The Wagoneer forum sucks so I’m posting here. I imagine a lot of 1500 owners are eyeing up the Wagoneer family.
I have a 1500 limited and it’s great for hauling around our two kids, but with a third one on the way we need (want) a 3 row suv as it’s gonna be a bit cramped. My wife was set on trading in our X5 for a minivan. Minivans are disgusting. I’ve wanted a Grand Wagoneer since day 1 since it can still tow my boat and handle bad weather drives to our cabin. Today I found a new Grand Wagoneer on a lot and regular Wagoneer and drove them both. Both are series 3. I know not many people have had the opportunity to drive them so I wanted to share a couple thoughts.
The GW is amazing. I’ve driven a lot of nice cars and the closest thing to this is a Bentley Continental. No joke. It seriously leaves the Navigator and new Escalade in the dust, and I honestly think it is better than the X7 and S450 from an interior point of view. It has the most comfortable seats of any vehicle I’ve driven, the tech and leather is perfection, and the third row seats 3 adults easily and is very easy to get in and out of.
My only disappointment is that while the 6.4 is a rocket and sounds amazing, it does have a bit of NVH around 1200 rpm. That’s it. It’s the best handling SUV out of all the 3 rows aside from the X7 - I would say the X7 corners better but the GW has a better ride. All the rest basically float and make me car sick. It handles similar to the Ram but is much sharper. It also feels the smallest of the domestics, not as nimble as an X7, but it drives not much bigger than a Grand Cherokee L. And the L is not even close to being in the same league - it feels like a dressed up Durango (which it is). The GW is absolutely as good as expected. I love it so much.
Problem is this dealer has it $20k over msrp at $145k CAD and I can’t justify the premium and would be willing to wait for a less optioned factory order. I was set on the GW and had an allocation already at another dealer, but figured why not try the regular Wagoneer since they had one as well.
Well I’m cancelling my allocation and getting a regular Wagoneer. While the 5.7 certainly doesn’t pull as hard or sound as good as the 6.4, it definitely does the job, and actually had less NVH than the 6.4 - basically behaves same as in my 1500. The ride was the same (both had same 22 inch wheels with garbage Goodyears). The leather was Napa, not Palmero, and while it wasn’t as soft and luxurious it was on par with the 1500 Limited leather, and my wife preferred the all black interior vs the GW orange. And less likely to be destroyed when my kids spill milk on it and Color on it with markers.
All the tech was nearly equivalent aside from a few drivers aids I don’t care for, plus it lacks the Center console between the middle row seats which is actually a plus for our young family as the kids can just scoot to the back without folding the seats forward if they want.
So while the GW is absolutely stunning, the Wagoneer is what we will get - basically more practical and I can get it appropriately optioned for under $100k CAD. If I didn’t love my limited and need a truck for truck things I would get a GW for myself in a heartbeat. Since it’s principally a family hauler for my wife, the Wagoneer works better, is a lot cheaper, and I think the interior should be more durable.
Of note we took my 4 year old on the drive and put her car seat in the second row. The seat easily tilts forward at the touch of a button with the car seat on it, and goes forward far enough that entering the third row is still easier than a minivan.
I also suggest people watch Doug Demuros review on the GW if you’re interested, and do it before you test drive as it explains a lot of the tech before you get in the car - I’m fairly tech savvy and I felt the GW tech borderline overwhelming.
Edit. Here’s his review.
I’m taking my 6 year old car nut son for a ride tomorrow so I’ll take a couple pictures of them and post later. I’ll try and answer any questions if anyone has any.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I have a 1500 limited and it’s great for hauling around our two kids, but with a third one on the way we need (want) a 3 row suv as it’s gonna be a bit cramped. My wife was set on trading in our X5 for a minivan. Minivans are disgusting. I’ve wanted a Grand Wagoneer since day 1 since it can still tow my boat and handle bad weather drives to our cabin. Today I found a new Grand Wagoneer on a lot and regular Wagoneer and drove them both. Both are series 3. I know not many people have had the opportunity to drive them so I wanted to share a couple thoughts.
The GW is amazing. I’ve driven a lot of nice cars and the closest thing to this is a Bentley Continental. No joke. It seriously leaves the Navigator and new Escalade in the dust, and I honestly think it is better than the X7 and S450 from an interior point of view. It has the most comfortable seats of any vehicle I’ve driven, the tech and leather is perfection, and the third row seats 3 adults easily and is very easy to get in and out of.
My only disappointment is that while the 6.4 is a rocket and sounds amazing, it does have a bit of NVH around 1200 rpm. That’s it. It’s the best handling SUV out of all the 3 rows aside from the X7 - I would say the X7 corners better but the GW has a better ride. All the rest basically float and make me car sick. It handles similar to the Ram but is much sharper. It also feels the smallest of the domestics, not as nimble as an X7, but it drives not much bigger than a Grand Cherokee L. And the L is not even close to being in the same league - it feels like a dressed up Durango (which it is). The GW is absolutely as good as expected. I love it so much.
Problem is this dealer has it $20k over msrp at $145k CAD and I can’t justify the premium and would be willing to wait for a less optioned factory order. I was set on the GW and had an allocation already at another dealer, but figured why not try the regular Wagoneer since they had one as well.
Well I’m cancelling my allocation and getting a regular Wagoneer. While the 5.7 certainly doesn’t pull as hard or sound as good as the 6.4, it definitely does the job, and actually had less NVH than the 6.4 - basically behaves same as in my 1500. The ride was the same (both had same 22 inch wheels with garbage Goodyears). The leather was Napa, not Palmero, and while it wasn’t as soft and luxurious it was on par with the 1500 Limited leather, and my wife preferred the all black interior vs the GW orange. And less likely to be destroyed when my kids spill milk on it and Color on it with markers.
All the tech was nearly equivalent aside from a few drivers aids I don’t care for, plus it lacks the Center console between the middle row seats which is actually a plus for our young family as the kids can just scoot to the back without folding the seats forward if they want.
So while the GW is absolutely stunning, the Wagoneer is what we will get - basically more practical and I can get it appropriately optioned for under $100k CAD. If I didn’t love my limited and need a truck for truck things I would get a GW for myself in a heartbeat. Since it’s principally a family hauler for my wife, the Wagoneer works better, is a lot cheaper, and I think the interior should be more durable.
Of note we took my 4 year old on the drive and put her car seat in the second row. The seat easily tilts forward at the touch of a button with the car seat on it, and goes forward far enough that entering the third row is still easier than a minivan.
I also suggest people watch Doug Demuros review on the GW if you’re interested, and do it before you test drive as it explains a lot of the tech before you get in the car - I’m fairly tech savvy and I felt the GW tech borderline overwhelming.
Edit. Here’s his review.
I’m taking my 6 year old car nut son for a ride tomorrow so I’ll take a couple pictures of them and post later. I’ll try and answer any questions if anyone has any.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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