You all know by now that I favor older cars, but I do try to mix things up a little. It’s been a while since I showed you anything less than ten years old, so today that’s what we’re going to look at. These are both just ordinary boring-ass cars, but sometimes that’s exactly what is required.
I am never going to live down that typo I made yesterday, am I? Thirty-three liters, indeed. My wife proofreads for me, but she wouldn’t have caught that. Pete should have, though. Anyway, it doesn’t matter; that half-dead Lexus went over like a lead balloon. It was an easy win for the super-clean Cougar.
That last Cougar is a car I always forget about until I see one. It’s a nice-looking car, and from most reports it’s fun to drive. I’ve heard they can have electrical problems, but I’m a Chrysler fan, and I used to own an MG. Electrical stuff not working is business as usual. Besides, like most of you, I want nothing to do with some high school kid’s cast-off.
In some ways, it makes sense to stick with the newest car you can afford. Safety technology is always improving, even the stuff you can’t see, and age takes its toll on components no matter how many miles are on a car. Plus, the newer a car is, the more likely you’ll be able to find parts for it. So with that in mind, let’s jump forward a decade or two from our usual fare, and check out a couple of cars that haven’t even hit their tenth birthday yet.
2017 Dodge Journey SE – $4,000
Engine/drivetrain: 2.4-liter DOHC inline 4, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Killeen, TX
Odometer reading: 199,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Auto enthusiasts don’t typically think much of the Dodge Journey. It’s an almost ruthlessly dull car, designed to be practical, not fun. But fun isn’t what most folks are looking for in a car, and the general public welcomed the Journey with open arms. As a result, Dodge didn’t stop believin’ in it for twelve model years. And even though Dodge and the Journey model went their separate ways in 2020, somehow seventeen of them were sold new last year. Do you wonder who’s cryin’ now? My guess is the seventeen people who bought brand-new five-year-old cars instead of just getting a cheap used one like this.
You could get the Journey any way you wanted it – except with a manual transmission. A couple of V6s and all-wheel drive were available, but the base engine throughout the Journey’s run was a 2.4-liter four-cylinder and Chrysler’s four-speed Ultradrive transmission. The Ultradrive had a lot of problems early on, but by this point it was serving faithfully. This one is closing in on 200,000 miles, but it still runs fine, and the dashboard shows a refreshing lack of lights. (All right, I don’t think I can work in any more Journey puns.)
The Journey is a full-on three-row SUV, and all three rows of seats in this one are in decent shape. This is the basic SE model, but it still has all the comfort and convenience stuff you want; one advantage of shopping for modern cars is all that stuff is standard now, so you don’t have to look for cars with particular options. The seller lists all the features, but fails to mention how many of them still work. Better try everything out so you know.
It’s in good shape outside. It’s about the dullest-looking car on the road. It occurs to me that if you’re looking for a getaway car, however, this could be just the thing. So maybe a Dodge Journey could be exciting after all, just indirectly. (Hypothetically, of course.)
2017 Hyundai Accent – $3,950
Engine/drivetrain:1.6-liter DOHC inline 4, six-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Mesquite, TX
Odometer reading: 128,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
I actually had to check and see if the Hyundai Accent was still being sold in the US. That’s how little I think about this car. It is not, for the record; 2022 was the last model year. And the hatchback version of this generation wasn’t sold in the US at all. All you could get was this four-door sedan.
Only one engine was available in the Accent in the US: Hyundai’s 1.6-liter Gamma inline four. Both manual and automatic transmissions were available, with six forward gears either way. This one has the automatic, as I imagine nearly all of them did. It has 128,000 miles on it, and the seller says it has “no problems.” But that’s all they say. Brevity is the soul of … something, I guess.
Most of the interior looks all right, but there’s a weird stain on the passenger’s seat that’s a little disturbing. I can’t tell you much more about it, because the seller barely has anything to say at all. It’s pretty fancy for an Accent; there are phone buttons on the steering wheel, so it has Bluetooth connectivity, at least. I remember when power windows on an Accent was living high on the hog.
