Wow, I'm not sure where to start, especially after reading all the complaints against this vehicle. I'll start with a short background. I purchased this 2012 Dodge Journey May 2018 from a small car lot not a large dealership. I also purchased a third party extended warranty at the same time. Right from the start it seemed to lag in accelerating quickly as in for example when you are on entrance ramp to interstate, especially if a/c was on. Didn't think much of it at the time because I don't normally travel on interstate very much. I work 2 jobs and hardly leave town. I notice it also cuts out so to speak when I'm using cruise control and going up a hill or trying to pass someone on highway or interstate or even just "gunning it" to avoid a railroad crossing arm coming down on you for example.
When we had snow this winter it also acted strange when accelerating. Mind you, no lights come on during these times normally except recently since recall work they've been coming on randomly and more frequently. I'll get to that shortly also. In Oct. 2018 I had the first recall repaired that being the steering wheel wiring needed rerouted and a sleeve placed on wiring, and also the engine beauty cover fixed. I had mentioned the accelerating to mechanic at the time but he showed no concern in addressing it further and said if no lights came on there wouldn't be a code to read and couldn't do much about it.
After that recall work I was still experiencing issues but no warning lights were coming on. In January I had to replace the battery because it wouldn't start unless jumped. At first it ran like a new car! I was amazed! Then another recall was addressed in April 2018. This one was with the catalytic converter & PCM. They replaced the converter and reprogrammed PCM. I again mentioned accelerating issues etc at that time and they said this would more than likely correct that issue also. Surprisingly none of the recall work has taken them very long at all but I was never offered a loaner vehicle to use while they had my car, not even just for a few hours so I could get to and from work easily and wouldn't let me use one even when I asked. Its difficult to find a ride to and from 2-4 times a day since I work 2 jobs and I have 2 teen daughters who aren't old enough to drive.
After getting it back, the only difference I noticed was the way my car sounded when it was running. It sounded like a jetson mobile. I didn't operate it long enough to notice if the same problems were still occurring because within days of having the most recent recall fixed, someone side swiped my vehicle and I had to put my car into the body shop for almost 2 weeks. Upon getting my car back from body shop, I began to have the same problems as before. The dodge dealership where I live doesn't have the best reputation for service and I can tell you from personal experience, the service manager is very abrasive and rude. I'm always intimidated when I have to talk to him and he makes me feel inferior and like I don't know what I'm talking about. He has the most uninviting uninterested look on his face while talking to him also. I have a major anxiety disorder which makes it difficult to interact with the public at times. Beings I'm a woman and not a mechanic I get taken for a fool especially by mechanics.
However, I put on a brave face and called the shop and left a message with secretary because the service mgr was out that day... never got a call back. So I went to OReillys one day when a light came on and my car was chugging acting strange. It came back with a throttle actuator code. This was on a weekend and the car was still operable. So I decided since I was going to a different city for a Dr. appt I would take my car to the larger dodge dealership there and see what they had to say. Well needless to say, that did no good either. As soon as I told them that no lights were on that day and it seemed to be running just fine, they turned me away because no codes will show if no lights are on they said. So came back home and waited for the car to do it again which was only a matter of days. When it did I called local shop that did recall work (the one the service mgr never returned my call also) and explained my issue. He said they could try taking a look but without any lights on they couldn't pull any codes and no warranty would cover the work either.
Ok so I guess I'll just keep driving it and hope it doesn't do this on a busy day in front of a semi. The most recent incident, my car wouldn't start without being jumped. I took it to a different more trusting shop and they ended up having to replace the battery (yes the new one I just put in January) drove away no problem, a few hrs later started it up, went down the road and car starts chugging like its not getting gas or its going to die or both. The ESC light was on along with the ETC light flashing and car wouldn't go over 25mph. Radio was off, A/C was off also. I managed to limp it home slowly and turned it off. Waited about 5 min. turned back on and went around the block, no lights going off, nothing wrong, back to normal. So, next day I went to the original dealership who started this fiasco recall work and insisted they look at it. As I said before, these problems do not occur everyday or on a regular enough basis to pin point exact cause or give exact symptoms etc. They happen randomly out of nowhere and will go back to normal most of the time after turning the car off and back on. However I noticed that my headlights are already seeming rather dim for just getting a brand new battery installed and that was one of the first things I noticed happening before replacing the other. Makes me think something is crazy with the alternator or something else causing the battery to drain like that.
I've had 2 other dodge vehicles I had to replace alternators on and one of those i swear the car had a mind of its own. It did a lot of crazy things out of nowhere for no reason and it was all electrical issues. I am to take my car into them on Tuesday morning. We shall see how this goes but I'm imagining I'm going to get nowhere!! Honestly, I'm about to bite the bullet and trade it in. I owe more on it than trade in value so I'll get screwed with that and I'm sure a higher interest rate. But I'm to the point of just going ahead and doing that because I need a dependable vehicle, cant afford not to have one or have one that runs correctly part of the time and has a mind of its own the rest of the time. I'm sure I've missed something along the lines here to tell all of you but I'm sure you all get the just of the situation I'm having. From what I've read many others are having the same or similar issues and more!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Wow, I'm not sure where to start, especially after reading all the complaints against this vehicle. I'll start with a short background. I purchased this 2012 Dodge Journey May 2018 from a small car lot not a large dealership. I also purchased a third party extended warranty at the same time. Right from the start it seemed to lag in accelerating quickly as in for example when you are on entrance ramp to interstate, especially if a/c was on. Didn't think much of it at the time because I don't normally travel on interstate very much. I work 2 jobs and hardly leave town. I notice it also cuts out so to speak when I'm using cruise control and going up a hill or trying to pass someone on highway or interstate or even just "gunning it" to avoid a railroad crossing arm coming down on you for example.
