What’s the difference between a Wagoneer and a Grand Wagoneer? If you answered one’s bigger, I’m afraid that’s incorrect. If you answered that one has more chrome give yourself half points. If you answered that one’s posher than the other but otherwise identical, you nailed it, and that’s the problem of the Wagoneer. Thankfully, it seems like a rationalization may be coming, as Mopar Insiders reports that simplification could be coming as soon as next year.
After months of speculation and dealership whispers, it appears the Jeep® Wagoneer nameplate is on its way out. Multiple Jeep dealers are now confirming that the company plans to discontinue the standard Wagoneer after the 2025 model year, consolidating the lineup under the more prestigious Grand Wagoneer name for 2026.
While the idea of breaking out an upmarket trim variant of an existing car worked decades ago when automaker lineups were small, we’ve long since reached such a level of hyper-individualization that it ended up being confusing. Five years ago, you could’ve told someone that one luxury brand sells a crossover specifically tailored to people with hyperbolic paraboloid-shaped hair and another for people who only order beef on the left side of their pizzas, and they’d have believed you. Lineups became bloated, and people got confused.
Of course, another fad beyond excessive individualization that Jeep latched onto was trying to turn Wagoneer into its own sub-brand, which didn’t seem to really work. After all, the model’s nameplate didn’t have more equity than the Jeep nameplate, and showrooms were crowded enough with Chryslers, Jeeps, Dodges, Rams, and sometimes Fiats and Alfa Romeos being sold out of the same space.
Thankfully, if the report is to come true, clarity should be just around the corner. Not only might every body-on-frame three-row Jeep be a Grand Wagoneer, but normal Jeep trim levels might replace the Series I, Series II, Series III hierarchy. Indeed, Mopar Insiders uncovered a trademark for Grand Wagoneer Summit, like the Grand Cherokee Summit. If this happens, it ought to make comparing big versus medium SUVs on the showroom floor a little bit easier.
I’ve reached out to Jeep and will keep you updated as soon as I hear back, but this report does seem promising for now. Examples of Jeep’s flagship body-on-frame SUV probably should’ve all been Grand Wagoneer models from the start, and there definitely should be greater differentiation now that the electric unibody Wagoneer S is a thing. Will anyone miss the standard Wagoneer nameplate? Maybe a few people who already own one, but for everyone else, amalgamation could be a good thing. In any case, this might explain why Jeep has teased the 2026 Grand Wagoneer but not the 2026 Wagoneer. Food for thought.
Top graphic image: Jeep
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That top photo looks like the result of the request, “ChatGPT, design a fucking ugly dumpy stupid looking jumbo SUV suitable only for rental fleets.”
We needed a 7 passenger plus stuff vehicle for a trip so I rented an Escalade ESV but they were all sold out and they gave me a Grand Wagoneer L. The interior is nice and all but my god it had like 4k miles on the clock and the damn thing had so many gremlins. I had to pair and unpair my phone every day because the carplay would just stop working, the rear entertainment would randomly restart infuriating my niece and just random little quibbles. 130k that vehicle cost, and it was pathetic. My ESV V is a million times better, I can’t enter the mind of someone who chooses a GW over an Escalade or Navigator.
Lol…who is buying these? Why would anyone spend that kind of money on a second rate Escalade/Suburban?
We had one as a loaner for a few weeks while our Pacifica was in the shop. It was worse in every way, and somehow more than double the MSRP.
This. We rented one for 2 weeks this summer, and it was already having electrical gremlins with only 20k miles on it.
I always thought the Wagoneer (Grand or otherwise) looked like a Houston version of the Suburban… Obviously same niche, but… like… fat and dumpy and awkward. Proportions are just wrong top to bottom…
A+ description!
The Grand Wagoneer is without a doubt, the ugliest large SUV on the market today.
The only difference is to the service advisor when he sees an additional 5 letters (one word) on the next and inevitable service work order.
I know we joke about Pep Boys add-on stuff a lot, but that chrome trim around the windows really, really, really looks like someone with bad taste bought that off their store shelves. I’m a little surprised they didn’t continue the trim all the way around the door openings.
I also just saw a Range Rover size Wagoneer- it was weird, like it looked like a slightly more sporty grand Cherokee and had a spoiler off the back window slope. From across the parking lot it really looked like a RR HSE. I didn’t know they made a smaller version of the Grand, but this thing was way smaller, closer to the ground and definitely wearing a Wagoneer name on the front.
Sounds like you saw a Wagoner S BEV based on the STLA Large platform (shared with the Charger).
It’s not related to the Wagoner or Grand Wagoneer in any way other sharing a name. I think they should have called the Wagoneer S something else as it’s confusing things even more.
Must be, I’ve never seen another one- It’s actually very attractive.
It’s such an awkward looking vehicle, Jeep’s styling doesn’t scale up to something that size very well.
