What kind of douchebag would buy this POS! As tested, $121,000 and gets 14mph around town. Or you can get a great Toyota, Lexus or Mazda Hybrid that gets twice the mileage is half the price, and will last longer.
And you why the Big Three are dead meat! Plus the idiots a Stellantis have been spending half their budget on trying to develop EV cars...they now realize that's not going to happen.
This is like the American version of the Bataan Death March.
The Long-Wheelbase Jeep Grand Wagoneer Is Luxury on a Big Scale
By Jim Motavall
Dec. 26, 2023
Americans like their luxury SUVs big, and since the category is quite profitable for the world’s automakers, they’re happy to oblige with sizable offerings.
It’s a market that didn’t even exist until the Range Rover of 1970. Competition for that British beast stateside came from the 1984 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, a refined version of Jeep’s go-anywhere body-in-frame vehicles of the time. It succeeded the Wagoneer Limited, which started the brand’s move upscale.
For US$19,000 back then, customers got a vehicle with wood paneling like a Ford Country Squire station wagon, four-wheel drive that could be shifted on the go, and a 5.9-liter V8 engine with 140 horsepower, plus a more comfortable interior. It not only sold well but made a lot of money for the company, then owned by American Motors. One-third of the price was profit. The model lasted until 1991, when then-parent Chrysler shut it down. Bad fuel economy and advancing safety standards were cited, but these early models now claim high prices as restorations or updated restomods. Classic.com cites an average price of US$34,441 for recent sales of the 1984 to 1991 models.
The interior of the 2023 Jeep Grand Wagoneer L is among the nicest on the market, and who won’t like the 1,375-watt McIntosh stereo?
Stellantis
Stellantis revived the Grand Wagoneer for the 2022 model year, but now you were paying far more for the privilege. The current version’s ladder frame is shared with the Ram 1500 (albeit with an independent rear suspension). The exterior wood trim is gone, but there are now far more amenities. Today, a Series II Grand Wagoneer starts at US$97,290.
And for 2023, there’s a long-wheelbase version powered by a new twin-turbo three-liter straight six, coupled to an eight-speed automatic. But if you think having six cylinders means the vehicle is down on power from its outgoing 6.4-liter Hemi V8, think again. The six puts out 510 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque. Zero to 60 takes 4.9 seconds.
Just tested was an all-wheel drive top-off-the-line 2023 Grand Wagoneer L Series III Obsidian with every conceivable option and priced at US$121,350 (from a base price of US$113,095). At this price point, just about everything is included, so options were only an exterior appearance package (US$1,595) and the rear-seat entertainment group with Amazon Fire (US$2,595).
Second-row passengers get a generous 43 inches of legroom.
Let’s be specific about size. The Grand Wagoneer L has a 130-inch wheelbase (up seven inches) and is nearly 19 feet long and 6.6 feet tall. Its 44.2 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third row is huge, and compares to the 28.4 cargo area in Grand Wagoneers without the 12-inch stretch. Second-row passengers (who can get captain’s chairs instead of the standard bench) gain from the longer wheelbase, with 43-inch legroom. The third seats are tighter, but even those have a power fold/recline feature.
Size and lots of luxury equals weight, so it’s not surprising that the L weighs 6,335 pounds. A six-cylinder engine helps the fuel economy, but it’s still only 15 miles per gallon combined (14 in town, 19 on the highway). This compares almost exactly to the consumption of the 1984 Grand Wagoneer with a 4.2-liter six. That one delivered the same 15 mpg combined and 14 in the city (but only 17 on the highway). Surely, modern technology could have produced better results.
One climbs up into this Jeep, which makes the automatically deployed running boards very useful. Forget the notion that six-cylinder engines lack smoothness. This one has both creamy power delivery and quiet operation. That power is best enjoyed on the highway—it’s a real cruiser—and on uncluttered roads. The sheer bulk of the Jeep makes it challenging to park and negotiate crowded city streets.
The Grand Wagoneer’s hushed interior is one of the nicest on offer outside the Rolls-Royce/Bentley class. The level of sophistication is very impressive from an American manufacturer. Occupants sit on gorgeous quilted Palermo leather, [while] stirring the transmission with a rotary dial. There’s thankfully one of those for the volume control, too. The forward pillars are lined in Ultrasuede, and the hide door handles are double-stitched. The wood trim is natural American walnut, and there are slashings of aluminum in a tasteful manner. Owners can customize the ambient lighting, and monitor their kids’ video viewing via a sneaky feed from the back seat. The cabin features 75 inches of displays.
The Grand Wagoneer finds the going tighter in crowded cities.
The test car included the heavy-duty towing package (US$1,370), which means you can tow up to 9,750 pounds. The Jeep will barely know your Tommy Bahama Airstream trailer (4,200 pounds) is there.
The kids will be kept quiet by the rear-seat entertainment, and the adults will certainly not complain about the 1,375-watt, 23-speaker McIntosh sound system. Yes, it’s that McIntosh, the company known for gorgeous tube amplifiers that now sell for many thousands of dollars. The front-seat passenger also gets a display and can watch video without disturbing the driver.
The Jeep comes with a full safety suite (including eight airbags), almost Volvo-level. Pedestrian and animal detection? Of course, but it may not be tuned for moose (like the Volvo).
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