2026 Jeep Wrangler review

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Let’s be real – the Jeep Wrangler two-door is a statement.

I think this is a very off-road car, but it’s also. two-door with re-roof roof and doesn’t mean that it’s not cheap. All of which explains to the world that “the owner is probably an adventure-seeker, outdoorsy person with no children and healthy money.”

While the model has been 85-year-old, 2026 marks Australia’s 30th anniversary of the Wrangler (the original model cost $29,990 – roughly the same price as a Holden Commodore Executive at the time).

It could cost a lot of money to buy the new Wrangler’s $82,000 price-tag, but according to the RBA’S inflation calculator, it would be more than $97,000 in today’t dollars for the original 1996 model.

The Wrangler has some impressive kit for off-road enthusiasts. Two-wheel drive, on-demand four wheel driving and high & low range four- wheels drive have all been given by Jeep to lock differentials in front and rear, button-activated sway bar disconnection (and Dana solid axles at both ends) as well as two- Wheel Drive.

Gone is the 3.6-litre petrol V6, replaced with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine with decent performance numbers.

But unlike the dual-cab Jeep Gladiator ute, which stretches across three time zones, our two-door Wrangler is a short-wheelbase model by its nature, making it a more compelling argument for those Bear Grylls types that are forced to work in the city.

Jeep redesigned the Wrangler lineup last year, dropping prices – after several years of increases – and adding multiple variants. It is a two-door or an ‘Unlimited’ four- door Wrangler Rubicon, just the Wrangeler rubican (but with more standard features than before) and has only been described.

What we want to know is, after three decades on sale in Australia, is the Jeep Wrangler still relevant?

How much does the Jeep Wrangler cost?

The Wrangler is now reportedly priced at around $82,000, with the Rubicon being the only variant available – and buyers are simply given an option of how many doors they need.

| Model | Price before on-road costs |
| — | — |
| 2026 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon | $81,990 |
| 2026 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon | $84,990 |

For a short time, Jeep has an $88,490 limited-edition Wrangler 85th Anniversary before on-road costs – which is expensive but with some pretty cool yellow plaid upholstery.

To see how the Jeep Wrangler lines up against the competition, check out our
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What is the Jeep Wrangler like on the inside?

If you’re looking for a luxury cabin, you’ve come to the wrong place.

I don’t think it is a bad thing to say, the Wrangler has an adequate kit – and is astonishingly well built – but this won’s you Day Spa experience like so many other new cars try to these days.

But it’s a strange combination of utilitarian design and high-quality materials, questionable packaging and ergonomics as well as – perhaps one of the best in industry terms build quality. When you think about something like it, sometimes I don’t know what to do with your head.

Certainly, visibility is excellent – even with the letterbox windscreen – as it has such compact dimensions and the cube-like shape of the cabin.

It has a nice big central infotainment screen and ‘digital monitor for driver’, but the latter is mounted between two analogue gauges – one of the last cars on sale to have them. What is the quaintness of ?

Jeep’s Uconnect 5 infotainment software is crisp and nice to use, and loads the wireless Apple CarPlay interface quickly. The reversing camera is positioned better than on the Jeep Gladiator I reviewed last year, but you only get forward and reverse cameras, rather than 360-degree cameras, as is the norm across the industry.

Having owned a Jeep XJ Cherokee from the 1990s – which I loved even though it had an interior made from the same type of cheap plastic used to house Woolworths cakes – I found the quality of the switchgear in the latest Wrangler to be astonishingly good. The red anodised toggle for the diff lockers is a particularly nice touch, and provides a little splash of colour that ties in with the red contrast stitching and Rubicon embroidery on the seats.

And like the Gladiator, in a way that suggests it was just out of ‘a cereal box’ is what an indicator stalk feels like. It could be more appropriate than the flimsy, hollow thing that Jeep used to use as its stalk off of a 1996 Wrangler.

