Topic: Test Drive: 2010 Dodge Journey R/T AWD

[Autos_Editor]

"It's clear that the Journey is designed for families... and with pricing that is more affordable than most competitors," says Editor, Greg Wilson.  The top R/T V6 AWD model is "comfortable and quiet" but "thirsty," and "could use some interior updating."

Read More...

[Winterpeg]

I would pick this over a minivan anyday. For those that don't need the extra room or size a Mazda 5 or the upcoming Ford CMax maybe.   

[greg123]

great interior design, the nav screen should be even lower...by the feet maybe?

[Golly]

I would pick this over a minivan anyday. For those that don't need the extra room or size a Mazda 5 or the upcoming Ford CMax maybe.   

I disagree.  My 10 year old GM minivan has about the same footprint as the Journey, but the minivan has way more cargo room.  At 42" wide, you can't even fit a 4 x 8 sheet into the back of the Journey whereas I can fit the whole sheet in the minivan(with 2 and 3 row seats removed) and still close the rear hatch.  Sorry but I these crossovers don't make any sense to me.

[Shnak]

great interior design, the nav screen should be even lower...by the feet maybe?

You're right; the screen is definitely way too high as it is. 

[Shnak]

I would pick this over a minivan anyday. For those that don't need the extra room or size a Mazda 5 or the upcoming Ford CMax maybe.   

I disagree.  My 10 year old GM minivan has about the same footprint as the Journey, but the minivan has way more cargo room.  At 42" wide, you can't even fit a 4 x 8 sheet into the back of the Journey whereas I can fit the whole sheet in the minivan(with 2 and 3 row seats removed) and still close the rear hatch.  Sorry but I these crossovers don't make any sense to me.

What if you don't need a full-sized minivan but a Mazda5 is too small for you? A few years ago, you could get a short-wheel-base version of a few minivans such as the Caravan, and you had the MPV which was a smaller minivans. Now, it's either a full-size minivan (Odyssey, Sienna, Grand Caravan, Quest, etc.) or a hatchback turned wagon (Mazda5, Rondo). There's nothing in between. That's where these crossovers come in.

[CDF]

The dash appears to be lifted directly out of a 1984 Plymouth Caravan.

[whaddaiknow]

I would pick this over a minivan anyday. For those that don't need the extra room or size a Mazda 5 or the upcoming Ford CMax maybe.   

What if you don't need a full-sized minivan but a Mazda5 is too small for you? A few years ago, you could get a short-wheel-base version of a few minivans such as the Caravan, and you had the MPV which was a smaller minivans. Now, it's either a full-size minivan (Odyssey, Sienna, Grand Caravan, Quest, etc.) or a hatchback turned wagon (Mazda5, Rondo). There's nothing in between. That's where these crossovers come in.

I would dare to disagree again. I have a crossover now and just traded it for a minivan. I have two daughters (the youngest is 7 months old), and getting the car seat in and out of the Santa Fe all the time is a real chore. Even worse when you are parked next to another vehicle on a typical shopping trip.

Having a sliding door with easier access to the second row LOWER (than crossover) seat is an undeniable advantage. My wife didn't want to be seen in a minivan when we bought the Santa Fe. Now, 3 years and two kids later - image is nothing, convenience is everything, so to speak. Nothing beats the minivan for its versatility and space.

And I used to own a Mazda5 when it first came out, got rid of it 6 months later. Absolutely no room behind the third row, and quite anemic under full load.

Cheers.

[Coast]

I can't see why anyone would buy this over a Grand Caravan.  There doesn't seem to be any significant price or mileage advantage, you lose a lot of interior space and no handy sliding doors.

Maybe if it was cool looking or fun to drive like the Mazda5 but it doesn't seem to have that either.

Explains why I see Grand Caravans everywhere but Journeys are rare.

[Shnak]

I would pick this over a minivan anyday. For those that don't need the extra room or size a Mazda 5 or the upcoming Ford CMax maybe.   

