Poll: Dodge Journey or Hyundai Santa Fe?
Which crossover would YOU rather own, the value-focused Dodge Journey or Hyundai’s popular Santa Fe? Vote in our latest poll!
Crossovers are all the rage; it seems every manufacturer offers at least half a dozen of these car-based utility vehicles. In any event, two options in this market-dominating segment are the Dodge Journey, an older offering, and the Hyundai Santa Fe. Let’s compare!
Age before beauty, we start with the Dodge. To be polite, this is an older product but it’s still surprisingly popular, probably because of its attractive base price. You can scoop one up for around 21 grand. Still, you probably don’t want the base powertrain, which consists of a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine and a four-speed automatic transmission.
The available Pentastar V6 is a much better option. Displacing 3.6-liters, it’s good for 283 horses and 260 lb-ft of torque. It’s paired with a self-shifting gearbox that brandishes six forward ratios, a much more acceptable number. Both front- and all-wheel drive is available. The Journey can also be had with three rows of seats.
As for the Hyundai, it’s motivate by just one engine, a 3.3-liter V6 that’s good for 290 horsepower and 252 lb-ft of peak torque. The only transmission offered is a six-speed automatic.
When it comes to standard features, the Santa Fe comes with goodies like 18-inch wheels, hill-start assist, a driver’s knee air bag, power-operated side-view mirrors and more. All-wheel drive is available at extra cost.
Hyundai has always been about value but the Santa Fe is much more richly appointed than the Dodge in this comparison and it shows on the window sticker. This crossover kicks off around $31,000, A LOT more than the Journey.
So, that’s a quick look at these two versatile vehicles, but which one do you prefer? Make sure to vote in our latest poll, though if you need more information feel free to compare the Santa Fe and Journey right here.
Born and raised in metro Detroit, Craig was steeped in mechanics from childhood. He feels as much at home with a wrench or welding gun in his hand as he does behind the wheel or in front of a camera. Putting his Bachelor's Degree in Journalism to good use, he's always pumping out videos, reviews, and features for AutoGuide.com. When the workday is over, he can be found out driving his fully restored 1936 Ford V8 sedan. Craig has covered the automotive industry full time for more than 10 years and is a member of the Automotive Press Association (APA) and Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA).
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The Dodge Journey has many quality issues that are not fixed even though it has been on the market for a long time. I incidentally got one as a rental car and the passenger seatbelt indicator would show up the dash as not connected while someone was sitting in the seat. Many small nit picky issues even with 3000 miles on the odometer shows that long term quality will be an issue and Consumer Reports reporting shows this. It's ashame that many people want to like this vehicle due its features but due to reliability, this car will stay back in a crowd of non recommended vehicles.
I had a rental SXT V6 FWD one with the 5" uConnect and it was a pretty terrible vehicle. It was SO slow for such a powerful engine, and the gearing was so long. 1st to 45 and 2nd to above 75. It felt cramped inside, too. The Santa Fe isn't the newest in the segment but it's clearly a lot better in almost everyway... better tech, materials, quality and value. I'd cross-shop a new journey with a used Santa Fe or other competition because of how rubbish the Journey is when compared to any of it's competition.