2022 Jeep Wrangler

Volume 4-door Sahara/Sport S trim uses the naturally aspirated 3.6L Pentastar V6, unchanged for 2022; the 2.0L turbo-4 (270 hp) and 6.4L V8 392 (470 hp) are the alternate/high trims.

Peak torque of the standard 3.6L Pentastar V6 on the volume trim, carried over from prior model years for 2022.

Instrumented test of a 4-door Sahara V6 automatic; two-door and manual-transmission variants vary slightly but the Wrangler is not quick regardless of configuration.

The Pentastar V6 is smooth and adequately responsive around town but has to work hard and gets vocal at highway passing speeds and under load, especially with the boxy Wrangler's poor aerodynamics; reviewers describe it as competent rather than refined.

The ZF-derived 850RE 8-speed automatic (standard on higher-volume trims) shifts smoothly and picks appropriate gears with minimal hunting; the 6-speed manual, while praised by enthusiasts, is heavier and slower-shifting by comparison.

Maximum conventional towing rating for the 2022 Wrangler with the V6 gas engine and factory tow package; this is well below full-size and even most mid-size SUV competitors.

4WD is standard across every 2022 Wrangler trim (never available as FWD-only), spanning three transfer-case systems: part-time Command-Trac (Sport/Sahara), full-time Selec-Trac, and the two-speed Rock-Trac with locking differentials and (on Rubicon) a disconnecting sway bar — genuinely sophisticated for the segment.

The Wrangler nameplate is the segment's off-road benchmark: standard skid plates, class-leading approach/departure geometry on higher trims (up to 47.4°/40.4° with the Xtreme Recon package), locking differentials and a disconnecting sway bar available; the volume Sport/Sahara trim itself is more street-biased (31–42° angles) than Rubicon but still ships genuine 4x4 hardware standard.

For 2022 the Wrangler spans five distinct powertrains: 2.0L turbo I4, 3.6L Pentastar V6 (with optional eTorque mild hybrid), 3.0L EcoDiesel V6 (4-door only), 2.0L turbo-I4 4xe plug-in hybrid, and the 6.4L HEMI V8 in the Rubicon 392 — an unusually broad spread including electrification for this segment.

EPA combined rating for the volume configuration: 4-door 3.6L V6 with 8-speed automatic and 4WD. A second automatic 4dr V6 configuration (heavier axle ratio, likely Rubicon) rates 20 combined; manual-transmission and 2-door variants differ slightly.

EPA city rating for the same 4-door V6 automatic 4WD configuration.

EPA highway rating for the same 4-door V6 automatic 4WD configuration; the boxy body and low gearing keep highway MPG close to the city figure relative to typical SUVs.

Total range on a full tank computed by fueleconomy.gov from the 21.5-gallon fuel tank and 21 MPG combined rating for the 4-door V6 automatic 4WD.

EPA's standard 15,000 mi/yr estimate at the 21 MPG combined rating and average fuel price assumptions; well above typical SUV competitors due to the Wrangler's low aerodynamic efficiency.

The 3.6L Pentastar V6 (and every other 2022 Wrangler gas engine) runs on regular unleaded with no premium recommendation, keeping fuel costs simple despite the low MPG.

NHTSA never published a combined overall star rating for the JL-generation Wrangler because it never ran the side-impact tests; the only crash results are a 4-star frontal (driver and passenger) and a 3-star rollover. 2022 sits within the 2018-on JL generation and these ratings are unchanged from the surrounding model years.

2022 is the model year Jeep specifically revised the Wrangler's front structure to fix small-overlap tipping, and it still tipped: IIHS's driver-side small overlap front result is Marginal because the vehicle rolled onto its passenger side after impact, the same partial-rollover failure mode as the pre-refresh JL. It also fails the updated moderate overlap front (Poor, rear-passenger restraints/kinematics) and the updated side test (Marginal, rear occupant's head struck the soft-top support). Roof strength, head restraints, and the original moderate overlap and side tests are Good, but no Top Safety Pick is possible and the redesign attempt did not move the needle.

Nothing this item measures is standard on the volume 2022 Wrangler Sport S: forward collision warning with braking and adaptive cruise sit in the optional Advanced Safety Group, blind-spot and rear cross-traffic are in the separate Safety Group (a prerequisite for the Advanced group), and pedestrian AEB and lane keeping are not offered on any trim at any price. Standard active safety is limited to ESC, electronic roll mitigation, trailer-sway control, hill-start assist and brake traction control — unchanged from the surrounding JL model years.

