Used 2018 Dodge Journey Consumer Reviews
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We have a limited number of reviews for the 2018 Journey, so we've included reviews for other years of the Journey since its last redesign.
Don't believe the experts!!!!
Lance, 01/04/2019
2018 Dodge Journey SE 4dr SUV (2.4L 4cyl 4A)
92 of 95 people found this review helpful
Our Journey has been a pleasant suprise!!! After reading the expert reviews and then reading the reviews that people who actually own them, the opinions are so different!!! I have no problem with the acceleration, even when fully loaded. There is plenty of room in the first 2 rows for adults. The 3rd row suitable for kids. The ride is awesome!!! The cabin is quiet and the steering makes it feel like a much smaller suv. Absolutely love this suv!!! Forget the experts!!!
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Reliable after all
RLester, 01/09/2017
updated 02/22/2022
2017 Dodge Journey SE 4dr SUV (2.4L 4cyl 4A)
76 of 79 people found this review helpful
We tried the Journey because of rebates. Expecting a loud jerky experience with a 4 cylinder 4 speed. To our surprise, we found a very smooth, quiet, European feel, quality, and comfortable driving experience. We came from a Toyota Camry to Dodge Caravan to the Journey. We found the experience of a true crossover, car-like ride and drive with the features of a utility vehicle. We are in our sixties, so ease of getting in and out of a vehicle is very important to us. The journey has the perfect seat height for us and is very easy to enter and exit. The Camry has the cheapest, thinnest, and most uncomfortable seats in a very good car. The Caravan was a comfortable entry but the ride was bouncy and hard on old bones. Also, our senior friends just could not get in the back seats. They are too high and too far over, you have to climb in, which, is okay for the kids and grandkids but not seniors. The Journey comes in AWD and the 3.6 v6 engine with 6 speed. One needing more power might look for these options. But I am in the south, with no ice and flat terrain so I find the 2.4 quite adequate. I will admit the 2.4 is a bit underpowered. It will not win any awards in gas-saving either. Looks like in-town driving will yield the same mpg as the 3.6 in the Grand Caravan around 23 mpg. However, again surprised by how smooth the 2.4 is with the 4 speed. The 6 speed in the Caravan was bad to hunt and shift down, very annoying. I need to mention the high-quality pleasant ride is only found in 2017 models, in which, suspension and quietness are upgrades for 2017. We tested a 2016 and there is a significant difference in ride and feel. In 2017, I can hardly hear the engine. Very quiet cabin. I am a part-time transporter for a major rental company and I drive a lot of new vehicles of all brands. The Journey ride is at the top. Try the Journey before you buy a Rogue or RAV4. I got the 7 passenger, the seats fold flat for cargo space, easy entry, European feel, cargo compartments (ice chest) in the floor, premium seats, and a very nice road trip ride. This is a true crossover, car-like features with SUV benefits. Hard to beat value and quality. After 30000 miles, we have had a problem. The engine has developed an idle shake and caused the belt tension pulley to completely fall off. It is in the shop now for three-plus weeks, at least they provided us with a free rental. The dealer had to replace the pulley and re-torque all belt-driven attachments on the engine and the problem was resolved. After 52000, I have to say the Journey still runs well and uses no oil. I have no electrical issues that many other brands are plagued by. Other than the idle tension pulley falling off which means the bolts were over-torqued at the factory the Journey has been faultless. The Journey came new out of alignment and the dealer could not get it to drive straight, I have carried it to my local tire supplier and they have it driving perfectly. Shame on the dealer. I am more positive about my Journey the longer I drive it. I have owned five dodges and I have never got a perfect one but I have never got a bad one either. After 75000 miles the 2.4 Journey runs perfectly and never uses any oil. The only repair has been the belt pulley repair. I have to call this vehicle reliable after all. The ride has deteriorated noticeably but there are no rattles. A good car but if you drive heavy interstate traffic it just doesn't have enough power to quickly accelerate between 45 and 75. We are at 80000 miles and the reliability is excellent. No problems to report at all. The brakes are still good. Other brands have a lot of electrical issues, we have had none. At 83000 miles, I have sold the Journey. Only one repair in five years, I bought the extended warranty and never used it. Two things I never fell in love with. One the engine is just too weak. This 2.4 was reliable, used no oil, but it shook some like old-time 4 cylinders. I just never fell in love with it. Second, the ride deteriorated to harsh and punishing. I was impressed with the ride at the beginning but found the ride jarring after five years of Louisiana roads. I don't regret buying the Journey, it served us well, but I prefer a V6. I replaced the Journey with a 2008 Lexus RX 350 with 180000 miles that still rides smooth and runs perfectly with a 3.5 V6. I can't afford new vehicles averaging 40,000 dollars.
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Great rebates and incentives!
