jkeaton

I have 2 vehicles with My Ford Touch and then Journey with Uconnect. And yes MFT is way ahead.

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.

It's not your imagination. The Journey underwent an extensive makeover in 2011 and a significant number of refinements and upgrades were made to the suspension, steering and brake systems, not to mention the interior redesign, and Dodge has continued to make minor improvements wherever possible in subsequent years since.

This review is for our Journey after 14 months and 16,000 miles. The vehicle we purchased was a new Silver 2012 SXT with 3.6L / FWD. The options on it are, the third row seating, the Popular Equipment Group, and the 19" wheels. So far it has been absolutely fantastic. We bought it in November, 2012. The sticker was $27,885. They knocked $2,200 off of the sticker, plus there was a $4,500 rebate, so it ended up being $21,185 + tax & registration. We were quite pleased.

As stated, we have owned it for 14 months and have put 16,000 miles on it. We have changed the oil and filter at 250 miles and again at 3,900. We converted to synthetic oil at 6,100 miles and change it and the filter every 5-6,000 miles. We rotate the tires every 6,000 miles. I average 19-20 mpg winter and 20-21 mpg summer. The worst tankful was 17.9 mpg; the best was 25.7.
I really love this vehicle. Although I am 63, we purchased it to allow my wife and I to transport our three Grandbabies and their car seats.
Likes:
It has been bullet proof so far and has never been back to the dealer. I do all my own servicing since I have a lift and a huge set of tools. Smooth with plenty of power. Nice smooth and quiet ride with reasonably good handling for this type of vehicle. Plenty of room inside. It is great in the snow. Love the look with the 19” wheels. Rear HVAC and individual front control is nice. Reasonable mpg. On a trip to Florida (3,000 miles) we averaged 25 mpg even at speeds of 80 mph. On a trip to NJ (500 miles) we averaged 25.5 mpg with seven people on board. Dislikes: There is really nothing major, just a bunch of nit-pick things.
The A-pillar and mirror combo are huge and hinder vision. I'm sure it would be the same on similar vehicles. It just takes some getting used to. Even though I bought it in November 2012, it was produced in February 2012, so it has the smaller brakes. So far this hasn’t been an issue and they appear to be wearing okay. The transmission up-shifts too quickly on some hills, and then downshifts only after you mash the gas. This only happens on a few hills / occasions. I have learned to deal with it by shifting manually on occasion. On a cold start-up I get a whining sound. I believe it is (or at least sounds like) the power steering pump. I will get this checked out if I ever bring it to the dealer for something else, or if it gets louder. The optional 19” wheels are starting to discolor. Despite constant cleaning and several waxings, they are turning a golden / brown color in some of the crevices of the wheels. It is not as easy to get to the third row with all three car seats installed in the vehicle. Rearward vision is also limited with all three car seats installed. This would probably be an issue with any similar vehicle The clock gains at least 5-6 minutes each month. I can’t believe in this day and age that a clock could be this far off.
I hope to have a similarly positive report at 24 months / 30,000 miles!
Bruce

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

Yeah, that sync thing in the Fords is lightyears ahead of uconnect.

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.

ive also changed all my interior lights to LED. Like mentioned above the overhead were already LED but the trunk wasn't and a few others. so I changed the rest. also installed LED license plate lights, 10000k H.I.D, LED reverse lights and led fog lights. Im really happy with how everything turned out!! will be posting pics soon!

I had a 2009 SXT DJ and that is the one thing I absolutely loved was the ride! We just traded that car in on the 2014 SXT and it rides the same way. The 2014 seems to be a more solidly built car than the 2009. Time will tell.

Grande Prairie Alberta Can

I've bought several remotes off ebay for different vehicles. Never had a problem. You will have to get the dealer to get it to work though. It's not like the older vehicles where you could jump a couple of pins on a connector somewhere to program it. They have to use the starscan tool. Dealer charged me $50 to program the remote for my Sebring. I never use the dealer for parts if I can avoid it.

I was joking myself....tons of threads where people complain how their AWD DJ is horrible in the ice.

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.

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.

No problem......I missed the joke aspect of it....sorry.
Terry

Ha! Yes,actually I do...I knocked that post out quick just before getting my kids up for school

If we have icy roads down here, I stay home.....

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.

I suspected you had the magic touch LOL!

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!

Man, I am coming to the conclusion that the AWD system is not really worth the extra problems, money and mileage costs. Our 09 FWD DJ handled the snow arond here like a champ. I will stick with FWD. I would visit another dealer though. And, do yourself a favor, spend $20 and buy a code scanner/reader. One of the biggest rippoffs known today is charging someone to "read the codes". It's not rocket science. My code reader is the best tool in my toolbox.

I took the Journey out on icy roads (with snow tires) yesterday and yes it handles like crap on ice whereas my tiny Aveo with snows plows through the same icy roads like a tank. I think the design and weight of the vehicle has a lot to do with its crappy performance BUT with many years of driving all kinds of vehicles that sucked in snow I just readjust my driving habits to the conditions of the road and no problems. As I mentioned before no matter what vehicle you have I don't think any of them you can do the highway speed limits with icy conditions. Just slow down and you'll be fine.
BTW same old story today....Honda CR-V (AWD) slid off the ramp getting on the highway today. Another inexperienced AWD driver that doesn't give any respect to the ice.

Maybe it's cause I'm from the south. I just don't understand how you expect ANY vehicle to act on solid ice?

Brakes are a non-issue, IIRC ever since they upgraded them in 2011/12. Earlier models with the terribly undersized brakes had tons of issues. Mine dont squeal at all. Going to another dealer for a second opinion is a good choice. I would also suggest making a service person ride with you so you can show them the issues.

Welcome to the forum. Where do you live? Are you driving in snow and freezing weather? As stated above, you might just have a chunk of snow or ice on something causing the vibration. You need to check it out at least yourself and see if there is something obvious.