Very much reminds me of the Jeep Commander. Same problem.
There are a mixture of Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer’s in a neighborhood near where I live. They all just feel heavy when they drive by. I can’t describe it but they sound like how I imagine a modern Hummer with an ICE engine would sound. I had to look up weight differential between an Escalade ESV and a Grand Wagoneer and I can hear the extra 700 LBS that the Jeep wears. There surely isn’t 700 LBS of more capability, reliability or luxury in the Jeep.
As per multiple sources:
2025 Tahoe 4×4 6.2: 5877 lbs.
2025 Wagoner 4×4: 5981 lbs.
The Grand Wagoneer according to the Jeep website is 6,400 pounds. Don’t forget that this is a short wheelbase version. The Grand Wagoneer Long wheelbase which is nearly identical in length to a suburban is 6,704 according to Jeep. I also compared to Cadillac expecting “luxury appointments” to add extra weight and keep the comparison more equal. While the delta might not be exactly 700 pounds. The “grand” version is across the board heavier than the GM counterparts.
Nah. You’re comparing apples to oranges. Not sure what Jeep is including in their figures but it doesn’t match actual weight measurements from a neutral source.
Here’s some real world data from Car and Driver’s recent comparison of six different 2025 model full size 4×4 SUVs. (Sept issue)
Car and Driver actually puts vehicles on a scale to get an exact weight reading.
Here’s their weight data from the scale:
Ford Expedition Platinum: 5844 lbs.
Toyota Sequoia: 6179 lbs.
Nissan Armada Platinum Reserve: 6085 lbs.
Jeep Wagoneer Series III Super 4×4: 6129 lbs.
Chevrolet Tahoe High Country 4WD: 5994 lbs.
GMC Yukon Denali 4WD: 6057 lbs.
So, the Wagoneer is indeed 135 lbs. heavier than the Tahoe and 72 lbs. heavier than the Yukon. Big effing deal.
In spite of being so “heavy” the Wagoneer managed to be faster than both GM vehicles AND got better MPGs.
I should also note the Wagoneer finished 2nd of the six in the Car and Driver comparison rankings.
I just had one of these as a rental 2 weeks ago. Fantastic highway vehicle, I quite enjoyed the Hurricane engine. But the interior was all flimsy plastic except for the seats (which were not comfortable). I was extremely unimpressed compared to my Dad’s Suburban.
The infotainment is horrible, too. Also had one as a rental this year.
So much input lag.
New Jeep trim lineup:
– Grand Wagoneer
– Grand Wagoneer Royale
– Grand Wagoneer Royale with cheese
Is that the European lineup? The US gets the Grand Wagoneer 1/4 Pounder, and Grand Wagoneer 1/4 Pounder with Cheese and since we are special the Grand Wagoneer Double 1/4 Pounder with Cheese, not to be confused with the Grand Wagoneer L Double Big Mac.
I thought the top trim was the Grand Wagoneer Baconator (US market only).
*49 state legal.
Dang it I just had breakfast too.
Based on how little I see them, the Grand Wagoneer might be the next name plate to disappear.
I have seen 2 or 3 in Qatar. They are NOT popular.
The Land Cruiser, Patrol, GMC/Chevrolet/Cadillac SUVs, and even the Ford Expedition all outsell them.
You will stand a better chance of seeing a Navigator than a GW in Doha.
Time travel me back to the 90’s, and I could easily tell you the difference between a Cherokee (boxy), Grand Cherokee (swoopy-ish), and Wrangler (even more boxy; unmistakeable). And each had their obvious lanes, and you still see quite a few Cherokees and Wranglers out roaming the trail where I’m at.
The new Jeep Grand Wagoneer / Wagoneer brand/model mess doesn’t make any sense to me. I’m somewhere in the demographic that would purchase these, and while Toyota and GM have their own sloppy messes with regards to swim lanes and branding, I just don’t see what Jeep is trying to do with their massive upmarket push before legitimizing (once again) the bottom and mid of their market. Jeep had great mindshare in the 90’s and pretty good brand awareness, but I have seen only a handful of Wagoneers/Grand Wagoneers in the wild (and I’m guessing they were rental units, given the California plates in Utah national parks), and I have never seen them towing anything or offroad or even off pavement. I couldn’t pick a new Compass/Liberty/Cherokee out of a lineup.
Jeep needs to, in a sentence, get back to its roots, because the market of individuals who are seeking to move upmarket from the bottom end of its offering is virtually nil.
Well, why didn’t they just use the Grand Wagoneer name on the LWB and just Wagoneer for the SWB?
LOL
That absolutely would have made the most sense.
So of course they didn’t do it that way.
Because Stellantis truly thought they could sell a tahoe and an escalade but with the same exact name save for “Grand” and it wouldn’t confuse the general public who wondered why one model was 40k more than the other.
It’s an insane thought!