10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 7
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
60,160 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2012 Dodge Journey:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #72

Dec 152019

Journey

  • 92,000 miles
Car stalled on highway as we were driving and cut out. Very dangerous..wouldn't restart..then started up 20 mins later and drove fine.engine light came on..dealer says it a crankshaft sensor..super dangerous.

- Purcell, OK, USA

problem #71

Nov 292011

Journey

  • 127,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Journey. The contact stated that the heater failed to function and could not defrost the windshield. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the heater core needed to be replaced. The vehicle was taken to courtesy Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram (440 28th St SE, grand rapids, mi 49548, (616) 452-2143) where it was diagnosed that the heater core, radiator, thermostat and oil cooler needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and provided case number: 68252569. The failure mileage was approximately 127,000.

- Wayoming, MI, USA

problem #70

Dec 022019

Journey

  • 148,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Journey. After the vehicle was parked in the driveway, it surged forward. The contact was almost pinned to a fence in her yard. There were no injuries. The contact had just shifted the vehicle into park and exited while the vehicle was still running. The contact had to circle back around to the driver's side, enter the vehicle, depress the brake pedal, and press the push button ignition. The vehicle finally stopped. The dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 148,000.

- Taylor, MI, USA

problem #69

Sep 012019

Journey

  • 139,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Journey. While driving 50 mph, the vehicle stalled and shut off without warning. The vehicle would not restart and was towed to an independent mechanic. Afterwards, the vehicle was able to be driven to atlantic Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram (555 sunrise hwy, West islip, NY 11795, 631-422-0123) where a diagnostic was performed. The dealer stated that there was an unknown recall regarding the driver's side cylinder head. The recall repair was performed on the driver's side cylinder head; however, the mechanic stated that there was a wire shortage from the PCM to the map sensor. The contact was given a cost estimate to repair the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the wiring was not under warranty and offered no assistance. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 139,000.

- Deer Park, NY, USA

problem #68

Sep 072019

Journey

  • 93,000 miles
I was driving my 2012 Dodge Journey and my car power just shut down and it won't start. The brake pedal was hard and stiff.my car is completely disabled had to get it tow to my house. I tried to start the car it's not starting at all no peer no lights nothing completely dead

- Dover, DE, USA

problem #67

Aug 022019

Journey

  • 89,000 miles
Anti-lock brake system (ABS) control module. There's was a recall for our 2012 Dodge Journey which the previous owners took care of in Oct 2015 (the month and year of recall). We purchased in 2017. A few time the ABS light has come on but only for a minute or 2 since we bought it. Today 8/2/2019 it came on along with the brake light and (no traction light (the swiveling car image light). We have had a lot of heavy rain. We where told by servicing station by diagnostic test it was the ABS control module system malfunction. And if we did not get fixed our brakes could lock up and system freeze up. This is definitely a safety issue that was corrected in past but is now happening again. These lights came on just as we stared to drive. When the car was resting for 30 minutes and I was leaving to drive to service station the break pedal was extremely hard to push down ( break needs to be pressed with touch button start). I almost couldn't start car. The break finally softened and I was able to press down to start car. At that point the light did not come back on for 5 minutes while driving but sadly it did come back. I feel we should not have to pay to fix a problem that has come up again from a previous recall. This is a big safety concern. It was in the past and should be again.