What if you don't need a full-sized minivan but a Mazda5 is too small for you? A few years ago, you could get a short-wheel-base version of a few minivans such as the Caravan, and you had the MPV which was a smaller minivans. Now, it's either a full-size minivan (Odyssey, Sienna, Grand Caravan, Quest, etc.) or a hatchback turned wagon (Mazda5, Rondo). There's nothing in between. That's where these crossovers come in.

I would dare to disagree again. I have a crossover now and just traded it for a minivan. I have two daughters (the youngest is 7 months old), and getting the car seat in and out of the Santa Fe all the time is a real chore. Even worse when you are parked next to another vehicle on a typical shopping trip.

Having a sliding door with easier access to the second row LOWER (than crossover) seat is an undeniable advantage. My wife didn't want to be seen in a minivan when we bought the Santa Fe. Now, 3 years and two kids later - image is nothing, convenience is everything, so to speak. Nothing beats the minivan for its versatility and space.

And I used to own a Mazda5 when it first came out, got rid of it 6 months later. Absolutely no room behind the third row, and quite anemic under full load.

Cheers.

That's fine for you... but not everyone wants a full-size minivan! Some people want an in-between kind of vehicle. That's where something the size of a Journey makes sense.

[Shnak]

I can't see why anyone would buy this over a Grand Caravan.  There doesn't seem to be any significant price or mileage advantage, you lose a lot of interior space and no handy sliding doors.

Maybe if it was cool looking or fun to drive like the Mazda5 but it doesn't seem to have that either.

Explains why I see Grand Caravans everywhere but Journeys are rare.

But why stop there? Might as well buy a 15-passenger Ford Econoline. I mean, it offers more space than a Grand Caravan, doesn't it? The point is that not everyone needs a big minivan... some people need mini-minvans (Mazda5) and others are just fine with crossovers such as the Journey, or even vehicles like the Santa Fe, RAV4, etc.

[aknutson]

I can't see why anyone would buy this over a Grand Caravan.  There doesn't seem to be any significant price or mileage advantage, you lose a lot of interior space and no handy sliding doors.

Maybe if it was cool looking or fun to drive like the Mazda5 but it doesn't seem to have that either.

Explains why I see Grand Caravans everywhere but Journeys are rare.

I think Dodge thinks it's cool looking, they want it to be sort of a 'lifestyle vehicle' in appearance, even though IMO it isn't very pretty. Most people who actually want to move people/things would end up getting either a better looking/performing crossover from the competition or, as you pointed out, the Big Grand.

[aknutson]

On another note, while I'm not a huge fan of the exterior design, that interior just looks inexcusably poor. If Dodge wants to be successful, they have to stop getting the janitor to design the interiors and hire some serious talent and come up with some award-winning designs. They need to do what they did with the interior of the Jeep Patriot and the 2010 refresh. It isn't perfect, but it came a long way from the veritable landfill that it was.

PS - no offense to janitors 

[Sir Osis of Liver]

We thought about getting one, but without a track record, it was too risky for us. Size-wise, it has a pretty small footprint for it's volume. Not as space efficient as a true minivan, but not bad.

Lady Osis would not consider a so called "minivan", not for image reasons, but for their size. Most of our driving is in town, where a Grand Caravan or Sienna is simply a pain in the ass to park and maneuver. As she said:"It's stupid to used something so large to haul three people around town." Clever girl she is.

She's very, very happy with the Outback, especially the visibility the large windows afford. Fuel economy isn't bad either considering her lead foot and penchant for shifting at readline whenever possible!

[Mozeby]

On another note, while I'm not a huge fan of the exterior design, that interior just looks inexcusably poor. If Dodge wants to be successful, they have to stop getting the janitor to design the interiors and hire some serious talent and come up with some award-winning designs. They need to do what they did with the interior of the Jeep Patriot and the 2010 refresh. It isn't perfect, but it came a long way from the veritable landfill that it was.

PS - no offense to janitors 

You know it was Mercedes who really cheaped out on Chrysler and it's interiors.  If you can think back to the 90's before the merger, Chryslers cars had some of the best interior designs around.  They were winning Motor Trend Car of the years, or placing on the Car and Driver 10 best list.  Their interiors were the best of the domestics by a mile and better than most imports.  Then Mercedes comes along everything went to sh*t.  Now again we're starting to see them correct some of these mistakes from the last several years.

