On Tuesday, September 16, 2025, at approximately 1:30 PM, the driver’s side headrest, part of my 2013 Dodge Journey’s AHR (Active Head Restraint) system suddenly exploded for no apparent reason. I was alone in the vehicle, waiting to make a left turn. The sudden loud, sharp sound and impact to the back of my head startled and stunned me; I felt as if I had been rear ended. I looked back but there was no one behind me. Not knowing what had happened, I felt scared and light headed. I was still able to complete my turn but I pulled over to compose myself and ensure that I was okay. I didn’t become aware of the failure of the headrest until I returned home and my husband inspected the vehicle. As I write this incident report 24 hours after it occurred, I am experiencing soreness and discomfort in my neck and plan to seek a medical assessment. The vehicle is available for inspection until repairs are made. The manufacturer acknowledges that the sudden failure of this component is a defect for this vehicle but as yet it has not been the subject of a recall. No inspection of the head rest component by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure.
2013 Dodge Journey seats problems
58 complaints (16% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 94,271.
- owner complaints
- 58
- of this car's complaints
- 16%
- typical mileage
- 94,271
- crashes
- 0
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
- Front assembly: head restraint4
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
Dodge Journey seats problems in other years
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Related investigations
Active Head Rest Inadvertent Deployment
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE19014 on September 9, 2019, to investigate 128 consumer complaints alleging that the Active Head Rest (AHR) inadvertently deployed without the occurrence of a crash or other rear impact event in model year (MY) 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango vehicles.When ODI opened the investigation, ODI was aware of thirteen alleged injuries.A small number of Early Warning Reports identified driver and/or passenger front seat AHR inadvertent deployments without a rear impact event.Reported safety consequences resulting from the AHR deployments include concussions, headaches, soft tissue injuries, disorientation, nausea, vomiting and/or loss of vehicle control as a result of being surprised and distracted by being struck in the head by the inadvertent AHR deployment. On September 24, 2019, ODI sent an Information Request (IR) letter to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA).ODI requested certain detailed information from FCA related to the following subject vehicles: MY 2010-2014 Dodge Avenger 200, MY 2010-2014 Dodge Calber, MY 2010-2014 Chrysler Sebring, MY 2013-2015 Ram Tradesman, MY 2012 Ram Van, MY 2010-2019 Dodge Grand Caravan, MY 2010-2016 Chrysler Town and Country, MY 2010-2017 Jeep Compass, MY 2011-2020 Dodge Durango, MY 2011-2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee, MY 2010-2019 Dodge Journey, MY 2010-2012 Jeep Liberty, MY 2010-2011 Jeep Nitro, and MY 2010-2011 Jeep Patriot vehicles.On December 2, 2019, ODI received a response from FCA that included vehicle production data, consumer complaints, field reports, warranty claims, manufacturer actions, production changes, and other data related to the alleged defect from the start of production (2010) through September 24, 2019.On January 27, 2020, ODI received an update to the December 2, 2019, IR response from FCA.On September 22, 2020, ODI requested additional subject vehicle AHR information from FCA.ODI received FCA's response on October 21, 2020.ODI subsequently received an update to FCA's October 21, 2020, response on February 16, 2021.During the investigation, ODI requested updates to certain IR questions on two occasions.FCA provided updates to question #2 on March 5, 2021, and questions #2 and #5 on May 26, 2023. FCA’s IR response data identified approximately 7.5 million subject vehicles (with approximately 15 million AHR assemblies).Due to the large number of vehicles and failure reports, ODI focused its analysis on the FCA vehicle model with the highest failure rate to represent the worst-case scenario.For this purpose, ODI focused on MY 2012-2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles for its analysis.This population includes 710,890 vehicles that FCA manufactured between August 19, 2011, and August 8, 2015.ODI identified 2,839 alleged AHR failures within this limited population.ODI identified 263 alleged injuries that were caused by AHR failures in MY 2012-2015 Grand Cherokees vehicles.Of these alleged injuries, ODI categorized them as eighty-two (82) soft tissue (neck/whiplash, bruise) injuries, four (4) concussions, fifty-nine (59) headaches, and one hundred eighteen (118) without a specific injury description.Although complainants have alleged injuries, ODI has been unable to obtain evidence to substantiate or validate any injuries where medical treatment was required.Consumer outreach was conducted by ODI, where sixty-three (63) FCA complainants with alleged injuries were contacted.Twelve of the sixty-three FCA consumers responded and were interviewed by ODI.ODI requested medical records, however, only one response was provided. Attorneys representing the responding complainant provided a synopsis that indicated they had experienced prior neck-related injuries dating to the mid-1990s.ODI also contacted one hundred (100) consumers who submitted Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQ) in an attempt to validate alleged injuries. Despite the efforts of ODI, the office has been unsuccessful at obtaining substantive documentation/evidence supporting complaints that allege serious injuries (where pre-existing medical conditions did not already exist). In addition to the low severity of alleged injuries caused by AHR deployments, there have been eleven alleged crashes and two alleged lane departures within the entire subject vehicle population that has been in the field up to sixteen years (with over 8,500 AHR inadvertent deployments).ODI was not able to validate that the alleged crashes were the result of inadvertent head rest deployments, and the crashes were minor in nature. ODI has conducted a thorough investigation of the alleged safety defect and with up to sixteen years of exposure for some vehicles and over 8,500 inadvertent AHR deployments, no serious crashes or injuries could be validated in the sub-population of focus.The lack of serious injuries validated by ODI with such large period of field exposure is consistent with thework done by the federal safety agency’s Human Injury Research Division and the Biodynamic Research Corporation, which support that an inadvertent AHR deployment is not likely to cause serious injury.In addition to the low risk of injury, FCA released an extended warranty program that covers inadvertent AHR deployment for ten years / unlimited mileage from the vehicle's in-service date. PE19014 is closed with the FCA extended warranty program.The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exist, and the Agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by new circumstances. To review a complete closing summary, please the attached closing report. To review the ODI reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to
PE19014
What 2013 Dodge Journey owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
My headrest randomly deployed/opened. I have contacted the dealership, and spoke directly, with Dodge; still no success. I have been trying to get this issue fixed for over a year; I still have a broken headrest that hurts my neck and makes it uncomfortable to drive. Please RECALL the headrest for 2013 Dodge Journey! This is my second form and NOTHING has been done yet!!
