2020 Dodge Journey Road Test and Review

The incredible enthusiasm for crossover SUVs that has infected the American buying public of the past decade has somehow not found its way to the Dodge Journey. It’s not the Journey’s fault. It is a well-styled, useful and accommodating vehicle, but buyers don’t buy what they don’t know about, and the Journey has been a well-kept secret.

For sheer size for the dollar, the Journey is one of the biggest bargains on the market. It seats seven and is almost 10 inches longer than the similarly priced Chevrolet Equinox. Even though the passengers in the third row don’t find sumptuous accommodations, the fact that this crossover with a base price well under $24,000 is able to seat seven should give it a big boost. But again, its light is hidden under a bushel. When considering an SUV, many FCA customers turn immediately to Jeep. For those seeking an inexpensive three-row crossover vehicle, the Dodge Journey will fill the bill.

The exterior design of the Journey compact SUV is mature, well-tailored, and contemporary. You won’t find a lot of muscular curves and power bulges in the Journey. Instead, the exterior uses wide planes that have a hint of European designs like Volvo and Audi. Its front end includes the classic “crosshairs” Dodge grille in a black-out treatment flanked by bold headlights. Behind it, a broad hood leads to the “fast” windshield, which in turn leads to a tapering roofline.

The cabin includes three rows of side windows each of diminishing size, and the conventional roof rails add to the conservative appearance. The Journey’s rear end is accented by D-O-D-G-E spelled out in chrome letters across the tailgate. Bold “ring of fire” LED tail lamps lend distinctive style, while 19-inch aluminum wheels, standard on the Crossroad trim level, offer an upscale look. The Journey is nearly a foot longer than the Toyota RAV4 crossover and almost 20 inches longer than the Kia Niro, another classically styled crossover. Some vehicles in its segment once offered seven-passenger seating, but these days that quality sets the Journey apart.

The Journey certainly isn’t the newest vehicle in its segment, so you might expect the interior to seem a bit dated, but that’s not the case. The Journey is fitted with a stylish interior that would not look out of place in just about any crossover on the road.

The Dodge crosshairs adorn the steering wheel hub, and the dashboard uses a very conventional approach with two large round gauges to the left and right of a prominent and configurable driver information readout. The Journey’s interior features dual-zone temperature control as standard equipment on the SE Value model, while three-zone climate control is standard on the Crossroad uplevel edition. Available removable in-floor storage bins ahead of the second-row seats can conceal valuables like a camera, laptop, or purse, or serve as convenient catch-alls. The full-length floor console between the two front seats features a sliding armrest and houses cupholders. The 60/40 split-folding second-row bench tilts and slides, while the third-row bench splits 50-50 and folds flat. The front seats are buckets, cloth-covered in the SE Value and leather-clad in the Crossroad. Third-row passengers will find their space very tight, but taken as a whole the Journey’s interior is comfortable.

The 2020 Journey has more infotainment offerings than you might expect, given that Dodge has decided to simplify its lineup this year. The base SE Value has a very basic 4.3-inch touchscreen, AM/FM radio, audio jack input and remote USB port as its standard configuration. But buyers can opt for a package that adds SiriusXM radio, CD player, and MP3/WMA compatibility to the aforementioned 4.3-inch system.

On the uplevel Crossroad, the standard system brings an 8.4-inch touchscreen, AM/FM radio, SiriusXM radio, CD/DVD player, MP3/WMA/AAC, audio jack input, and remote USB port. To that, buyers can add a package that includes Uconnect Voice Command with Bluetooth, streaming audio, hands-free texting and pre-programmed response, and navigation with audible turn-by-turn directions. Also included are point-of-interest information, lane guidance, SiriusXM Traffic, and SiriusXM Travel Link. Six speakers are standard, and a premium six-speaker system with a subwoofer is available.

Until this model year, the Journey used to offer a V6 engine in addition to the four-cylinder that is its only current powerplant. Frankly, we wish the V6 were still an option, but we can understand the desire to simplify the Journey offering based on its current market position.

All 2020 Dodge Journey crossovers are powered by a naturally aspirated 172-horsepower 2.4-liter four-cylinder. The engine delivers 165 lb-ft of peak torque at an elevated 4,400 rpm, and it is mated to a four-speed automatic transmission. If you are seeking a manual transmission, you need to shop elsewhere. Ditto if you are looking for all-wheel drive. To many of us, offering all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive is the mark of an SUV, but Journey buyers favor the low cost of the front-drive arrangement.