When ordered, the radar-based Full Speed Forward Collision Warning Plus earns IIHS's top Superior rating for vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention, avoiding the collision outright in both the 12 and 25 mph runs. The score is held down by two facts: it is optional equipment the volume trim does not carry unless the buyer adds the Advanced Safety Group, and pedestrian detection is not offered at all, so there is no daytime or nighttime pedestrian capability to grade.

Blind-Spot Monitoring with Rear Cross Path detection is offered across the 2022 range but only inside the optional Safety Group, and it is alert-only — no braking or steering intervention, no trailer-aware coverage, no safe-exit alert. The Wrangler's small door-mounted mirrors and spare-tire-blocked rear view make the omission on the volume trim more costly than in a typical crossover.

The 2022 Wrangler offers no lane departure warning, no lane keep assist and no lane centering on any trim or in any package — a gap that is close to unique in the segment, where rivals like the Bronco and 4Runner include at least a departure warning as standard.

Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop and Go is capable full-speed-range hardware, but for 2022 it is optional — part of the Advanced Safety Group, itself gated behind the Safety Group — rather than standard, and there is no lane centering or highway assist on the platform for it to integrate with.

No hands-free highway driving system is offered on any 2022 Wrangler trim. Stellantis's hands-on Active Driving Assist is not fitted to the Wrangler, and with no lane-centering hardware anywhere in the lineup a hands-free system is not possible on this platform.

Every 2022 Wrangler headlight configuration IIHS tested rated Marginal or Poor. The best available — LED headlights bundled with the Advanced Safety Group's auto high-beam control — is only Marginal; LED without that package is Poor, and halogen reflectors on the volume Sport/Sport S trims are Poor regardless of package, with low-beam visibility inadequate on the straightaway and in curve testing.

Forward and lateral sightlines are among the best of any SUV — a near-vertical windshield, tall commanding seating, a short narrow hood and deep side glass. Rearward vision is the weakness: the sport bars and tailgate-mounted full-size spare block much of it, the door-mounted mirrors are small, ParkSense rear park assist is optional (Safety Group), and no surround-view camera is offered on any trim. Unlike the 2023 model year, the half-door option that further improves the over-the-shoulder view was not yet available for 2022.

IIHS rates the 4-door Wrangler's LATCH hardware Good+, its top grade, crediting easy-access anchors plus an extra usable position via borrowing, and the boxy body gives tall rear-door openings. Against that, the narrow track makes three seats across a squeeze, the high step-in height makes lifting a child into a seat harder than in a crossover, and the 2-door body offers only two rear positions.

The volume 4-door Unlimited body seats five and no 2022 Wrangler trim, body or powertrain offers a six- or seven-seat configuration; the 2-door drops to four.

Jeep publishes front headroom separately by roof — 40.8 in under a hardtop, 42.6 in under the soft top. The hardtop figure is the representative reading for the volume 4-door and is the conservative one.

41.2 in is modest for a mid-size SUV and identical on 2-door and 4-door gas bodies — the JL's front footwell is constrained by the transmission tunnel and front wheel housings rather than by overall length. The 4xe reads a touch shorter at 40.8 in to package its hybrid hardware, but that is not the scored gas configuration.

The upright boxy body is at its best here — 40.3 in of second-row headroom under a hardtop tops the SUV normalization band outright, and the soft top adds another 1.4 in.

The 4-door's 38.3 in is genuinely competitive for the class — the extra wheelbase over the 2-door goes almost entirely into the rear seat, and 55.8 in of rear shoulder room backs it up.

No 2022 Wrangler offers a third row in any body, trim or powertrain — the seating chart is 2/3 for the 4-door and 2/2 for the 2-door, so a buyer needing more than five seats cannot be served at any price.

31.7 cu ft is well down the SUV band — the swing-gate hold is tall but narrow (41.1 in minimum width at the opening) and while the full-size spare hangs outside on the gate rather than eating into it, the space still trails most mid-size crossovers.

Folding the 4-door's rear bench opens 72.4 cu ft — mid-pack for a mid-size SUV — and the removable roof panels let taller loads exceed what the number implies.

Conventional storage is thin — a small glovebox, two front cupholders and a dual-level center armrest bin — but the Wrangler answers with provisions no crossover has: a washout interior with floor drain plugs, water-resistant trim on upper trims, an available 115-volt console outlet and 12-volt sockets throughout, and cargo tie-down anchors. Held out of the top band because the AMPS accessory-mount dash brackets and dashboard cubby additions did not arrive until the 2024 interior revision.

