I know “it’s never too late” is a cliché, but what exactly is it not too late for? A Fourthmeal, surely, but what else? It’s probably too late to corner the market on lawn darts, and giving your senior year prank a take-two may result in a felony, so it’s probably too late for that too. However, sometimes it really isn’t too late for the improbable to happen. Here, in the year 2025 A.D., Stellantis sold a brand new Dodge Journey in America.
Launched for the 2009 model year to tepid reactions, the Dodge Journey was Chrysler’s attempt at taking what it had learned from the old Chrysler Pacifica crossover and adapting it to a lower price point. Starting with the platform of a Dodge Avenger, Chrysler built a crossover body spacious enough to accommodate three rows of seats, carved out a few interesting storage areas like one under the front passenger seat squab, bathed the interior in hard plastic and sparked the idea to life with a series of unremarkable powertrains, including a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine mated to a four-speed automatic with K-car roots.
Keep in mind, we’re looking at a product from a major automaker’s darkest time, one of bankruptcy, material cost management, and one-ply development budgets. I know it’s easy to look at the Journey as a bit of a punching bag, but as an attempt by a cash-strapped automaker to stay in the mainstream three-row crossover market, it technically got the job done.
For 2011, the Journey received a much-needed injection of cash. We’re talking about an all-new interior with up to 8.4 inches of touchscreen, the then-new Pentastar 3.6-liter V6, a new grille, new lighting on most trims and bumpers on many trims, revisions that still didn’t make the Journey competitive against the best from Japan and Korea, but made it easier to live with. More importantly, they made for a better product in a key segment—the dirt-cheap seven-seater niche for people with many children but not a load of money to spend on a vehicle.
Over nearly the next decade, the Journey carried on largely thanklessly, as the de facto three-row rental crossover at airports across North America, and as a reasonably attainable family vehicle. Sure, it did have an interesting detour in Europe where it was badged as a Fiat Freemont, but the second chapter of this Dodge’s life was largely unremarkable. When the Journey was discontinued after the 2020 model year, with more than a million rolling off the production line, it felt like the Cerberus Capital era was largely over at Dodge, but history has a way of lingering. In Stellantis’ Q1 2025 sales report, Dodge logged the sale of a singular brand-new Journey.
How does one simply forget an unregistered Journey for nearly five years? Sure, it’s not the most memorable car in history, but it must’ve lingered in a back lot and on the books for ages. It’s hard to believe that no dealer accountants raised a fuss about having a car on floor plan financing for years, but it’s also entirely plausible that one forgotten Journey finally made it out the door. Once incentives and factory-backed subvented financing options are discontinued for a car, it becomes harder to sell.
Still, it almost feels miraculous that this quarter, there’s one more Dodge Journey on American roads than there used to be. I guess there’s a right time for everything, and sometimes it’s later than you might expect. For now, let’s hope this forgotten Dodge Journey was a killer deal. At approximately five years old, there’s a chance the tires could’ve aged out before it even left the lot.
Top graphic credit: Dodge, depositphotos.com
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Check the Avis lot
When my car was in the body shop to repair some scratches in 2023, I rented a car from Enterprise that was supposed to be a Maxima. They showed up with a 2020 Dodge Journey.
It must have been their emergency “we’re all outta cars” rental as it was three years old and not even clean.
In the last year (2020), Dodge eliminated the V6, AWD, and higher level trim packages.
It’s not the worst car I ever drove; just very generic. The interior felt very cheap but, the infotainment was functional and easy to use. The underpowered and noisy 2.4 L4 and 4-speed auto felt retro. Definitely from a previous era.
I ended up with a Journey as a rental in February 2015 when the Hertz computers at Newark-Liberty crashed, but Avis still had a handful of cars available. At the time, they had it classified as a minivan, and I had no idea what a Journey was, but I needed a car so I accepted it. For a rental, it wasn’t bad.
The Dodge Journey, Caravan and Grand Caravan are all models that should never have been cancelled.
Also, the trucks should never have been split from the Dodge brand.
I just saw one of these here in Puerto Rico for the first time. It looked okay, kind of new, I wonder if it was this one.
Never wanted to own one of these myself of course, but there’s some price at which I’d have bought this too. I wonder what was paid, and if the original warranties still came with the car for the buyer.
