I can't believe I bought into the Wagoneer brand lie. Jeep service rant

[pnut]

I'm posting this rant in this forum because it seems like the best spot on this site, and because the viewership at the Wagoneer forum is, let's say, pretty much non existent.

Rewind to 2022. My wife falls in love with the Wagoneers, and after a few test drives, she settles on a Wagoneer Series III. We were told that Wagoneer was to be a premium/luxury offering and that there would be a significant increase in customer service, and dealership experience. More to come...

After 3 years and 30k miles, only 2 issues arose, not bad. First, the AM radio was removed during an OTA update. Second, the AC became weaker as time went on, and was really noticeable this summer. So we took it to the dealer before the warranty expired.

It was dropped off for an "appointment" at Ancira Jeep in San Antonio, on 8/13/25. Why there was an appointment, I don't know, as they said it wouldn't be looked at for days. I asked about a loaner and was told that they are few and far between, so no loaner...for a so called "premium" brand.

On 8/20/25 we went to pickup the Wagoneer. We were given the key. A service synopses, and no one to explain what they did. A service manger, Judd Villalobos, was nearby and he read the synopses to me and said that the AC was working adequately and required no service. I told him that I would not have brought it in if it was working as well as it did when it was newer. He said his tech checked it and it was good. I asked if they checked the charge level with gauges, and he said they did. I asked if they checked the operation of the compressor clutch, and he told me newer vehicles don't have compressor clutches (LIE!). He told me that he did what "they" (Stellantis) would allow. I asked if I was a paying customer if the outcome would be different, and he said yes, that the dealer would would do more to determine the cause. In this case he did all that "they" would cover. He told me that a temperature output of 48 degrees in the shade is adequate, and that 68 degrees out of the vents on a 100 degree day is satisfactory. I said adequate is not optimal. I asked what he would do if it was his vehicle, and he admitted that he would have the root of the cause determined and fixed. He asked if I wanted to leave it and have it checked again. I asked if it would be any more in depth than what Stellantis allows, and he said it would not. I asked if it was tested outside, or on the road, and he said no.

So, this is where the post relates to Wranglers. It's no wonder service is so bad, when their service mangers don't have a basic understanding of the systems they are working on, and are not willing to do more than the bare minimum. There is no way in hell I would go back to that dealer for any kind of work for warranty, much less as a paying customer. This is the largest Jeep volume dealer in San Antonio, and part of the large Ancira dealership network.

So this leaves me wondering, do I even bother to buy another Jeep product again? Yeah, my Wrangler has been great, no issues in 5 years. And the Wagoneer has been mostly great, except for the AC issue. but man, do you get treated like garbage at the dealer. I've read the many posts here about it, but never had experienced it myself until now.

And yeah, I get that a lot of other makes are just as bad when it comes to warranty work, and service in general. But don't think for a second that there is any "premium" experience just because you have some with the Wagoneer name on it.

Does this make us want to get rid of the Wagoneer?, No, it will just go to a independent shop from now on. But, when it comes time for a new SUV for my wife, a Stellantis product will not be on the list.

Disappointing for sure. I will say I'm not at all surprised. My personal experience with dealer service departments (all of them) are horrifyingly under informed, over confident, cocky, and are there to get the maximum dollars out of your pocket. And no matter what you say, you are going to be wrong.

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[jimim]

We have a 24 carbide.

it took me about a year but I finally have the dealership trained on how to treat me when I bring our piece of crap wagoneer in every few months for a drained battery and then they swap out random parts that caused the battery drain. I show up. I wave the email I have from Jeep that says I get a loaner and if a loaner is not available a rental DAY OF. Do they hate me. Yah prob. But I don’t care. I have a 6 year extended warranty and we both know we are a married couple till said contract is up. So I keep bringing it in. They throw me in something. They say they will update me. I say I don’t give a shit. Just call me when it’s ready and keep my loaner running for when I come back. But it’s not just Jeep. These truck are all electronics anymore. If I dump it and go back to Chevy like I was at for 20 plus years of Tahoes it will be in and out with electrical crap.
It is what it is. And as I type I have to remember to drop it off again tonight. They are now swapping the top center console out. Whatever. Doesn’t cost me anything. I’ll drive a grand Cherokee around for a few days while my wife drives my wrangler.

wagoneer 1 year old. 8 plus trips in. Wrangler. 5 years 90k miles. 1 trip in.

 

[The Last Cowboy]

I do all of my own oil changes. Never used the free ones. My Wrangler has never been back to the dealer. The only reason I took it to the dealer is because the AC and infotainment are tied together in the CANbus system. At least they got the AM radio to work again. And yes, when traveling west of San Antonio, there isn't much else to listen to, except AM, unless you want to listen to the same loop over and over on SirusXM, which I gave up on due to repetition. I mostly use Spotify now, but in West Texas, cell coverage can be spotty, to non existent.

