or no use to let them cool. The hardest part of all this is finding a road that you can do it on. This deposits some of the pad on the rotor and creates a good, smooth surface for breaking.
It all worked great for me.

To better separate topics and make searching for tech issues easier, this forum has been added.

I hid the innappropriate posts. Sorry for the hijack Dominic58. Kenny, please post your rants in the proper section of the forum starting a new thread. Thanks.

:offtopic: Kenny, I understand your frustration but you just hijacked this thread which was an introduction and welcoming to a new and happy Dodge Journey member. VERY RUDE! If you wanted to vent your frustration about your vehicle start a new thread or search for one to add your comments with other disgruntled Journey owners. You could also lodge your complaints by getting in contact with Dodge Customer Service which I hope DodgeCACares will provide you with all the info you need.
If any moderators or site admins could remove these posts by Kenny and relocate it to the appropriate section that would be very helpful so our new member dominic58 can read his welcomings from other members instead of reading a SELFISH AND SELF-CENTERED post like this.

I didn't even bother going to the dealer for brakes once I passed the first year, I just knew that they will not do anything for me so the work and maintaining the brakes i do myself. I guess your 2012 model doesn't have the bigger brakes that came with the later 2012 models and up? You do have that option to upgrade them to the bigger brakes (expensive to do) so your brake issues will not be so frequent.

The Pentastar is a lightweight, thin walled, aluminum motor with miles of timing chain. The chains are stronger than belts but will make more noise than a belt. Then once you consider that most of the bolted on components are plastic, there just really isn't much to suppress noise when its below freezing and you attempt a cold start. Noises that were once covered up by thick steel forged blocks are now a little more pronounced due to the lightweight aluminum blocks.
I am no master mechanic and someone else might have a better answer. But through extensive research over the past couple years, these are a few things I have learned. I also leave my car out in the weather and these noises really bothered me after I bought my Journey. Now it doesn't seem to bother me, as the sounds seem to have gotten better with age.
I wouldn't worry to much about it unless the problem becomes worse.

You can always sell it!!