3 days with my new Wagoneer Series III - Initial Thoughts / Problems

[Publius]

@Publius - if you are looking for a NO BS experience in NOVA - Leo Nerushkin (GM) - Safford JDR in Fredericksburg. I only buy from him (10 years). Lots of W/GW on their lot. Give him a call.

Thank you @DocSkip ! I very much appreciate the referral. I called several local dealers and had a very good experience with Lustine in Woodbridge. Informed salesman, no games, straight dealing with no surprises or hidden fees. Just brought home a red Wagoneer Series III. I can’t wait to surprise the kids in the morning!

 

[DocSkip]

Congratulations @Publius !!!!! I'll be a Army Navy game at Occoquan VFW on Saturday afternoon if you care to come by and show it off!

 

[tnedator]

Thank you for sharing your experience. I’m in Virginia and test drove a Wagoneer over the weekend. Having bought new BMWs, Audis and other luxe brands, I was appalled by the dealership. Complete ignorance of the product, couldn’t explain basic things such as the differences between series II and series III. Didn’t have the vehicle on the lot that I scheduled to test drive because “the manager chose to use it that day”. Then wouldn’t provide the estimated value of my trade in because I “hadn’t committed to buy from them.” Plus the salesman was new, and was trying bs sales tactics on me. Fortunately I didn’t take any of it personally, and enjoyed the chance to see a bare bone series II. Really nice vehicle. Now I just have to find a dealer that is worth doing business with. Night and day difference between this experience and my test drive of an Escalade. I haven’t bought a jeep before, I hope their service and warranty issues are better than my first impression - it does have me concerned. I know BMW makes things right when need be - and am encouraged by DocSkips story.

There appears to be only a small number of Wagoneer certified dealers. Jeep is trying to remake themselves, or more specifically the Wagoneer sub brand, a luxury brand. However, when it comes to the dealer experience stuff you are describing, it's probably going to be a long, slow makeover. I've had Infinitis and Audis (about to trade my Q7 premier for a GC SR), and those brands charge a premium for everything, service, etc., but generally have a five star, European hotel feel when interacting with them.

Even many Cadillac dealers aren't on par with German and Japanese luxury brand dealers, which is why GM is trying to eliminate most of their Cadillac dealers and consolidate to a handful per market that already are, or will remake themselves, into the model of the German luxury brand dealers.

Don't get me wrong, what you described would be bad for any purchase, not to mention an 85-110k purchase, but regardless, I don't think you are going to find many Jeep dealers on par with BMW dealers.

 

[Publius]

There appears to be only a small number of Wagoneer certified dealers. Jeep is trying to remake themselves, or more specifically the Wagoneer sub brand, a luxury brand. However, when it comes to the dealer experience stuff you are describing, it's probably going to be a long, slow makeover. I've had Infinitis and Audis (about to trade my Q7 premier for a GC SR), and those brands charge a premium for everything, service, etc., but generally have a five star, European hotel feel when interacting with them.

Even many Cadillac dealers aren't on par with German and Japanese luxury brand dealers, which is why GM is trying to eliminate most of their Cadillac dealers and consolidate to a handful per market that already are, or will remake themselves, into the model of the German luxury brand dealers.

Don't get me wrong, what you described would be bad for any purchase, not to mention an 85-110k purchase, but regardless, I don't think you are going to find many Jeep dealers on par with BMW dealers.

@tnedator - your points are absolutely valid and good perspective. Fortunately I found a dealer with a staff that made me much more comfortable. Able to explain the product in detail, very courteous, and upfront about economics. Just nice to see professionalism. And I was the first Wagoneer they sold too.

 

[tnedator]

@tnedator - your points are absolutely valid and good perspective. Fortunately I found a dealer with a staff that made me much more comfortable. Able to explain the product in detail, very courteous, and upfront about economics. Just nice to see professionalism. And I was the first Wagoneer they sold too.

