Dodge Journey2.0 SXT CRD Manual BHP: 138 Torque:310Nm Boot:303-1914l Fuel (combined):6.5 (43.5 mpg) CO2:170 g/km Price: €27,995
CALLING ALL those who don’t believe in family planning: your carriage has arrived. The Dodge Journey may come from the troubled Chrysler stable, but it does mean prices are rock bottom.
There’s no point in prevaricating here with some scene setter about the plight of the US car industry; we do that elsewhere in the supplement. Instead, let’s get the facts out in the open: here is a muscular seven-seater that will take adults in all three rows, includes a host of features as options and officially retails at €27,995. Take a few minutes to bargain with the dealer and you could well be looking at one of the best bargains on the market in terms of metal for money.
It’s not that we’re for a moment suggesting this is a good car to drive. It’s adequate for what it is and it’s got a well-established – if slightly underpowered – 2-litre diesel engine pulling it along. The steering could be a lot more informative for our tastes and, if you happen upon more challenging country roads, most will find the ride too soft. Then again, it’s American and the feel – or lack thereof – is just what we’ve come to expect of cars from that continent.
So now you have the framework to properly consider that price again. Still impressed? We were. That was perhaps the greatest surprise to us and our car-loving colleagues. We were expecting to hate this. It was easy to trot out the usual lines about US cars and their failure to reflect European tastes. Designed with suburban Detroit in mind, the back roads of Meath and Louth were clearly not part of the research and development criteria.
Yet it doesn’t fail miserably on these roads to the extent of some similarly priced rivals. And the engine – though an ageing diesel import from Volkswagen – sill manages a very respectable 170g/km emissions level. That means an annual motor tax bill of €447.
For someone who needs a seven-seater of this size and can’t afford an Audi Q7, that’s not to be sneezed at. But compare what you would pay for an equivalently-sized economy model like the Korean Ssangyong Rodius. For a start, the Dodge makes some attempt to cloak its boxy nature. Little SUV touches and an expansive use of chrome give it some semblance of style. The Ssangyong, on the other hand, looks like the result of a particularly bad collision between a hatchback and a delivery van. The latter is €10,000 more and comes with annual motor tax of €1,050. Even the banking world can work this one out.
To further inveigle the Journey to us, the car comes with a host of standard features. Along with the usual array of safety equipment that includes traction and stability control systems, multiple airbags and child seat boosters built into the second row of seats, it also has tri-zonal air conditioning, which basically means the driver cannot be the dictator of the temperature in the entire car.
Mounted on the roof in the back, for example, are controls for the temperature in the rear. There’s also a six-changer radio/CD with decent sound quality and cruise control for motorway journeys.
Boot space is all important in cars like these and, admittedly, there are better cars when it comes to having all three rows occupied. You can get two suitcases in the boot standing up and there is quite a deep well under the regular floor where you can store valuable items or things that might roll around.
However, it’s not quite on a par with the likes of the Ford Galaxy or Renault Espace when it comes to load lugging with seven seats. That said, there are plenty of cubbyholes, including several built into the dashboard.
What it really lacks in terms of specification is a reversing sensor system. The sheer bulk of the car is not fully realised until you sit behind the wheel and try weaving it around a tight shopping centre car park. We managed it but the car was empty at the time. Add in a few screaming children and things are likely to get a lot trickier.
It doesn’t take a motoring hack to spot a potential limitation in the power offering either. With just two people on board, the engine pulls these two tonnes of US metal without much complaint, but loaded up it will struggle. Even the official 0-100km/h time of 11.4 seconds is rather flattering to this diesel engine, sourced from Volkswagen for European buyers. Of more annoyance, however, was the gearbox, which was loose and imprecise even in its gates and left you blindly searching for gears when slipped back to the no-man’s land of neutral. It’s a pity because it should not be that hard to get this right and really turn the Journey into a bit of an all-round star.
The upside, however, is an impressive fuel consumption figure that keeps emissions at a level that means road tax is not exorbitant. Lower-priced people carriers generally fall foul of emissions rules due to old powertrains but the Journey comes with a relatively clean diesel engine for its size.
Handling is as predictably bland as we expect from US cars these days, but then there are few of its rivals that are really any better.
The exceptions would be the Ford S-Max and the Opel Zafira, but neither really offers the sort of space offered by the Journey and certainly don’t come at a similar price.
This is Ford Mondeo money, but if you didn’t need the extra seats you wouldn’t be considering this in the first place – you’d be in your new Mondeo.
There are so many similarly-sized rivals that seem to be designed by people who think they know what a family with five children ought to desire in a car, but this car seems to have been created by someone who faces just such a family plight. Sorry, I mean joy.
We receive regular queries from readers seeking a seven-seater that’s neither boxy nor dull to drive. This is not the car of their dreams. It is, however, one that they can probably afford and will serve their needs well. Reality – even in the often dream world of motoring – has to be faced.
There might be obvious concerns about the long-term residuals of a car like this, whose brand might be in question amid the turmoil in the US car market.
However, residuals are never going to be strong on a seven-seat family car that starts at under €28,000.
In the midst of an ever-deepening recession and where driving pleasure has to be sacrificed for family practicality on a very limited budget, then this is probably the best deal in terms of people carriers on the Irish market at present.
Factfile
Engine:1968cc four- cylinder diesel putting out 138bhp @ 4,000rpm and 310Nm of torque @ 1,750rpm with six-speed manual transmission
Specification:traction control with ESP stability control and anti-roll mitigation system; hill start assist; driver and front passenger airbags; front side airbags; side curtain airbags – all rows; tyre pressure monitoring warning lights; 17" alloys; two integrated child booster seats; tri zone automatic temperature control; six-speaker radio with six-disc CD/DVD changer
Performance:0-100km/h – 11.6 secs; top speed – 188km/h
Consumption– l/100km (mpg): urban – 8.4 (33.6); extra-urban – 5.4 (52.3); combined – 6.5 (43.5)
CO2 emissions:170g/km
Tax:VRT – 28 per cent; motor tax – €447
Price:€27,995