Father in law needs a new car and at his wants/needs/price intersection is the V6 Journey/Freemont.
Just after some genuine owner feedback if anyone has any.
Most Dodge products tend to be of poor quality and a 2014 is almost 10 years old. If nothing else it will need a lot of scheduled service soon like plugs, timing belt, and accessory belt.
Look at anything Honda, Toyota, or Mazda. Or a budget option is newer Hyundai/Kia.
No offense intended, I appreciate the effort but I know cars and I know my market. I’m asking for actual owner feedback.
Anything here 10 years old and with under 100,000kms in the large softroader category from tier 1 reliability brands starts at $20k and you’re usually talking base models. I know FCA isnt the best thats why a fully loaded v6 with low milage is in his price range. Its biggest competition the “Holden Captiva” is a rebadged Daewoo that actually gets worse reliability ratings than the Journey.
Just for comparison sake, the cheapest 2nd gen Highlander with under 100,000kms and 7 seats is a 2012 with 22k, the Hyundai Santa Fe 2014 $24k and the Kia Sorrento 2015 $23k. The Journey… $13k.
I know the price is compelling but you can pay more now for a decent vehicle or pay for frequent repairs on a crappy vehicle while not having use of that vehicle.
I’d rather get double the miles with any other brand
Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler products severely dropped in quality after they were purchased by Fiat. After 2008 quality dropped a little, but before 2008 the products werent as low quality as they are now.
I worked with a guy who had a dodge journey. He said it needed a transmission about every 18 months.
The Dodge Journey was the vehicle people bought when they go to the dealership to buy a Jeep Grand Cherokee and found out they couldn’t afford it.
As long as you use the correct oil type it should be just fine. The rocker arms don’t tolerate cheap oil. If it doesn’t have a tick at idle it is probably fine, just don’t cheap out on oil changes. The transmissions in them is not the strongest but it will last forever as long as you don’t haul or tow a lot of weight and don’t abuse it. My neighbor has one and it has well over 200k miles on it and has been mostly trouble free with just a few minor things over the years.
I would rather have a Dodge Journey over an old Kia or Honda any day. Any old car will need worked on occasionally and parts availability is way better for Dodge for the oddball and uncommon things that tend to break on all 10 year old cars.
