3 years & 100K Miles Later

[mje22]

I've heard of a ton of people who have a deep hatred for the Dodge Journey. I have no idea what they are talking about.

 

I bought my 2011 Journey LUX for my wife's birthday in 2014, and I have never been disappointed. Apart from normal maintenance like oil changes,  brake jobs, battery, tires and plugs, there have been no major malfunctions except for a recall that Dodge put out. At around 90K miles cylinder 2 shut down. Like SHUT OFF. I brought it in, they gave me a rental for a few days and had my DJ fixed right away. All paid for my Dodge. The car now has almost 130K on it and I feel 100% safe hauling around my wife and 1 year old son in it.

 

We took our DJ to Las Vegas in last June. It was roughly a 3,000 mile round-trip from Iowa. I ran it harder than what I probably should have (I usually go 8-10 mph over the speed limit). Going through the summer heat of the desert, that would punish any vehicle. My DJ handled it like a boss. Las Vegas was HOT. The highest the car read was 133 degrees. Iowa winters can be extremely cold. The lowest it read was -22 degrees. She never skipped a beat. Not once.

 

My work is 48 miles form my house, 96 miles round-trip every day. Most of it is Interstate 80, where I rack up most of my miles. I average 21 MPG in the Journey. Not great, but not bad for a 3.6 V6 AWD heavy machine. The ONLY gripe I have about this vehicle concerns the Uconnect 8.4. It has problems reconnecting my phone when I leave the vehicle and come back. (Like running in to a gas station and coming right back while I leave the car running) Does anyone else have this issue??

 

Overall, I'm extremely pleased with my 2011 Dodge Journey LUX. For someone who is looking in to investing their hard-earned cash in to a new or used crossover, I urge them to roll the dice on a Journey. Of course there are lemons with every vehicle. My Journey had a couple. But the vast majority of DJ owners regret nothing after buying their sweet ride. (Did I mention the DJ looks badass?!) I'm not saying this because I'm paid to by Dodge. I'm saying these great things about the Journey because I genuinely believe the DJ is the best car I have ever owned. Hands down.

 

I hope this helps a future buyer with their research. Drive safe!

[redtomatoman]

My 2011 has been very good as well.  One funny story.  I was traveling to Vegas and I was late for a show.  Of course it was snowing all the way from my home to flagstaff!  After that it cleared up.  I was passed by a federal police officer going almost 100mph.   Desperate times call for desperate measures.   So I got on his rear and we drove about 100mph all the way to Kingman.   Continued to LV from Kingman with cruise control set at 95mph.  Made it to my show on time.  DJ was smooth as butter and didn't skip a beat.  Still got 17mpg while traveling almost 100mph.  Ha!  I never drive that fast, but my DJ sure did save that day!

 

Never did figure out why the fed was traveling so fast.  He wasn't responding to a call that I could discern.

 

Peace.  

[Armando G]

Thanks for taking the time to write positive reviews of your DJ's. It really makes me feel good about my investment and choice to go with the Journey. I still feel that for the price, you are getting a great car that is comparable to other similar models selling for 2 to 3 times the price.

[lmoore1436]

Well golly day that's a lot of driving! Glad to hear about the positive experience with your DJ! Makes all of us new owners happy to see more positive posts