Comments on: 2008 Dodge Journey First Steer

By: Advice

Advice — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 09:28:44 +0000

I am in the market for either a Dodge Journey, Captiva or Territory. Need advice?

By: busy mother

busy mother — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 08:33:30 +0000

I am looking at buying either holden captiva or dodge. My dad is a car salesman and said dont buy american cars they are nothing but trouble. I was dissapointed with enterior of dodge too much hard thin plastic covers. very ugly seats, but fantastic layout seemed to struggle through test drive felt like had to grit teeth and wait for gear change. Captiva fantasticly finished not as good in layout, bit stiff to drive but felt strong and capable. scared to go for dodge resale and reliability but very funky.. Anyone had trouble with them yet???

By: Mr Journey

Mr Journey — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 02:41:20 +0000

Joe,

I had the same problem , and look at all of the same cars. I nearly brought the tribeca – but was put onto the Journey by a cousin.

I option up with My GiG , Blue Tooth Ect.. and drove away under 50k

Anyone who thinks the Hyundai Sante Fe is a better car needs to get their head read.

I have no problems in reffering this car to Family and Freinds.
Cheers

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:04:05 +0000

Was confused and asked myself, either Dodge Journey, Kluger, Territory, or CX9?

I looked at those ones in the showroom and test drive all of them.
I figured that Journey Drives so smooth and the interior looks great! also it has Auto Dimming Mirror and auto folded mirror where as the other competitors havent got it. The audio is just incredible, it can save up to 30GB of musics, pictures or even video.

Its got built in GPS and bluetooth.

I also was abit confused if i should buy Subaru Tribeca instead? But again, those stuffs i mentioned above won me over…:)

Just bought a black R/T with additional SUNROOF, rear back up camera, bluetooth, My GIG, Paint Protection. I got a real good deal as i bought it just before the price ’s gone up this year.

just under AU$50k i got all of those things in the car…

Journey is just amazing! and its just like a dream car for me as all i want from a car is there in Dodge Journey…

By: Fred

Fred — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 06:33:55 +0000

To be fair Matt those problems were in engines up to about 2001. The 2.7 litre engine has been redesigned. That is the problem with forums like these, they can be a source of unreliable information.

By: matt

matt — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:33:38 +0000

anyone lookin at buying one of these make sure you get the diesel. Look up how unreliable the 2.7 litre V6 is in the dodge intrepid and chrysler sebring in the states, carcomplaints dot com and click on “worst vehicles”. Even with propper servicing they sludge easily and apparently timing chains break early.

By: Fred

Fred — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:47:40 +0000

O’h and by the way I have looked closely at the Dodge Journey. It is a well thought out and constructed motor vehicle that represents excellent value for money. The vehicle has a great feature range and is designed for families not sports car drivers. I just wish it had been around before I bought the “Korean Krap”.

By: Fred

Fred — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:12:35 +0000

You guy’s make me laugh. You talk about “American Crap” and then mention the Toyota Kluger (sold as the Highlander and manufactured in the US). Who do you think owns GMH and Ford? the Japanese???. That same American crap you talk about is present in almost everything we drive. I have owned vehicles from just about every imaginable auto maker and in my opinion they are all “crap” at some point in their lives. I had a $135K BMW a few years ago and apart from VERY expensive servicing I spent an absolute fortune on that car with component failures.Ask a Saab owner if his car is crap? Ask a resident of Berlin about Mercedes Benz and he will call them “CRAP”.
I own an American car and an Hyundai and can honestly say they are no better or worse than any other vehicle in their respective price ranges. It all boils down to enjoying what you have and looking after it for as long as you wish to own it and then trade it in and get nothing back for it like every vehicle at the moment.

By: Simon

Simon — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 05:48:35 +0000

The Santa fe is the better of the 2 by a long way, the seats in the 3rd row dont offer alot of room, but a lot more than the dodge, daewoo captiva, jeep commander and nissan pathfinder. The build quality of the Hyundai is by far the best available in the price range and as good as many more expensive vehicles & you have to love the 5 year unlimmited klm warrenty. If you want good fuel mielage the hyundai wins again, I know a bloke who drove a 2.2 manual from adalade to port macquarie on a tank.

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 07:14:40 +0000

The Hyundai was a great car to drive I test drove the Turbo Diesel, had good power and was very responsive, particualry steering and suspension, I drove the base model but even it was comfortable, I have to say I did not expect that level of quality from hyundai.

I also drove the Journey, v6 petrol engine, bit rough on change of gears for my liking and revs the hole out of the engine to move the car (underpowered given the cars size) I would have asked to drive the turbo diesel Journey but the middle row seating was not wide enough to take the 3 car seats we have. One being a proper car seat, the other two booster seats. We found that we had to move one seat with a child in it, half off the journeys seat to clip the seat belt in , then slide the child and booster seat back across, push them tight together to then shut the door.

Hyundai Santa Fe only flaw for us was the rear seat, when the rear row (seats 6 & 7) were up, there is not much leg room or head room, children over the age of possibly 10 would be cramped.

