Hi everyone

I am from europe, used to european cars (VAG, Fiats, Opels, Saabs, Alfas...) with european style of driving (25k km a year, 15k km service period, I guess more dynamic driving, preferring manual or at least very good automatics/DSGs/NO CVTs...) and I guess also european taste in general (whatever that means).

Dodge Journey or Fiat Freemont has been on my mind for quite some time. It is spacious, cheap, looks good, safety is pretty good and overall design is quite different from what we see in europe (Renault Scenics, Citroen Picassos, VW sharans, Renault Espace...) in this class. Pentastars seems nice, transmission seems to be generations above of what europeans expect from american automatics, AWD looks fairly simple...

My wife and I have 2 children, potentially expecting an increase in that. Therefore we are looking at something with 3 rows of seats and enough robustness to survive the little savages. My preferences around cars usually gravitate around safety, strong petrol engine (I have a diesel now, I love it, but my style of driving goes against diesels), comfort, low noise levels, good brakes and functionality all over. Simplicity is a plus.

I do expect reliability or at least no obvious weak points in construction.

In case of me buying one (and in case I dont go for awesome Fiat diesels), I will convert it to LPG. I know pentastar engines have not been around for a long time, but since they are not direct injected and at least on paper they seem to be fairly robust, I expect LPG conversion will be smooth as. Any comments on this?

In general, I would really love to hear your opinion on the potential drawbacks of buying one. What are the weaknesses in maintenance, what should be expected trouble free milage, etc...


also, can anyone tell me where the spare type is located? In case of LPG conversion, I will keep the third row of seats and replace the spare tire with LPG tank (this is usually how its done in Europe).

Alternatively I am also looking at Lancia Voyager (I believe this is Dodge Town and Country in US). Any comments on this?


many thanks.

 

Welcome to the forum.
The spare on NA Dodge Journey is under rear end
outside of body,Chrysler has used this location for
years it works well with the mechanism involved.
I have heard of one owner in Itlay doing the LPG convert
so it must be availible for the DJ.
In its history the DJ has had a weak spot with brakes
having said that mine now is at 13000 km and had one
rotor/pad replaced after a near collision and heavy braking.
NA oil change is stated @13000 km but I change every 5000 km
my personal preference and it's only $42 CAN twice a year.
I love the quiet smooth and yes power in the Pentatstar V6
when combined with the DJs ride can't be had for the price
of anything else I tried in test drives.

 

Hopping in my car in 10 minutes to go check out a 2012 R/T with nav, sunroof,flex seating and roof rails. I really hope I like it cause the price is right! What a GREAT VALUE. Anyways it does concern me about the brakes. I have read that allot on these. just seems to be the way OEM brakes and rotors must be. I have a pontiac g8 and i had to have the OEM rotors turned 3 times. I hear once you replace them with decent ones you are good to go. Just sucks out of the factory.

Whats the standard replacement cost on front and rear axle rotors and pads??? assuming you just go to the local autozone / advance / o'reily's etc.?

 

Well.... I checked it out and was disapointed. Not in the vehicle. I was disapointed that I couldnt buy it and make it work for my family...

Heck. I got a great deal. $3000 off sticker and $3500 in rebates. I could have financed 26K for a 34K car with not a penny down.

The car is great. It is so comfortable. Its a very nice driver's car. It doesnt feel like a crossover at all. The handling is great. I was expecting a little more from a straitline performance stand point but the quality of the driving experience made up for that. Coming from a G8 I was not disapointed I was impressed.

Here is the bad. Please dont buy this car thinking it can work as a mini van. If you have 2 kids its perfect. if you have 3 kids and you never want to carry more than 3 bags of groceries. Ok.

But I have 3 kids under 5 and I didnt want a mini van. I have season passes to the cleveland zoo and cedar point etc. etc. and I cant put a stroller in there let alone our wagon. There is not enough storage to justify buying it. I tried my hardest to make it work but I couldnt make it work. If I had 2 kids I'd have it in my drive right now. I really was impressed and love it. Hope this helps. : (

 

Many thanks for the responses.

I would asume that the spare tyre is just an emergency tyre and not a full size one, correct?

Also, what is the general opinion about the potential pentastar problems? I am reading about the head problems that seems pretty major.

 

Yes the spare is a high pressure limited milage
reduced size model.

As far as the Pentastar goes there was a production run
of about 600 engines that were recalled in early runs
across the model lines.
Mine gives excellent mpg is responsive and exceptionally
quiet running and will sit you back in the seat under
hard acceleration.