2018 Dodge Journey Reliability Report

Headlight housings fill with water and condensation. That dims the beams at night and burns out bulbs early. The fogging comes back even after dealers replace both headlights, and some owners still see it after a headlight recall repair. Many filings come from owners who were notified of a headlight recall and then told the repair parts were not yet available. Moisture is reported anywhere from a nearly new car to about 80,000 miles. One crash report blames poor reflector visibility in fog.

Front headrests burst open without a crash, often with a loud pop. It happens at highway speed, at low speed, and in parked, empty cars, mostly on the passenger side. People sitting in the seat report being struck in the back of the head, followed by dizziness and neck pain. Broken plastic tabs inside the headrest keep it from being reset. One dealer quoted about $1000 per headrest, and owners say dealers would not cover the repair. Separately, second-row seats may not lock after being slid forward.

Power steering lines and hoses leak, often once cold weather arrives. Drivers hear whining while turning, and steering becomes hard. Several leaks appear around 30,000 miles, and one owner had a hose burst twice in less than a year. Other reports describe the engine cutting out, sometimes mid-turn or on the highway, leaving the steering wheel and brakes very hard to use until a restart. In one report, a failed AC compressor broke the serpentine belt and stopped the car in traffic.

Stalling and misfires lead the engine reports. Engines shut off without warning at speed or on hills, and drivers cannot steer properly until they restart. Cylinder misfires return even after new spark plugs and coils. Check engine lights come back after repeated dealer visits that find no cause. Single reports cite a burst fuel injector spraying raw gas and a transmission replacement after the torque converter shredded and stalled the car in an intersection. Some owners say the car slips into reverse while driving.

Cruise control does not always switch off when the brake is pressed, and it can speed up and slow down on its own while engine rpm swings. Two reports involve crashes. In one, the car moved forward while the driver held the brake. Other filings blame failed cruise control on a bad rear wheel bearing and speed sensor near 35,000 miles, with ABS and traction lights on. The speedometer can show wildly wrong speeds. One owner reports bumping the console shifter into neutral or reverse while driving.

Front airbags fail to deploy in serious frontal crashes. The reports include a deer strike near 60,000 miles and a median crash that totaled the car, and drivers were hurt in these crashes. The rest describe front headrests springing open with no impact, whether the car is moving, parked, or the seat is being adjusted. Two of these headrest reports involve the occupant being struck in the head. This overlaps with the headrest failures filed under seats. In all, 5 injuries are reported.

Airbags that did not deploy in a severe intersection crash, leaving the driver injured, is the most serious of only 3 reports. Another describes water leaking past a poorly installed driver-side seal into the storage bin. A third reports that the hood keeps popping up, along with weak acceleration and fuel economy of 16-18 mpg. These filings describe unrelated problems.