2009 Dodge Journey
Complaints about this year name electrical system far more often than the other years of this generation — 25% of them, about 28× the usual rate of 0.9%.
First year of a new generation. The Dodge Journey was redesigned for 2009. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 1,594 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 228 |
| Involving a crash | 42 |
| Involving a fire | 37 |
| Recalls | 8 |
| EPA combined | 18 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- electrical — 30.8% of this year's complaints, against 6.5% across the other years of this generation (4.8×). Owners wrote it as: electrical, electrical system, bags electrical, part needed.
- rotors — 23% of this year's complaints, against 4.9% across the other years of this generation (4.7×). Owners wrote it as: rotors, pads, brake pads, brakes rotors.
- ignition — 13.6% of this year's complaints, against 3.7% across the other years of this generation (3.7×). Owners wrote it as: ignition, switch, ignition switch, regards.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- bags electrical — 14% of complaints, 36× usual
- rotors — 15% of complaints, 21× usual
- air bags — 19% of complaints, 6× usual
What owners wrote
NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 14V373000 (AIR BAGS, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM) HOWEVER, THE PART NEEDED TO DO THE REPAIR WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE [VIN] EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE.
NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 14V373000 (AIR BAGS, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM). THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE PART NEEDED TO REMEDY THE VEHICLE WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE [VIN] WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V273000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 16V047000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 14V373000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 10V658000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 08V247000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
- 09V082000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 08V528000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 09V118000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Dodge Journey was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2009 Dodge Journey? What happened to yours?
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