Journey SE 2011 is in

[Tom Duhamel]

I previously personally owned a Hyundai Elantra 2004 for nearly two years. I loved all aspects of that car, it really suited my tastes and style. Then I had to get rid of it when I accepted a new job, for which the car was provided. From that point, I drove a 2007 Dodge Caravan for a year. Never really liked it, but got used to it (didn't have a choice anyway). Drove it for about 60,000 km. When the contract reached expiration, I was about to order the new Grand Caravan, but then my boss told me the company had toke the decision to replace the vehicles with Journeys instead. At first I wasn't quite sure about this decision, but spending a few hours on the net made me change my mind, and I ordered a Journey without any argument with my boss. The only choice I had to make was the color, as model and options were preselected by the company (SE with 7 seats). Picked gold and waited. I didn't not have a chance to test drive it.

Well yesterday was the day, after three months of waiting . Got delivery just after dinner. Unfortunately the representative was late on his schedule and could not spare time to show me anything about the car, except for handing me the keys and pointing to where the car was parked. (This is not a complaint -- I was almost two hours late.) He offered me to come back on Monday morning so he could explain me everything, but he does not know me -- I must be one among a minority to actually read the owner's manual.

Right after I transferred my stuff from the old vehicle, I sat in there. I was first impressed with the general look of the interior and the comfort of the seat (I drive 5000 km a month on average, so that is important to me). Toke me 10 minutes to set the seat correctly. As I am short (5'4") I was glad to find that I could raise the seat a lot. Actually, I didn't raise is to maximum as I was already too high before reaching that point. After I found the lever to allow steering wheel positioning, I was glad to find that I was also able to adjust its deep, in addition to its height. Once I was comfortable and had the mirrors adjusted, it toke me a few minutes to get the engine running. Then I toke a while to familiarize myself with the common features (lights, whippers). I was way late, but never late enough to sacrifice my safety. I had to drive 150 km on the highway, but before I went on the highway I figured it would be wise to try the car in small, desert streets first.

My big surprise was about the brake pedal. I don't know if there is anything physically connecting the pedal to the brakes, but it toke me a while to get accustomed to it, as you have absolutely no feel or feedback. It's like it was just a pedal in an arcade, which goes back up because of a spring but with almost no resistance, so my first few stops were really hard (steep). For the first 10 minutes or so, I felt like I was a new driver again. Past the stage of getting used to the brake pedal, I was impressed by the driving style and precision of controls. Suspension is a bit hard, which permits to feel the road, something that I missed from the Elantra (you don't feel anything in the Caravan, you could not tell the difference between hard tarmac and soft sand). I think this is going to be a hit for passengers comfort, but probably not that much, but it really fits my driving style. The weather was not too good on the highway, so I did not have a chance to fully try it.

However today was a beautiful, sunny, spring day (and it's Saturday so no responsibilities), so I toke a ride of about an hour or so, in different kind of streets and roads, to try and discover vehicle capabilities and limits. Despite trying, I did not find much of the limits. It is very stable, no matter what speed you drive and how hard you take a turn. Of course I was somewhat conservative, because safety is always my first concern, but so far I am very impressed. Controls are very precise. Steering wheel is very sensitive and responsive. I had to get used to that on the highway, because in most cars I have drove before the steering wheel wasn't as sensitive at high speed -- I was even able to avoid a dead cat on the highway, which I've seen only a fraction of second before hitting it, though I was sure I would never be able to avoid it from my experience of the Caravan.

My only bad comment would be with the acceleration. Now don't take me wrong, it's not bad enough to be a problem, but I expected a little more. Pushing the pedal to the floor when the light turns green does not make the tires spin and scream, as most car (even the Caravan) would normally do. Not that you would want to do that, but it was one of my tests. However you can still make a quick start, just to the limit of the power which would be required to spin the tires, I believe. However, I found that the responsiveness of the pedal was very good, the car starts moving a lot faster (speaking of split seconds, obviously) than any car I have drove before.

Now comes the issues. Most of which I resolved by myself, so I will give out details, so that it could be useful to others.

The very first issue I got was that the central console screen went black. This happened without me doing anything (that I know of), while I was driving. It was not possible to light it up again. I was not able to turn the music on or change climate mode (though changing the temperature and fan speed with hard buttons seemed to work). I though Dodge was very cheap, for the screen to fail the day I toke delivery of the vehicle. However, after I stopped and restarted the engine, the screen went back and the issue did not reoccur since. Sounds like a Windows solution, but it worked, and as long as it doesn't happen too often I should be able to accept it.

