The 2023 Jeep Wagoneer L joined Jeep’s full-size SUV lineup this year to take on the Chevrolet Suburban, GMC Yukon XL, and longer Ford Expedition L. It does so by stretching the wheelbase, lengthening the body, and adding more space to the third row and cargo area. Yet, it has more power and uses fewer cylinders than the smaller Wagoneer launched in 2022. 

The L model doesn’t get its own TCC Rating, but the Wagoneer earned a TCC Rating of 7.0 out of 10, matching the Ford Expedition but easily topping the Chevrolet Suburban’s 6.2 and the GMC Yukon’s 6.7 ratings.

I spent a long weekend hauling the family around town in the Jeep Wagoneer L to determine the pros and cons of this gargantuan SUV. Here’s what I learned.

Pro: The Wagoneer L is huge

To be specific, the Wagoneer L adds 7.0 inches to the Wagoneer’s already long wheelbase, and 12 inches to the SUV’s overall length. At 126.7 inches long the Wagoneer L is exactly 1.0 inch longer than the Chevrolet Suburban, and you can bet that isn’t a coincidence. Neither the Chevy nor the Jeep fit in my standard garage as they are both too long. All three rows fit adults easily for road trips with plenty of stretch out space. There’s 44.2 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third row, which allowed me to fit two 24-inch bikes for my kids with room to spare. So much space for activities!

Con: Packaging decisions mean less space than competition

Despite being longer than the Suburban the Wagoneer manages to have slightly worse packaging for humans. The Suburban features more legroom in each row including an extra inch in the third row. The reason is because the Chevy horse-trades cargo space for passenger space and holds only 41.5 cubic feet of stuff behind the third row. How much does that extra inch or two in the second or third row matter when Little Johnny wants to bring all the things to the lake house? 

Pro: Pushing more power with less cylinders

The base engine in the Wagoneer is a 5.7-liter V-8, but the Wagoneer L introduces the automaker’s new turbo-6. The V-8 in the Wagoneer is rated at 393 hp and 404 lb-ft of torque, but the 3.0-liter turbo-6 juices output to 420 hp and 486 lb-ft of torque. It’s more than adequate when it comes time to make the 6,000-plus-pound Wagoneer L launch off the line or pass slower moving traffic. Torque comes on strong low in the rev range and doesn’t seem to drop off noticeably at any point.

Con: Wagoneer L drinks gas

That whole bit about the torque coming on strong and not dropping off is probably why the Wagoneer L’s turbo-6 drinks gas. Jeep doesn’t provide any sort of boost gauge in the digital gauge cluster (which would be nice), but one can only surmise the engine’s huffing boost most of the time to keep momentum. Jeep has this turbo huffing up to 22.4 psi of boost. EPA fuel economy ratings of 16 mpg city, 23 highway, and 19 combined when equipped with four-wheel drive such as my tester are optimistic and seemingly unrealistic. Over the course of 169 miles of suburban driving, I saw an average of 14.6 mpg, and Senior Editor Kirk Bell saw an average of 11.9 mpg over the course of 73 miles of city driving. Not great and not much off what one would see with the V-8 in the shorter, lighter Wagoneer that’s rated at 15/20/17 mpg. 

Pro: Comfortable slide-and-tilt second row seats

Just like the Ford Expedition, the Wagoneer L features slide-and-tilt functionality with the second-row seats. This makes access to the third row easier and more convenient than in the Chevrolet Suburban as the seat can be moved in one swift action. It also means the removal of a child’s car seat isn’t necessary to access the third row. The Chevy Suburban lacks this functionality and the second-row seat sits higher with a narrower, shorter, less comfortable seat bottom than that of the Wagoneer L.

Con: Shiny piano black plastic scratches

With three rows of seating the Wagoneer L is destined for family hauling and carpool duty. But owners better be careful what finds its way onto the front center console because it’s slathered with shiny piano black plastic. On day one it will look fine, but by day five of family life it could be scratched up and look terrible. Shiny piano black trim is always a bad material choice for a family hauler.

Jeep’s late to the big family hauler party, but it clearly did its homework when evaluating the competition. For families looking for the largest production SUV money can buy with all the space for all the things, the Wagoneer L is hard to beat.

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2023 Jeep Wagoneer L

Base price: $64,495, including $2,000 destination

Price as tested: $85,010

Powertrain: 420-hp turbo-6, 8-speed automatic, four-wheel drive

EPA fuel economy: 16/23/19 mpg

The hits: All the space, plenty of power, slide-and-tilt second-row seats

The misses: Horse-trades legroom with Suburban, drinks gas, shiny piano black plastic