CARLOS LAGO: When Jeep unveiled the next generation Wrangler,
which is codenamed "JL," we knew we
had to have one in our long-term fleet.
Now, our long-term test program entails a diverse range
of staffers and editors who use and live with the car
just like you would.
Now we bought this Wrangler Rubicon in February 2018
for about $53,000, and since then we've
put nearly 50,000 miles on it.
We've done everything with this thing--
off-road, obviously.
But this Jeep has also served as a commuter car and a mule
for family errands.
We've reviewed it.
We've compared it.
We've showed you how to install accessories like the soft top,
and you can see all of that on the Edmunds long-term blog.
In this video where going to explain what worked,
what didn't, and what you should know about owning one of these.
We've owned two Wranglers in the past--
a 2007 Unlimited Sahara a 4x4 and a 2012 sport two-door.
So this time we went straight to the Rubicon
because it's one of the most capable off-roaders
you can get new from the dealership.
We're also curious to see how this new JL
generation of the Wrangler--
how much comfort it would add versus the previous Wranglers.
They've been pretty notorious for not
being the most comfortable cars on the road.
Now the Rubicon comes pretty well equipped.
It has the 3.6 liter V6.
You've got the 410 rear axle ratio,
and you've got quite a bit of off-road hardware too.
You've got heavy duty Dana 44 front and rear axles.
You've got a electronically locking front
and rear differential.
You've got electronically disconnecting
front and rear sway bars.
You've got 17-inch wheels, 33-inch tires, rock rails,
and on the list goes.
Now to that we added a few creature comforts
like the 8-speed automatic transmission.
Yes, 8-speed manual is still standard.
We got additional leather.
We got the upgraded infotainment system.
It's larger.
It has navigation and so on.
And we've also got a blind spot monitoring and rear cross
traffic alert.
Now later on during ownership we added some more goodies
like the Mopar grill and the additional off-road lights
on top of the hood.
As we ordered it, this car was pretty well
equipped to do any kind of serious off-roading.
But we also wanted to see how it would do day
to day in Los Angeles during the monotony of a commute
and while you're running errands.
I mean, is it a true daily drivable Jeep Wrangler?
And so how did that turn out?
Well, it's much better in terms of driveability and comfort
than previous Wranglers, but the driving experience is still
definitely unique to Wranglers among new modern cars,
let's say.
Now, we love the V6, and we love the combination
with the 8-speed automatic and the 410 rear axle ratio.
What that all it does is it gives you really quick feeling
acceleration around town.
This thing from the start when you lay into the gas pedal
accelerates way more quickly than you
would expect from a Wrangler.
And that's a boon especially when
you're in gridlock commuting because you can navigate
around traffic much more easily, and that
also works because the Jeep's pretty compact size.
It's actually a pretty fun car to drive around and traffic.
Now on the downsides, well, all the off-road hardware
sacrifices on-road comfort and driveability
for the sake of off-road performance.
Things like a solid front axle and a recirculating ball
steering make for a steering that
requires two hands at all time.
Yeah, I acknowledge the fact that I'm driving and talking
to the camera with one hand on the wheel as I'm doing this,
but I'm going low speeds.
You really notice it on the freeway
when you're going 60, 70 miles an hour.
It's two hands on the wheel at all time.
When you have the wheel centered,
you notice there's quite a bit of play.
That's to say like when the wheel is at 0, let's call it,
you can still move it around quite a bit before you actually
start steering.
And that's just a function of all that off-road hardware.
It's louder inside in this and this Jeep
than you would expect from a traditional car.
Now that's not to say this was an undrivable vehicle.
We put nearly 50,000 miles on it in 2 years.
You just have to know that if you've never
driven a Jeep before, it's not quite like anything
else out there.
You need to be aware of what to expect.
OK, let's talk about the juicy stuff-- what broke,
what didn't, and just how it was reliability overall.
Starting with recalls, 2018 Jeep Wranglers had nine recalls,
but ours was only subject to two of them.
And both involved this little thing
called the "powertrain control module."
What is that?
Well, it's a little computer box that controls the engine
and transmission.
The fixes involved either replacing it or recalibrating
it and were performed alongside normal service
intervals like an oil change.
Let's talk warranty repairs, and there's only one issue.
At about 35,000 miles we experienced
what we would describe as excess wandering from the suspension,
and a quick visual inspection revealed a leaky shock.
Being just a thousand miles away from the end of our bumper
to bumper warranty, we quickly took the Jeep
to a dealer who found two more leaky shocks.
So that's three leaky shocks total, which
were replaced under warranty.
The fourth one was fine, so the dealership
wouldn't replace it even after we took it up with the warranty
claims department.
But because the fourth shock was functioning fine,
it would stay.
What caused it?
Well, we aren't really sure, but you
can argue that the amount of off-road driving that we did
and the abuse that this thing withstood during all that
could cause the shocks to wear out prematurely.
Maintenance was largely straightforward
thanks to the Jeep Wave Program, which
includes for free oil changes and tire rotations.