If you look at the Dodge Journey as a budget-buy in the seven-passenger crossover category, you will not be disappointed by its performance. Enthusiasts might bemoan the low-horsepower four-cylinder engine and its lack of low-end torque, but if you are seeking cost-effective transport for seven, you’ll appreciate what the Journey brings to the party.

Should you be a parent who does local school carpool duty that requires three rows of seating, the Journey is an excellent choice. And if you want to take your family of five on vacation, you can find plenty of luggage space in the third-row area with that seat folded. Traveling with seven aboard plus their luggage is a little more problematic. But the Journey offers good ride quality and handling that is appropriate for its purpose.

The place where the Dodge Journey really shows its age and its limited aspirations is in its available safety equipment and driver’s aids. If you want adaptive cruise control, a forward collision warning, or a lane-departure warning, you have come to the wrong place.

That is not to say that the Journey lacks safety items entirely. It does offer 40 available safety and security features. These include multistage front passenger airbags, active head restraints, electronic stability control with all-speed traction control, electronic roll mitigation, and brake assist. The airbag array is pretty comprehensive: a driver-side “knee blocker” airbag, side-curtain airbags covering all three rows, and front seat-mounted side airbags. The LATCH child seat anchor system and trailer-sway control are also standard on all Dodge Journey models. 

As a seven-passenger vehicle in a field of five-passenger crossovers, you would expect the Journey to offer more interior space than competitors, and it does. Capitalizing on its long overall length and wheelbase, it features 124 cubic feet of interior space, outpacing five-passenger competitors like the Hyundai Tucson, Kia Niro, and Toyota RAV4 — whose passenger compartments stop at the second-row seat — by about 24 cubic feet.

With the rear rows of seats up for use, it has just 10.7 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third-row seatbacks. With the rear seats folded, the Journey has 67.6 cubic feet of cargo area, while the Hyundai Tucson has 61.9. The Journey's liftgate is easy to open and shut, but no power option is available, which is in keeping with the value-oriented mission of the vehicle. Five passengers will find the Journey very accommodating and seven passengers will each find a seat.

The Dodge Journey is a seven-passenger vehicle equipped with an efficient four-cylinder engine. In light of this, fuel economy is good, but it is also affected by the vehicle’s passenger-carrying aspirations.

First off, the Journey is, as we’ve said, longer and larger than many of its competitors. It also is handicapped by its four-speed transmission in an era when many of its competitors have continuously variable transmissions or transmissions with six, eight, or even nine speeds. The Journey's EPA ratings are 19 mpg city/25 mpg highway/21 mpg combined. In contrast, a front-wheel drive Hyundai Tucson with automatic transmission will offer 23 mpg city/30 mpg highway/26 mpg combined. FCA recommends the Journey tow no more than 1,000 pounds. If we had serious towing to do, we’d opt for the Jeep Cherokee with a towing capacity of 4,000 pounds.

Executives at FCA have decided to simplify the Journey vehicle lineup. The vehicle is available in two trim configurations: SE Value and Crossroad. The goal of the SE Value is a budget price, so its equipment level is moderate. It does offer a significant amount of standard safety gear and some creature comforts like dual-zone climate control, but no one would describe it as luxurious. People hauling at a low price is its theme.

For those who are looking for a more fully equipped vehicle, the Crossroad trim is the one to choose. It is well-equipped with three-zone automatic temperature control and 19-inch wheels. It also features standard leather bucket seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, and a leather-covered shift knob. The driver’s seat is six-way power-operated with power four-way lumbar adjustments. Heated front seats are available as part of an option package.

The 2020 Journey resides in a very popular part of the U.S. car market, and it is a value-oriented play by Dodge. The SE Value trim is, as its name implies, the budget version. At the same time, the Crossroad edition is also bargain-priced. Available packages of optional items help you get the stuff you want without buying the stuff you don’t. Depending on their expectations, most buyers will find what they like among the two trims and optional equipment.

As of this writing, the 2020 pricing is not available, but we expect it to be similar to the 2019 pricing. The base front-wheel drive 2019 SE model had an MSRP of $23,245 plus a rather high $1,495 destination charge. For the Crossroad trim level, the MSRP climbed to $28,345 plus the $1,495 destination. All Journey models are built in the FCA assembly plant in Toluca, Mexico.