larry moore, 12/08/2016
updated 06/08/2018
2017 Dodge Journey Crossroad Plus 4dr SUV AWD (3.6L 6cyl 6A)
48 of 50 people found this review helpful
UPDATE (2yrs and 30k later): still love the Journey! Have had no mechanical issues and it drives like the day I bought it! Gas mileage has improved, and it has been by far the easiest vehicle I’ve ever had to live with. The storage compartments under the passenger seat and the coolers under the floor in the back have been used A LOT! **original review** I traded in my nearly new 2016 Honda Civic for a Dodge Journey earlier this month. I loved the civic but I needed more space and the pilot was a tad bit out of my desired price range. Next door was a dodge jeep dealer so I stopped by to look at the grand cherokee originally and saw the Journey. I thought it looked good, not like a new modern conventional design but more along the lines of the original looking subs that didn't have a bunch of flash. I bought the crossroad plus v6 AWD, and the sticker said $34,560, but the salesman told me don't even think about what that sticker says. When we sat down to do the paperwork I noticed all they really wanted for the car was $27,600!!! I nearly started dancing to see a price offered from a dealer so much lower than the MSRP. I guess the Journey has been around a while and they don't move as quickly as the rest of the new chrysler dodge jeep products. The only thing that I wish it offered was adaptive cruise control and blind spot monitoring. Even budget cars have those options nowadays but for the price I can't complain much. The engine has more power than I really need, all the room I could ask for (including two beer coolers that are removable under the second row seats), AWD, a huge infotainment screen that I still have yet to touch because it kind of intimidates me, and a bunch of other little niceties that I didn't really expect (self-dimming rear view mirror, built in booster seats for kids, removable flashlight built into trunk, actual power outlet in the backseat). One concern I have though is reliability, I see a lot of people have issues with their transmission, brakes and random engine components so *knock on wood* I don't experience any of those problems. It rides like a cloud, smooth and quiet. Though the trim piece around the infotainment screen makes a slight creak on the occasional bump but it's nothing obnoxious... YET. Overall I think I am going to be very happy with this car, I like sitting up higher and after the civic it is going to take some getting used to but you certainly can't argue that it's an extremely versatile vehicle. If all goes well reliability wise I think I will keep this suv for a long time.
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Great Value!
Jon R., 08/01/2018
updated 02/03/2020
2018 Dodge Journey SXT 4dr SUV AWD (3.6L 6cyl 6A)
59 of 62 people found this review helpful
It is true that Dodge has not updated the Journey since 2011. It is true that it does not carry some of the new advanced electronics that it's competitors do. However, if you want an SUV for a great price, the Dodge Journey is the model of choice. SO far, I really like the Dodge Journey. It is comfortable to drive. It handles the road. My biggest recommendation is to get the optional V6 engine. You will thank me for that. I test drove the 4Cyl. version. It was very underpowered. The V6 is just right for this size vehicle. Overall, I recommend the Dodge Journey. Dealers have some phenomenal deals going on now.
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Solid overall SUV Crossover and oh so cozy!
Amy M, 07/18/2017
updated 07/26/2018
2017 Dodge Journey SE 4dr SUV AWD (3.6L 6cyl 6A)
32 of 33 people found this review helpful
Okay so it looks a little plain, and ugly but, it is seriously the most comfortable car I have EVER owned or rode in aside from a lincoln town car. Both my husband and I have lower back problems and we are able to travel much further distances thanks to comfortable seating in the journey. The kids absolutely love the back seats, they recline and they have cubby spaces under their feet for drinks and snacks. We were able to take my son and his family and our ours all in one vehicle once we lifted the 3rd-row seats on a vacation to the coast, which was really nice. The cargo area is huge with the 3rd-row seats down. My husband and I discovered that we could comfortably sleep on a double air mattress for camping trips in the back of the Journey. We also use it to cart our 2 kayaks on the roof racks. The climate control system is good but it takes awhile to cool off all that interior space on a hot day, and also heat it up on a cold day. It does okay-ish with gas mileage in town, and on the highway, it does quite well. A few things I wasn't impressed with is the Bluetooth system, it is old and slow and it says it failed to connect almost always even though it is actually connecting, it just takes up to 2 or 3 minutes. You just have to ignore it and wait a few minutes or else you'll go in circles with it. I am willing to entertain the possibility it is just my Bluetooth in my car that does this. These, I have heard, have a known issue with the fact they used too small of rotors for the braking system and the weight of the vehicle so don't be surprised if you experience shaking/shuddering while braking, I hear they are great about fixing this if the rotors wear/warp unevenly. I have just started experiencing this issue and am taking it in to have it looked into. UPDATE: Dodge doesn't want to acknowledge this issue is happening and tells me it is just how it drives so I will just replace them on my own. Also, I have had some rather annoying electrical glitches. My rear passenger window went through a stage of getting stuck down and not going up for days, I took it in and it worked fine for them! (It seems if a child holds the level for an extended period of time it resets the computer for the window which will make it stick down....why dodge? So you just hold it for a minute and it will go up). 9/2017 Now my trunk will not unlatch, so I cannot use the cargo area at all until I get it in to be fixed. Other than those two things it has performed well mechanically in the last 8 months we drove it hard and put over 25,000 miles on it on road trips and camping trips. The car has performed consistently and after another summer season it is taking us camping and kayaking just fine. Nothing has broken inside either. It was in for a second repair yesterday 07/2018. We got an error that said failure of ABS system service immediately and a crunching noise. They said the had no opening for 2 weeks which is unacceptable for this kind of problem and warranty work, they then told us we could drive it to the next town so we took it there, on the way, it also said AWD system failure. It was only a broken sensor and we had it back the next day. Thank you Grants Pass Dodge. I like how it performs in snow and ice, I drive a rather snowy route to see my grandchildren and it is very solid on the road no slipping around which makes my trips during the winter much less stressful. If you need a good family car that can take you out into the woods and is great for traveling on all surfaces, I still feel this car is a GOOD VALUE. It is a cheaper solution with a lot of space. Be warned the car lost a ton of value in just the first year so if your buying you are probably best off keeping this for the long haul to get all the value out of it. Note: My best friend also bought the 4 cylinder FWD one and loves hers, she notes only it is a little gutless on hills. She has a hitch and easily tows a small trailer. She has no braking issues or any bluetooth or electrical problems and still has not had to have any repairs a year and a half in. Although, I have has a few issues I would have STILL bought this as it fits our lifestyle.
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