My dear friends and colleagues Jason Torchinsky and David Tracy made a (misguided) attempt to redeem the Dodge Journey today. The comments to that story are fun, but I found some realtalk too.
It turns out that a lot more Jalopnik readers have opinions about the Dodge Journey than I might have expected. Plenty of you astutely observed that it’s a soul sucking chamber of misery in which to spend your commuting hours, but there was also a large contingent of people defending it as cheap, basic transportation.
There’s nothing wrong with looking for an inexpensive car, and, there are plenty of new-car platforms that are old but also good. But Makoyouidiot made a strong case for why you should look long and hard at what you’re buying, particularly by pointing out that “new” does not necessarily equal “safe.”
I have to say I agree here–even if you don’t care about cars, one thing you probably do care about is your own safety. And it’s worth doing a little research to see if maybe a few-years-old used car could potentially perform a lot better in a crash than a new car on old architecture.
On that downer of a note, have a fun and safe weekend!