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No more Journey


silentdan

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Was a sad day for me today but it was something that had to be done.The brake issues were driving me crazy and not to mention paying $640 a month was way to much for a car like this.So I gave it back to the bank and I know it will put a dent on my credit history but I dont really care.

The dealership I got the car from are a bunch of dishonest sons of a bitch and now i am filing a complaint to the VSA for reasons I wont talk about here.I loved the car but changing brakes every 9000 km is not something I can live with.And I also had other small issues including lack of customer support from Dodge and the dealership.This is my last Dodge and never wil I buy another.

I just to thank everyone and wish luck to all of you.

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hope your next purchase is better.

I came to the Journey from a Mazda 5 for the same brakes reason as you're leaving the Journey. I know that's really frustrating.

And my Journey started out the same way, but luckily the dealer fixed the problem the third time. I thought "oh no, here we go again."

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Sorry to hear about your problems. I've come to the conclusion that all auto manufacturers have their problems. Before buying my Journey, I owned a 2001 Chevrolet Tracker that was largely trouble free for the 12 years I owned it, EXCEPT that one day in January as I was driving I heard a loud "clunk" sound from under the car. After that, the car would pull a hard right every time I pressed on the brakes.

As it turned out, the problem was caused by a front cross member that had rusted through to the point where the upper connection of the front right wheels suspension had broken free from the frame! Further research showed that this was a known problem with the vehicle and GM had issued an internal recall for the problem as a large number of cross members had apparently left the factory with "inadequate rustproofing" (which a mechanic later confirmed as meaning they neglected to paint the inside surfaces of the cross member). The terms of this recall were that you had to live in a state that applied salt to the roads in winter, the car had to 10 years old or newer and the car had to have 150,000 miles or less. Plus, the recall expired in October of 2012. If you didn't meet all of those terms, the repair was at owner's expense (approximately $1,000 )!

After many go arounds with both the dealership and GM, they refused to repair my car or even partially pay for the repair as the car was more than 10 years old (but with only 120,000 miles). The rep from GM even implied that the car was "too old" to still be driving anyway. The final resolution was that they would offer me a $1,000 voucher towards the purchase of new GM car. I mentioned that they had already mailed me a $1,000 voucher as part of a marketing promotion and asked if I could combine the offers. I was told "no", so clearly their "offer" was worth nothing.

Turns out, that was only the beginning of my problems! For, GM in their wisdom, had ceased production of the required part and NONE of the local parts places or dealerships could locate the part. My mechanic was at a loss, as the car was undriveable in it's condition and no one had the required parts. I finally had to locate it myself from a parts house in Arizona that had "new old stock" on hand. HOWEVER, they did not have all the bolts in stock that are required to install the cross member and 2 of the 8 bolts that are required had also been discontinued by GM. A further search online and I was finally able to locate the bolts from a parts house in Boston. This entire process ended up taking about six weeks! While doing my search, I noticed that large number of other parts for this car had ceased production by GM, including such parts as suspension knuckles, portions of the exhaust system, various special bolts, etc.

So, I ended up selling the tracker (which now was in excellent driveable condition, but had me concerned about the future) to a buyer who is also a mechanic by trade (so it works out well for him). I also was able to sell it for 6x what the dealership had offered me in trade.

So, to make a long story short, my wife and I had been loyal GM customers but now I drive a Dodge! (And may be looking to replace my wife's Vibe in a couple years with a Dart).

Craig

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The brakes is something that can be fixed. But the payment is very high, and honestly their is no car in the world that is worth $640 a month in my opinion. Dealers can make a fun car buying experience into a "nightmare". I think the problem is the dealer and payment more than the DJ. Sorry for your experience and hope you have better luck with your next purchase.

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I am not saying this the case in this instance but some

people are in the habit of rolling old debt into new debt.

Some car dealers just love to say "sure we'll pay off

your remaining debt on the trade-in".

They along with the financing body then just sock it to

people who either by habit or circumstance buy cars

this way = high monthly payments.

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I am not saying this the case in this instance but some

people are in the habit of rolling old debt into new debt.

Some car dealers just love to say "sure we'll pay off

your remaining debt on the trade-in".

They along with the financing body then just sock it to

people who either by habit or circumstance buy cars

this way = high monthly payments.

I originaly had a caliber before the journey and the reason we traded it for the journey is cause the car was a POS and started to fall apart after couple of years owning it.And thats the first time i have done anything like that so im not in the habit of rolling in old debt in to new one. What they did was totally ilegal acording to various car salesman i have spoken to and thats why i filed a complaint with the VSA. Luckily here in British Columbia there is a low which is called seize or sue and i dont have to pay nothing since I gave it back they cant come after me for the rest of the money. My credit took a hit though but thats not a problem and tomorow i am going to pick up a used car from a diffrent dealership just so I can get around town.

Just to make things clear I like Dodge vehicles the unfortunate part is that I got dealt a crapy hand and my new car expirience was not good so far.

Well since Im here I wanted to know if anyone has any opinions on a 2008 Chrysler Sebring LX Touring. Its a 2.7 l v6 and its one of the vehicles I am looking at.Is there any known problems with this cars I should know about? Just dont want another headache. Its selling for $9000.00 right now and thats about all I can afford currently.

Cheers and thanks to all for the kind words.

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As I said sometimes it's by circumstance,you find yourself

in a situation and any way out is the better choice.

I drove my '07 Caliber for 5 yrs and other than some

suspension repairs it was a great car,just got tired of

driving smaller car after 4 Caravans.

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I

Well since Im here I wanted to know if anyone has any opinions on a 2008 Chrysler Sebring LX Touring. Its a 2.7 l v6 and its one of the vehicles I am looking at.Is there any known problems with this cars I should know about? Just dont want another headache. Its selling for $9000.00 right now and thats about all I can afford currently.

Cheers and thanks to all for the kind words.

You can try going on the Sebring forum to read up on issues with the vehicle or check out edmunds customer reviews.

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You can try going on the Sebring forum to read up on issues with the vehicle or check out edmunds customer reviews.

Thanks for the tip will do that. I was taking the sebring at the local dealership for a test run and this old guy comes over to me and tells me that the sebring used to be his and he traded it for a new honda and he said the car is in top shape and no problems with it.I drove it and it did run nice an smoth compared to my ex Journey. I think Monday Im getting this car and i will still hang around the forum of course to see how thing are doing from time to time.

I do miss my Journey though...lots of memories in the vehicle. :cry:

Edited by silentdan
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  • 1 month later...

You know the chrysler 200 is the Sebring made at the sterling hgts. assembly plant in Michigan . My frind just retired from there a couple yrs ago. They also made the avenger there. And down the road there is warren truck assembly I worked there in the 80's the hottest truck then was the little red truck,and the warlock.Then I transferred to Newark assembly plant in Delaware making the K-car. Now retired living in Florida.

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