Thoughts on 2024 Wagoneer?

[OldGuyNewJeep]

Transmission on our 2016 Yukon XL failed at 108,000 miles. OEM replacement installed by my trusted mechanic for $5,500. Two weeks later it started leaking. These are sealed units, so my mechanic has no idea what failed. GMC took two days before even granting him permission to drop it to inspect (warranty hoops). Anyway, now on transmission replacement #2 (no cost to me, but was without the truck for 10 days).

Oh, and the driver’s side blend door actuator doesn’t always work. Six figure repair quote because the whole dash has to come apart. Nope!

Sooo… what does everyone think about the Wagoneer? It’s stupidly expensive and it’s a Jeep, which makes me worry about quality issues. But GMC hasn’t been so great, and I don’t like the Ford Expedition at all (styling, stiff ride, crappy third row).

The inline 6 is very interesting. Puts out more power than my Gen I Raptor did with a 6.2L V8!

In terms of interior style, Wagoneer seems more luxurious than GMC and Ford, but the exterior styling of the Yukon is awesome, in my opinion (especially the AT4). I hate the giant iPad in the Ford. Looks like Elmo’s stupid Tesla.

Whatever we get I’ll be “downgrading” to 18” wheels. I will never understand the obsession with stupid looking big wheels on a truck. Let’s make this truck less functional while also degrading ride comfort. Wee!

Thoughts? I’m a bit leery of all the electronics after suffering through years of UConnect 4 bugs before they finally fixed. Dual batteries - yuck. Depreciation is awful, but same for all three brands

Not going with XL (extended wheel base) this time around.

Other consideration is something smaller like a Cherokee, but I have two in college and we manage to fill every square in of our Yukon when moving them.

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[JPROCKS]

"It’s stupidly expensive" says it all but a nice ride for a large family with a couple of dogs to fill it up. Sounds like you only will need something this large when the kids are home from College so a Cherokee might be a better choice, IMO.

At least you have you the JL to have fun with!

 

[OldGuyNewJeep]

"It’s stupidly expensive" says it all but a nice ride for a large family with a couple of dogs to fill it up. Sounds like you only will need something this large when the kids are home from College so a Cherokee might be a better choice, IMO.

At least you have you the JL to have fun with!

Three kids, and the oldest is out of college and working so it’s becoming rare that the five of us travel together. Even more rare that it’s the five of us and our dog. Sold our boat last year. Reality is that we’re marching toward an empty nest.

You might be right that a Cherokee would make more sense. Would certainly be easier to park! I guess we need to go look at them both. Hard to understand the size difference just looking online.

I will say that I have never yet seen a Wagoneer on the road. That’s a bit strange. I’ve seen four or five Cybertrucks. Is the Wagoneer a bigger unicorn?

I don’t see myself ever getting rid of my Wrangler.

 

[JPROCKS]

No, it is not as big as the Cybertruck. Since they stopped making the Cherokee, did you mean the Grande Cherokee? Big fan of those, have had many trims over the years and rarely a problem.

 

[Jebiruph]

We like our Grand Cherokee L (third row seating). Not quite as big as a Wagoneer, but much lower price. Ours has the US built 3.6L as opposed to the Mexican built 3.6L, there's been some reporting that the Mexican built engines are having QC issues.

 

[DonH63]

I have a 2021 Grand Cherokee Trailhawk with the 5.7L, no longer available, and my wife has a 2022 Wagoneer Series III with the 5.7L and she absolutely loves it. She had a Tahoe and a Suburban before that; she likes having a big vehicle around her. Interestingly, the Wagoneer beat the Grand Cherokee L in the Off Road of the Year test when it came out. Hers does not have the full off-road package (unobtanium at the time, shortly after it was first released), and does have the stupid big 22" wheels that limit tire choice, but has the air suspension and other goodies (just not full skid plates, I think that is the only major thing lacking). It has done fine on fire roads and rocky trails without larger obstacles (we use my JLU for those).

Early on there was a slew of electronics (SW/FW) updates to resolve a number of fairly minor glitches, but mechanically it has been sound, no problems after ~30k miles. and there have been no significant SW updates for a while now, at least nothing we've noticed, so hopefully the initial bugs are done with. Our insurance agent's wife got one about the same time we did, and their radio went out leaving them without the Wagoneer for a couple of months (they did get a loaner), but since replacing it they've not had problems.

The Hurricane I6 has been out a couple of years now so should also be reasonably reliable.

For helping kids move, it's a solid option IME/IMO. We have done quite a bit of that. It is also great for road trips (we got the version with front buckets, middle captain's seats, and the rear bench, which is comfortable and flexible for our group of five adults when we get together). The worst thing is how quickly you get used to having all the fancy gadgets and doo-dads...

 

[OldGuyNewJeep]

Watched this and it’s a bit scary:

Hmm.

I think we need to go drive a Grand Cherokee L before even peeking at the Wagoneer. Besides the recent mechanical issues with our Yukon XL, my wife and I are both getting tired of driving that hearse for anything but big trips or college moves. The long wheelbase makes it a pain in the butt to park in tight quarters. There are places my wife just won’t take it. “I’m taking your Jeep so I don’t have to worry about parking.” Wagoneer is a bit shorter than our Yukon, but not by much. I bets it’s not super fun to park in tight places.

 

[DonH63]

Watched this and it’s a bit scary:

Hmm.

I think we need to go drive a Grand Cherokee L before even peeking at the Wagoneer. Besides the recent mechanical issues with our Yukon XL, my wife and I are both getting tired of driving that hearse for anything but big trips or college moves. The long wheelbase makes it a pain in the butt to park in tight quarters. There are places my wife just won’t take it. “I’m taking your Jeep so I don’t have to worry about parking.” Wagoneer is a bit shorter than our Yukon, but not by much. I bets it’s not super fun to park in tight places.

Our 2022 Wagoneer is about 10" shorter than her previous 2009 Suburban. The Wagoneer turns sharper by far, but "tight spaces" is not a good option for any full-size SUV. My GC (not the L, the 2-row version) is much better for that. The larger size is great for hauling four adults who are otherwise pretty cramped in my GC; I have not driven a GC-L so do not know how much better it is. Be sure to sit in all three rows if family hauling is part of its task, especially longer trips.

 

[OldGuyNewJeep]

Saw my first Wagoneer going down the highway, last night. Apropos!

It was a white Grand Wagoneer. I have to say, it looks very sharp. (Still don’t like the big wheels, though. I guess I’m just old.)

 

[Jebiruph]

Buy anything yet? I've noticed there are massive discounts on Grand Cherokees now. I also noticed that if there is a 9 in the VIN for the 6th digit from the right, it has a US built engine.

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