Tested: 2025 Jeep Wagoneer Carries the Eight-Seater Torch
The sequel didn't arrive until the 2006 model year, a box office bust called the Jeep Commander. This one at least had an entire third row that faced the direction of travel. However, it hit the market needing to overcome so many questionable decisions made during its development that our review compared it to General Custer at Little Big Horn.
The 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L marked the third installment, a side plot to the real blockbuster, the 2022 Wagoneer, which rebooted a historic nameplate and soon after welcomed the return of a standard Hurricane engine.
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Michael Simari
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Car and Driver
The story of any third row begins with access—the literal climb up and through the back doors. The Wagoneer's running boards seem unduly wide when getting in the driver's seat, but steps get more important the farther back one sits. The Wagoneer's large rear door openings and ample footing make third-row access unexpectedly easy and reassuring. And kudos to the exterior designers who integrated the available retracting running boards into the clean, if overly boxy, design; when stowed, they look like contrasting-color rocker panels.
HIGHS: Solid third-row space, functional boxy design, tech that's easy to use.
In the underground labs where automakers devise ways to move the second-row seating, Jeep threw one button and one lever at the issue. Press the button on the second-row seatback shoulder, and the entire seat leans forward and slides. You can do this even with a baby seat secured to the chair. Pull the lever on the side of the base, and the seatback folds flat. Pull the lever again, and the folded seat flips up against the first-row seatbacks. Pick your method, then step on to a running board wide enough to do a musical number from Wicked and make your entry.
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Michael Simari
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Car and Driver
A third row, like football and prostate exams, is a game of inches. Jeep designers arranged the hash marks to give adults the desired outcomes. You won't be swinging cats back here, but the average adult won't bang their knees or head on the architecture either. At 83.6 inches wide and up to 79.3 inches high with its air springs fully raised, the Wagoneer is 2.5 inches wider than a Chevrolet Suburban and up to 3.7 inches taller. Those specs and smart design choices explain why the Wagoneer's third-row headroom beats the Suburban by 0.8 inch, shoulder room outdoes the Chevy by 1.6 inches, and the Jeep cedes just 0.1 inch of legroom to the much longer 'Burb. Compared to the Chevy Tahoe, the Wagoneer's 180 cubic feet of passenger space and 27 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third row eke out two more fractional wins. Oddly, though, the Wagoneer's 117 cubic feet of cargo room behind the first row gives up just under six cubes to the Tahoe.
LOWS: Eight-passenger arrangement requires small sacrifices, some low-rent cabin materials, light body-on-frame jiggle.
Adults will be comfy in the gallery too. Bottoms slide naturally into the pocket of the canted bench with bolsters long enough to feel natural under the leg. The pads are flat, but the seats are comfortable. Stadium seating puts eyelines above the second-row headrests, allaying carsickness. A glass panel overhead and large side windows let light into a cabin otherwise designed for mammals that see better with their ears than their eyes. And, oh, the amenities! Cupholders and USB ports galore for the third row, even two coat hangers.
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Michael Simari
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Car and Driver
Wagoneer engineers aced the hardest part of the test of any full-size SUV, which is the third row. They fumbled some of the easy answers farther forward. The second-row bench in our tester, plenty wide for three adults, is a $595 option as part of the 8-Passenger Seating package; two captain's chairs come standard. This bench, a larger version of the third row—elevated, canted, and flat—could use more cushioning in the backrests, and the bolsters could stand to be longer. Choosing the bench eliminates two small cupholders at the back of the front-row console, leaving only two door pockets for beverages. And the containers better be sealed because the molded door pockets are angled.
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Michael Simari
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Car and Driver
The driver's seat is pleasant enough and well cushioned, although marred by another token attempt at contouring despite numerous cross-stitched panels. The puzzling bits are elsewhere, like the pebbled plastic dash topper. It's an insult to pebbles and can't even match the meager pretensions of the plain black plastic covering the lower dash. Being fair to Jeep, the brand isn't alone in subbing economy-car materials into luxury price points. The Wagoneer's instrument panel may be representative of an SUV that starts at $62,040, though not one that in flagship Series III Super 4X4 trim totaled $86,120 with options. But the domestic competition is doing it too. At least the aluminum strip separating the upper and lower dash is nice.
