2019 Dodge Journey Review

The gas pedal is quite sensitive, making the Journey feel quick but also jumpy around town. Once the Journey is moving, the 3.6-liter V6 is sluggish until it gets close to the redline, where the power picks up a bit. Our as-tested 0-60 mph time of 8.5 seconds is slow for a V6-equipped SUV.

The Journey's brakes are light and easy to modulate around town, and they provide sufficient stopping power. In panic stops, the pedal is a bit squishy, and the vehicle doesn't always track straight. Stopping from 60 mph required 132 feet in Edmunds testing, which is average for the class.

The steering is light virtually all the time, which is good for low-speed maneuvers. But because the on-center feel isn't great, it requires some attention to maintain a straight path at highway speeds. Around turns, the Journey feels slow to respond to inputs, and there's little to no feedback.

The Journey is downright sloppy, wobbling and bouncing through curves. And it feels light and disconnected right up until it starts to lose traction. Even moving slowly, the Journey is imprecise. It's a vehicle that needs constant managing to stay on course.

The Journey is lively at low speeds but frequently needs a downshift to accelerate at freeway speeds. On hills, the transmission hunts around, so maintaining a constant speed is a struggle. Upshifts from the six-speed automatic are slow, and the downshifts are jerky.

The driver's seat is soft and not very supportive except for the firm lumbar support. The passenger and second-row seats have firmer cushions because of hidden storage compartments/booster seats. The third row is stiff and flat.

The Journey's defining suspension characteristic is bounce. The soft suspension does cushion sharper impacts well, but it turns bumps and humps into an exaggerated vertical motion. The Journey seldom feels settled, so be careful if your passengers have sensitive stomachs.

Road and tire noise is pleasantly insulated, one of the car's definite strengths. A lot of sound from surrounding traffic makes it into the cabin, however, and there's audible wind noise at highway speeds. Other SUVs have more road noise, but the ambient traffic sounds in the Journey make it feel less isolated.

While main adjustments to temperature and fan speed are easy to make, any other action, such as changing vent modes or activating the heated seats, has to be accessed through the touchscreen. The climate control system works well to maintain temperature when left to its own devices.

Most controls are straightforward, as is the simple touchscreen interface. We found the single combined wiper and turn-signal stalk frustrating to adapt to and particularly difficult to find at night. Navigating the trip computer takes more steps than it should because of a poorly thought-out interface.

Front entry is easy, and the rear door openings aren't bad. The seats fold aside cleverly for third-row access, but it's a tight squeeze for adults. Resetting the second row is a multi-step process that can't be accomplished from the third row.

The driving position is upright, which places all the controls within reach and feels appropriate for this style of vehicle. There's enough seat height adjustment to accommodate most drivers. The door armrest is low, and the steering wheel doesn't offer a lot of telescoping range.

The front is roomy, and the second row has good head- and legroom. But the rear air vents are routed through the roof, making the interior feel smaller. Third-row space is inadequate for adults. Sliding the second row forward to give the third row more legroom makes the second row less usable.

The large mirrors, expansive windows, an upright windscreen, and rear three-quarter panel windows mean that overall visibility is naturally quite good in the Journey without the help of electronic driver aids.

Hard plastics abound. Even the leather and faux leather trims on the seats and touch points are stiff and plasticky, and the cloth seat inserts feel unpleasantly synthetic. Most of what you touch feels light and cheap. We also noted a rattle in our tester's cabin, with just 2,000 miles on the odometer.

There is a lot of storage in the cabin, including bins in the second-row floor, a bin under the passenger seat cushion, large door pockets, a large center console cubby, and a deep (if narrow) armrest bin. These won't all be useful to the driver, but the sheer volume of interior storage is impressive.

The short cargo opening makes bulky items harder to maneuver in, and the maximum capacity of 67.6 cubic feet is small for the class. With the third row in place, there's barely even room for groceries in the trunk. The second row and passenger seat fold flat at least.

The built-in booster seats in the second row will win over some parents, and they're easy enough to deploy that a child could manage. There are LATCH points for the second-row outboard seats and top anchors for all three positions, but neither for the third row.

With a maximum towing capacity of 2,500 pounds, the Journey is put to shame by some three-row competitors. Most can handle between 3,500 and 5,000 pounds, while a few can go even higher.

The aging touchscreen interface is easy to navigate, but it lacks newer features and refinements. The navigation display looks dated, and the promising search by name function proved hit-or-miss. The stereo system is bass-heavy and delivers poor sound quality for a "premium" upgrade.

Pairing our phone via Bluetooth was a bit complicated, but once the connection was set up, the system worked well. There's no smartphone integration, and we had trouble getting the system to read music on our phones via USB. There's only one USB port in the vehicle but plenty of 12-volt plugs.

The Journey offers none of the common driver aids that you'll find even on today's economy compact cars. Blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking are not available. The rearview camera is pretty low-resolution, too.

Natural language recognition is poor, and misunderstandings are frequent. From the home screen, we had trouble getting the system to dial a contact and wound up navigating menus step by step. The Help screen only displays a partial list of commands. Overall, this is a system to avoid.

All trims come standard with front-wheel drive, with all-wheel drive as an option. Front-wheel-drive SE and Crossroad trims come standard with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder (173 horsepower, 166 pound-feet of torque) paired with a four-speed automatic. Opting for all-wheel drive gets you a 3.6-liter V6 (283 hp, 260 lb-ft of torque) and a six-speed automatic transmission.

Standard feature highlights for the Journey SE include 17-inch steel wheels, automatic headlights, foglights, roof rails, heated side mirrors, a height-adjustable driver's seat, 60/40-split second-row seats and 50/50-split third-row seats (both rows slide and recline). Also included are keyless ignition and entry, a rearview camera, and a six-speaker sound system with a 4.3-inch touchscreen interface and auxiliary audio input.

The SE can be upgraded with the optional Connectivity package (Bluetooth, satellite radio, a USB port, voice commands and a leather-wrapped steering wheel), the Comfort/Convenience package (upgraded cloth upholstery and a power-adjustable driver's seat), the Blacktop package (17-inch alloy wheels and blacked-out exterior trim), and the Premium Group (combines the Connectivity and Comfort/Convenience packages). Remote start and an alarm are also available.

Moving up to the Crossroad gets you the features of the Premium Group plus 19-inch wheels, a touring-tuned suspension, leather upholstery, three-zone climate control with rear-seat vents, and an upgraded 8.4-inch touchscreen infotainment system.

Options available for the Crossroad include remote start, heated front seats, a rear-seat entertainment system, a premium six-speaker stereo system with subwoofer, navigation, a sunroof, and the Driver Convenience package, which brings rear parking sensors and a universal garage door opener.

The range-topping GT trim combines most of the Crossroad's options listed above with unique 19-inch wheels and an upgraded suspension.