YellowDuck

Could someone please give me the torque specs for the front caliper bolts, and the front caliper slider pin bolts? I had a caliper pin bolt drop out after the car was serviced. I'm lucky the pads didn't fall out! I will have the new pins and bolts in hand today, just need to torque specs. 2014 Journey RT.

Nope, not me. We are in Guelph. It's not like they are exactly a rare sight around here. Sometimes on the short commute to work I feel like every 5th vehicle I see is a Journey!

We love ours. It has not been trouble free - I too had the corrupted navigation map / radio replacement deal, along with a broken DVD player in the mix. We also had a wheel speed sensor fail, which disabled the AWD and traction control. Both issues were dealt with by the dealer very effectively. Interestingly, both issues we had were related to the whiz-bang optional electronic gizmos that are so available these days. I used to specifically buy cars that were as basic as possible in their specification, to avoid these types of problems. But honestly, I have grown to love the heated seats, keyless entry, satellite radio, ABS, auto climate control, etc. etc. etc. so much that to me it is worth it to have a few more dealer visits over the life of the car if that is the price of getting to enjoy these conveniences the rest of the time. I really never thought I would think that way. I used to resent anything electronic that made a car less owner-serviceable. I guess I finally gave in, in this day and age where basically adjusting tire pressures, changing oil and filters, and maybe a lightbulb now and again is about all we can reasonably expect to do to our cars. On some cars nowadays even an oil change is such a pain in the backside that one might reasonably choose not to bother. We currently own three cars and were going to sell the 08 Wrangler Unlimited. However my mother-in-law is visiting from Italy for 6 weeks so of course she gets to drive the Journey while I am back in the Jeep in the interim. No heated steering wheel, not even Bluetooth. How uncivilized! How did we ever live like this?

My iphone 5 pairs fine with my 8.4N via bluetooth - I can make phone calls etc. And music will stream if I initiate that by the phone. I can change music tracks (skip ahead or behind one track) with the steering wheel control. But, no voice commands work to control the music in any way, and I don't get any information at all about what is playing or the tracks in the playlist or anything at all about the music on the 8.4 screen. What am I doing wrong? 2014 Journey.

Yes, thanks. I am back to loving everything about this car. Over a year old now and I still feel like it is brand new. I think when you are the kind of person who only buys a new car every ten years or so, it takes a long time for the novelty to wear off!

No I don't think the car gives you any indication on the dash when AWD is engaged. The traction control / skid control symbol flashes when that is activated, but nothing for AWD in my experience.

Thanks. The actual mechanics report says that there was a corroded sensor connector, and they couldn't separate the two sensor halves, which necessitated changing the entire hub and bearing (?). Anyway it all worked properly on the drive home.

Okay, so half an hour after that last post, the dealership called me. They say it is all fixed. Problem was with the driver's side rear hub, which was also affecting the sensors located there. Radio is changed out as well. Pretty good service, seeing as it is only 10:00 Monday morning. Will report back if there are any further problems, but at this point it is looking like a quick resolution!

Well I am sad to report that our Journey's flawless reliability record came to a screeching halt at 33,000 km. The disk player has been broken for quite a while (disk won't eject) but that wasn't an important enough issue for me to take it to the dealer until regular service was due. Then, on Jan 5 we returned from vacation and picked the car up from the valet park and fly lot at the airport. The Nav wasn't working - said that there were no maps loaded on the unit. So, I took it to the dealer the next day. They examined it, decided both problems were internal to the radio and ordered a new radio. They told me to come get the car in the meantime since it would take a while for the radio to arrive. The next day, various warning lights started coming on intermittently (ABS, traction control, and a "service AWD" message on the EVIC). Turning the car off and then on again would cancel them, but they eventually would come on again. I was able to ascertain that when the lights were off, ABS and traction control (and presumably AWD) were working normally, but when the lights came on all that stuff really was inoperative - easy to test that on snowy roads. Eventually, all of those warning lights were on full time and could not be reset. It was like driving a FWD car from 1985 with no electronic aids at all - doable, but not fun on the 401 in the snow. Took it back to the dealer Friday morning saying I didn't want it back until it was fixed. They called me at the end of the day to tell me they hadn't been able to track down the source of the problem yet. I'm disappointed. Love the car but I feel like it let me down. Only a year in on a $40-k car and major systems failure. Hopefully they can figure it out and effect a 100% fix.

Thanks for sharing this and so glad tom learn that you emerged relatively unscathed. How did the other driver make out?

Well, she is a VP. I got the chance to drive the Q50 in some melty slippery snow today. Honestly between the AWD, the snow tires and the electronic nannies, a person would really need to go out of their way to find a way to crash that thing. It really works wonderfully. I am very happy that I convinced her to get the AWD - I feel good knowing she has all of that technology keeping her safe.

Our loaded R/T is coming up in one year, and has 33,000 km on it. Only issue we have had is that the disk player stopped working (disk is stuck and won't eject). I will have the dealer fix that under warranty when it is time for the next oil change, but the oil change intervals seem to be really long (I go by the sensor) so who knows when that will be. It got a lot of kms this first year because my wife used it for her long commute, but now she has a company car so I don't expect we will put so many miles on the DJ from now on. Her company car is an AWD Infiniti Q50. Very nice and accelerates like a scalded cat but honestly, I kind of don't get the point of a sports sedan. The DJ has space for all our stuff, luxury features like leather, heated sets, NAV, keyless entry etc., and the UConnect 8.4 is awesome for someone like myself that doesn't want to take a 12-h course to learn how to operate the car. She's happy with her zippy little fancy car, and now I am happy to get to drive the DJ. The Wrangler Unlimited is going up for sale after Xmas. Nice truck but pretty brutish compared to the Journey! I am not ashamed to admit that I am getting a bit soft...

