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?
Alright, I had a 2011 journey and it is a legit… car. It does what it needs to do and being in Killeen checks the box for being a potential (most were) 7 passenger vehicle for someone with bad credit and sold near a military installation or through aafes. It’s not flashy, it’s not fast, it’s an appliance that gets from point a-b and will accept an astonishing amount of neglect and ignored maintenance. And do so for the price of a late 90’s-early 00’s rav-4 or crv but with the safety of something from the early ‘10’s. For a cheap family car, this is just the better option.
And when something does break, they built eleventy billion and at least half of those are within spitting distance of a military base and a pick and pull that has what’s needed to fix them.
I trust the Hyundai Accent 19 times out of 20 in a collision here.
The Journey was an awful vehicle that was solely designed on a price-per-seat.
You’re right, they were price per seat, which is exactly what this is. The journey will be at least as reliable as the accent but with 2 extra seats, a bigger trunk when they are down, and will accept neglect like almost nothing aside from a Nissan will.
After you start growing your own family, and family grows with nephews and nieces you start to give value to have a car with more seats. That said, I voted the Journey because that would give something to haul kids and stuff, allowing me to have a main car that I want, not one that I need.
This is why I had one. Sold my 05 Tacoma access cab for one when my 2nd kid was born, purely because I needed to fit 2 car seats and, pretty regularly, my in laws.
I’ve had plenty of Journey rental cars over the years, and their practicality and low cost prevents me from hating them. However, the drivetrain on this one sucked when relatively new, and I can’t imagine 200,000 miles has done anything to improve it. The little Hyundai gets my vote.
I can’t help but think back to the discussion here, or maybe on another site, about cars that the worst drivers drive.
Both of these cars are on my list. I’d rather ride a freakin’ moped than be seen in either of these cars.
More than that, I wouldn’t trust either for any sort of reliability.
Hard pass on both. Give me a pair of Nikes or something.
Smaller is better today. And private seller compared to a dealer that is flipping an auction vehicle. Nothing against dealers but that Journey will end up being a $5k vehicle with all the fees before taxes. Accent it is today.
I detailed cars for 15 years, the seat stain on the Hyundai doesn’t scare me. Pretty much every car I detailed with cloth seats looked like that or worse. Neither one of these cars is going to be great to drive, so I went on mileage and size. Lower miles and my preference for small cars means it’s the Hyundai for me.
I’m guessing someone spilled their coffee or whatever on it. Seat covers are cheap.
While running your brights on rural roads is helpful, don’t forget that the lights go down in the city.
(I’m going to be earwormed with Journey songs all day long.)
Absolutely no way I’m reliving the Journey with that engine and transmission ever again, it’s beyond soulless and agonizingly boring.
I’ll take whatever the other option is, sight unseen even.
The Accent would definitely have to pass the smell test. If it did, a heavy duty cleaning of the seats and extreme attempt to amnesia what I saw when I bought it would be in order.
I would then put a little é on the badge and proceed to call it my Accént aigu in an over the top French accent until my French speaking spouse makes me stop.
The shape of the stain tells me that someone spilled their coffee, probably more than once. If the smell test comes up mocha, there you go.
If it comes up anything else, bleach your nose just in case.
Smell test? It’s not a bicycle seat.
You’ve put up a brand I swore to never own again…against another brand I swore to never own again!
Hmm. The milkiest milquetoast Hertz Special Journey vs. Have a Great First Year at College Accent. How do I choose?
Christ on a motorbike, I’d rather walk. Or steal the bike from Jesus.
On seeing the headline, I thought “Maybe a cheap enough Journey is enough to get me to say I’d go with it – it is awfully practical.” Then I saw the mileage and don’t really trust the 200k miles on the Journey. Plus there’s only one pic of the interior in the article and I can’t be bothered to look further to see what the inside of a Journey looks like, so it’s not selling me on its inherent practicality.
The Accent is in nice shape, relatively low miles, and seemed like an easy win, until I saw the weird stain. I’m sure it’s not as big a deal as it seems, but it sure makes me reconsider.
In the end, the mileage gap is big enough to give the Accent the win, but my real vote is probably neither, or a lower mileage Journey if I ever bother to look up the interior and see that it’s basically a wagon.
Looks like most of the lovin’ touchin’ and squeezin’ happened in the passenger seat of that Accent.
The Journey is clearly the safer bet here.
I’m voting for the dually pickup truck with the missing taillight.
Good job on the Journey puns. Have to go with the Hyundai, even though a strong Accent in Texas could lead to trouble nowadays.
Wasn’t the Journey born in South Detroit?
Nah, it was born in Toluca, Mexico. The Jeep Grand Cherokee was born in Detroit.
(yes, I had to be that guy this morning)
I don’t care if the wheel in the car keeps on turning, I’m going separate ways with the Journey. Yeah, it’s still running, and you could drive it anyway you want it, but when the lights go down in the city it is still a Dodge Journey.
I’ll take the KIA, even if I can’t figure out a Stone in Love reference.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Journey crest 200k miles before, not that I go looking.
Too many weird stains on that Accent, tho.
Offer 3k straight cash for the Journey, use the rest on an oil and fluids change and hope for the best. You should be more comfortable in that thing anyway.
The backseat of the Accent has some weird stains too. I’d say they left the sunroof open, but there isn’t one. Maybe I’m paranoid but I find that worrisome.
Keep up with maintenance on the Journey and maybe it’ll give you a year or two?
Don’t forget – To remove the battery on a Journey, you have to remove the front driver wheel and wheel liner. For that reason alone, Accent wins.
Why would you need to remove the battery? I have driven my current car for 25 years never had to take the battery out. Might as well say taking out the transmission on the accent is a hard job most people won’t be doing it.
Given everything else equal (boring, auto, AC works?) I go for the smaller vehicle. Offer $3k cash and I know someone will need a cheap transportation device at some point I can move it on to.
The Accent is a competent car, but I already have a manual hatch with a receding hairline as a DD, so I don’t need another city car.
The Journey could be a decent travelling device, I guess.
I mean, even if the Journey wasn’t a crossover, I still trust it to be less reliable than a Hyundai Accent. And that’s a reasonably clean Accent. The sweat stain can probably be steam cleaned. Main thing is that I’d have to lock it just in case it hasn’t been Kia-Boyz-proofed.
Reasonably clean accent? I lived in a fraternity in college and those brown stains scare me. It’s like they had 4 people in the car and someone played the brown note.
A 200k mile Dodge seems super questionable, but I just can’t with the Accent.
I know both models of cars well. I can keep pouring oil into the accent and the rest of the car will be solid, the Dodge everything will go bad.
That stain on the passenger seat?
It’s the accent mark.
Thank you! I’ll be here all week! Be sure to tip your servers.
Accent seats shout “I have 3 kids, none which is toilet trained yet.”
Not a Journey fan but not gonna deal with the other choice…