What Stellantis should do with the Wagoneer now is give it to Ram, and compete with Tahoes, which many still cost as much, or even a lot more, than ours did. But the Grand Wagoneer is a failure, and should be eliminated.

To answer a question above, the windows are tinted all around, but I will have a layer of heat rejecting film applied to the factory tint, and the front door tint replaced. Probably the glass roof panels too.

And I didn't even think of checking the cabin air filter, thanks for that suggestion.

The next thing I will check is the air gap on the compressor clutch. When I did that on my F150, it made a massive difference, allowing the clutch to engage quicker, with no slip. All I had to do is measure the gap, remove a shim, and check again. I believe the optimal gap is .15 to .30. The F150 was at .60 with a thick shim (washer). Removing it got me .17, and the AC has been great since.

The best experience we've has was with Lexus. They listen to the customer, ask clarifying questions, do proper diagnosis, and find the root of a problem. They also provide loaners for anything that requires an overnight, or longer stay, and will pick up, and drop off, for service.

 

[jimim]

Good straight answers. I think you have the right attitude. I wasn't questioning your wife's or your choices, more of a general comment that buying any Jeep, no matter how expensive (e.g. $100K+ Grand Wag or Wrangler 392) would never give you a premium experience. Buying a $45K BMW or Lexus will.

My Wrangler was $60K in 2021, my BMW was a bit over $70K in 2024, so about the same price. The difference in dealership experience is night and day. I go for an oil change and I say "I think I'll just wait in the dealer lounge and do some work, get some free coffee", and they say "nawh, take this new 5 series loaner, we want to take our time and do the oil change right, you will love the new interior". They I get a text message with the tech sending a video of my car's multipoint inspection summary, and another when it is ready to be picked up. Not a drip of oil anywhere.

My Jeep, after the "free" oil changes, I have to spend 1/2 hour and multiple car washes to clean up the mess of dripping oil. Loaners? "Have your heard or Uber"?, they say. LOL

I get a video when my jeeps are in for service. I find it actually kinda funny. It does make me aware that they actually did rotate tires so I dont have to mark em.

 

[entropy]

To answer another question, Jeep marketed these as a so called premium brand. There was supposed to be a customer experience similar to other premium brands, which never happened. I wish she would have stuck with Lexus GXs.

Sales people will tell you anything just to sell you the car. Once they sell it to you it isn't their problem anymore. Unless you see anything concrete, such as a "VIP room for Wagoneer owners", don't buy into it.

You'll go into the same little shitty room as the guy with the 15 year old patriot and get the exact same treatment. Maybe even worst because the patriot guy is paying out of pocket and you are in for warranty work.

The dealer service department is an independent business. They're there to service cars, overcharge, and collect cash. Be it a Wagoneer or a Renegade, it doesn't matter, they charge the same $ per hour to work on it. They make the same $.

If you want premium service, find a premium mechanic.

I understand your frustration though. Stellantis is not a well manage corporation. I wouldn't buy anything but a wrangler from them and that's about it.

 

[VKSheridan]

Joe, the job of the Service Manager is not to be the best technician in the shop but rather the best admin of the Service Department so go easy on the guy. Even at that, he might not be as dumb as you’re thinking:

Some Jeeps use a variable displacement compressor which adjusts the amount of Freon cycled through the system versus just turning off or on with a clutch. It is extremely likely your wife’s Wagoneer has a clutchless variable displacement compressor. Compressors of this design work much better than clutched “off/on” compressors when tasked to regulate cabin temperatures with multi-zone climate controls.

When your Jeep was new, the cabin filter had no restrictions and more importantly, the condenser wasn’t restricted with Texas june bugs. Three years of accumulation will indeed reduce air conditioner efficiency, especially with variable displacement Freon compressors.

Stellantis will not pay the dealership to perform maintenance tasks under warranty like wash out the condenser or inspect the air filter.

My feedback is thoroughly wash out your condenser, change your cabin air filter and see if things improve.

If cleaning fixes your issue, cool. If not, there’s one more thing you can check before you take it back to a dealer.

To get and hold a set temperature at the duct, your Wagoneer uses what’s called a “blend door actuator“ which basically allows the A/C and the heater to ”blend” air at varying amounts to get the combined output to the temperature you’ve set in the climate control screen. If that actuator is bleeding heated air, your ducts will never get cold enough.