Jeep was among the first automakers to introduce hidden little ‘Easter Eggs’ – such as the postcode stamped into the Gladiator’s tub, a reference to the city where it is built – but that company may have had an idea and destroyed it. In place of Jeep emblems on the wheels and gear knob, there is a profile drawing for World War II’s original Willys GP instead of its original willy-GP. Like a toddler who just got his very first laugh from ‘adults,’ it sounds like he has continued to repeat the joke d nauseam.

I was able to drive a real US military ‘jeep’ many moons ago, speaking of the fact that Marty is ‘an amazing veteran who served in the United States for so long. I loved the experience, but if I had to invade Normandy I think I’d rather be in the Rubicon.

Ergonomics in the Wrangler are good, if not great. The steering wheel position is a favorite, but the lack of ‘left foot dead pedals’ is tiresome. The leather upholstery of the nappa leather feels very hard and good quality, but I started to feel like it was starting to hurt after about 1pm when seats were on. Despite being reasonably well supported for off-roading, 5 hours on the road were spent by . heated on both front pews but only the driver’ is electric. Would have been nice to vent on the warmer summer days too, as would Ventilation.

There are back seats, but it’s a bit of an effort to access them, and they should be considered for emergencies rather than regular use. You’re far better off just stowing the second row of seats and increasing the usable storage space from 365 to 898 litres – giving you almost 90 per cent of the boot space you get in a LandCruiser 300 Series in five-seat configuration. Though it’s worth noting that different automakers measure their boot space differently…

We did, however, get away with the two front roof panels one sunny Saturday afternoon that were lightweight and easy to pop off and on a sun-soaked day of summer. It looked like my Passenger Princess was just enjoying her impromptu blow-dry (not that I could hear she) from her aggressive gesticulating. Honestly, she was so happy with her new, fashion-forward hairdo that she didn’t talk to me once until we got to the restaurant. It’s pretty fun to have a short-wheelbase, muscular off-road package with targa-top convertible but it’ll be very fun.

| Dimensions | Jeep Wrangler Rubicon |
| — | — |
| Length | 4334mm |
| Width | 1894mm |
| Height | 1879mm |
| Wheelbase | 2459mm |
| Cargo capacity | 365L (back seats up) 898L (back seats folded) |

To see how the Jeep Wrangler lines up against the competition, check out our
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What’s under the bonnet?

The Wrangler’s old 209kW/347Nm 3 has been binned by Jeep, as noted. It replaced 6-litre petrol V6, replacing it with a 2 litres of petrol, and was replaced by 6 liter petrol. Four-cylinder petrol engine 0-litre turbocharged four-cycle engines, which expelled 200kW of power and 400Nm of torque by an eight-speed automatic transmission with the force from its turbines.

| Specifications | Jeep Wrangler |
| — | — |
| Engine | 2.0L turbo-petrol four-cylinder |
| Power | 200kW |
| Torque | 400Nm |
| Transmission | 8-speed automatic with low-range |
| Drive type | RWD, on-demand 4WD |
| Fuel economy (claimed) | 9.7L/100km |
| Fuel economy (as tested) | 11.7L/100km |
| CO2 emissions (claimed) | 218g/km |
| Fuel tank | 66L |
| Weight | 2020kg (kerb) |
| Payload | 384kg |
| Braked towing capacity | 1497kg |
| Gross vehicle mass (GVM) | 2404kg |
| Gross combination mass (GCM) | 3751kg |

To see how the Jeep Wrangler lines up against the competition, check out our
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How does the Jeep Wrangler drive?

The Wrangler two-door is almost 23 per cent longer than Gladiator dual-cab Nose to tail, and nearly 550mm shorter than the Unlimited four-back- door.

The length department department is a big factor for my experience with short-wheelbase SUVs, including FJ40 and LJ70 LandCruisers. I have had some personal experiences with the vehicle but it’s not so much that this can affect how things ride. I’ve heard that a is so, but I mean. Ahem, .

