Review: 2022 Jeep Wagoneer

The all-new 8-passenger Wagoneer sets out to best the age-old competition in the full-size SUV category.

Review and photos by Tom Sedens. There are always more photos at the end of my reviews.

Pricing: 2022 Wagoneer

Base price (Series II 4X4 trim): $80,995

Options: $695 Velvet Red Pearl paint; $4,695 Convenience Group I; $3,995 Premium Group I

Freight: $2,695

A/C tax: $100

Price as tested: $93,175

The iconic Wagoneer nameplate is back, baby – but there is basically nothing shared or in common between the Wagoneer of old and this all-new model, save for the fact that both can claim to be one of the biggest vehicles on the road during its time. Both offer up plenty of performance and utility but this new one is chock-full of the latest technology and is a highly sophisticated and capable entry.

Exterior

There is little that makes the Wagoneer recognizable as a Jeep – perhaps the 7-bar grille and that’s about it. As a matter of fact, Jeep has not added a single Jeep badge to the exterior – I had to hunt around for a while and find the only exterior Jeep reference inside the headlight pods and hidden in the tiny window etchings. Wagoneer is definitely being marketed as a brand unto itself, with that name being the only one readily visible and showing up in large chrome letters splashed across the width of the liftgate.

There isn’t much that makes the Wagoneer special in terms of looks. It’s a handsome full-size SUV. That’s about it. Its squared-off profile and straight lines are sold as a reinterpretation of the classic Wagoneer shape, although I challenge anyone to find even the remotest of similarities between the two. The design isn’t offensive by any measure, and I found it looked good from all angles to my eyes. It’s a confident, quietly sophisticated and elegant styling exercise that doesn’t break any barriers.

All the exterior lighting is LED, including headlights, driving lights and tail lights.

My review vehicle’s stunning Velvet Red Pearl paint catches your attention from a distance, and the huge 22-inch rims are stunning. All four corners wear giant 285/45-sized rubber boots.

The Wagoneer definitely does get quite a few looks – most are appreciative and we saw plenty of onlookers mouthing expletives followed by “That thing is huge!” It also gets plenty of disdainful looks from Jeep drivers who probably consider this beast to be sacrilege when it comes to the Jeep name.

Interior/Tech/Convenience

Stepping up into the gargantuan cabin reveals a thoughtful and modern take on the SUV cockpit, with nicely integrated technology and amenities.

I would say the materials are pretty nice. The gigantic dash is covered with a faux-leather material that is handsomely stitched – you’ll find plenty of contrasting stitching throughout as well. There is a decent-looking faux wood trim throughout. If you’re a wood fan, check out the cabin in the step-up Grand Wagoneer – the wood trim in that vehicle is spectacular.

Behind the comfortable heated steering wheel is a large digital dash that is very easy to read and highly configurable in terms of the information you see, allowing you to choose from a wealth of menus.

The front seats, which are heated and ventilated and trimmed in perforated Nappa leather, are very comfortable, even on an extended road trip as we can attest after spending hours in them.

The centre of the dash is home to a 10.1″ touchscreen, which is blessed with the excellent Uconnect user interface. I really like it, as it’s simple to use, super responsive and boasts sharp and bright graphics. There are haptic buttons for seat heating/ventilation on the sides of the screen, and they didn’t always feel as responsive as they should. Thankfully, even though the climate control is managed through the screen, there are also hard buttons to handle the majority of the functions, along with volume and tuning knobs.

The system worked well with wireless Apple CarPlay, and I’ll assume it does with Android Auto as well.

The 9-speaker Alpine system sounds really good, although the available 19-speaker McIntosh system in upper trims is my personal reference audio system when it comes to vehicles right now. It will blow your mind.

When it comes to driver assistance technology, it feels like nothing was missed. There’s a 360-degree camera with parking sensors, a heads-up display, automatic high-beams, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-path detection, traffic sign recognition, drowsy driver detection, parallel and perpendicular park assist, intersection collision assist system, active lane management, adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning and brake assist and pedestrian and cyclist emergency braking.

Second and Third Row Seats

The Wagoneer is marketed as having the most overall passenger volume in its class – and I believe it.

The second row offers a boatload of space, with ample leg, knee and headroom for all three passengers. The seats are very comfortable, each being reclinable and adjustable fore and aft. The middle seatback folds down to become a large armrest with cupholders. The two outboard seats are heated.

The back of the centre console houses a rear climate control panel and lots of power options – two sets each of USB-A and USB-C (4 in total) plugs as well as a 12V port and a 115V household plug. Adjustable air vents can be found on the console as well as on the B-pillars and there are manual sunscreens on the side windows for the second row. The massive panoramic sunroof overhead makes the large space feel even airier.

To access the third row, you have buttons that power-tip and slide the outboard second-row seats forward and out of your way. The third row is definitely adult friendly as well in terms of space, so our kids were thrilled with the space. Each side gets USB-A and USB-C charging ports, adjustable air vents and cupholders. A separate sunroof with sunscreen is found overhead.

If you are transporting little ones, you will find three sets of child seat anchors in the second row as well as another set in the third row, allowing for a total of four.

