2017 Dodge Journey consumer reviews

The car meets all my needs especially going shopping for groceries with my parents and on long trips it will be a nice ride comfortable

This is the first new car I have purchased that I have been thoroughly unimpressed. I have had 3 previous Dodge Grand Caravans over the past 16 years or so. I have always purchased the majority of optional upgrades and generally like my current 2017 Dodge Journey stayed with the SXT level. My biggest complaint is with the navigation system which compared to my 4 year old $250 dash mount Garmin sucks. Because the one available for my Dodge Journey is maid by Garmin I expected a similar level of quality, responsiveness (Or better) and Map updates etc... Well not only are the maps included about 2 1/2 years old at the time of purchase (Purchased end of July 2017. Maps are from 2015) but apparently the $2000 plus system built into the car comes with no updates and none are available. They keep telling me I can pay some $200 and get 2 years worth of updates but not only does it indicate online (After putting in the VIN # of the car) that there are no available updates I don't see why I should be paying for updates at all on such an expensive system (Yes I know it came with a bunch of other unwanted options that were forced on me like DVD player etc... but still all in all the NAV system was still in the $800 - $1000 range. 4 times the price of my portable unit that came with lifetime updates (Of which there are at least 4 per year) and also lifetime traffic. It also took me weeks to figure out how to use the Voice Command system as the manual is completely wrong and does not even include the basic start command which is "Where To". The 8.4" Uconnect system that this is all built on also seems to be about 4 years or older technology with glitchy Bluetooth that often disconnects and / or does not connect at all until I turn the car off and back on or turn Bluetooth off on my phone and then back on. (This is the same Iphone 6S that I used in my previous 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan which worked just fine). The Uconnect / NAV system also takes a long time to start up and even longer before you can start using Voice Commands. In fact it sometimes freezes for several minutes on startup before you can do anything at all with the GPS system. In short if you are looking at this car (Or models that come with the same Uconnect / 8.4" NAV system) save your money. It is junk and not worth it. Next. The transmission. The transmission is clunky and tries to stay in 5th gear as much as possible (Presumably to save Gas (See below). This results in very poor acceleration when trying to accelerate moderately (Going up hill Especially slight inclines, or getting up to highway speeds as it accelerates very slowly as you push down on the gas pedal until you reach a certain point where it drops down to 3rd gear and then lurches into high acceleration. It does this repeatedly on slight uphill inclines making the car Lurch forward with acceleration, then as you ease off the gas not having enough power to maintain speed and then again lurching forward with acceleration. Extremely annoying. The best way to get around this is to switch to the Triptronic shifting and shift manually when going up hill or trying to accelerate up to highway speeds. Fuel consumption: Now granted I am a bit heavier of foot than many. But not so heavy that the fuel consumption should be out by over 30% of rated (12.9 L/100KM City / 7.9 L/100KM Highway). It averages about 15.9 L/100KM in the City if I baby it and use the cruise control on any stretch longer than about 3 blocks or so. If I don't baby it it gets about 17 L/100KM. And getting 7.9 on an ongoing basis on the highway is an absolute Joke. Try about 9.8 or 10 (If using cruise control for long stretches). I know these specified values are not based on real world driving, but they should be at least attainable when trying to do so. The backup camera is adequate as long as there is no sunlight coming in the direction of the camera or it isn't raining or snowing etc in either case the camera becomes useless. It is however quite a nice wide angle and does give a very good reading on how close you are to things when parallel parking etc... It helps get into some pretty tight spots without hitting whatever is behind you. The backup sensors on the other hand are overly sensitive. They start beeping alarmingly when trying to back into my carport indicating I am always going to hit something the whole way in. The on board systems do not allow for properly setting the tire pressures in Canada. It wants to be in Kilo-pascals if I set it to KPH (Metric). I know we are in Canada and supposed to be using Metric for everything. But really who uses Kilo-Pascals instead of PSI for tire pressures? This should be a separate setting from the overall "Imperial Vs Metric" setting option. It does however send you a message to let you know if the tires are low pressure. So there's that. I have contacted Garmin on the GPS issue who told me to contact the dealership who told me to contact FCA who left me a message today (Some 3 or 4 months after messaging them) indicating that I should bring the car into the dealership to look at the Fuel consumption issues and transmission complaints. The dealership indicated they would want to keep the car for a week or so to run it through a tank of gas for testing this during which time I would have to rent a car at my own expense. This is absurd in the least. I am sure there is something they should be able to plug into the on board computer to determine if it is using gas in an abnormal manner. She also indicated she was going to e-mail me which I have not seen yet. Finally on the NAV system issue she indicated that the system does not come with any free updates and that I would have to pay for any updates that are available. Even though this is absurd given the price paid for the system it still does not account for the system being 2 1/2 years out of date to start with. All in all I would not purchase this car again and wish that I could return or sell it without taking a bath (Especially since I am still paying for it). Not happy at all. Stay away from this product or any similar products from Dodge / Chrysler if you don't want a disappointing experience. Carl

Nor a lot of torque. But its fits my family of 4 comfortably with room for friends. I love that I can put the seats down or up in the back for extra room for trips or grocery shopping.

This vehicle fits our family, 2 adults, 3 kids plus friends. Everywhere we go the kids have someone they want to take with us. The room is available.

My Journey allows me to carry all of my sons toys, strollers and kid wagon when we go to the park. Very reliable vehicle as well as very safe.

The best selection , big, economic in gas because use E85 gas, good price, I buy relax my car nobody pushed. .... good dealer, good price and good cars.

This car has good visibility, comfortable seating and good backseat comfort. It is a good looking vehicle, quiet on the road and fun to drive.

As much as the look and drives amazing I currently have a 2017 journey and bought the extra warranty it after 6 months has veins through leather wear all over seat and less than 20000kms it looks horrible I've called company to express my concerns and want fixed and was denied.

It has plenty of room to carry all my work supplies as a Marketer, i carry displays, ladder, several totes. The third row seats in also handy for transporting all the grandkids when they are with me. I use it when I go camping, throw a single air mattress in the back and I am good to go. I am so pleased that I bought this cuv.

Smooth drive and control; very comfortable interior; cargo space attractive. It had all the features I was considering and a few more. The vehicle appears to be one of the few that meets most of the items on my checklist.