The driver side seat headrest cushion deployed automatically. There was no car collision. I noticed the seat headrest deployed after returning to the car hours later. I liked into the interior back side of the cushion part and I saw broken pieces inside.
We were going thru the park we did not hit anything nor where we going fast we were only going 14/15 mph . I was sitting in the pasenger seat and all of a sudden we heard what sounded like a loud pop and my head was hit by the head rest for no reason . We were not in an accident or anthing to cause it to just all of a sudden deploy.
As I was driving to pick my son up from work at 10pm, I started to drive my 2013 dodge journey sxt and noticed my head position didn't feel right. I got to my sons job and as we were making our way to the gas station to get gas before we headed home my headrest hit me in the back of the head randomly. The active headrest sprung forward hitting me in the back of the head. Luckily I was not driving at that moment or it could have caused me to crash, being that it was night time and raining. I got home where I could get my flash light out and give it a good looking over and realized that it the clips on the inside of the active headrest broke. I tried to reset the headrest to dee if there was some other mechanism that would let it re-clip back in place and it just keeps springing forward. I have not taken it to get it looked at yet as I am writing you on the same night of the incident. I tool a picture of the headrest in it sprung forward state. I have also read alot of reviews on cargurus website about other dodge journey owners having the same issues. Over 20 complaints regarding this same issue. There were jo warning signs other than me noticing my head position felt strange before the headrest completely sprung forward.
The contact owns a 2013 Dodge Journey. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the contact heard a loud explosion and was struck in the back of the head. The vehicle was steered to the side of the road, and the contact observed that the driver's side headrest had unintendedly deployed. The vehicle was taken to the residence. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the headrest needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was then taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the headrest needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 78,000.
We were pulling out of a parking lot on to the road and the riverside head headrest “exploded” open. We have looked and seen that some weee recalled but ours was not apart of the recall.
There was no damage to my headrest when I parked my car on the evening of: June 29, 2024. On Sunday morning; June 30, 2024. When I entered my vehicle. I learned that the driver seat headrest; airbag deployed/busted open for no apparent reason. My children travel with me in this vehicle. This is very, very dangerous!
The contact owns a 2013 Dodge Journey. The contact stated while her husband was driving out of the driveway, the passenger's side headrest abruptly exploded. No injuries were reported. The contact related to the failure with the Extended Warranty Program: Active Head Restraint (AHR) Inadvertent Deployment- X88 Warranty Extension. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure; however, it was confirmed that the vehicle was no longer covered under the warranty extension. The contact received notification of the communication. The manufacturer referred the contact to the federal safety agency Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 180,000. The VIN was not available.
My headrest on my passenger seat employed during the night. My wife noticed it in the morning when she went to turn the car on for work. My safety or whoever would be sitting in the passenger could be compromised if the headrest would’ve went off while driving. We are worried now that our driver seat might activate for no apparent reason. That would put myself or anyone else on the road in danger.
Questions about the 2013 Dodge Journey seats
Does the 2013 Dodge Journey have seats problems?
Owners have filed 58 complaints about the seats of the 2013 Dodge Journey, 16% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 2013 Dodge Journey seats problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 94,271 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2013 Dodge Journey seats?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
What year does the Dodge Journey have bad seats?
The Dodge Journey model years with the most seats complaints are 2015 (90 complaints), 2013 (58 complaints) and 2014 (43 complaints).
Other 2013 Dodge Journey problems
Engine 77Brakes 74Electrical 73Driver assistance 48Airbags 44Transmission 29Steering 20Acceleration 10Fuel system 10Body 8Suspension 7Visibility 6Lights 5Seat belts 5Tires 3Wheels 2
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