Storage

There are tons of great options around the cabin to put one’s things. At the front of the centre console is a lidded bin that contains a wireless charging mat, two sets of USB-A and two sets of USB-C plugs, an auxiliary plug and 12V charging port.

Behind the gear selector dial are a couple of cupholders, and between them is an excellent vertical slot for a phone – I really liked that – this compartment can be covered with a lid as well.

At the top of the armrest compartment is a carpeted bin with USB-A and USB-C plugs, which can be covered by a scrolling lid. Pop up the armrest lid and there’s another deep carpeted bin.

The trunk behind the third row is a very usable size, and we took full advantage of it. The liftgate is powered of course and can be activated hands-free.

There is also substantial underfloor storage, although a lot of the space is dedicated to the storage of the roof rails (which is a great idea) and flat tire repair items. Bag hooks and a 12V plug complete the cargo area.

The third row folds down in a 60/40 split, but for a vehicle this size and at this price level, I’d have expected that to happen thanks to some power servos, but strangely the folding and raising is done manually in this trim. Anyway, for our road trip, one of our kids wanted the third row, so we folded the smaller 40% segment of the third row down and that flexed space added to the trunk was enough to swallow up all our luggage for a two-week road trip for a family of 5.

Under the Hood

The Wagoneer’s motivation comes from a 5.7L V8 that uses a mild-hybrid system (dubbed eTorque) – the engine puts out 392HP and 404 lb.ft of torque. It is mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission and a 4×4 system.

The Wagoneer’s fuel economy is rated at 15.6/11.7 L/100 km (city/highway).

We averaged 13.4 L/100 km which included about 900 km of highway driving and a few hundred kilometres of around-town driving in Calgary, Canmore and Banff as well as back here at home in Edmonton. That’s about what I expected, considering a part of the highway mileage was in the mountains.

The Drive

You’ll put the vehicle into Reverse, Drive, Park, etc. using the rotary gear selector. The transmission is exceptionally smooth, shifting almost imperceptibly almost all of the time.

There’s a lovely rumble when it fires up, and under throttle, although quiet, you get a reassuring V8 burble. There’s plenty of power off the line and for driving around town, although I felt it ran out of steam on the highway – I think this is too much vehicle for this engine, and passing takes some time.

On the dash is a selector for drive/traction modes allowing the driver to choose between automatic, sport, snow and sand/mud. There’s also a drive height selector.

The Wagoneer’s ride is extremely comfortable, but the suspension was a bit sloppy around town with tons of body lean and it was just too soft for my liking. My preference was the vehicle’s Sport mode, which tidied up the Quadra-Lift air suspension noticeably and yet still rode beautifully. Honestly, I feel the Sport mode should be the vehicle’s default as it balances out the handling and the ride. Once tightened up via the Sport mode, the adaptive suspension worked miracles in terms of controlling the massive SUV’s handling.

It took me a few drives to adjust to the brakes – they are quite powerful but also very grabby, and I had to learn to use them much more gently than the typical vehicle’s brakes for fear of braking way too hard. I wish they would engineer these to be more easily modulated.

Noise levels are exceptionally well dampened – even at highway speeds, this vehicle is very quiet. Road, tire and engine noise is all contained.

Equipped properly, including the available Heavy Duty Trailer Tow Group, the Wagoneer can tow up to 10,000 lbs (4,536kg) – also a Best-In-Class stat.

This vehicle is a monster and it makes no bones about it. It feels big, it rides big, it drives big and it’s a pain in the ass to park.

Nitpicks

One omission I found truly odd for a vehicle of this size and price was that it had no power folding mirrors. Not only is that weird, but highly impractical and made fitting into some tighter parking spots a bit of a nightmare on our trip.

I am not a fan of the amount of gloss black trim around the cabin, particularly the whole screen area and on the centre console – it’s glossy and shows fingerprints immediately and they are visible from anywhere. I felt like I needed a microfiber cloth handy during our entire road trip so the fingerprints wouldn’t drive me nuts.

The Verdict

WAF (Wife Approval Factor) was very high – although she hated driving it because of its sheer size, she loved being a passenger around the city and on our road trip.

The Wagoneer certainly offers everything a full-size SUV shopper would be looking for. Even in this lowest trim, it is full of luxurious comfort and convenience, the latest technology and safety features, best-in-class towing capability and passenger compartment size and a ton of utility. Add to that some good looks and you’ve got an SUV that should be on anyone’s shopping list that is after one of these hulking beasts.

Want more? More power? More luxury? More features? No problem. There’s a trim level above this one, and of course you can step up to the cream-of-the-crop Grand Wagoneer that has it all.

My one issue with the Wagoneer is that, perhaps in this age of downsizing to crossovers and stratospheric fuel costs, it almost seems like an answer to a question nobody is asking. I really haven’t seen more than a handful of Wagoneers on the road, and I suspect they aren’t flying off the dealership lots, along with anything else that’s sized like this. Perhaps I’m wrong about this.

But if you’re one of the folks who need the size of this thing and tow regularly, check out the Wagoneer. It’s a very fine offering indeed.