Jeep Wrangler Review 2025: Price, specs & boot space

If you’re the sort of person who spends your weekends belting along green lanes and winching yourself up mountains, rather than nipping down to Starbucks and getting your nails done, then the Wrangler could well be for you. If you’re not that dedicated to the off-roading cause, however, then it very probably isn’t.

There aren’t many cars of any price that can do what the Wrangler can do off-road. It’s packing all manner of mud-plugging hardware that allows it to venture along terrain and up slopes that many people wouldn’t think possible in a car. What’s more, it also looks really cool and is dripping with charm and heritage.

However, this ability in the rough stuff means it's very compromised on the road in terms of comfort, handling and refinement. It’ll also cost you more to buy and run than many rivals, and it won’t give you as much practicality or kit. It’s safety record is also woeful. Those after a left-field family car need not apply. Those after an off-roading icon really should, though.

Choosing an engine is easy as there's only one now. However, we'd recommend the entry-level Sahara as it's packed with tech, unless you plan to ford the Rubicon river. Still, the price difference isn't massive between the two trim levels.

Over the years, the Wrangler has only had one real rival, another car derived from ancient military field transport: the Land Rover Defender. Otherwise, genuine hardcore off-roader rivals are hard to find. 

The now cancelled Suzuki Jimny was much smaller and much cheaper while the Mercedes-Benz G-Class is much more expensive. However, if you’re simply after an SUV rather than an off-roader, there are countless choices, the Audi Q5 and Volkswagen Tiguan, to name but two.

There's also the similarly-priced Toyota Land Cruiser. 

If you’ve had a Wrangler before, you’ll be impressed by the quality on show in the latest one, because it’s a distinct improvement on what’s gone before. While most SUVs have soft, squishy interior surfaces, most of the Wrangler’s are hard and robust, but that completely suits the nature of the car. 

Indeed, the interior is designed so you can wipe it clean and hose it out, although if you look closer, there are several nooks and crannies in the floor where mud could be very hard to get at. Most importantly, though, everything feels solid and substantial, giving the impression that this car will last a lifetime. Also, there are stitched leather wrappings for the steering wheel, transmission shifters and door pulls to help inject a bit of classiness.

Similarly,  the windscreen uses a layered composition with an inner panel of Gorilla Glass, making it 52% thicker. 

Both trim levels get an 12.3-inch touchscreen with navigation, upgraded sound and Apple Carplay/Android Auto. What's more, the screen is responsive, the graphics are fast and sharp and the menus are reasonably easy to find your way around. A 7-inch TFT gauge cluster, a 9-speaker Alpine audio system, a rear backup camera, and front and rear parking sensors are standard. 

All versions also get a digital display between the instrument dials to deliver key information. The display can be configured in a wide variety of ways, and pretty much whatever you do, it’s easy to understand and the graphics are clear.

The Wrangler was available in two very different forms, the two-door and the much longer four-door. And what you picked drastically altered the car's performance. Now, only the four-door exists. 

There are three rear seats instead of two, and they’re surrounded by a lot more space, allowing adults to travel in some semblance of comfort. 

The boot is slightly smaller at 533 litres vs the old car's 598, but you can still take plenty of kit with you on your adventures into the wilderness. The rear bench, meanwhile, folds down in two portions, giving you more versatility when you need to carry big loads. Dropping the rear seats increases the boot to 2050 litres.

The side-hinged tailgate makes the space a little bit awkward to get to when you’re in a tight parking space, and you have to flip up the rear window separately.

Both trims are 1894mm wide and 4882m long. The Sahara is 1838mm tall while the Rubicon is 10mm taller. 

Before, buyers could pick from petrol or diesel. The 2.2-litre 200 PS diesel was the most popular, delivering reasonably brisk performance in most situations, and its generous low-down muscle not only made it flexible, but it also helped when you’re wading through the sticky stuff.

Next was the petrol is a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine delivering 272PS, the only engine that's offered with new cars now.

Like the previous diesel, the petrol's mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox driving all four wheels. It shifts up and down the ratios smoothly and cleanly, although it could react quicker when you ask it for a sudden burst of acceleration. 

The diesel suited the Wrangler's rough-and-tumble persona. But not to worry, because the petrol is considerably quieter and smoother, but somehow it doesn’t feel quite as appropriate in a car like this. 

Otherwise, the blunt shape of the front end means you hear a fair amount of noise from the wind rushing over the top of the windscreen, and it catches the large door mirrors as well. The wide tyres kick up a fair amount of road noise, too.

There aren’t many cars these days that don’t manage to achieve the full five stars in Euro NCAP crash tests, so for the latest Wrangler to score just one is a fairly spectacular failure. And, if you read the detailed report, it looks like it was pretty lucky to get that.

While most modern cars offer six or more airbags dotted around the cabin, the Wrangler gets just four, and all of those are up front. So, those in the back have to rely on little more than their seatbelt and crossed fingers for crash safety. 

Standard safety tech includes parking sensors, a backup camera, forward collision warning, blind spot detection, side curtain airbags, lane departure warning and traffic sign detection. 

Jeep Wranglers sell in such small numbers in the UK it's hard to to get an accurate sense of the car's reliability, although we have heard reports that older cars suffer from leaks around the rear footwells, and have various electrical issues. 

That said, a three-year warranty comes as standard with all models and it's still too early to tell if these issues were rectified in newer models. 

Older cars lie between insurance groups 32 and 41, but the new trim levels start slightly higher. Oddly, the entry-level Sahara is more expensive to insure at group 41 than the Rubicon, which sits in group 40. Group 40 and 41 cars include the Land Rover Defender and Discovery. 

The latest Wrangler was launched in 2018, after the Government decided to change the VED tax laws to apply a flat rate of £150 to petrol and diesel cars, and to apply a five-year surcharge of £325 to cars that cost over £40,000 when new.

As of 1 April 2025, there's an updated flat rate of £195. Sadly, both the Rubicon and Sahara emit massive C02 figures - 250g/kg and 269g/kg, respectively. Be prepared to pay between £2,340 and £2,745 for first-year 'showroom tax'. After the first year, this drops to the standard rate. 

Before, there were four trims available - Sport, Sahara, Overland and Rubicon. Sport and Overland have since been dropped leaving Sahara and Rubicon. 

The entry-level Sahara offers stacks of equipment to boot such as 18-in alloys, side steps, LED headlights, a 3-piece hard top, heated front seats and steering wheel, dual zone climate control, keyless entry, and sat-nav. 

Upgrading to Rubicon spec adds electronic sway bar disconnect, Nappa vinyl seats, acoustic front carpets, and 17-inch alloys.