6 Cars Similar to the Dodge Journey

Families who needed the roomy Dodge Journey lamented the manufacturer’s decision to cease production in 2020. The serviceable three-seat row budget SUV had provided young families with many children an affordable option for two decades.

The 2020 Dodge Journey offered wide appeal since it let you configure the second and third row of seats to provide added cargo space.

Although auto reviewers lamented its outdated style, parents enjoyed the many storage cubbies throughout the vehicle as well as the fold-down seats that let them haul long items like two by fours.

In its final year of availability, Dodge ditched the V-6 engine option, leaving every buyer with a four-cylinder 2.4-liter engine that generated just 172 horsepower.

Gas-powered SUVs aren’t known for getting the greatest gas mileage, but the Journey earns less than average miles per gallon – 19 mpg in the city and 25 mpg on the highway. That means it works well as a family car, but that’s about it.

Its price made it many families’ choice, since it remained affordable at $25,170. It never offered a bevy of safety features, such as the driver assistants today’s motorists have become accustomed to having.

The latest iteration of the Dodge Journey had just included a couple of driver assistants when Dodge ended the line. You can find alternatives to Dodge’s now-ended line.

Let us help you get started with a quick list of our favorites, starting with our top three, then providing the runners-ups.

Top Three Similar to Dodge Journey

1. Hyundai Tucson

Presumably, you want a vehicle that costs about the same as the Journey. Hyundai delivers that with the Tucson, which costs just $23,700 for the base model.

Since the Journey excelled in configurability and organization, the Tucson beats it in most categories, including mileage, cargo space, and safety features. It equals the Journey in materials quality and engine performance.

Why It’s Similar to the Journey?

This South Korean manufacturer offers a family-sized SUV with similar rounded rectangle styling. It also offers a four-cylinder engine, but it creates 161 horsepower and 150-pound feet of torque.

Its interior uses some of the same materials in design as the Journey. You can upgrade trim levels to trade plastic and synthetics for leather, but this increases the price.

Vehicle Design Observations

You lose the third row of seating, so the Tucson seats five. You gain more cargo space although no SUV offered the nifty cubbies that the Journey did, including two second-row seat in-floor storage compartments.

The Tucson offers a 31 square feet trunk with 61.9 square feet of space when you fold down the rear seat. Its little engine isn’t designed for drag racing, but for stodgily lugging kids from one after-school activity to the next.

It provides an improvement over the gas mileage of the Journey though since it earns 23 mpg in the city and 28 mpg on the highway.

Speed/Time for 0 to 60 miles per hour: 9.3 seconds

Horsepower: 161 hp

Torque: 150 lb. ft.

Base Model Cost: $23,700

Seating Capacity: Five

Fuel Efficiency: 23 mpg in the city and 28 mpg on the highway

Towing Capacity: 2,000 pounds

2. Mitsubishi Outlander Sport LE

Mitsubishi offers another option that comes close to the Dodge Journey in price, starting at a base price of $23,995. This Japan export nets you better gas mileage though.

Even with the rear seats folded down, you’ll get far fewer cubic feet of cargo space than with other SUVs. If the base model does not float your boat though, the manufacturer offers a versatile seven trims, for of which get you all-wheel drive. 

Why It’s Similar to the Journey?

The engine, transmission, and interior materials resemble that of the Journey. You’ll get similar horsepower and torque, so you get similar towing capacity.

Vehicle Design Observations

The Outlander Sport LE doesn’t seat the same as the Journey. You can only accommodate a family of five in it. You do gain a number of trim levels so you can create the SUV you really want.

You automatically get front-wheel drive, but you can change trims to get all-wheel drive. The massive gas tank lets you drive for 498 miles without a refill.

Speed/Time for 0 to 60 miles per hour: 7.7 seconds

Horsepower: 148 hp

Torque: 145 lb. ft.