[2JDM]

I can't see why anyone would buy this over a Grand Caravan.  There doesn't seem to be any significant price or mileage advantage, you lose a lot of interior space and no handy sliding doors.

Maybe if it was cool looking or fun to drive like the Mazda5 but it doesn't seem to have that either.

Explains why I see Grand Caravans everywhere but Journeys are rare.

But why stop there? Might as well buy a 15-passenger Ford Econoline. I mean, it offers more space than a Grand Caravan, doesn't it? The point is that not everyone needs a big minivan... some people need mini-minvans (Mazda5) and others are just fine with crossovers such as the Journey, or even vehicles like the Santa Fe, RAV4, etc.

This is why our Odyssey only gets driven when its needed: the rest of the time, it sits in the garage, with only fire and theft insurance. A quick call to the ins. company changes that when needed.

[Not Convinced]

On another note, while I'm not a huge fan of the exterior design, that interior just looks inexcusably poor. If Dodge wants to be successful, they have to stop getting the janitor to design the interiors and hire some serious talent and come up with some award-winning designs. They need to do what they did with the interior of the Jeep Patriot and the 2010 refresh. It isn't perfect, but it came a long way from the veritable landfill that it was.

PS - no offense to janitors 

You know it was Mercedes who really cheaped out on Chrysler and it's interiors.  If you can think back to the 90's before the merger, Chryslers cars had some of the best interior designs around.  They were winning Motor Trend Car of the years, or placing on the Car and Driver 10 best list.  Their interiors were the best of the domestics by a mile and better than most imports.  Then Mercedes comes along everything went to sh*t.  Now again we're starting to see them correct some of these mistakes from the last several years.

Seriously???  The merger brought fine cars like the 300, Charger, and the Pacifica.  Please come out of your cave/bunker mentality, the interiors were not the best before the merger.  Are you kidding?

[Mozeby]

On another note, while I'm not a huge fan of the exterior design, that interior just looks inexcusably poor. If Dodge wants to be successful, they have to stop getting the janitor to design the interiors and hire some serious talent and come up with some award-winning designs. They need to do what they did with the interior of the Jeep Patriot and the 2010 refresh. It isn't perfect, but it came a long way from the veritable landfill that it was.

PS - no offense to janitors 

You know it was Mercedes who really cheaped out on Chrysler and it's interiors.  If you can think back to the 90's before the merger, Chryslers cars had some of the best interior designs around.  They were winning Motor Trend Car of the years, or placing on the Car and Driver 10 best list.  Their interiors were the best of the domestics by a mile and better than most imports.  Then Mercedes comes along everything went to sh*t.  Now again we're starting to see them correct some of these mistakes from the last several years.

Seriously???  The merger brought fine cars like the 300, Charger, and the Pacifica.  Please come out of your cave/bunker mentality, the interiors were not the best before the merger.  Are you kidding?

It's been well known that Merc. only bought Chrysler for the Jeep label and the stack of cash that they were sitting on.  Since the merger we had the Caliber, Patriot, Compass, Avenger and Sebring which were all slammed by just about every magazine.  The Jeep Gr. Cherokee that came out after the merger looked bad inside and out.  The Pacifica?  What the hell are you talking about there.  The 300 and Charger are good cars but again the interiors are their weakest area.  Mercedes was really cutting back on the redesigns for Chrysler and didn't really care about the long term effects, because they weren't that interested in their cars in the first place.  Even the LH cars were given an older E-class platform.  Just go look at a pre-Mercedes Mopar, and one designed after, the quality of the materials is day and night.

[safristi]

c'mon WE all have more car(s) than we NEED.................sizewise and quantity-unwise!!!...............................and Merc had to hide some Euros to pay for Schumis' come back Ooooh COME BACK O tha Pack RETURN........ ....

           when Gas goes UP we all rush fer tha EXITS.....................SELL SELL SELL.... ...am I gonna get in trouble fer yelling small in a crowded garage ??

[sacrat]

Hi Greg. I'm wondering how useful you see a crossover like the Journey being for general running around, rather than specific family use. Do you see a market for the 5 seat version as an all purpose runabout ?