When we had snow this winter it also acted strange when accelerating. Mind you, no lights come on during these times normally except recently since recall work they've been coming on randomly and more frequently. I'll get to that shortly also. In Oct. 2018 I had the first recall repaired that being the steering wheel wiring needed rerouted and a sleeve placed on wiring, and also the engine beauty cover fixed. I had mentioned the accelerating to mechanic at the time but he showed no concern in addressing it further and said if no lights came on there wouldn't be a code to read and couldn't do much about it.
After that recall work I was still experiencing issues but no warning lights were coming on. In January I had to replace the battery because it wouldn't start unless jumped. At first it ran like a new car! I was amazed! Then another recall was addressed in April 2018. This one was with the catalytic converter & PCM. They replaced the converter and reprogrammed PCM. I again mentioned accelerating issues etc at that time and they said this would more than likely correct that issue also. Surprisingly none of the recall work has taken them very long at all but I was never offered a loaner vehicle to use while they had my car, not even just for a few hours so I could get to and from work easily and wouldn't let me use one even when I asked. Its difficult to find a ride to and from 2-4 times a day since I work 2 jobs and I have 2 teen daughters who aren't old enough to drive.
After getting it back, the only difference I noticed was the way my car sounded when it was running. It sounded like a jetson mobile. I didn't operate it long enough to notice if the same problems were still occurring because within days of having the most recent recall fixed, someone side swiped my vehicle and I had to put my car into the body shop for almost 2 weeks. Upon getting my car back from body shop, I began to have the same problems as before. The dodge dealership where I live doesn't have the best reputation for service and I can tell you from personal experience, the service manager is very abrasive and rude. I'm always intimidated when I have to talk to him and he makes me feel inferior and like I don't know what I'm talking about. He has the most uninviting uninterested look on his face while talking to him also. I have a major anxiety disorder which makes it difficult to interact with the public at times. Beings I'm a woman and not a mechanic I get taken for a fool especially by mechanics.
However, I put on a brave face and called the shop and left a message with secretary because the service mgr was out that day... never got a call back. So I went to OReillys one day when a light came on and my car was chugging acting strange. It came back with a throttle actuator code. This was on a weekend and the car was still operable. So I decided since I was going to a different city for a Dr. appt I would take my car to the larger dodge dealership there and see what they had to say. Well needless to say, that did no good either. As soon as I told them that no lights were on that day and it seemed to be running just fine, they turned me away because no codes will show if no lights are on they said. So came back home and waited for the car to do it again which was only a matter of days. When it did I called local shop that did recall work (the one the service mgr never returned my call also) and explained my issue. He said they could try taking a look but without any lights on they couldn't pull any codes and no warranty would cover the work either.
Ok so I guess I'll just keep driving it and hope it doesn't do this on a busy day in front of a semi. The most recent incident, my car wouldn't start without being jumped. I took it to a different more trusting shop and they ended up having to replace the battery (yes the new one I just put in January) drove away no problem, a few hrs later started it up, went down the road and car starts chugging like its not getting gas or its going to die or both. The ESC light was on along with the ETC light flashing and car wouldn't go over 25mph. Radio was off, A/C was off also. I managed to limp it home slowly and turned it off. Waited about 5 min. turned back on and went around the block, no lights going off, nothing wrong, back to normal. So, next day I went to the original dealership who started this fiasco recall work and insisted they look at it. As I said before, these problems do not occur everyday or on a regular enough basis to pin point exact cause or give exact symptoms etc. They happen randomly out of nowhere and will go back to normal most of the time after turning the car off and back on. However I noticed that my headlights are already seeming rather dim for just getting a brand new battery installed and that was one of the first things I noticed happening before replacing the other. Makes me think something is crazy with the alternator or something else causing the battery to drain like that.
I've had 2 other dodge vehicles I had to replace alternators on and one of those i swear the car had a mind of its own. It did a lot of crazy things out of nowhere for no reason and it was all electrical issues. I am to take my car into them on Tuesday morning. We shall see how this goes but I'm imagining I'm going to get nowhere!! Honestly, I'm about to bite the bullet and trade it in. I owe more on it than trade in value so I'll get screwed with that and I'm sure a higher interest rate. But I'm to the point of just going ahead and doing that because I need a dependable vehicle, cant afford not to have one or have one that runs correctly part of the time and has a mind of its own the rest of the time. I'm sure I've missed something along the lines here to tell all of you but I'm sure you all get the just of the situation I'm having. From what I've read many others are having the same or similar issues and more!
- Monica P., Creston, IA, US