A 10.1-inch infotainment screen is the literal bright spot in the somber, black interior (the other interior color choice is light gray). Smaller than its bezel would suggest, its dark flanks contain rows of buttons that can be hard to see in strong daylight.
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Michael Simari
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Car and Driver
The driving experience averages out to a happy medium between extremes. At the suboptimal end, our Wagoneer rode on 22-inch wheels (20-inchers are standard on lesser trims) wearing Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Season tires. When we tested the Wagoneer on launch, also on 22s, we noted that "a little residual body-on-frame jiggle runs through the structure after abrupt inputs or bumps." This jiggle remains. The result is a minor massage of frequencies delivered to the driver's seat as the wheels jitterbug over American roads that haven't gotten any smoother.
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Michael Simari
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Car and Driver
At the delightful end, outstanding body control makes this massive SUV surprisingly composed through the twisties. Today's Hurricane engine is a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six making 420 horsepower and 468 pound-feet of torque in baseline trim, enough guts to hustle the Wagoneer's 6129 pounds to 60 in 5.3 seconds. Combined with fairly direct steering, fine brake modulation, and a sufficient-if-not-outstanding 0.75 g of lateral grip, Jeep's biggest boxcar is more capable on twisty B roads than you might think.
Everyday driving in the daily commute or weekend errand duty finds a satisfying mean. A digital gauge display requires no familiarization, and it's easy to find and operate all the knobs and buttons (again, if it's not too bright out) and the touchscreen. Passing comes easy, the spurt from 30 to 50 mph needing 3.0 seconds, while going from 50 to 70 mph takes 3.6 seconds. At that latter highway speed, a modest 67 decibels of cabin noise makes for a soothing environment—or cue up the crisp, punchy McIntosh audio system and flood the byways with sound. Stopping from 70 mph takes an extra-long 207 feet, though, 10 feet beyond the last Wagoneer we tested.
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Michael Simari
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Car and Driver
Some details: We're glad Jeep continues to offer standard and adaptive cruise control on the same vehicle, because there are situations where one is more useful than the other. The sunshade over the third row is manual, so if it's open, a solo driver has to make a trip back to the bleachers to close it. A shame there's no button for the task, but a motor mechanism might have cut into headroom, and we'd rather have the headroom. On the other hand, one can lower the second- and third-row headrests from the driver's seat.
VERDICT: Fourth time's the charm.
More than one successful Hollywood screenwriter will tell you that good movies start with great endings. The Jeep Wagoneer lives up to the maxim on both counts, its third row one of the best endings in the business, the rest of the show well worth the steep but competitive price of admission.
Specifications
Specifications
2025 Jeep Wagoneer Series III Super 4X4
Vehicle Type: front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 8-passenger, 4-door wagon
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $82,535/$86,120
Options: Rear Seat Video Group 1 (video USB port, Amazon Fire TV built-in, dual 10.1-inch second-row video screens), $2595; 8-Passenger Seating package (40/40/40-split tilt-and-slide second-row bench seat with manual recline, first-row floor console, 7650-pound gross vehicle weight rating), $595; Mopar Interior Protection package (all-season floor mats and cargo tray), $395
ENGINE
twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve inline-6, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injection
Displacement: 183 in3, 2993 cm3
Power: 420 hp @ 5200 rpm
Torque: 468 lb-ft @ 3500 rpm
TRANSMISSION
8-speed automatic
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: control arms/multilink
Brakes, F/R: 14.9-in vented disc/14.8-in vented disc
Tires: Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Season
285/45R-22 114H M+S
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 123.0 in
Length: 214.7 in
Width: 83.6 in
Height: 76.7–79.3 in
Passenger Volume, F/M/R: 65/65/50 ft3
Cargo Volume, Behind F/M/R: 117/71/27 ft3
Curb Weight: 6129 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 5.3 sec
1/4-Mile: 13.9 sec @ 98 mph
100 mph: 14.4 sec
Results above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.3 sec.
Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 6.1 sec
Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 3.0 sec
Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 3.6 sec
Top Speed (gov ltd): 114 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 207 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.75 g
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 18 mpg
75-mph Highway Driving: 22 mpg
75-mph Highway Range: 580 mi
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 19/16/23 mpg
C/D TESTING EXPLAINED
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