Dodge Journey vs Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk: which is more reliable?

The Dodge Journey and the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk are level on the federal record — 74/100 against 77/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.

The record, side by side

Dodge Journey

74/100 mean
  • 10 model years scored
  • 2,843 owner complaints on record
  • about 28 complaints per year on the road
  • 41 recall campaigns, 20 safety-critical
  • best year 2020 (92/100) · worst 2015 (49/100)

Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk

77/100 mean
  • 4 model years scored
  • 1,116 owner complaints on record
  • about 38 complaints per year on the road
  • 0 recall campaigns, 0 safety-critical
  • best year 2021 (94/100) · worst 2018 (47/100)

Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.

Year by year: Journey against Grand Cherokee Trackhawk

The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.

YearJourneyGrand Cherokee Trackhawk Gap
2021—94 BUY—
202092 BUY87 BUY+5
201991 BUY80 BUY+11
201870 BUY47 AVOID+23
201785 BUY——
201665 CAUTION——
201549 AVOID——
201464 CAUTION——
201376 BUY——
201272 BUY——
201183 BUY——

What owners actually complain about

Dodge Journey

  • Electrical System — 711 complaints
  • Engine — 633 complaints
  • Service Brakes — 511 complaints

Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk

  • Electrical System — 385 complaints
  • Unknown Or Other — 296 complaints
  • Engine — 177 complaints

Both nameplates have Electrical System as their largest complaint group, so the choice between them is about how often, not about what.

Years to avoid on each

Dodge Journey — avoid: 2015.

Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk — avoid: 2018.

A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.

What each costs today

A recent used Dodge Journey prices at about $26,600 and a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk at about $31,600 — the Dodge Journey is roughly $5,000 less, and they return 21.0 against 13.0 MPG combined.

Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.

FAQ

Is the Dodge Journey or the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk more reliable?

On the NHTSA record the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk scores 77/100 against the Dodge Journey's 74/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.

Which Dodge Journey and Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk years should I avoid?

Dodge Journey: 2015. Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk: 2018. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.

What goes wrong on the Dodge Journey and the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk?

The largest complaint group on the Dodge Journey is Electrical System (711 complaints); on the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk it is Electrical System (385).

Is the Dodge Journey or the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk cheaper to own?

A recent used Dodge Journey prices at about $26,600 and a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk at about $31,600, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.

More head-to-heads