- Deltona, FL, USA

problem #66

Jun 132019

Journey

  • 113,000 miles
Yesterday, while waiting at a stop sign my 2012 Journey shut off. I had no idea it had even shut off! I pressed the gas to go and the car wouldn't move. I was a little baffled because the radio was still playing. I put the car in park and pressed the ignition and the car started again. This is latest and most unsafe issue that I have experienced with this car. The radio randomly changes stations and it doesn't shut off when the car is shut off. I have to turn the radio off before I turn the car off because it will continue to play. This started about 8 months ago. The car was turned off and the drivers door was opened, but the radio kept playing. If I forget to turn it off before the ignition, I have to restart the car and let the radio play for a min or so before I can turn it off. Also, the rear air suddenly comes on. When I turn it off it comes back on. If it's synced with the front air, it will randomly go to the high setting. The Journey also does a jerking motion while driving. This happens on the highway or neighborhood roads too. We thought that maybe it was the transmission, but we had it checked and it's fine! after yesterday's sudden shutoff, I'm wondering if all that jerking was a sign of what was to come. The brake light has been coming on for a few weeks as well. I could be driving on a city street or highway and the break light comes on. It usually happens while driving straight, acceleration or driving at a constant speed. It happens so frequently that my kids are like, here we go again because we, our bodies, start jerking with the car. We bought this car brand new at the end of 2011. I loved it at first, but now I'm afraid to put my kids in it something needs to be done. There are issues with diff. Model years, so if the problems are being fixed on some, it should be fixed on all. After all, the company made $ on all of them & our lives are valuable

- St Petersburg, FL, USA

problem #65

Mar 192019

Journey

  • 86,269 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Journey. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated while driving. The accelerator pedal traveled to the floorboard and the vehicle decelerated. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to antwerpen Dodge Ram (5717 baltimore national pike, catonsville, md 21228, (410) 744-7400) where it was diagnosed that the catalytic converter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was currently making a loud abnormal humming sound. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 86,269. The VIN was invalid.

- Baltimore, MD, USA

problem #64

Mar 162019

Journey

  • 87,756 miles
On multiple occasions over the past two or three months, my vehicle loses all power, and at same time the power steering goes out and brakes have to pushed extra hard to get them to work. This has happened when driving under 40 mph in town. It has happened most often within the first 5 minutes of starting the car, but today it happened after I had been driving 30 minutes on the highway and then in town for several minutes. It has happened when slowing down, when accelerating, or when going stable speed, as well as before a turn, after a turn, or while going straight. I have been able to pull over to side of road and stop, put car in park, and restart it. We took the car to a local car repair shop twice, and they could find nothing wrong after hooking it to their computer. The car has 87,756 miles on it. I am concerned that this is unsafe, and I'm worried it could happen at a dangerous intersection or at highway speeds.

- Mt. Pleasant, IA, USA

problem #63

Mar 012019

Journey

  • 110,000 miles
On multiple occasions my vehicle will loose all power. If I'm going over 45 it usually restarts itself. If under 40 the steering locks up, all electrical shuts down and I cannot get hazard lights or pull over. I can throw it into neutral and hit the push-to-start and it restarts. Sometimes, like at stoplights, I have had to throw it into park then restart it. There have been a few instances of it not restarting no matter what we try. Through trial and error we got it to start again after serious rocking. I have noticed it happens more if the usb port or aux port are being used, although it has happened a couple of times without those being touched. Has only been happening since the majority of the functions with my on-board entertainment unit went out. Dealership can not diagnose, say they cannot get the problem to duplicate. I have videos of this happening but dealership has not been interested in seeing them.

- Lakewood, WA, USA

problem #62

Aug 192018

Journey

  • 119,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Journey. The contact stated that the vehicle constantly lost power, there was a reduction of speed, and the service engine warning indicator flashed within months of owning the vehicle. The vehicle was serviced per NHTSA campaign number: 11V487000 (engine and engine cooling), but the repair failed to remedy the failures. Hondru Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of elizabethtown (2005 S market St, elizabethtown, pa 17022, (717) 367-6644) indicated that they repaired the vehicle, but the vehicle made an abnormal ticking noise and the service engine indicator kept illuminating. The dealer had not provided a loaner vehicle. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 119,000.