Quite to my surprise, the Wrangler actually rides pretty well. Then there’s no bucking, and it rides through speed humps and potholes relatively smoothly.

I think it’s also pretty good in the city as a parodyr. Despite the fact that the cabin itself isn’t all that wide, guards stick out to give the spread-out footprint of the tyres so you have to be slightly more aware of your placement in their lane. But even without 360-degree cameras, parking the Wrangler is a breeze. The correct word is Nimble, but it does feel a little more agile for ‘big girl’ on the road. Zoomies like an English Bulldog with the .

I have never seen a new car that I can remember driving in recent memory, but Gladiator was added to the steering. This is a very slow rack, with some spins lock-to–lock and it’s odd but the fact is that the steering doesn’t want to return to centre – something you might do with the recirculating ball steering which was good for off-roading (although retired by most car companies in the 1990s). Because the wheelbase is short, it’s a very fast car to rotate; so you have just as much time to roll off the steering lock in tight corners.

Once you’re aware of it, you get used to the steering pretty quickly.

Jeep engineers have made this a deliberate decision to now. What do I wonder? Considering that there is an important proportion of owners fit suspension lift kits and steering dampers, I wonder whether they’ve done research in the Wrangler’s wheel caster has been designed so as to be compatible with those things.

Trying not to apologize for the Wrangler or explain its oddities away but I did think with the Gladiator’s breakover angle. Is this a car made with the idea that most will have big tyres and suspension kits as soon as they leave the dealership lot? If Instagram is anything to go by, then that’s certainly the case in US.

And it took me just a little while to click with the new turbocharged engine. Powertrain was a little outdated, though, driving in the most relaxed way. When I had to go for a gap, the automatic was often slow to react – getting caught out in the wrong gear when I needed it – and some turbo lag on take-off.

A wheezy old unit that didn’t do much unless you gave it a good kick in the guts, but was smooth and soft V6 was an older one? But the new four-cylinder doesn’t match the V6 in that way, as it drives slowly. I was also questioning whether the 200kW and 400Nm were real numbers.

That’s where, in my words the wick up I started to turn it up and that’t what really makes powertrain sense. A Turbocharged Wrangler, if you like to drive at six-tenths everywhere, is eager and ready to be your ride or-die driver.

But it’s one of those fucky tuning decisions by Jeep that makes me wonder whether there is only one dude, Chad, in the engineering department who just sets up these cars to fit his own driving style and the changes he’ll make.

But when you begin driving like Chad, it’s an aggressiveness which will not be quite a thing that means the other road users call the police (although they might just hit their Mercedes-Benz S–Class driver who you have only been past) and now your Wrangler is really in its own right? When you need it to be a , it’s quite quick.

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It’s on aggressive off-road tyres, has a short wheelbase and is long steering ratio with front wheels that don’t want back to centre.’ Just remember ‘This thing isn’Tell me this? It’s not like a Volkswagen Golf R, which you can drive quickly with fists like the ham hocks and that is going to look after no matter what it is. If I’m saying, be safe please.

While I didn’t get a chance to take the Wrangler off-road, the V6-powered Gladiator I had before was extremely capable. With the eagerness of that turbocharged engine, it has me dreaming of an empty beach or open field. Nobody talks about them in the same breath, but I suspect the Wrangler would be just as fun to attack a desert in as a Ford Ranger Raptor – perhaps even more so.

| Off-road dimensions | Jeep Wrangler |
| — | — |
| Track front and rear | 1598mm/1598mm |
| Ground clearance | 257mm |
| Approach angle | 44.0 degrees |
| Departure angle | 37.0 degrees |
| Ramp breakover angle | 27.8 degrees |
| Wading depth | 760mm |

To see how the Jeep Wrangler lines up against the competition, check out our
comparison tool

What do you get?

The Wrangler lineup was slimmed down in mid-2025, with Jeep dropping the more affordable Sport S and Overland trims while lowering price of Rubicon’s feature-packed package.

