[360VF]

Im pretty happy with our late '12 SXT Journey here in Aus. The car is still new car quiet after just over 18,000k's. Interior is fabulous. Better than some of the Jap stuff IMO (Im looking at you subaru now theyve been Toyotafied - now I know where Dodge got rid of all the leftover 1st year Caliber interior parts - off to Subaru for use in the XV)

The only interior quibles Ive got realte to the third row access. The handles for the flip/slide function on the second row feel a bit flimsy.

Our spec cars have the 8,4 uconnect and it is fantastic and very intuitive. Redundant buttons under help too. The interior lighting is first class with all buttons backlit, and plenty of curtesy lighting. There is one piece of headlining trim at the tailgate that is slightly misaligned and loose - but im really being picky. Ours is Pentastar V6 powered and using around 11L/ hundred ks in mainly outer urban driving.

They are launching the Freemont here next week in Australia, with 2.4, diesel and Pentastar. Supposedly to sell along with the Journey but its impossible to know as it depends on who you ask if Dodge is staying our going. Theyve just changed the specs on the Journeys here last month, and made the 7 seats optonal (they were standard)

 

[360VF]

If youre buying new then the brakes shouldnt be an issue. Our 2012 is a late build and has the ginormous minivan rotors and calipers. The 17 inch wheels barely clear withe balance weights around 3mm off the caliper. I compared the old to new on the lot when I bought ours as they had an early build demo there. It is quite obvious. Up to around 10 thou k's there were still machining marks visible on the rotors. These didnt disapear until I towed a big trailer on vacation (trailer was probably at the unbraked towing limit). The brakes were still adequate even then when fully loded with the family and a weeks worth of camping gear.