It’s in good condition outside, but I still don’t understand what US buyers have against small cars with hatchbacks. Sedans are just so much less practical. Maybe that’s why crossovers have caught on; they’re hatchbacks, but they’re OK because they’re “tough.”
Well, those of you who wanted more modern cars, I hope you like one of these. It’s not easy to find cars this new in our typical price range. These are about as exciting as they get. But either one would do nicely as basic transportation, and that’s what the vast majority of car shoppers are looking for anyway. I’ll just have to do old and weird cars tomorrow to balance the scales. In the meantime, which one of these would do you better as a beater?
…I’d rather walk
As a former Journey owner, I can attest that it was a very solid car. Good ride quality, GREAT interior after 2011 (seriously, it was far and away better than any of the best-sellers in the segment in that period), as well as the most useful & versatile interior this side of a minivan.
My 2012 never developed any squeaks or rattles, and the Pentastar gave it plenty of power. I guess the 62TE transmission was mediocre, but at least it was reliable.
And OK, so maybe a not-insignificant number of Journey shoppers were there because they got a good subprime deal, but I can pretty much guarantee that once they got their car, they were happy with it.
I voted Journey, I like mine well enough, though mine is a prefacelift first model year two row fwd V6 R/T. Here’s some facts;
● Base models, like the one above, got halogen taillights for most of the production run, higher trims got LEDs. Four cylinders also only got one tailpipe.
● The hatch is made of fiberglass.
● It has three hidden cargo areas, two in second row floor, one under the passenger seat cushion.
● The front passenger seat can fold flat for longer cargo, just like the Toyota Matrix.
● Obliged to note the poor battery placement in the bumper, in front of the driver side wheel. Mine died and then rounded one of my lugnuts off so a simple battery change turned into a whole ordeal.
● The platform is Mitsubishi related and is probably the last collaboration they had. Some variation lives on under the Outlander Sport.
● I personally like the suspension tuning on the R/T (later GT) trim. Feels just right for the roads around me and my driving style. Less body than you’d expect. I have to replace my struts and swaybar links soon though.
* incandescent taillights, not halogen. Halogen incandescent is its own thing. Retrofitting halogen reverse light bulbs is a great hack tho.
My bad, thought I was mixing them up, should’ve double checked.
The Accent looks like the less-used-up of the two, but what the heck happened to the adjusters on its center air vents?
the best thiung about the Journey is the underseat storage compartment
The second row in floor storage compartments aren’t bad either.
While ill commend the journey of this vintage can take a serious beatdown and keep going with no maintenance, as oer numerous ones around here, this one is near its t.o.d.
Ill happily take the hyundai, as i own an older one and it keeps on sluggin on, the gamma engines were largely fine other than some oil burning issues.
Bummer its an auto, but least it has two more gears compared to mine.
Wasn’t the Gamma engine just Hyundai’s version of the World Engine equipped in this Journey? Co-developed by Chrysler, Hyundai, and Mitsubishi.
People crapped on Chrysler’s World Engine for its entire existence, but one thing I never heard about any of the World Engine variants was that they were unreliable in any significant way. Poor NVH? Sure, but at least it’ll sound like crap for a very long time.
Afaik, the gamma was more the replacement for the alpha and beta engines, where to the world engine was its own thing.
They were definitely a robust lil dude for sure, hell even the ultradrive was decent if cared for somewhat.
Ive seen the CHM engine thunder along barely alive longer than some of mopars other duds, but it seemed to share a trait with all three companies, it burned and leaked oil, lol.
“Electrical stuff not working is business as usual.”
Yeah, I mean all anyone needs for that is “replacement smoke” ha ha!
Journey! I want to go on a…journey w/ this Journey while blasting Journey: Don’t Stop Believin’…
I absolutely loved all the puns.
“refreshing lack of lights”
“When the lights go down in the city…
and the sun shines on the bay”
I can also use it to…”Live in a van, DOWN BY THE RIVER!”