2026 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon equipment highlights:

• 17-inch alloy wheels
• 32-inch off-road tyres
• LED headlights
• Automatic high-beam
• Gorilla glass windscreen
• Acoustic laminated front door glass
• Rock-Trac four-wheel drive
• Four skid plates
• Proximity entry with push-button start
• 12.3-inch Uconnect 5 touchscreen infotainment system
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Forward-facing TrailCam
• 12-way power-adjustable front driver’s seat with 4-way lumbar
• Heated front seats
• Nappa leather upholstery
• Tilt and telescopic steering column adjustment
• 240-amp alternator
• Auxiliary switch bank

To see how the Jeep Wrangler lines up against the competition, check out our
comparison tool

Is the Jeep Wrangler safe?

After January 1, 2026, ANCAP unrated all Jeep Wrangler vehicles built after that date; the previous three-star score from 2019 expired after six years.

The Jeep Wrangler comes with the following safety features:

• Adaptive cruise control
• Autonomous emergency braking
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Rear cross-traffic alert
• Reversing camera
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Front and front-side airbags
• First- and second-row side curtain airbags
• Rear seat reminder
• Tyre pressure monitoring

To see how the Jeep Wrangler lines up against the competition, check out our
comparison tool

How much does the Jeep Wrangler cost to run?

The service intervals of the Jeep Wrangler are 12 months or 12,000km – which is better than the 12-month/10,000km interval for many Toyota off-road models, but not so good as the 6-month/15,000km spans offered with a wide range of other off road vehicles.

However, all annual logbook services are capped at $399 through Jeep’s dealership network.

With the rest of the Jeep range, the Wrangler receives a five-year warranty – although this expires at 100,000km (100k km) mark; many other competitors offer longer warranties periods with unlimited mileage.

| Servicing and Warranty | Jeep Wrangler |
| — | — |
| Warranty | 5 years or 100,000km |
| Roadside assistance | 5 years of 100,000km |
| Service intervals | 12 months or 12,000km |
| Capped-price servicing | 5 years |
| Total capped-price service cost | $1995 |

To see how the Jeep Wrangler lines up against the competition, check out our
comparison tool

childcareman.xyz’s take on the Jeep Wrangler

I’d just stepped out of a Leapmotor C10 electric SUV before I jumped into the Jeep Wrangler – both being products related to Jeep parent company Stellantis – and it’s hard to imagine two cars with more polar philosophies. Just something that struck me at the time.

My experience with the Wrangler was similar as I had with its larger pickup sibling, the Gladiator. I was impressed and confused by it in ways I couldn’t have imagined, but really made me feel the way I had to hand back the keys.

Most of the time, the powertrain was ‘it wasn’t it’ – as well as the ergonomics, vibration of knobbly off-road tyres at walking speed, pirate-ship steering…

If you just pull all of the levers – in terms of approach and transact with the Wrangler – everything goes into place. But it all just suddenly becomes a sense for its .

It may be true that some people think it’s a perfect fit for the Jeep from the get-go at this point, but for everyone else it’ll be up to you to adapt to your car to make the most out of it. A quick drive with a few less-than-positive thoughts would make it very easy to walk away from the Jeep.

There’s the price tag of $82,000 for Then there’. There are a lot of cars for that kind of money, but none of them will give you the off-road capability, the easy parking maneuverability or the targa-top convertible experience Wrangler has. But it’s a class of its own, built for those who want something more from life than the everyday .

They don’t come along, but the Wrangler is a perfect example of’more than its brochures’ car. I know there is so many dimensions to this thing, and it takes a long time to get in touch with them.

The Wrangler I had a very confident, flawed character about it after my time with the word. For some of you this will be ‘big turn-off’. For others – like me – it’s an emballing car. You would never recommend the type to anyone you liked, but if it was an offer for yourself in heartbeat, that’s what you will buy for your own good.

Here’s to another 30 years.

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