In the end, we have chosen a Mazda CX9, even I can fit in the very rear row and the middle row fits all 3 steat with ease. It is sluggish though and steering / susension is floaty (boat like feel)until a point and then the vehicle accepts what has been asked and delivers. I think the 13 litres fuel per 100km Mazda claim will be a bit out, possibly even in the city could see 20 – 22 litres per 100km being used.
But like with my last car (clubsport) you do not buy large cars for fuel consumption.

Still, if I did not have a great demand for the 7 seats the Hyundai beat all the cars I test drove for comfortability, driveability and feel of power to weight.

By: eh179driver

eh179driver — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:03:59 +0000

Let us know what you think when you look and/or drive one. I must admit I was like you before I had a look. I think the 5 year warranty says that Hyundai themselves are confident in the car. Good luck.

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 10:40:25 +0000

Hi Eh179driver,

Thanks for the advice, I had not thought about Hyundai after knowing people who bought Excel’swhich fell apart after 80 thousand kilometers. Many years have passed since then and perhaps the quality is increased, I suppose given the price of the santa fe as compared to the 14k Excel suggests quality has changed.

I will check them out.

By: eh179driver

eh179driver — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 07:56:28 +0000

Steve, try a Hyundai Sante Fe. The Elite can be optioned up with a diesel, comes with leather, sunroof, 7 seats and a good strong warranty. The price will be around the high 40’s mark if you can negotiate with the dealer. It has rear aircon and all the other things you found in the Dodge, less the underfloor storage. The new Sante Fe seems to have quite good re-sale. The Dodge range is pretty new here so it’s a bit early to predict. You will find the Sante Fe is a decent drive and has good quality and reliability reports. If you google Sante Fe reviews, there is an English magazine with a good website (I won’t mention the name here, but you will find it) that had a Sante Fe diesel on test for something like 12 months and pretty much raved about it. If nothing else it is a good read. I don’t own one but have drive quite a few and it is definetly on my short list when I replace my car early next year.

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:03:47 +0000

Agreed, the style of the interior is square / boxy like, but surprisingly neatly finished. After taking a thorough look at the dodge I was ultimately left impressed, even with optioning the Diesel with more packages and a sunroof, this thing come a bit under 60K. I have not yet been able to test drive so my opinion may change, but as far as practicality, flexibility of layout / rear doors opening 90 degrees etc, this vehicle is practical and affordable for families. Re sale may not quite be a strong point, but only time can tell, if you are in the market for a keeper and do not trade cars often, this vehicle is a great option.

From a family use point of view, I have 3 kids, so only need 5 seats on a permanent basis, 7 on the odd occurrence. I have looked at the Mazda CX9 and whilst may be a bit more modern on the inside are plain jane as far as accessories go, similar pricing to optioned up (Journey)diesel with entertainment packs etc, but the CX9 has a much larger appearance, with no added interior space, and heavier on the fuel consumption.

I can see how these Journeys will be great in the Aus market as far as intended use goes, but none the less remain cautious of their reliability, I know Mazda are sound as far as that goes, but I feel they have been to conservative with the CX9 which lets them down.

Good onya Dodge for putting together this vehicle (a bitsa to so many) at least on close examination there are many innovative ideas gone into this vehicle (storage, air con design etc).

By: Simon

Simon — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:59:18 +0000

Better build quality than Nitro and caliber, but still typical Dodge, Some good storage ideas ie. under the passanger seat and cool boxes behind the frount 2. Back seat are to close to the 2nd row, But for around 41k on the road it is’nt bad.

By: eh179driver

eh179driver — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:45:12 +0000

Had a look at one of these recently in Melbourne. The interior is just awfull. It is just so out of date. If Ford or Hold did something like that, they just wouldn’t sell but for some reason people buy these heaps of crap. I am reasonable tall (6ft 1 in the old measurement) and when I set the drivers seat up to suit me, there is hardly any room in the centre row seats and yet it’s a big car. Driving was even worse. It was like driving a 70’s Valiant, reasonable go, no breaks and trully appaling barge like handling. The quality of bthe car I drove was trully appalling (think VN/VP Commodore). I just walked away shaking my head. No wonder Chrysler is in the financial mess it’s in.
Stay away from this heap of crap and buy a Territory or a Kluger. Their about the same price as well.

By: David

David — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:59:21 +0000

Another piece of American junk. Styling about 20 years out of date,both inside and out.Go out and buy it and see how long down the track it is not available anymore.It will have a short life.

By: dazza76

dazza76 — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 05:40:28 +0000

Still looks VERY cheap and nasty inside. Wouldn’t buy a Dodge unless it was the last car left

By: Iz

Iz — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:35:43 +0000

Saw one in local Dodgy/Chrysler dealer couple weeks ago and couldn’t remember hearing about its release into AU market. I dont actually mind the plasticky American-ness of the thing, then again, I don’t mind many “crap” cars ^_^

(And conversely, I mind some “good” cars LOL but thats a different story)

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:26:46 +0000

considering the crap poor Chrysler has been thru, this isnt half bad. 6speed DSG with diesel with competitive pricing. Finally the management is listening to consumers. It is incremental but at least a step in the right direction..trouble is, is it too late?