The EVIC (that little screen in the middle of the dash) is useless. It has a few menu options, the only one I found useful is the one page which shows the speed in big digits. I love it, and I think it should be the main purpose of the screen. Of course it also shows outside temperature and warnings, which are good. Now, I found that it was only useful to display the speed, but even there, there is an issue, which it seems nobody found a solution for so far: It always returns to MPH after starting the car, and you have to press a key to return it to KM/H. It's always confusing the first time I need to check my speed, as the number is obviously too small, until I remember to hit the key. Not a big deal, but definitely a bug, since every other information on both the EVIC and the central console is shown using the correct unit which I selected (metric). It's good that it is easy to change (in case I go to the USA, for example) but it should default to what I had previously chose.

Then this morning I found I had an issue, which many others here have had. This morning before my ride, I tried all the seats, so I can plan for how I will sit my employees and other passengers. In particular, I wanted to try the third row seats, as many reported they were not good for adults. I first tried to move away the left 2nd row seat. The very first time, I found that it was hard to do, but after doing it 3-4 times it began to go smooth. Apparently, it needed to be broke in. Then when I tried the right seat, I found there was a problem. The seat would correctly fold, but it would not slide. Even when sitting on the seat and trying to slide it forward using the correct lever (the one at the front of the seat) it would not slide. I didn't want to do as others and visit the dealer, as it would be quite an inconvenience for me (I need to pick up employees Monday morning). I decided to take the mechanic out of me, and I successfully fixed it after about 20 minutes or hard work. Simply, I shook the seat and pushed hard on it, and just when I was about to give up it finally let go. From that moment, the seat easily slide as it should.

As for the third row seats, it's like others have said. They are for children, or for occasional, short trip with adults. I would definitely not sit there for hours. The seat itself is as comfortable as the others, slightly narrower but not by much. However the floor is like 6 inches bellow, so you have your knees each side of your chin. A one-time half-hour ride would be tolerable for most people though.

I will post again in a few weeks, but so far I love my new Journey. I hope this was useful to anyone.

Tom

[UPMedic]

Excellent write up. Thanks, and welcome to the forums.

Many have described the KPH and MPH problem with the EVIC... Hopefully a simple software update by Dodge can fix it.

[2011mainmango]

a couple of questions for you, first did your center evic display things like engine oil temp, coolant temp, etc. and also did does your journey have uconnect 4.3 touchscreen?

congrats on the car though has many goodies.

[Tom Duhamel]

a couple of questions for you, first did your center evic display things like engine oil temp, coolant temp, etc. and also did does your journey have uconnect 4.3 touchscreen?

congrats on the car though has many goodies.

Yes, I have the 4.3 version of the UConnect. I will check tomorrow for your other question. I remember there is very little info available from the EVIC, but I don't remember exactly which.

[Tom Duhamel]

first did your center evic display things like engine oil temp, coolant temp, etc.

Under Vehicle Info, it shows Oil Temp, Coolant Temp, Transm. Temp, and engine hours. Something I had not noticed before, I can see tire pressure for all four tires independently. Ok, those information could be useful at some moments, just not the majority of the time. Under normal condition, speed (with big digits) is the only real information to show.

I noticed a little issue this morning. As I was using the vehicle for its normal purpose for the first time (that is, to take employees from the rendez-vous point to our place of work), when I opened my door the other doors did not unlock. I have set that so that all doors will unlock, and that worked all week-end. However, expecting I didn't have anything to do, my employees got stock at back and I needed to unlock them manually (using the button on the inside of the driver's door. Not a big issue, but it's funny that it happened the very first day. I'm starting to believe the console computer is not very stable. Just like the early problem I got with the computer shutting down for no reason while I was driving (which I described in my first post), the issue fixed itself after I started the car again.

[2011mainmango]

Under Vehicle Info, it shows Oil Temp, Coolant Temp, Transm. Temp, and engine hours. Something I had not noticed before, I can see tire pressure for all four tires independently. Ok, those information could be useful at some moments, just not the majority of the time. Under normal condition, speed (with big digits) is the only real information to show.

I noticed a little issue this morning. As I was using the vehicle for its normal purpose for the first time (that is, to take employees from the rendez-vous point to our place of work), when I opened my door the other doors did not unlock. I have set that so that all doors will unlock, and that worked all week-end. However, expecting I didn't have anything to do, my employees got stock at back and I needed to unlock them manually (using the button on the inside of the driver's door. Not a big issue, but it's funny that it happened the very first day. I'm starting to believe the console computer is not very stable. Just like the early problem I got with the computer shutting down for no reason while I was driving (which I described in my first post), the issue fixed itself after I started the car again.

sweet, that is what i wanted to hear, and don't know about your locks, try disconnecting your battery and reconnecting it, but don't take my word for it.