- Harrisburg, PA, USA

problem #61

Oct 012018

Journey

  • 83,000 miles
Heater core has to be replaced! I have no heat coming out of the passenger side vents! will cost over$1300

- Madison, IN, USA

problem #60

Dec 182018

Journey

  • 89,000 miles
The 4 cylinder engine on my 2012 Dodge Journey developed an engine coolant leak. Trouble shooting found the leak to be related to deterioration of a plastic part inside the engine...Dodge part# 68003582...adapter C. the car was standing when the problem was diagnosed. If I had not had the part replaced a catastrophic engine coolant leak could have occurred while the car was being driven, leading to a full loss of coolant, overheating of the engine and seizing of the engine. I talked with Dodge customer service and they acknowledged awareness of the problem.the car has 89,000 miles. I consider this to be a serious safety problem.

- Frederick, MD, USA

problem #59

Oct 012018

Journey

  • 116,785 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Journey. While driving various speeds, the vehicle suddenly shut off. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the crank shaft sensor was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer and an unknown dealer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 116,785. The VIN was invalid.

- Lewisville, TX, USA

problem #58

Sep 032018

Journey

  • 98,000 miles
"takata recall" it is to my understanding that this type of vehicle shouldn't have no issue with the engine at 98000, driving at 40 mph the engine stop working and now we have to buy a new transmition... how is this possible... this is unaceptable.

- White Sulphur Springs, WV, USA

problem #57

Nov 012015

Journey

  • 85,000 miles
In the middle of the winter 2015-2016 I had to replace my radiator due to a small crack that developed. My heat started to malfunction the following winter 2016-2017 it only worked part of the time. Starting in the fall of 2017 my heat went out completely. We took it in to have them check the heater core, come to find out that since the heater core is installed at an angle it doesn't drain the sludge properly. I have also noticed that my air conditioning will turn on at random. I don't know exactly when this started, but it will turn on by itself. Just this morning 8/13/18 my air turned on 15 times, after being shut off every time. I'm wondering if this is something wrong electronically. Thank you for your time and consideration on my 2012 Dodge Journey.

- Albany, IN, USA

problem #56

Jul 032018

Journey

  • miles
I was driving on very busy highway I-270 in columbus Ohio my car stop on me on the highway that happens back in 2/14/2018 I started it back keep going luckily no accident occurred through that week continue doing it I take to shop get it fixed.on 7/3/2018 he started it's again am scared to drive my car that am paying for I don't know what to do he cost much last time I fixed it. His making strange noise from the dashboard often I don't know where the noise is coming from am really scared to put my family in its because that our family car

- Columbus, OH, USA

problem #55

Jun 122018

Journey

  • 140,000 miles
Last week I was driving my car and it felt like it was going to stall at a stop sign. Then the engine light came on when I started driving again. While driving on a busy highway my car just shut off. No brakes, or steering. I had 3 kids in the car 2 being toddlers. I was able to put it into park and start it again to get it off the road. This is the first time this happened to me and now I am scared to drive it. As for electrical my car randomly sometimes just changes radio stations, U connect doesn't work. When disconnecting the battery it works for about a month and you can not use it anymore.

- Pittsgrove, NJ, USA

problem #54

Apr 122018

Journey

  • 148,000 miles
While raining I had went to turn and the power steering had gone. I had little to no control over my 2012 Dodge Journey. Warning lights come and mainly the airbag light when turning. The battery been replaced and I had a recall preformed for lake of wiring covers. I have taking it to two different dealerships and they do not take me serious. Always trying to get me to buy a new car. Instead of fixing my current one

- Taswell, IN, USA

problem #53

Mar 152018

Journey

  • 85,365 miles
My vehicle odometer would jump from 0 to 30 while in motion(foot on pedal) and vice versa. Wiperblades started all on it's on without being turned on. No current is being brought to whole entire vehicle. Vehicle won't turn over or lock without being hooked to another battery. Can jump start but once connection is off the vehicle shuts back off. All lights flickered on and off on dash board when they never came on the 2 years I had the vehicle.

- Springfield, MA, USA

Read the next 20 complaints »