Base Model Cost: $23,995

Seating Capacity: Five

Fuel Efficiency: 24 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the highway

Towing capacity: 3,500 pounds

3. Jeep Compass

Remember when US manufacturer Jeep only made expensive SUVs and the only SUVs? Times changed and now the venerable SUV manufacturer offers an affordable family SUV. The Compass costs about the same as Journey – just $23,895.

It gets Jeep-like mileage and offers less cargo space than the other alternatives. You lose the third-row of seats that the Journey provided. Choose from four trim levels to get the family Jeep you really need.

Why It’s Similar to the Journey?

Its tiny engine and less-than-average fuel efficiency make it similar to the Journey, as does its styling. That is where the similarity ends. This SUV provides only slightly better in-town mileage, earning 22 mpg in the city and 31 mpg on the highway.

Vehicle Design Observations

The Compass comes in an array of ten colors, including an orange and a red. You don’t have to stick with the typical grays and white or black because Jeep offers a rainbow. You can only seat five in this smaller SUV.

Its four-cylinder engine puts out 180 horsepower and 175-pound feet of torque. The six-speed shiftable automatic makes it easier to drive and gives the look of a manual.

You can tow 2,000 pounds with the Compass while hauling a 1,000 payload. It offers a small trunk of 27.2 square feet, but that grows to 54.7 square feet when you fold the rear seats down.

Speed/Time for 0 to 60 miles per hour: 8.6 seconds

Horsepower: 180 hp

Torque: 175 lb. ft.

Base Model Cost: $23,895

Seating Capacity: Five

Fuel Efficiency: 

Towing capacity: 2,000 pounds

Runners Up to the Top Three

If you didn’t find the SUV you need in the top three vehicle alternatives to the Dodge Journey, keep reading. We located other Dodge Journey alternatives, too.

4. Volkswagen Tiguan

You can try the Tiguan, paying only $26,295 for its base model. You will get seats for seven with this choice. It offers three seat rows. The engine compares to the others, but this vehicle drives more quietly than the others.

VW also includes numerous driver assistants that help make navigating in a larger vehicle easier. You may have a tough time nabbing one of these though since it currently ranks as the best-selling VW in the US.

It offers better interior materials and increased the number of features that come standard. This vehicle goes from 0 to 60 in 8.9 seconds, so your teen probably won’t beg for the keys to race it.

The Tiguan earns 23 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the highway. That makes it and the Outlander Sport LE the only affordable, seven-seater SUVs to earn at least 30 miles per gallon of gas.

5. Kia Sorento

The Kia entry hits so low on the list because it comes next to the furthest from the price of the Journey. Yes, it has three seat rows and yes, you can seat seven people in it, but at a cost of $29,390. That may place it about $5,000 above the price that some families find affordable.

The Sorento does provide a jaunty design and you can upgrade its engine to a 2.5-liter, four-cylinder. Choosing its hybrid option increases the price remarkably and it only offers 30 miles of electric driving. You could go electric for your commute.

Otherwise, the base model engine, a non-turbo 1.7-liter, four-cylinder engine, creates similar power as the others – 227 horsepower and 195-pound feet of torque.

The manufacturer offers an all-wheel-drive and a front-wheel-drive option. It earns 22 mpg in the city and 29 mpg on the highway. That makes the Sorento more suited to family vacations than the other affordable SUVs.

6. Ford Explorer

The American-made Ford costs about $10,000 more than the Dodge Journey. If the base model price of $33,745 doesn’t put you off, you can choose from five trim levels.

It does seat seven and offers many features in its base model that you would not get in most of the other entries. The base model uses a 2.3-liter engine of four cylinders. Choose from two drivetrains – rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive.

The only transmission is a ten-speed automatic. The Explorer SUV earns 21 mpg in the city and 28 mpg on the highway.

The tiny trunk provides just 18.2 cubic feet, but when you fold down the rear seats, you carve out a massive 87.8 cubic feet of space. You can haul lumber in this SUV with the seats folded or a family of seven with them upright.

Sources:

• Edmunds.com
• Carandriver.com
• Whichcarisrightforme.com
• Carbuzz.com/kia-sorento
• Carbuzz.com/7-seater-suv