Suburban Dad: And the Vacation Winner Is...

After more than 2,500 miles, the votes are in and tabulated. My wife and I, along with our three kids, have finished our 15 days on the road, going from Chicago to Rochester, N.Y., then Gettysburg, Pa.; Washington, D.C.; Burlington, N.C.; and home again. We made the journey in four three-row SUVs, including a Ford Flex, Dodge Journey, Mazda CX-9 and Honda Pilot, and each was as idiosyncratic as my kids.

First, we'll take a look at the stats from our trip, which seems a lot longer on paper than it did in person:

• 2,706 miles over 15 days
• 50 hours (more or less) behind the wheel
• 145 gallons of gas
• $568.75 spent on gas
• Average gas mileage of 18.67 mpg (which, frankly, is higher than I expected)
• $3.49 a gallon was the cheapest gas price we saw (and paid) on our trip, and that was in Mechanicsburg, Pa.
• $4.39 a gallon was the highest gas price we saw (and didn't pay, though it wasn’t far from the cheapest gas around) in Washington, D.C.

Now, here’s how each of the cars fared in different categories:

Dodge Journey: Gas and Packing

OK, with Leg 2 of the four-leg vacation done, we’re halfway through the trip and have just finished up with the Dodge Journey. We didn’t drive nearly as far as we did in the Ford Flex, and, overall, fared a little better on mileage. Here’s the damage for Leg 2:

• We drove a total of 516 miles, split between 276 miles of mostly short trips and 240 miles of wide-open interstate driving.
• 12 hours (split over five days) with the wife and three kids
• We averaged 18.1 mpg in short-trip driving, 23.3 mpg in interstate driving and, through the power of math, 20.51 mpg overall
• Roughly 30 gallons of gas consumed
• Average cost of  $3.92 a gallon
• Total fuel cost of $119.26
• Highest gas price seen on this leg: $4.22 a gallon in Honeoye, N.Y. (south of Rochester).
• Lowest gas price: $3.49 a gallon in (of all places) Mechanicsburg, Pa. 

The Journey’s mileage was not terribly different from our first car, the Ford Flex. Some noticeable differences: The Journey accelerated much more quickly, drove like a lighter car (at least until I loaded it up), and it liked to coast at higher speeds than the Flex did.

Travel Tales: When Features Attack

Whenever I’ve got a new car and want to surprise the kids, I get them to try out one of the features that I think are cool in order to see what kind of reaction I get. This is a transcript of one of those moments. It may not be word-for-word, but it’s close.

Suburban Dad to 15-Year-Old: Hey, check out that latch on the floor by your feet.

15-Year-Old: I’m not kicking your seat.

The Wife, after looking back over her left shoulder: He’s not kicking your seat!

Suburban Dad: No, no, take a look at the latch on the floor by your feet.

15-Year-Old: Yeah, what about it?

Suburban Dad: Try lifting it up and see what’s underneath it!

15-Year-Old: Hold on. (Pause) Owww!

Suburban Dad: What’s the matter?

15-Year-Old: Leg cramp!

Suddenly, a painful throbbing noise fills the car. The left rear window has gone down, and because it’s the only window down, it’s creating a horrible pressure in all of our ears.

Whole Family: Aaahh! That hurts! What is that! Close that window!

15-Year-Old: I’m trying! 

(He finally gets window closed.)

15-Year-Old, laughing: When I laid down my arm on the armrest, the window opened up.

And… scene.

This is something to keep in mind if you get the Journey: the lock-windows button just behind the driver’s seat window switches may turn out to be your best friend. And don’t spring new features on kids while you’re driving.

The Suburban Dad's Vacation blogging

Dodge Journey: That's Entertainment!

When you leave one car and get into another, it’s impossible to not judge the second one against the first. In the case of a 2009 Dodge Journey on the heels of a 2009 Ford Flex, that’s a bit of an unfair comparison: The Flex is larger, has more options and just feels more affluent. Of course, that’s because it is. It costs roughly 10 grand more than the Journey.

Entertainment is a key concern when you’re on the road for as long as we’ve been on this vacation. The Journey’s system helped keep everyone entertained, but not quite in the way I’d hoped — my kids were amused with my inability to handle the Journey’s joystick-managed nav system. If we’ve said it once at Cars.com, we’ve said it a million times: No more joysticks with nav systems! We definitely prefer the touch-screen approach, and I’m personally very much in love with the Flex’s voice-activated nav system, despite the flaws that come with being a new system.

