At first thought, the small SUV seems like a nice upgrade. Your reservation was for a full-size car, but the lady at the counter offers you an upgrade to a small SUV at no additional cost. It seems like an easy choice. Sure, the Dodge Journey they’re giving you isn’t much of a looker, but it offers a much more spacious interior than whatever Japanese box they were going to give you. And big cars ride better, right? So this big boat should be smooth-as-butter on the road.

It should be, because the specs look good. The Journey is nearly as spacious as its cousin, the Grand Caravan, with enough room for seven passengers — so long as you stick the kiddos in the very back. And who doesn’t love a small SUV? Rav4s and Cx5s are as ubiquitous as the Salt Life stickers that will inevitably adorn their rear windshields. However, the Journey can hardly be called small. When viewed side-by-side with one of its aforementioned competitors, the Journey is noticeably bulkier; its third row does it no favors in this regard, as the Journey simply seems too long in comparison. It resembles a stretched-out station wagon more so than a traditional SUV. The body styling is not horrendous though, as the vehicle’s length is somewhat well hidden by its wagon-esque, sweeping roof line. Dodge’s typically aggressive styling of the front end won’t please everyone and is somewhat questionable given the utility of the vehicle, but it fits well within the company’s design standard.

The design of the interior is also questionable in some aspects, which is mostly reflective of a dated design which has been kept around far too long. The middle row of seats, for instance, is manually operated by pulling a lever which folds the seat forwards and theoretically allows the seat to slide freely along the seat rail underneath. Unfortunately there are a few problems with this system. Besides the fact that there is hardly any space created when the seat is pulled fully forward, actually moving the seat along the rail is much more difficult than it should be. When compared to competing three-row SUVs, like the Ford Explorer or Nissan Rogue, which have middle rows that flip forward neatly with the pull of a lever, the Journey’s design seems antiquated.

Though, antiquation could almost be considered the theme of the Journey’s design. While some of my customers are regaled by the radio’s touchscreen controls and unique climate system, the features are fool’s gold in terms of functionality. For instance, the four-inch touchscreen found in most of the Journeys in our fleet is less than impressive after seeing what other companies offer. And the climate control system, with its dual controls and big plastic adjustment knob, turns out to be more trouble than it’s worth, as the unintuitive design leaves one wishing for a simpler layout. Despite a wealth of buttons and knobs littering the dash, the system still requires the user to use the climate menu on the touchscreen in order to perform most of the basic functions, such as choosing which vents to activate. However, in a touch of generosity Dodge has provided the rear passengers with their own, much simpler, climate controls which sit centered along the headliner just above the middle row of seats. It’s a sentiment which seems to be reflective of the Journey’s ultimate utility as a passenger vehicle, because it surely cannot be mistaken for one meant for serious driving.

Of course most people wouldn’t expect much in the way of performance from the hulking, seven-passenger Journey, but it really isn’t that bad. The Journey even has a V6 option. Chrysler’s ubiquitous Pentastar V6 engine puts out plenty of power for the somewhat unexpectedly light vehicle, but good luck getting that V6 in your rental. It’s almost guaranteed that your Journey rental will be equipped with Chrysler’s anemic 2.4 liter inline-four engine. The little four-banger is honestly just enough power for the Journey and it makes its presence known upon acceleration with a fair amount of noise hissing from the engine bay. While Dodge’s badging of its V6 options as GT or Road-and-Track (R/T) vehicles is laughable, it is certainly an upgrade from the base four-cylinder option, which makes the Journey driving experience more akin to its brother, the Grand Caravan, than that of the smaller sport utility vehicles it aspires toward.

While Dodge’s propensity for offering high-powered engine options throughout their lineup can be charming, it is also mind boggling at times. Sure, the introduction of the Hellcat vehicles was about the coolest, quirkiest thing a major American car company has done in years. But how much is the extra boost in horsepower covering for a deficiency in the base product? If the Journey’s utility lies in its ability to carry 7 passengers while remaining lighter and more nimble than most vehicles of that class, it’s perplexing that such a large power disparity would exist between the only two engine configurations that are offered. It reminds me of modern video game releases in that one must choose to purchase either a base-level product or the premium version of the same game, which undoubtedly includes a number of features that are absent from the basic version. However, one could make a reasoned cost-benefit analysis of the features gained or lost based on a game’s version without much trouble. Because the information is easy to process as a list of concrete features, it is easy to make an informed decision based on how one wants to experience the game. Contrarily, it is inherently troublesome to weigh the benefits of performance versus price in a vehicle like the Journey. While the overall utility of the vehicle is based on being a low-cost people mover, the options offered fall more in line with that of a higher-end SUV.  It would be simpler if the powertrain options were streamlined à la the Grand Caravan: one engine option with your choice between a few interior trims levels. Because anything else on an economy-type vehicle seems over-complicated and ostentatious.

While the Journey isn’t the worst rental vehicle I’ve seen, there are few things it does truly well. It does ride fine on the interstate once you can get it up to speed. It is also just as spacious as it looks, being that there is plenty of cargo space in the rear once all of the seats have been folded flat. On the other hand, there are so many things that irk me about the big beast. For one, the Journey really is big — it sticks out from other SUVs on the rental lot. It looks ponderous and slow in comparison with its competitors. In addition, much of the trouble with the Journey, such as the ease of moving around the middle seats and operating the climate controls, could have been easily avoided through better design. Furthermore, I’m just not sure to whom Dodge is marketing the higher trim levels of the Journey; all the money that could put towards the premium interior and V6 engine options would be better spent elsewhere, especially considering that the Journey is supposed to be the economical choice among small SUVs. Purported to be a functional, budget-priced people mover, the Journey is really just an disappointing mishmash of bad design and underwhelming performance.