Front seats are well shaped and livable on long trips, but the volume Sport S is manually adjusted with only 8.1 in of seat travel, the rear bench is flatter and firmer with only a slight recline, and the 12-way power front seats with multiway lumbar and cushion-tilt adjustment that fix the adjustability complaint do not exist for 2022 — Jeep introduced them as new content for 2024.

Solid Dana axles front and rear on five-link coil springs are the price of the off-road hardware: reviewers consistently report a brittle ride on anything but the smoothest pavement, with the body-on-frame construction and off-road focus costing steering, handling and ride quality alike. The 4-door's longer wheelbase helps, but this trails almost every independently sprung SUV in the segment.

One of the loudest cabins on sale: a removable roof and doors, near-vertical windshield, boxy body and 32-to-33-inch all-terrain tires make wind and road noise unavoidable, and reviewers call the intrusion pervasive even with the hardtop fitted. 2022 has no equivalent of the premium cabin package (acoustic front glass, thicker carpet, added sound-deadening foam) that Jeep introduced on upper trims for 2024, though reviewers do note the current JL generation is quieter than pre-2018 Wranglers.

For 2022 heated front seats and a heated steering wheel remain Cold Weather Group option-package content rather than standard anywhere, ventilated seats are not offered at any price, there are no second-row climate controls, and rear comfort content stops at vents. Dual-zone automatic temperature control is available on Sport S and standard on Sahara. A new cabin air filter arrived for 2022 but does not change seat or climate-feature availability.

Entry 2-door Sport is the cheapest way into a 2022 Wrangler; shown for reference only.

The 4-door Unlimited Sport S is the volume configuration most Wrangler buyers choose over the base 2-door Sport.

No 2022-specific TCO breakdown was retrievable (Edmunds TCO blocked automated access); estimated by combining RepairPal's average annual repair cost with CarEdge's average annual maintenance figure for the Wrangler line.

The Wrangler is a class-leading resale performer; sources vary but agree it depreciates far slower than the midsize SUV segment average.

Standard Stellantis/Jeep basic limited warranty, unchanged for 2022 — the segment's floor length.

Standard Jeep powertrain coverage for 2022, shorter than several rivals offering 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranties.

Jeep Wave (standard from the 2021 model year on) bundles two complimentary oil changes/tire rotations in the first 24 months, 24/7 roadside assistance for the length of the powertrain warranty, trip-interruption coverage, and a 6-month onX Offroad Elite trial — decent roadside/perk value but a short included-maintenance window versus rivals offering multi-year service plans.

$37,650 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (71% retained, or about $26,732) leaves about $10,919 in depreciation. Add the projected $5,600 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $16,519 in total.

J.D. Power's 2025 Vehicle Dependability Study surveyed 34,175 original owners of 2022 model-year vehicles after three years of ownership and put Jeep at 275 PP100 against a 202 PP100 industry average — one of the ten worst brands in the study, alongside Volkswagen, Chrysler, Audi, Land Rover, Mitsubishi, Acura, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and Ram, on this exact model year's ownership record. Consumer Reports independently says the 2022 Wrangler is 'much less reliable than other cars from the same model year' and lists seven owner-reported trouble spots: drive system (differential problems, driveline vibration, 'death wobble' over bumps), paint/trim (hood-edge corrosion bubbling and peeling), suspension/steering (death wobble, steering-wheel vibration), electrical accessories (battery failures, multi-system dash malfunctions), transmission minor (computer faults causing flashing dash lights and in/out-of-gear behavior), engine cooling (unexplained coolant leaks), and exhaust (overheating while towing). NHTSA's own complaint record for MY2022 (383 total, 281 excluding 4xe-hybrid mentions) mirrors that pattern: steering leads the non-hybrid subset at 74 of 281 (26%), with electrical at 94, suspension at 54, and 47 explicit 'death wobble' mentions — a higher share of the complaint base than the following model year.

Jeep sits in the bottom tier of both major dependability studies and has for several consecutive years — a structural drag on any Jeep nameplate rather than a single-model-year artifact. Consumer Reports places the brand dead last on its most recent report card, citing the worst average road-test score of any brand it evaluates and reliability problems across the whole lineup, and says it cannot recommend a single Jeep model.

