I have been changing the brake pads and rotors every 7 to 8 months on the Dodge Journey since I bought it new in 2011. On the 2nd of December 2019, I had the front brakes replaced - it lasted approximately 1 week. At high speed they make horrible noise and are hard on the steering wheel. Once I stop the car, the front brakes have a burning smell. I had purchased the best rotors and ceramic pads to see if it would make a difference. Why is Dodge waiting to pay for this recurrent problem or cannot tell us what part is not doing it's job?

Help!

Update from Jan 11, 2022: Finally, Dodge dealer found the problems for premature brakes & rotors replacement. After spending many thousands of dollars it was a defective front caliper driver side causing these many problems for many years. I had the two front calipers changed and Voila! no more brake problems.

I purchased the Journey in June, 2011 and at about 5000 kilometers I began experiencing a pulsating when I applied the brakes. I ignored the problem until they got so bad that the whole front of the vehicle would vibrate side to side when the brakes were applied. I contact the dealer in October 2012 and they replaced the pads and rotor. It solved the problem for 5000 kilometers or so and I had the same problem again. I kept using the vehicle and the problem got so bad my wife refused to drive it.

In Sept 2014 I again had the pads and rotors replaced at my expense. It is now July 2015 and I have 42000 kilometers on the vehicle and I am experiencing the same problem to the point that I gear down on hills to avoid using the brakes. I know this is not a solution but I'm sometimes afraid something will break on the front end, so I once again will have to have the pads and rotors replaced. At the cost of replacing the brake in so short a period of time it's like adding 20 or thirty dollars per month to my Car Payment.

To offer some comparison, I also have a 2011 Hyundi Elantra which did not need a brake replacement until 33000 kilometers and gave no problems until the pads were worn down. A Dodge Journey is certainly not on the list of my next purchase although I like the vehicle and have had no other problems than the brakes. The brake problem is too much to disregard and until Chrysler comes up with a solution I would not recommend the vehicle to anyone else. In each case where I had the rotors and pads replaced the pads were not worn down to a level that would create a problem normally.

I bought this vehicle brand new, I have replaced the pads 2 times before the warranty at 60,000 was up. The last time I had it to the dealer have the brakes fixed, I was told that they would fix the front brakes but not the back. I thought a warranty coverd both? but he insisted they would only fix the front. I told them to shove it and I have never returned to the dealer. I had the brakes fixed the 2nd time by a garage. That was last year. Last week I could not back up me truck because the back wheel on the passenger side was siezed!! I had to buy new rotors, pads for front and back also had to buy new calipers. When the mechanic removed the siezed calibers my rotor broke in half. He has pictures I will get him to send them to me. He said he has never seen anything like that in all the years he has been doing brakes. I cannot afford to replace these major expenses. Now that I know that this is a problem with this product, I will now fight. I am like a dog with a bone!!!! I grew up with my father loving and praising Dodges. I swear this is my first and LAST Dodge I will never purchase. NEVER< NEVER sh*t.. Oh the Sunfire is still working perfectly. I see the guy I sold it to driving it and he brags about it every time he sees me.!!!

I am at a loss as to what to do. I cannot afford to keep putting brakes on this vehicle every year. This vehicle also has 19 in tires, which are just impossible to find. I am about to replace my tires for the 3 time, and I use winter tires every winter. Sware to God I don't drag race my truck!! They are such a low profile tire that they never come with a warranty, because there is no rubber on them....

Rear brakes began making noise on going into reverse. I had the brakes checked at Firestone, and was informed the rotor had to be replaced, as well as the calipers and brake pads. The front brakes were replaced with ceramic pads. This car has 33,500 miles on it. All my driving is short distances and I do not ride the brakes or drive carelessly. Upon questioning the mechanic, he informed me Chrysler products were notorious for lousy brakes. Checking on the internet I found this to be true, as complaints were all over about the lousy brakes. I am out $713.19 right at Christmas time and am not happy at all. I have just began my search for some justice in this situation.

I bought this car and was sold on the amount of awesomeness the dealer had to say about it. After driving it for less than a year I am having to hold on with both hands to the steering wheel when I am braking because of the routers being warped. I thought it was really odd that I would be having brake issues this early in my car and I have never once had a problem with any other car I have owned in the past from other makes and models and I had them longer. I took it into the dealership so that they could take a look at it. I asked the service man why this would be happening so soon to my new car and he told me that it was due to the way I drove and the stop and go of everyday driving. Well that is fine and all but I haven't changed my driving patterns in the past year and I have never had to replace brakes on a NEW CAR before. Even older cars I never had to replace the brakes. So the service man took my car in and took a look at it and called me to tell me they needed to replace ALL the brake pads and routers. Yes I said ALL. I said are you kidding me I can only feel the ones in the front failing why all. And he told me that they were all showing faulty and warped and would need to be replaced. He told me the repair would cost me $750.00 to fix my problem and that more than likely I would need to have the same repair done AGAIN in about a year. This is the one thing that my awesome warranty doesn't cover. Go figure. So what is the point of having a new car if your going to have to spend $750.00 in repairs a year to maintain it. Worthless. So never the less I don't have the money to drop on a new car to replace the brake system on the entire car and so I will not be getting them fixed now. This is a problem that needs to be addressed with the make of this car. It is not fair to make your consumers pay that much money on a new car just to maintain it.