A quick way to check is see if the duct temperature increases with just the fan running (no heat or cold commanded). If the duct is getting warmer instead of just staying at ambient, your blend door might be the cause of your angst, not your A/C system. The typical failure indicator is you’ll hear a clicking as the actuator tries to move a decoupled, stripped or stuck blend door.

 

[JWAustinVTX]

If you're looking at a true full size (I'm going thru this now), you have GM (Tahoe, Yukon, Escalade) and the Wagoneer. That's it. The others you mention are better, true, but smaller. The GM 6.2L V8s are being investigated by the NHTSA because they're blowing up left and right, so it's slim pickings.

Stellantis has zero good brands and I can't see how Jeep isn't eventually sold off or the company splits.
AR

You forgot Expedition and Navigator which can also be had in full size and extended length. Armada and Sequoia are also true full size

 

[jax501]

Service departments at Jeep/Dodge/Ram/Chrysler/Plymouth dealerships have been amongst the worst in the auto-industry for over 20 years.

The guy who brought a brand new Viper in for service (back in the day) was treated the same as me with my base model XJ. And neither of us were treated well.

We pulled in at the same time, so I was able to witness it first hand.

 

[rk911]

Well, maybe April (the owner) will call me after they read the Google review, which is essentially a cut and paste of my first post.

I really have no desire to go back. And that's sad to see what Stellantis has done to Jeep. But why should the dealers pass that on to their customers? My family has bought 3 Jeeps there, and we currently have 5 in total., two at my house alone.

This is why I will not return to the dealer for anything other than a
serious recall. I use a trusted independent shop for all service.

 

[NWJeepr]

. If I dump it and go back to Chevy like I was at for 20 plus years of Tahoes it will be in and out with electrical crap.

GM has been pretty solid on their full-size stuff. The 6.2's issues are a dark spot. Jeep feels a lot worse when it comes to electrical gremlins.

Service departments at Jeep/Dodge/Ram/Chrysler/Plymouth dealerships have been amongst the worst in the auto-industry for over 20 years.

The guy who brought a brand new Viper in for service (back in the day) was treated the same as me with my base model XJ. And neither of us were treated well.

We pulled in at the same time, so I was able to witness it first hand.

Service should be good whether buying a Viper or an XJ (or a Compass, Wagoneer). The difference is the actual luxury dealers have more margin/ability to make that happen as a uniform experience whether you're buying the entry level A3/A4 Audi, or an R8.

 

[TheRaven]

GM has been pretty solid on their full-size stuff. The 6.2's issues are a dark spot. Jeep feels a lot worse when it comes to electrical gremlins.

What I was going to say - had a lot of GM's...in fact I have two now. It's pretty rare they see the dealer (or any shop at all) but when they do it's almost always fixed right the first time. On the sales side I don't see GM dealers being any better, but on the service side GM dealers are far better than Stellantis.

 

[MayThe4x4BWU]

As soon as the Wagoneer "brand" was announced, I was cracking up at the thought of it being a "luxury" offering from Jeep.

Then Stellantis decided to sell it as a separate brand from Jeep itself and have dealerships build separate showrooms (similar to what Kia/Hyundai did with Genesis) to further push the idea that Wagoneer was its own thing in its own little world. I still remember how pissed some of the people at my small town dealer were when Stella was basically shoving this idea down their throat "If you build it, they will come" type of BS lol

Then Stella decides to scrap the separate brand idea and roll it all back into Jeep.

I'm not at all surprised by how things have turned out for that overpriced, overhyped Grand Cherokee in "disguise" brand

Sucks that you actually gave Jeep the benefit of the doubt and believed they would offer anything other than the low class basic experience that most people get when dealing with the Mopar makes.

The auto industry and its dealership networks are a piece of shit work in progress. Problem is, it's ALWAYS going to be a work in progress and be given the excuse to stay that way. And people who can't otherwise afford or have the good sense to not buy "elite" brands, will keep getting the shaft as long as the industry works the way it does.

 

[azjl#3]

This is a Wagoneer, not a Grand. It has a 5.7 Hemi. It’s built on a Ram 1500 platform. Like all other full size SUVs, it’s based on a half ton truck.

My wife wanted it. She can buy what she likes. She has no objection when I get what I want.

Yep, it’s lost a good chunk of value, but having a V8 is a plus, vs the 3.0 Hurricane.

And yes, from now one it will go to an independent shop. But, a fair chunk of the price, for any vehicle, is for issues that arise under warranty.

To answer another question, Jeep marketed these as a so called premium brand. There was supposed to be a customer experience similar to other premium brands, which never happened. I wish she would have stuck with Lexus GXs.

go to Lincoln, trade it in on an aviator, , never look back.