NHTSA lists 15 campaigns against the MY2022 Wrangler, but most land on configurations outside the scored gas-automatic volume trim: five are 4xe/PHEV-only (22V768 and 23V303 HV-battery fuse fasteners, 22V865 hybrid engine shutdown, 23V787 HV-battery fire with a park-outside advisory, 24V111 hybrid-defroster software, 25V741 HV-battery fire — six total), two are EcoDiesel-only (22V767/23V263 high-pressure fuel pump failure/stall), and two are manual-transmission-only (23V116 clutch pressure plate overheat/fracture, 23V641 rearview camera on manuals). That leaves five reaching the gas automatic: 22V326 (side marker lights inoperative from an incompatible wiring harness, an FMVSS 108 noncompliance), 23V191 (a frame stud that can puncture the fuel tank in a crash, raising fire risk — 2020–2022 Wrangler only, so this model year carries a fuel-fire recall the following two years do not), 24V652 (instrument-cluster internal short), 24V676 (rearview-camera/CHMSL wiring harness short), and 26V363 (electric hydraulic power-steering pump wiring overheat, a park-outside fire advisory covering 2021–2025). Two of those five carry genuine fire consequences rather than a comfort/convenience defect, which is why this scores below the following model year despite an identical count reaching the gas trim. The generation's unresolved 'death wobble' service history compounds it: 47 of the 281 non-hybrid MY2022 complaints use the phrase and 74 cite steering. NHTSA's steering-shimmy investigation (opened September 2019) closed in October 2023 without ordering a recall, leaving the steering-damper Customer Satisfaction Notification as the only remedy.

The scored configuration is the standard 3.6L Pentastar V6 (285 hp / 260 lb-ft) with the eight-speed automatic, and it remains the strongest part of this car's reliability case: the Pentastar has been in production since 2011 across the Stellantis range with a documented high-mileage record, the ZF-licensed 8HP eight-speed is one of the most durable modern automatics, and solid axles with a mechanically simple part-time 4WD system present far less failure surface than a complex crossover driveline. Every powertrain recall touching this model year lands on a different engine or transmission — the 4xe's 2.0L hybrid, the 3.0L EcoDiesel's fuel pump, or the six-speed manual's clutch — which is itself evidence for the gas automatic. Known Pentastar weak points (oil filter housing leaks, rocker-arm/roller-follower wear, cooling-system attrition, and CR's own engine-cooling trouble spot for this year) plus 12 stalling reports in the non-hybrid complaint subset keep it out of the top band.

2022 sits mid-cycle in the pre-refresh JL cabin and gains a modest step for the model year: Sahara and Rubicon trims now get the 8.4-inch Uconnect touchscreen and premium audio as standard rather than optional, and Sport/Sport S move up to a standard 7-inch screen, with only the base Sport-without-air-conditioning retaining the smallest 5-inch unit — but none of this reaches the 12.3-inch Uconnect 5, the extra sound insulation, acoustic glass or 12-way power seats that arrived with the 2024 refresh. What is here is honestly executed for the mission — reviewers find the switchgear distinct and satisfying to use and the dash and seat materials attractive to the touch, over a deliberately washout-friendly structure with drain plugs and rubberized surfaces. But hard plastics still cover the lower dash and doors, and against the Premium price class this vehicle is graded in, that is mid-pack rather than competitive.

The weakest part of the build-quality picture, backed by recall and owner-survey evidence rather than only review anecdote. 22V326 is a federal noncompliance for this model year — side marker lights inoperative from an incompatible tail-light wiring harness — and Consumer Reports' owner-reported trouble spots for 2022 include paint/trim (hood-edge corrosion, bubbling and peeling) alongside a spread of electrical, transmission and cooling complaints that read as inconsistent assembly rather than one systemic defect. The removable-door and removable-top architecture is the root cause of the pervasive wind and road noise reviewers still name as the Wrangler's defining on-road flaw, and a body-on-frame vehicle with a demountable body does not seal or settle like a unibody rival — the 47 death-wobble reports and 54 suspension-coded complaints in this model year's NHTSA record are the chassis end of the same story.

Coverage is a genuine strength — roughly 2,500 US Jeep rooftops give metro and rural reach few rivals match, which matters for a vehicle sold heavily outside major markets and one that, on this complaint record, will visit the service drive more than the segment average. Service satisfaction is the offset: J.D. Power puts Jeep below the mass-market SUV/minivan average, so the network is easy to reach but not well regarded once you are in it.