Dodge Journey Built-In Booster Seats Interest Mom

Leg 1 of our vacation is over. The Ford Flex has been picked up, and a brand-new 2009 Dodge Journey has taken its place. We don't hit the road for another day, but one feature has already gotten some attention.

One of the advantages of testing cars while on a family vacation is that you can tap into the different life situations of your relatives, in my case my in-laws. I asked one of my wife's cousins, who has three kids (7, 5 and 3) to take a look at the just-dropped-off Dodge Journey's built-in booster seats.

This cousin spends a lot of her driving time carrying around booster seats, switching them from car to car when necessary, trying to remember them when she needs to, trying not to leave them behind when spending more than a day at one location.

She was impressed with the Journey's built-in boosters. "They're very easy to use," she noted, pulling on the strap and sliding the booster seat up and into place with only a motion or two. "This would be a lot easier than hauling around my boosters."

But she noticed something about the boosters that I hadn't: When the seat moves up and into position as a booster, the kid's legs dangle below that shelf — how much depends on how tall the child is. Those legs can then bang against a thinly covered edge; that worried my wife's cousin.

Cars.com Faceoff: 2009 Dodge Journey, 2009 Honda Pilot, 2008 Toyota Highlander

High gas prices are here at the same time almost every automaker is rolling out a highly visible crossover. While they get better fuel economy than truck-based SUVs, they’re no econobox. The editors at Cars.com took on two all-new models — the 2009 Dodge Journey and 2009 Honda Pilot — and pitted them against the 2008 Toyota Highlander, which was redesigned last year. These three models are strictly for families, and we decide which is the best and which is the best value. Check out the winner and let us know what you think of our decision in the comments below.

Cars.comparison: Kings of Suburbia

Recall Alert: 2009 Dodge Journey

This is not good news for Chrysler and its Dodge brand. Its most successful recent launch, the Dodge Journey crossover is being recalled due to a faulty wire harness that can lead to electrical malfunctions.

Chrysler is recalling 6,692 of the V-6 equipped 2009 Journey crossovers. The harness can rub against the transaxle mount, possibly leading to numerous electrical problems. The company says there have been no injuries or accidents reported related to the recall. If you own a four-cylinder version of the Journey, it is not part of the recall.

Owners will be notified as early as this month. Inspections and repairs will be conducted at no cost.

Chrysler recalls 6,692 Dodge Journeys (Reuters)

Cars.com Reviews the 2009 Dodge Journey

I had the tough task of reviewing Dodge’s new crossover, the 2009 Journey. Why was it so hard? Well, for one, this thing crosses over a lot of segments for a single vehicle. Due to its low introductory price and available third row, it can compete with everything from a Chevy Equinox to a Toyota Highlander. There was a lot to like about the Journey, but I also had quite a few gripes, too. Check out the full review with video to find out more about Dodge’s all-new Journey.

2009 Dodge Journey Expert Review

Best Cash-Back Finds: 4.25.08

Cars.com launched its new, comprehensive rebate and incentives page earlier this month, but just having the raw figures isn’t always enough. Often there are some real gems getting a significant amount of money off that aren’t heavily advertised or thought about. This time out we’ve found some interesting deals on a pair of luxury nameplates, a brand-new model and a fuel-sipping compact. 

2009 Dodge Journey
MSRP: $19,360
Cash back: $1,000
Percent off MSRP: 5.2%    
Expires: 4/30
5-Year Ownership Costs

The new Dodge Journey was just released, and Dodge is hoping that by offering a small incentive, $1,000, folks will be more inclined to give it a shot. That’s because the Journey competes with the popular Ford Edge and Hyundai Santa Fe when equipped with two rows of seats, or the Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander when equipped with the optional third row. Still, the Journey’s starting MSRP is significantly less than the competition, even before the $1,000 cash back.

Dodge's Largest Web Campaign Launches New Journey

Dodge is allocating nearly a third of its advertising dollars for the new Dodge Journey compact SUV to the interwebs. Starting today, web surfers will be bombarded with advertisements spouting the new tagline “If you can dream it, do it.” Sounds like someone is mixing MLK and Michael Jordan metaphors, but we’ve heard much worse.

The idea is that the Journey is so functional it can do just about anything. We’re not sure how much different the Journey is compared to others in its segment, but perhaps homepage takeovers of AOL (today), Yahoo! (Friday) and MSN (Saturday) will tell us.

The rest of the advertising pie is heading to traditional media, like TV and print, along with hands-on efforts across the country, including three NASCAR races. The Journey went on sale quietly last month and sold nearly as well as the full-size Durango. And that was before a major ad blitz.

More Dodge Journey News (KickingTires)