Interesting review. I have always considered the third row seating to be occasional use only. Great if you are hauling a few extra kids to the birthday party or whatever, but this is not the right vehicle for a family of six or seven! Or even 5. That's why they make minivans and full size vans. I don't understand the complaint about the fold down front seat. I think it is a great feature that more manufacturers should offer. I really wish my Wrangler Unlimited had it. Although, given a choice between that feature and an electrically-adjustable passenger seat, I have to admit it would be hard to choose. Maybe it could be both? Agreed about the middle row needing to be heated. My daughter would love that. My disk player is also broken. Not too happy about the solution of just replacing it. That sounds like a band-aid fix, whereby they just keep replacing it every time it breaks until the warranty finally runs out, then you are screwed. Our fuel use is regularly below 10 L / 100 km in the highway - usually low 9's. Typical in-town number is 14 maybe. Obviously it depends on how much stop and go you are doing.

Excellent, thanks!

rolly, that link is for the US warranty information, not the Canadian. I have the owners manual, both paper version that came with the car, and .pdf version that I downloaded from the web. The owners manual and the warranty book are two different documents. I still can't find the warranty book anywhere. The canadian sales brochure for the Journey says that basic coverage is 3 years / 60,000 km. I just wanted to verify that there were no exclusions. I have seen vehicle warranties before were things like radios had very short coverage periods.

No warranty book came with our car (2014 DJ RT). The owners manual says that the warranty information is on the DVD that came with the car, but I can't get the DVD to play in my computer - I think it is defective. I checked the dodge.ca site but there does not appear to be any warranty information on that site at all (?!?!). By contrast, the US warranty book was easy to find online. Does anyone know how I can get the Canadian warranty information? What precipitated this is that our DVD player stopped working (disk won't eject, and we get a "disk error" on the screen every time we start the car). I wanted to verify that it is covered under the warranty before I go in to the dealer. I feel like a bit of an idiot for buying a car without a written copy of the warranty information in hand!

Just hit the 25,000 km mark, with not a single problem to report. I am doing the service according to the "change oil" message, which is a bit freaky when it goes 16k without wanting oil. Still love the car. Have learned a few cool new things about it. Like, I just discovered the "triple blink" turn signal lane change feature when you move the stalk but not all the way to the detent. Cooler than that....going down steep hills with cruise control on, if the speed drifts up too high, the transmission will automagically downshift one or several gears to provide engine braking. When did cars start doing that? I was impressed. This car was *so* the correct choice for my family. Perfect comfortable place for the 3-h trip to the cottage. Also, plenty of power, yet returning consumption better (lower) than 9.5 L / 100 km combined.

In Indiana you should definitely be putting on winter tires. AWD / FWD makes no difference to braking, so either way you want tires with good cold weather performance. FWD with proper winter tires is a good setup for all but the worst winter road conditions. You will be fine.

According to this article http://www.allpar.com/news/index.php/2012/07/17855 it is possible that the car will go for as far as 10,000 miles (16,000 km) before requesting an oil change. So, I guess I should not worry about not seeing the oil change indicator until I am at 6759 + 16,000 = 22,759 km? That's pretty economical...but it is freaking me out a little...

Okay, my understanding is that the oil change indicator is supposed to tell me when an oil change is required. It first activated at 6500 km or so, and my records say I changed the oil at 6759. The car now has just over 20,000 km and has not asked for its second oil change. ??!!??!! Almost all highway driving. What would you do? If I change it now, how do I tell the computer that it has been done already? I know how to reset the oil change indicator when I change the oil, but what do you do if it is not even on?

A few weeks ago I finally got to give this car my "ultimate test", which was to see how it handled the rough, wash-boardy and pot-holey road into our cottage. Our 2008 Wrangler Unlimited gets pretty flustered over that road at anything above a walking pace - those two live axles really get bouncing! The DJ was another world. A pass with flying colours. Really, it would be hard not to be better than the Jeep, but we were still very pleased. Also generally a much more comfortable place to be for the almost 3-h highway trip up there to the lake.

Nice to hear it still drives like new 1 year in.

Coming up on 9000 km and still not a single problem to report. The EVIC told me it was time to change the oil, so I did that myself. The weird cartridge oil filter doo-dad is pretty neat - very conveniently located on top of the engine, and it is easy to remove without getting oil everywhere. My dealership is pretty cool, especially the parts desk. I was expecting to get a scolding for having the audacity to do the oil change myself - some dealers would try to tell you that you would endanger your warranty or something of you didn't pay them to do a "multi-point inspection" at the first oil change, but not these guys. "Here's your filter cartridge and a printout from the service manual on how to change it....but it's pretty easy, you should have no problems." Barring any recalls or malfunctions, the dealer will see the car once per year, and then only to do the work that the maintenance schedule actually lists, not the extra stuff that the service manager "highly recommends".

There is definitely a hard button for front defrost, and of course also to control the fan speed. So far have never had a screen blackout. Agree that fuel efficiency is not great but the car also has way more power than something like a CX-5 (plus of course much more space). On our RT we are now typically getting 10.5 l / 100 km, but that is with at least 2/3 highway miles. I am curious why you would cross shop the Rogue and Highlander but skip over the Pathfinder.

On the Wrangler it does indeed seem to be the gas cap that caused the code in our case.