The Wrangler has arguably the deepest parts ecosystem of any vehicle sold in the US, spanning OEM replacement, a vast off-road aftermarket, and a design that rewards owner servicing — bolt-on body panels, solid axles and accessible mechanicals keep labor hours and specialist dependency low. Measured repair cost lands at ordinary levels despite the fault frequency, and unscheduled shop visits run at the compact-SUV norm rather than above it. This model year's dominant fault modes — steering, suspension and electrical accessories rather than concentrated infotainment/electronics modules — are precisely the parts the aftermarket and independent shops supply cheapest and most abundantly, versus dealer-priced screen and camera-module fixes on the later refresh years.

2022 is the year Jeep standardized rather than optioned the bigger screens: the volume Sport S now ships with a standard 7.0-inch Uconnect 4 display (up from a 5.0-inch unit on the bare-bones Sport-without-A/C), and Sahara and Rubicon move the 8.4-inch Uconnect 4C NAV screen to standard fitment. Even the top screen offered anywhere in the lineup is 8.4 inches — the 12.3-inch Uconnect 5 that became standard across the range arrived only with the 2024 model year.

Uconnect 4 is dated by 2022 but genuinely well executed: menus are logical, response is quick for the hardware, pinch-and-zoom works, and Jeep retains physical climate, volume and 4WD controls below the screen. What holds it out of the top band is that even the now-standard screens are small by class standards and the graphics and processing lag the newer systems rivals were already shipping.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard on every 2022 trim including the base Sport, which is the right outcome, but both are wired-only — Uconnect 4/4C has no wireless projection at any price. Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto arrived on the Wrangler with Uconnect 5 for 2024.

Functional but bypassed: Uconnect 4's voice recognition is command-list based rather than natural language, and embedded navigation comes with the 8.4-inch Uconnect 4C NAV head unit — now standard on Sahara and Rubicon for 2022, but the volume Sport S carries only the 7.0-inch screen without embedded nav, so most buyers of that trim use phone projection for maps.

Eight speakers are standard on Sport S, and for 2022 Jeep moved the nine-speaker Alpine premium system with subwoofer and overhead soundbar to standard equipment on Sahara and Rubicon rather than a paid option — a genuine step up in what buyers get without paying extra. It is still competent rather than a class benchmark, and an open-air body with a removable roof and doors is acoustically hostile no matter what is fitted.

No full-digital cluster exists on any 2022 Wrangler at any price — analog gauges flank a TFT window that is 3.5 in and monochrome on Sport and Sport S, stepping up to a 7.0-inch configurable color display on Sahara and Rubicon or via an option group below. Mid-band content at best, and the volume trim as scored gets the small monochrome window.

Effectively none for the volume trim. Uconnect 4 predates the Android-based Uconnect 5 platform Jeep built for over-the-air delivery, USB self-updates were withdrawn for 2020-and-later model years, and Stellantis's own support guidance routes 2022 owners to a dealership. Whatever limited over-the-air map refresh exists applies only to 4C NAV cars, and nothing vehicle-level is delivered this way.

The Uconnect app with SiriusXM Guardian covers the core set — remote lock/unlock, vehicle locate, send-to-nav, remote start where the hardware is fitted, plus a 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot with the 4C NAV head unit — but it is subscription-gated past the trial, there is no digital key or phone-as-key, and remote start itself is Cold Weather Group or Convenience Group content on the volume trim rather than standard.

Adequate rather than abundant: USB-A and USB-C ports are provided in both rows via the media hub, 12-volt accessory outlets are standard throughout and a 115-volt household outlet is available in the console. The gaps are a factory wireless charging pad, which the 2022 gas Wrangler does not offer, and the absence of the high-output four-outlet power box that is exclusive to 4xe models.

Push-button start is standard across the range, and 2022 is the year Remote Proximity Keyless Entry moved to standard fitment on Sahara and Rubicon rather than a paid option — a genuine upgrade for the model year. The volume Sport S still relies on non-proximity remote keyless entry, remote start requires the Convenience or Cold Weather Group, there is no phone-as-key, and the side-hinged swing gate with flip-up glass remains entirely manual — no power or hands-free liftgate exists on the model.