Beyond that, there was the normal stuff
like topping off the windshield wiper
fluid and a new set of tires around the 40,000 mile mark.
Nothing extreme here.
What else went wrong?
Well, you can file this under freak act of nature.
This is not Jeep's fault of course,
but our Jeep got rear ended at one point
on the morning commute.
So we had to replace the entire rear bumper.
You can read the long-term blog to see all the costs associated
with that.
Also, we came down one time much later
and found this specific part of the bumper had just fallen off.
Either this thing got backed into,
or somebody got a little too daring off-road.
I think it's probably the latter.
But regardless, we got a new one, put it on.
And again, you can see the cost for that on our blog.
Obviously, you can't expect compact SUV levels
of fuel economy from a Wrangler like you
would find from a Honda CRV or a Toyota RAV4.
Now, over 15,000 miles roughly of driving we
averaged 17 and a 1/2 mpg from the Wrangler Rubicon.
The EPA's rating is 20 mpg combined.
So why the difference?
Well, presumably the EPA got its fuel economy rating
from the sport or Sahara Wranglers.
Our Rubicon has wider tires and fenders, and sits taller,
and has all that rad off-road hardware,
which reduced fuel economy in the real world
relative to those other trim levels.
It's a sacrifice we'd make sure to keep
the off-road performance.
With that out of the way, let's go over a few
of the things that are worth noting about ownership starting
with interviews from a couple of our videographers
who spent a lot of time using our Jeep as a scouting
and support vehicle for our comparisons.
Over the last year, I used the Rubicon
a bunch of times to scout locations and trails that we
were going to use for off-road-type videos.
It's capable.
It can go anywhere.
It can do anything.
I didn't really mind the highway manners.
A Jeep's a Jeep.
But the one thing I didn't expect
was how nice the interior was.
The seats are comfortable, and the tech was great.
So without question, the Jeep is basically the honey badger
of the factory off-roader.
It just does not care.
It takes on anything and destroys it.
But I think the most surprising thing to me--
and I didn't realize this until I spent some time in it--
was that driving around--
other Jeeps coming the other way--
I'd always got a thumbs up, or a wave, or some flashing lights,
or something.
The community around Jeep is just amazing, and I loved it.
A frequent question with Wrangler owners
is whether you like it hard or soft.
Do you like it hard or soft?
I'm, of course, talking about the roof, you perverts.
Do you get the hard top or the soft top?
In our case, we actually got the Jeep dual top option,
which gives you both.
The hard top comes installed, and then the soft top
is in the back.
We installed the soft top but put the hard top
back not too long afterwards because the soft top makes
the interior a lot louder.
And ours started of leaking in air
and whistling on the freeway, which was pretty undesirable.
Now, we should also point out that Jeep offers the Sky
One-Touch of Power Top for about $4,000,
and it attempts to give you the best of both worlds
by having a fixed hard roof with removable panels
but a center section that acts like a convertible
and slides back electronically.
Everybody on staff universally liked
this entertainment display system-- quick to react,
easy to read.
It supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
And we have to call out the USB plug setup
right here because you have both a traditional USB port
and a USB C plug for more modern fancy phones.
Really easy stuff to figure out and use.
Special mention goes to these auxiliary buttons down here.
You may not notice them unless you paid the $800 dollars
for the-- what's it called?
The trailer tow and heavy duty electrical group.
And, again, $800.
These are a huge boon for people who
want to install aftermarket electronic accessories
like the lights we put on the hood.
The mechanical installation is what it was.
It was actually pretty easy for us.
What makes these switches so great
is how they're integrated into the screen here.
You can control how each switch operates.
Should the button activate when you press it and then
deactivate it as soon as you let it go,
or should it stay on when you press it and release it?
Should the power source come from the battery
or the ignition?
Should it remember the setting it was left
in when you turned the car off?
This makes installing aftermarket electronic
accessories really, really easy, so we greatly
enjoyed having that on this car.
Now we say farewell to our Wrangler,
and we're pretty bummed because we like driving this thing.
And we can't wait for the next off-road-style vehicle
to come into our long-term fleet.
And we liked it in spite of a number of flaws,
and those are flaws there you should really
be aware of if you're not familiar with off-road vehicles
or Jeep Wranglers for that matter.
If you are a Jeep fan and you know all this,
you can fast forward to later.
Look, you can't expect this to be a Honda CRV or a Toyota
RAV4.
The steering is going to be really wobbly.
The interior's going to be noisier.
The ride quality isn't going to be as good.
You're not going to get the same amount of fuel economy.
That's just not what off-road vehicles do.
But if you do want an off-road vehicle,
there are few that do it better than the Wrangler new
from the dealer lot.
And that's what makes it so compelling.
We put nearly 50,000 miles on this thing in 2 years,
and that's because the Wrangler does
with all vehicles should do--
inspires you to drive it more.
And as for what's next, you just have
to keep watching to find out.
[MUSIC PLAYING]