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Video: 2014 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Review
By Cars.com Editors
October 9, 2014About the video
The Jeep Wrangler returns for 2014 in all of its rugged glory, retaining its status as the brand's No. 2 seller and an unlikely American automotive legend. Cars.com reviewer Joe Wiesenfelder suggests some improvements to help keep that legend alive.
Transcript
(upbeat music) The Jeep Wrangler is a legend. It's also an unlikely enduring hit in the US market, that's because it is a fully off-road capable vehicle.
It can do what really, just a few models on the market can do, but it's also a big sales success. It's second only among Jeeps to the Grand Cherokee. Jeep has done a good job of keeping it attractive to regular users, families, et cetera. But unfortunately it hasn't been redesigned since 2007 and probably won't be again until 2017 and the market goes on. What I'm going to do as, a Wrangler fan myself is give some humble suggestions to Jeep on what they should keep and what they should get rid of in the next redesign. The next generation styling is going to have to stick more or less to this, which has been around for decades. It's boxy. It's rugged. Part of the way it looks is functional. You see how close the wheels are to the bumpers that is for off-roading purposes. You get a really steep approach and departure angle from that that cannot change. As for some of the accents on the outside. Things like the hood latches here, external, external hinges on the hood and the doors. Those can stick around and they should because it says Wrangler and it makes it look authentic. Now, speaking of the doors, most people agree, the outside handles here kind of cheap plastic. Some people also think the doors are cheap because they're very light. Some would say flimsy, but that's intentional. The door is supposed to be light because it is removable. The doors can come off, you can replace them with half doors. So it does help to keep them light. Likewise, the only door check is a canvas web here, you know, just easier to deal with. Could they make the power locks, quieter than this? Yes, they could. Should they? I say no. It's part of the character of the vehicle. If the Wrangler in the next generation retains its shape, as it is, I suspect the layout will be similar inside. One thing Jeep does have to do is increase the quality of the interior. For a long time they got away with, you know, small changes here and there and said, well, you know, it's an off-road vehicle. What do you expect? Made sense? But since then the market has changed and also Jeep has introduced the Cherokee, which starts $3,200 cheaper than this one, but has a nicer interior, especially things like hard plastics here on the Wrangler. They need to go be replaced by something softer. One more thing that I appreciate in the current Wrangler is the manual shift. The actual mechanical linkage to the part-time four wheel drive system. Again matches the character of the vehicle. I do think that Jeep should consider perhaps as an option a full-time system. Even if it has locking center diff, locking diffs, front and back, whatever it is, it would allow the more casual driver to just drive. Not have to think about it and not know that they really have to engage and disengage the system in low traction situations, which I think some people still don't know. Hey, full-time system works for land Rover. It can work for the Wrangler. Off-road vehicles need full-sized spare tires. The problem with them is they're very large. They take up too much space on the inside, or if you put them under the chassis, they ruin your departure angle. So it is on the back here and having it on the back requires a swing gate like this, which is no one's favorite type of access to the back of an SUV. Unfortunately, it also is kind of obstructive to your rear view. You've got the tire here, the center brake light here, and there's a housing for the wiper motor. Generally speaking, the rear view is not great. If Jeep wants to broaden the appeal of this thing, they're going to have to find some other way. I think they can do it. One more thing, even though the squared off shape of the vehicle makes the cargo area, the volume, actually not that bad. Same thing applies here as in the inside because it's body on frame and a ride so high for the size of the vehicle on the outside, you might expect more on the inside. There's one thing that I absolutely love about the Wrangler that Jeep should never change. Every Wrangler is a convertible. It is arguably the most open air vehicle on the market. You can put your entire family in it. There's really nothing else like this. Especially if you get the half doors that really opened it up, so they have to hold on to that, of course. Now you might've noticed some convertible Wranglers in the past because of a soft top. You might not have known that this is also a convertible because it had a removable hard top. It's not actually that hard to remove. It was just eight bolts and a couple strong enough guys to lift it and take it off. There's a bit of a problem with the hard top though. When you take it off, you gotta put it somewhere. Would I do at differently if I were Jeep? No. If you want the type that you can just leave on there and fold, get the soft top version. This works okay for me. There really is nothing else in the world like a Wrangler. Jeep has a pretty tough job ahead of itself to redesign this thing for its next generation. All manufacturers are going for better efficiency, higher quality and better crash tests. And this definitely needs those, but they're trying to also preserve its capability and its legend. And that's a tough job. I've made a few humble suggestions. Maybe they'll listen.
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