A ParkView rear camera with dynamic grid lines is standard, but no 360-degree surround-view system is offered at any price — a notable gap against the Ford Bronco, and a costly one given that the sport bars and tailgate-mounted full-size spare are exactly what block the rearward view. ParkSense rear sensors are bundled in the optional Safety Group on the volume trim, the forward-facing TrailCam requires the 8.4-inch screen plus the Off-road Pages option, and there is no automated parking.

No head-up display is offered on any 2022 Wrangler trim or in any option package — unsurprising for a vehicle whose windshield folds down, but a total absence of the feature this item measures.

The hardware is genuinely good — IIHS rates the 4-door's LATCH the top Good+ grade with an extra usable position, and 38.3 in of rear legroom is genuinely competitive — but the daily logistics are not: a high step-in with no standard running boards, small doors, a narrow body that makes three across a squeeze, a fixed bench that neither slides nor reclines meaningfully, and only 31.7 cu ft behind it for a stroller.

A weak family-safety year despite a targeted structural fix: 2022 is the model year Jeep revised the Wrangler's front structure specifically to prevent small-overlap tipping, and the tested 4-door still tipped onto its passenger side (Marginal), while the updated moderate overlap front test comes back Poor and the updated side test Marginal. NHTSA never published a combined overall rating (side untested; 4-star frontal, 3-star rollover only), nothing this item measures is standard on the trims families actually buy — forward collision warning with braking and adaptive cruise sit in the optional Advanced Safety Group behind the Safety Group prerequisite — lane keeping and pedestrian AEB are not offered at any price, and every headlight configuration tested rates Marginal or Poor.

The second row has class-leading headroom and workable legroom, but a long day in it means a loud cabin — with no acoustic-glass package available for 2022 at all — plus a brittle solid-axle ride, no second-row climate controls, no rear entertainment and no rear amenities beyond vents. Luggage space with all five seats occupied is a modest 31.7 cu ft.

The 8-speed automatic and the lag-free Pentastar make low-speed progress easy, but almost everything else about daily use is effortful: a brittle ride, wind and road noise the reviewers rank among the segment's worst, vague steering, a high awkward step-in, and adaptive cruise with stop-and-go gated behind the optional $945-class Advanced Safety Group rather than standard.

21 MPG combined and roughly $2,950 a year in fuel put per-mile running costs near the bottom of the SUV field, though marginally better than the year either side thanks to fueleconomy.gov's rating for this exact configuration. Consumables are heavy — chunky 32-to-33-inch all-terrain tires and a 21.5-gallon fill — but the saving graces are that it takes regular 87-octane fuel and mid-pack five-year maintenance.

Better in town than its image suggests: the body is narrow, the hood is short, and the near-vertical windshield with tall commanding seating gives outstanding forward and lateral sightlines. What costs it is the rear — sport bars and the tailgate-mounted full-size spare block the view, ParkSense sensors are bundled in the optional Safety Group on the volume trim, no surround-view camera is offered at any price, and the 39.4-ft curb-to-curb turning diameter on the 4-door is wider than most crossovers.

Light work duty only: every 4-door Wrangler tows 3,500 lbs regardless of engine — the Dana 44 HD full-float rear axle that lifts the Rubicon to 5,000 lbs did not arrive until 2024 — the 2-door tows 2,000 lbs, there is no bed, cargo behind the second row is 31.7 cu ft, and the naturally aspirated V6's 260 lb-ft peaking high in the rev range is short of torque for pulling.

The hardware is built to be abused — body-on-frame, solid Dana axles front and rear, skid plates, tow hooks, four-wheel discs, and a long-proven Pentastar V6 whose only 2022 recalls fall on other engines (EcoDiesel, 4xe) or the manual clutch, not the scored gas automatic. What holds the score back is the ownership record: J.D. Power's dependability study puts Jeep at 275 PP100 against a 202 PP100 industry average for this exact model year, and Consumer Reports flags drive-system, suspension/steering ('death wobble') and electrical trouble spots.

Unusually strong for an SUV. The interior is designed to be hosed out via factory floor drain plugs, there are trailer tow and heavy-duty electrical groups across the range, an available 115-volt outlet, cargo tie-downs, and arguably the largest factory-and-aftermarket upfit ecosystem of any vehicle sold. Held back only by structural limits: no bed, no onboard generator on the gas model, modest enclosed cargo space, and the AMPS accessory-mount dash brackets that arrived with the 2024 interior are absent here.

A below-average mile-eater by segment standards. Roughly 452 miles of range from the 21.5-gallon tank is a genuine strength, but the loud cabin, a brittle ride, vague steering, no lane centering at any price and adaptive cruise only as an option gated behind the Safety Group make hours behind the wheel tiring rather than restful.