Too bad it’s…white. At this point w/ all the greyscale, white is not even a color to me- it’s the absence of color and is so boring…just like both of these, w/ automatics. They are both still “Shitboxes” too so they fit the “Showdown”
Yeah, I don’t want any Hyundai (or Kia), even the newer ones…they are all total trash to me just like their awful stealerships.
Journey is one of my favorite bands ever; what’s funny is that they clash w/ what I love most: Most kinds of heavy metal and hard rock.
My wife and I actually saw Journey this year and it was awesome besides the fact that Jonathan Cain is a dipshit. Arnel is amazing, but to me, Steve Perry still has one of best voices of anyone ever. Of course, Neal Schon was fantastic and a totally awesome talented legend on guitar. Journey is actually the 25th most successful band ever, selling 75 million albums. Don’t Stop Believin’ was actually recognized a couple years ago as being the “biggest song of all time”
https://journeymusic.com/blogs/news/journey-s-don-t-stop-believin-recognized-by-forbes-as-officially-the-biggest-song-of-all-time?srsltid=AfmBOoqBnRpTkNqeKr-1yiStnROK22vCzOSYFBPniwHTvSj19jLWGsD-
Man, I f-in hate that song
The Jouney sold by a scrap yard? There isn’t Any Way I Want It, we can go our Separate Ways.
Texas tint accent on the Accent won’t fly here and I wouldn’t want to spend the money and effort to fix it, so I’ll ride a bicycle. But thats not the rules so I’ll go Accent over the Arnel Pineda era Journey.
An awful lot of disdain in this thread for two of the cleaner-looking and rather reasonable pieces of transportation shown here for a while. What gives?
Accent. I don’t hate the Journey but I get the feeling that someone took care of the Accent, despite the seat stain. This is why only water is allowed in my cars.
I don’t need a 7 seat Altima thank you. Kesha era Hyundai by a long shot.
The party’s over, Hyundai for me. When I need to escape, I can’t trust the Dodge to keep on running.
I’d take the Hyundai any day over that pathetic 7-passenger penalty box.
Forced to buy, the Hyundai. It will surely be more enjoyable to drive than a Journey. With exactly zero kids, I don’t need the bulk.
Again, neither of these does anything for me, but I’ll play along anyway. Journeys always strike me (unfairly or otherwise) as bottom-of-the-barrel automobilia… just something that looks sort of like a SUV but is as cheap as humanly possible. Plus: Chrysler. 🙁
Not that I’ve ever lusted for an Accent, and yes, Hyundia/Kia have had their share of issues/flaws/stinkers over the years, but this is probably a safer bet longrunwise, especially if you plan/need to actually drive it on the daily for a while.
But first thing I’d have to do after buying it is take it someplace for the most intense/invasive interior detailing possible, and then later burn the pants I was wearing when I drove it there.
I just nearly yawned to death. The one with less miles, I guess.
The Accent would be genuinely useful for me, I could use a small, easy to park commuter. I bet that thing gets 45 mpg all day. My GF had an 18 Elantra that could get into the 40’s on the highway.
I’d bet the stain is just someone spilling their coffee or whatever. I did that once myself, luckily, I had spill resistant seatcovers in my 4Runner so it didn’t sink into the cloth.
I seem to remember an Accent hatchback, maybe it was the previous generation. There was an Elantra hatch around this time, I think it was a separate model called the “GT” or “Touring” or something like that. It was a pretty good-looking car, too bad it isn’t still available.
Per the new Journey sales I’m guessing depending on price and if you got the warranty on it as a new car those 17 people might feel they got a hell of a deal. Well maybe a heck of a deal after all it is still a Journey. Okay maybe a darn fine deal.
After all these years you don’t want to stop believing
A Journey edition of the Journey with that scarab ship painted on the hood might get me to vote for it. The Hyundai is fine; I think I rented one of these once.
These two turds put the shit in shitbox showdown.