Glad to hear it. I'm lucky to have a local dealership (Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep and Chevy/GMC -- was Cadillac dealer until this past year), that is run by a guy that is not only a Jeep enthusiast and performance enthusiast, but also just a good guy. They aren't Wagoneer certified, but I think the one we ordered was the fifth or sixth he ordered (including one for his wife). He's received the first two he ordered just before Thanksgiving. I stopped by and saw a series II GW that was waiting for the owner to get back in town to take delivery.

 

[stymiedny]

Glad to hear it. I'm lucky to have a local dealership (Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep and Chevy/GMC -- was Cadillac dealer until this past year), that is run by a guy that is not only a Jeep enthusiast and performance enthusiast, but also just a good guy. They aren't Wagoneer certified, but I think the one we ordered was the fifth or sixth he ordered (including one for his wife). He's received the first two he ordered just before Thanksgiving. I stopped by and saw a series II GW that was waiting for the owner to get back in town to take delivery.

How can you tell if they are Wagoneer certified?

 

[DocSkip]

WCS should be able to tell you - or, be bold (like me) and ask them flat out. My buying dealership was NOT Wagoneer certified. My servicing dealership is. HUGGGGEEEEEE difference in level of details.

 

[tnedator]

How can you tell if they are Wagoneer certified?

Click on "Filter by Services" and choose Wagoneer Certified.

Find a Jeep® Dealership Near You | Jeep Sales and Service

Locate Jeep® dealerships in you preferred zip code. Find Dealer hours, details and contact info. Shop and buy Jeep® models available now.

www.jeep.com

 

[Randyv]

At this price point, and with all the problems the Wagoneer is having, @DocSkip is right. Be bold. Get the answers you need. We pushed and are now dealing direct with FCA

 

[stymiedny]

Click on "Filter by Services" and choose Wagoneer Certified.

Find a Jeep® Dealership Near You | Jeep Sales and Service

Locate Jeep® dealerships in you preferred zip code. Find Dealer hours, details and contact info. Shop and buy Jeep® models available now.

www.jeep.com

I live on long island and there are about 10 dealers within a 20 mile range and none of them have that designation. Unfortunately, I wasn't connected to this forum when I ordered and simply went to a dealer that I thought was fine and ordered the GWS2 on 11/30. I hope they will iron out all the quirks prior to me getting my car

 

[DocSkip]

@stymiedny - you'll be okay. Just ensure you review EVERYTHING before delivery. EVERY option on the build sheet/sticker; check all trim alignments; make sure they connect you and show you how to use the WCS App. Make sure they perform open recalls for Safety (active air bag out there now) and conduct any OTA's that might be available. This SHOULD cut down on your later frustrations.

Moreover, you can call WCS to inquire about a "designated Wagoneer dealer" in your radius who should take care of your service (and loaner needs) by coming to your home/office as required.

Good luck! Use these forums for more information.

 

[ktink]

I purchased a velvet red/sea salt Wagoneer Series III 4x4 with the premium package, the 2nd row seating group, rear seat entertainment group, and the front passenger interactive display 3 days ago (Saturday). I had to drive 3 hours to a location where I had some family just to get it at MSRP because most places in the Northern Virginia area are adding some ridiculous "Market Demand" amounts above MSRP. This is going to be a post of my initial impressions, initial experiences pros/cons, etc. Sorry if it gets too long. I'm coming from a 2014 Grand Cherokee Overland 4x4 that now has 163,000 miles on it.

Initial Impressions:
- This vehicle looks AMAZING
- Did I really just spend this much money?!

One of the first things that happened at the dealership (I had purchased remotely so most of the process was already done when I got there to pick it up) was I got a text message and an email inviting me to the Wagoneer app for the Wagoneer connected services. I clicked the link, got the Android Wagoneer app, and tried to complete my registration. After choosing a password and then checking the boxes to accept the terms of the agreement I would get an "Error loading info" red error message every time I would click to proceed. We were not able to resolve this issue at the dealership before I left and I figured I would call the support number provided in the app when I got back to my aunt's house. Eventually I did leave the dealership with the vehicle, drove 5-10 miles to my aunt's house and put the Wagoneer in the driveway then began playing with getting all of the tech setup. I did call the support number for the Wagoneer connected services and was immediately told the wait was "less than 20 minutes" which sucked for having just bought the vehicle. In addition to that, when I would go into the wifi hotspot screen, I could not get the hotspot activated and it was stuck on the screen that gives instructions on how to activate it which mentioned buttons that I didn't see. The screen was acting very laggy and I was pretty disappointed. I stayed on the line and eventually spoke to a tech about the Wagoneer app/connected services issue and spent probably another 20 minutes going through steps with the woman on the phone which was basically repeating everything I did over and over and getting the same result. Eventually she escalated me to tier 2 tech support but that is a separate call that she said can take up to a couple days for them to reach out. (I'm still waiting for them to contact me.)

