The $100k Jeep Grand Wagoneer Might Be Too Nice For Your Family
Technology is a gift. It makes our lives easier, safer, and more comfortable in many ways, except when it doesn’t. The new Jeep Wagoneer is the brand’s new massive three-row luxury family hauler. The model has gotten plenty of praise for its high-end interior design and many luxury appointments. However, shouldn’t a $100k family SUV be extremely good at hauling families around? It turns out that the Wagoneer might be too fancy to be good at driving kids around. An anonymous Jeep service adviser recently reported that someone’s Wagoneer seat massager broke because of a child kicking it.
Is the Jeep Wagoneer good for families?
When your Grand Wagoneer seat has connectivity issues. pic.twitter.com/WAkYloldt3
— Paulo Acoba ? (@ferio_252) October 14, 2022
On the surface, it would seem that the Jeep’s new land yacht would only be good for driving families around. However, if it is too fancy and fragile to hold up to kid activity, you might argue it’s a terrible SUV for families.
All things being equal, the Jeep Grand Wagoneer is a very nice-looking luxury SUV. It offers tons of cool features and even more space for people and luggage. In nearly every way, this thing was made to haul families in supreme comfort. But what if those comfort features aren’t made for the wear and tear that children inflict?
The vehicle in question here was a Grand Wagoneer – the fanciest version of the giant SUV – which comes with seats featuring more tech than most people have in their homes. The Grand Wagoneer has seats that adjust up to 24 different ways and has very complicated massaging capabilities. Now, kids kicking the chair in front of them is not only common, it is nearly expected. So, for the Wagoneer’s seat to break because of this seems woefully fragile for a car meant to haul families. You might also expect a six-figure vehicle to be of higher quality.
Is the Jeep Grand Wagoneer a reliable SUV?
The Jeep Wagoneer line is still so new that determining any kind of accurate long-term reliability is tough. However, J.D. Power rated its reliability based on the other similar models and how reliable they are. With that method, J.D. Power rated the predicted reliability at 65/100.
TireMeetsRoad pointed out that this broken seat was within warranty for the owner. Because of this, the repair was no big deal for them. However, what happens when the Wagoneer’s warranty is spent, and this tech continues to break? The fact is, cars with this much tech could prove extremely difficult to maintain long-term as technology continues to change. Soon, the miles of wiring in the Wagoneer’s seat will all be connected to obsolete tech. When this happens, repairs like this one will be untenable.
Instead of passing these troubles onto consumers, car manufacturers should focus more on building a car that can last for as long as possible, with tech improvements in mind.
Parents understand what a kid can do to a car
A writer at CarScoops mentioned that during his test of the Jeep Grand Wagoneer, long before this story of the broken seat came out, his wife had commented on how easily it seemed a kid could destroy the rear seat infotainment system.
Are cars are growing complex to the point that they are starting not to serve us well? New cars are already too expensive for many American families. As we continue to expect cars to be nicer, safer, and more comfortable, we can only expect car prices to continue to climb. The same goes for car repairs. We seem to have worked ourselves into a corner with automotive production. Maybe the Wagoneer is a good example for us to learn from; if you want a good family hauler, maybe it shouldn’t be too fancy. Ultimately, kids will destroy it
