Youll have to forgive me for having a little fun with you yesterday. Weird / disturbing is that some of you really enjoyed.
If you want a review that most of the time talking about what you can learn on a car in reading the manufacturers website, or simply reprint press materials, I fear you will not enjoy reading a typical critical hire Bark. However, if you want a story about my experiences while driving a car every day that can be selected from a rental agency, by all means, read on.
My experience with the trip was not a voluntary decision
When I arrived at the international airport Detroit Wayne County last week, I had exactly four choices :. Hyundai Santa Fe Sport, Chrysler Town & Country, RAM 1500 pickup, and Dodge Journey SXT.
As I stood there in April too cold for Detroit tonight, I sent my options to our editor, Mark Stevenson. Stupidly, I typed "Journey" first. As I think Mark is somewhat of a sadist, he refused to hear any other option.
"JOURNEY."
"But what is that Ram 1500?" I pleaded.
"JOURNEY."
Damn you to hell, sir.
Very well. Journey is. I threw my bags in the back - well, let me correct that statement. I had to f old the third row of seats in first. Otherwise, my 27-inch suitcase would not fit.
Then Im in the drivers seat to prepare my two hour drive from Midland, Michigan. Before you go anywhere in my rental car, I make sure to do two things:
- Find the USB port so I could connect my phone to charge and audio purposes
- Pair my phone via Bluetooth so I can talk on the phone and obey all local ordinances
Number one was no problem. The USB port has been placed logically in the storage compartment between the seats. Bluetooth? It was a little frustrating, especially because of the fact that this 2016 Dodge Journey SXT - not the base model, and stickers to nearly $ 25,000 - no Bluetooth functionality. Thats right: if you want Bluetooth on a Dodge Journey, you have to option SUCKER up to an additional $ 550
Oof .. I accepted my lack of circa-08 technology, started the car. I got out of the rental car and toured the adjacent road when I noticed everything was very dark. Oh. Im not that my headlights, because the Dodge Journey SXT has no automatic headlamps. As far as I can tell, automatic headlights are only available from the second highest finish -. More Crossroad, stickers for $ 27,395
Once I managed to make visible the street, I go on my property, Journey.
the first thing you notice about driving a Dodge Journey is the appallingly bad driving. It is so big that it feels like you have just signed a union contract to become a school bus driver. Well, except for the fact that the school bus wheel would feel less like it was straight from a Power Wheels product. The plasticky feel of the wheel of the J ourney is probably the worst Ive known since the Mazda CX-7 08.
Are you detecting a trend here, by any chance?
Acceleration and braking are mere suggestions. The Journey is not what might be called reagent. The accelerator and the brake pedal to travel close to the ground before something happens. I thought maybe something was broken, until I realized the pedals were just as bad as the rest of the car.
The first thing you notice when you put 2016 Dodge Journey SXT reverse is the total absence of the help you get the car to do it. No rear camera, no beep sounds if you get too close to anything. Its just you, your finely tuned senses and mirrors.
Then we will talk about the heating / cooling system. You can follow my Instagram for details - or frustration - about it. In my rent, vents on the dashboard did not work - at all. Again, I thought something might be broken, but on closer examination, there is simply no way to select them with a normal butt on. You can select defrosters in or out of the dashboard, and I puzzled over by the climate of Uconnect screen. The "button" selection vent did not call attention to itself either. Therefore, no air came out of the vents, because I figured it out after I returned the car.
Turning to the stereo, shall we? It was bad nightmare. Changing tone settings makes no difference whatsoever. Tinny and thin on the high end, and distorted on the bottom. Thank you God that Spotify suggested randomly "Sax Attack" the great Kenneth Gorelick for me to listen as I drove along - the horror of that song meshed perfectly with the aim of existing travel. I felt like I was attacked by ghosts plastic CUVs past.
The rear seats are spacious enough, so thats a good thing. You will not find more space in anything at a price that is not a caravan. Get the kids in and out of car seats is a breeze in the trip. There is also an option for integrated car seats, which seems like a good idea until you realize that children tend to develop.
Visually, the Journey is embarrassing. I felt like apologizing to people to drive in front of them on the highway, lest they accidentally catch a glimpse of the Dodge somehow before managing to look away. It feels as if someone accidentally approved the minutes of the Mystery Inc. van of a child, and someone at the time of DaimlerChrysler said, "Well, well see if anyone notices."
Now with all that being said ... its not that bad to drive. I had to put a lot of miles on the trip throughout the week, beginning with what the night drive from DTW to Midland, then another break four hours of Traver se City and back, another hour or so each way to Gladwin, followed by the return drive to Detroit. So in overall, I had more than ten hours of time windshields in the trip, which is more than any auto journo normally get in a car.
It is a fair way to get from point a to point B, if thats all you need to do. visibility is actually pr etty good. the fuel economy is about 24 miles per gallon . Given my average speed of nearly 0 mph for most of my training time (I was late for no real reason), which is 24 mpg figure is not bad.
If you can pass barebones nature of the vehicle and accept it for what it is - a boon multiple mover person for people who do not like minivans - then it is quite acceptable . The name "Journey" is quite appropriate, however, because driving a is indeed a journey ... in time for 03. We would all have been delighted to drive something like that for this round the period of price that John Kerry was flipflopping around like a dead fish.
Unfortunately, this is 2016, and a car like this is not enough not fly. If we were to add Bluetooth and Uconnect the Journey - and remember, this is not just a convenience, it is the law in many states across the country - we are looking at a price of $ sticker 26,000, with current offers bonus cash bringing down by $ 1,250. Yes, there will al ways be one of the cheapest seven-seater crossover, you can get, but lets be honest with ourselves: there is no way that anyone taller than Peter Dinklage goes in this third row for any length of time. And if you do need to have the rear seats up, and the storage space is equivalent to a Tic-Tac box.
There Journeys cheapest available, however. The SE model can be done at $ 21,40, and you do not lose much from the SXT. In fact, you even win folding, heated mirrors side. At that price, less cash bonus / negotiation you can do, the journey becomes slightly more acceptable.
But only slightly. And as many of you pointed out yesterday, it is very difficult to accept the value proposition of a Dodge Journey when the Caravan exists. Heck, its even difficult to accept Kia Sportage, which looks and drives a million times better, and much better standard features.
Ultimately, if you preferred "Just the facts of yesterday, ma am" exam, or a bit of storytelling today, around the world, it is the same song.
The Journey, in fact, suck.
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