That is an interesting warranty question. Not sure which manufacturers do this, but some will start the clock when the dealer takes possession. Assuming that the warranty clock starts when the person bought it, getting it fixed may still run into an issue where after a set number of years, the manufacturer no longer has to produce parts for it. Outside of some specialized part like a computer module, the dealer could still source parts from a local parts store, though dealers will almost always get genuine OE.
There are no makers who start the clock when the dealer takes possession.
Occasionally the warranty starts when the dealer reports the car is “put in service”, which is usually a term for the start of a lease, unless the dealer is using the vehicle as a loaner or fleet car.
This was recorded in Stellantis’s reports as a new car sale. The factory warranty applies. If the warranty clock had started, it would be a used car.
I had the unfortunate experience of buying a new Subaru WRX that had its warranty period started 3 months before I purchased it. The car had less than 5 miles on the odo when I picked it up. I checked the original paperwork and I had missed the pre-dated warranty start date. The dealer said that Subaru sometimes strongly suggests that as an accounting action to get the car off the manufacturer’s books and onto the dealer’s. I contested it with Subaru, but they said something similar. Dealers will move a vehicle onto their books so that their allocation numbers can be adjusted and get more vehicles from the manufacturer. The Carfax didn’t show any unusual transactions and a title check with the state came back that I was the first title issued. The dealer grudgingly covered the repairs when I told them that I was going to see what state laws could have been broken and leave a series of reviews on various platforms.
The Journey is a perfect example of Stellantis having no idea what they’re doing. It was cheap, had 3 rows, wasn’t completely terrible, and didn’t look as dorky as a Caravan/T&C. They’re absolutely everywhere in the Midwest, so I have to assume sales numbers were decent. You’d think it’d be the perfect candidate for a 2nd generation but no, they just stopped building it.
Problem is to build it cheap, it has to be built on a platform that they have and a plant to build it in. What platform would a gen 2 be built on? They don’t make cars at all, so unless you can stretch and VA a Jeep platform there’s nothing to share this with. Even bringing one in from Europe will cost a fortune in retooling.
IDK why they couldn’t have continued to build it on the same platform it was already being built on. The people who buy these things won’t know – make it look different, give it a better interior, raise the price a little bit, and there you go.
Too many new safety and fuel econ requirements (IIHS offset, etc) drive to new platforms or extensive updates these days. Yes you could still sell it, but at some point for a people mover it won’t work if it doesn’t get the gold star from IIHS.
I love/hate that they used AM 180 by Grandaddy in a Journey commercial a while back.
You know? The Journey actually doesn’t look bad at all. Good proportions and clean lines.
Dealer knew what they had.
Dude must be trying to 100% his Dodge collection.
The Journey’s issue wasn’t that it was cheap; it was that it was just a bad minivan. The Caravan would have been a better choice for people looking for a cheap family truckster.
I would love to know what they paid for it.
Way too much no matter the price.
Likely someone with horrendous credit, no financial skills and lives under an ‘automotive’ rock.
No, it wasn’t me.
I feel like the Journey deserves more credit than most car people give it. I’m not really a fan of them either but it was never meant for us. It was meant to be an adequate family hauler for the type of person that sees their car as just another appliance, and it excelled in that role.
I had a V6 one as a rental in around 2010 as a tourist from the UK. I took back the Jeep Liberty I’d been allocated and that’s what they gave me. The Jeep had appalling brakes that seemed dangerous to me, on top of an engine that made lots of commotion to little effect. The Journey was perfect for carting around 3 teenagers and luggage.
OK, I confess – it was me. Rest assured, however, you do not need to worry about there being an extra Dodge Journey on the road.
That beauty is going straight into climate-controlled storage next to all my Ferraris and Koenigseggs, where it belongs.
You’re the %$#@^ that out bid me!!
Don’t worry, it’ll be up for auction at Pebble Beach in a few years.
That’s kind of terrifying either shoved in a corner of a back lot or one of those dealers that has the parking garages that always loose things in them. Very strange must have been cheap.
I mean, just look at it…it’s definitely forgettable!
“there’s one more Dodge Journey on American roads than there used to be.”
Thanks for the warning!
You didn’t mention the most important part of the 2011 facelift, they switched the radio and hvac controls around, 2009 and 2010 have their radios at knee level and it’s such an inconvenience. Also for a little bit of car trivia these were the last models sold in the usdm with a 4 speed automatic.