I was on a trip and commented when I saw they were "selling a "cherokee" for over $100,000, who would do that, go real luxury, because Mopar isn't".

 

[The Last Cowboy]

Comp Lincoln is a Navigator. I wont trade it, it’s paid for. Nothing wrong with it that can’t be fixed.

The issue was the service manager saying that if it wasn’t warranty work, they would have done more to make sure the AC was working well, rather than “adequate”.

I’ll never go back to a dealer unless a major component goes out in warranty, and then, if I need to, it won’t be to Ancira.

 

[alphawolff]

I'm posting this rant in this forum because it seems like the best spot on this site, and because the viewership at the Wagoneer forum is, let's say, pretty much non existent.

Rewind to 2022. My wife falls in love with the Wagoneers, and after a few test drives, she settles on a Wagoneer Series III. We were told that Wagoneer was to be a premium/luxury offering and that there would be a significant increase in customer service, and dealership experience. More to come...

After 3 years and 30k miles, only 2 issues arose, not bad. First, the AM radio was removed during an OTA update. Second, the AC became weaker as time went on, and was really noticeable this summer. So we took it to the dealer before the warranty expired.

It was dropped off for an "appointment" at Ancira Jeep in San Antonio, on 8/13/25. Why there was an appointment, I don't know, as they said it wouldn't be looked at for days. I asked about a loaner and was told that they are few and far between, so no loaner...for a so called "premium" brand.

On 8/20/25 we went to pickup the Wagoneer. We were given the key. A service synopses, and no one to explain what they did. A service manger, Judd Villalobos, was nearby and he read the synopses to me and said that the AC was working adequately and required no service. I told him that I would not have brought it in if it was working as well as it did when it was newer. He said his tech checked it and it was good. I asked if they checked the charge level with gauges, and he said they did. I asked if they checked the operation of the compressor clutch, and he told me newer vehicles don't have compressor clutches (LIE!). He told me that he did what "they" (Stellantis) would allow. I asked if I was a paying customer if the outcome would be different, and he said yes, that the dealer would would do more to determine the cause. In this case he did all that "they" would cover. He told me that a temperature output of 48 degrees in the shade is adequate, and that 68 degrees out of the vents on a 100 degree day is satisfactory. I said adequate is not optimal. I asked what he would do if it was his vehicle, and he admitted that he would have the root of the cause determined and fixed. He asked if I wanted to leave it and have it checked again. I asked if it would be any more in depth than what Stellantis allows, and he said it would not. I asked if it was tested outside, or on the road, and he said no.

So, this is where the post relates to Wranglers. It's no wonder service is so bad, when their service mangers don't have a basic understanding of the systems they are working on, and are not willing to do more than the bare minimum. There is no way in hell I would go back to that dealer for any kind of work for warranty, much less as a paying customer. This is the largest Jeep volume dealer in San Antonio, and part of the large Ancira dealership network.

So this leaves me wondering, do I even bother to buy another Jeep product again? Yeah, my Wrangler has been great, no issues in 5 years. And the Wagoneer has been mostly great, except for the AC issue. but man, do you get treated like garbage at the dealer. I've read the many posts here about it, but never had experienced it myself until now.

And yeah, I get that a lot of other makes are just as bad when it comes to warranty work, and service in general. But don't think for a second that there is any "premium" experience just because you have some with the Wagoneer name on it.

Does this make us want to get rid of the Wagoneer?, No, it will just go to a independent shop from now on. But, when it comes time for a new SUV for my wife, a Stellantis product will not be on the list.

I'm not reading all that, but yeah, you got scammed buying a Wagoneer. They're total turds with low labor rates, so most dealers don't even want you bringing them in. Disregarding the vehicle quality they were billed as a luxury vehicle, and our dealers are NOT luxury dealers.

They just assumed we'd increase our service quality overnight for a low volume vehicle, for free, and it just wasn't ever going to happen. I recently bought a new Mazda and the dealership experience was leaps and bounds better than my actual dealer. It's crazy the difference.

It's a vicious cycle. The vehicle is overpriced and under quality. They're forced to visit the dealer excessively for a new vehicle. The dealer is being skimped and underpaid by stellantis, so they're apathetic about certain models coming into the shop, or hesitating to give out loaners or rentals because of the high chance of not being reimbursed by stellantis. The technicians are outright incentivized to perform zero diagnostic due to even lowering labor rates/charge backs. This leads to a terrible customer/dealership relationship, especially if the vehicle is indeed a lemon and requires multiple service visits.

Hell, if you bring us a wagoneer S with some weird issue good luck. We don't know how to fix it, and even if we did it'll just break again in a few weeks. At least they're cheap.

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