I called my salesman and told him I wasn't super happy at the moment and he asked if I could drive back over for them to see what they can do. When I went to do that, the vehicle wouldn't start. I called the dealership and the salesman drover over with a tech who brought a portable jump starter and jump started the vehicle. He then said they would replace the battery and they took it back to the dealership to do so and to also talk to their Wagoneer rep about the technology issues.

When the brought the vehicle back about an hour or so later, I can say that all of the technology stuff was no longer laggy and the wifi hotspot was working. I am guessing the bad battery was causing issues with all of the screens. Later that night, I randomly tried registering in the Wagoneer app again and to my amazement it worked! The activation "app" within the vehicle still errors out though so my problems aren't fully resolved yet. Hopefully tier 2 tech support contacts me soon and we get it resolved.

First 3 days of ownershp Pros:
- Looks great, the style really can't be understated how well they did with it albeit style is subjective
- The ride is smooth and feels great
- When the technology is working, it's great
- There are pretty much none of these on the road. I have been trying hard to see another one over the past few days and haven't.
- I've had 2-3 people randomly ask me "Who makes Wagoneer?" and then following that up with very nice compliments on it. One couple in a Hummer and one guy in an Escalade.
- Visibility is really good.
- Usb ports everywhere you would want them
- Excellent sound system
- The power running boards are perfectly engineered to hide into the trim of the vehicle to remain completely disguised until needed.

First 3 days of ownership Cons:
- The technology is buggy. Aside from the Wagoneer connect/wifi hotspot issues I initially had and mentioned above, I've had multiple times where Android Auto gets stuck in a disconnect/reconnect loop every few seconds. Rebooting the UConnect system or my phone usually solves this and it's hard to know where the problem actually lies. It can't be entirely blamed on the vehicle.
- The battery was bad
- No power folding mirrors.... extremely disappointing at this price point as my 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee has it and I use/used it all the time.
- Despite the window sticker option saying "2nd Row Seating Group" which contains "2nd-row Captains Chairs with Power Tilt/Slide" and "Floor-Console with cupholder", the 2nd-row captains chairs appear to only slide/recline manually. The power tilt/slide either refers to only the folding forward to make more cargo space which is powered or the slide forward tilt for people to get in the 3rd row. This too is pretty disappointing considering that the 3rd row has power recline. How do you put power recline in the 3rd row but not have it for the 2nd row?? I'm also not sure if the floor console that is in mine is what it's supposed to be (Jeep doesn't seem to provide pics of what all the options actually add or should look like) as I was expecting something more like what I've seen in grand wagoneer pictures. This is more like cup holders that are connected to the backside of the center console/armrest between the driver/passenger seats. Is this correct?
- Opening the doors may require a little adjustment as it's more of a two step process in my experience. 1. Grab the handle and wait for the unlock 2. Pull open. If you try to grab and pull, you'll get stuck and it won't open until you release it and slow down the process a bit. (this of course only applies if you didn't unlock with the key fob ahead of time)

That's all I can think of right now. I'll update with any changes. I know this was long but I hope it's useful to someone. Overall I'm still really happy with this vehicle and think Jeep did a fantastic job with it. I just hope they work out some of these early issues and maybe make it feel more like the VIP experience they are marketing it as.

agreed with everything.. THE NO POWER FOLDING MIRROR. insane that is not included. every standard garage width is 8 ft. the wagoneer with mirrors extended is 7 feet 11 inches.