The segment benchmark by a wide margin, and 2022 is the debut year of its headline off-road hardware: four-wheel drive with low range standard on every trim, Rubicon's Dana 44 axles with front and rear electric lockers and a disconnecting front sway bar, a new 4.88 axle ratio giving a 100:1 crawl ratio, and the newly introduced Xtreme Recon package with 35-inch tires, 12.9 in of ground clearance, a 47.4-degree approach angle and 33.6 in of water fording — plus removable doors, roof panels and a folding windshield that no rival matches.

Flexible in ways a single number cannot capture: 72.4 cu ft with the bench folded, a hosed-out floor, and removable roof panels or a full soft top that let loads stand taller than any fixed-roof SUV allows, plus a deep factory catalog of racks, hitches and cargo trays. 2022 adds the new factory-backed Dual-Door Group, letting a buyer run full doors with matching half doors stowed inside — another combination on top of the existing top/windshield options. The constraints remain a 31.7 cu ft hold with the seats up, a narrow 41.1 in minimum liftgate opening, and a side-hinged swing gate that needs clearance to open.

Solid Dana axles front and rear on a five-link coil setup are the price of the off-road hardware, and on pavement they cost dearly: reviewers explicitly attribute compromised steering, handling and ride quality to the SUV's off-road focus, with a high center of gravity and all-terrain tires capping cornering grip well short of the class. Better than the pre-JL Wranglers, still behind every independently sprung SUV in the segment.

Consistently one of the most criticized single aspects of driving a 2022 Wrangler on-road: the electro-mechanical rack ahead of a solid front axle is light, slow to respond and short on feedback, requiring small constant corrections at highway speed. It is precise enough to place the car and free of the wander older Wranglers suffered, which keeps it out of the bottom band, but numb is the kindest description.

Four-wheel discs are standard on every trim and outright stopping power is adequate, but the pedal is the problem: long travel and a soft, two-stage response that is deliberately calibrated for off-road modulation and does not inspire confidence in traffic. Stopping distances are long for an SUV given curb weights up to roughly 4,650 lbs on knobby all-terrain rubber.

The naturally aspirated Pentastar is smooth and completely lag-free, and the 850RE 8-speed TorqueFlite shifts unobtrusively and picks sensible gears — a cleaner calibration than most turbo or hybrid rivals manage. What limits it is that 260 lb-ft peaking high in the rev range in a roughly 4,300-to-4,650-lb body means frequent downshifts, and the standard engine stop-start restart is not seamless.

The Pentastar is inoffensive at cruise but has to be revved to make progress and grows coarse toward redline, and the solid-axle driveline plus 32-to-33-inch all-terrain tires contribute a constant hum that the removable-panel body does little to keep out. 2022 has no acoustic-glass or added-sound-deadening package on any trim to help, which puts it a touch behind the refreshed cars that followed.

39.4 ft is on the wide side for a mid-size SUV; the 2-door's 34.5 ft is considerably tighter. The relatively quick 14.9:1 steering ratio makes the most of it, but the 4-door's figure trails most crossover rivals.

The commanding upright position over a short narrow hood, the near-vertical windshield and the retained physical controls for climate, volume and 4WD are real ergonomic strengths. Against that: the volume Sport S has manually adjusted seats with only 8.1 in of travel and 41.2 in of legroom, leaving tall drivers short, and the high step-in through small doors is awkward without running boards — the 12-way power front seats with lumbar and cushion-tilt adjustment that address the adjustability complaint are 2024 content.

This is the Wrangler's whole argument, and it wins on character rather than pace: the doors, roof panels and windshield all come off, giving an open-air experience nothing else in the segment offers, and 2022 adds another dimension with the new factory-backed Dual-Door Group letting buyers run full doors with matching half doors stowed inside for a quick swap. Held below the top band only because the fun is atmospheric rather than dynamic — it is slow, loud and clumsy in corners.

Base 2022 Sport trim is deliberately spartan (vinyl/cloth seats, smaller touchscreen, some manual features on the 2-door), though standard 4x4 hardware, skid plates and removable doors/top are unusual off-road capability included at every trim.

The Wrangler's open-air/removable-body capability and genuine off-road hardware (locking diffs, sway-bar disconnect, Command-Trac/Rock-Trac 4x4) are not matched dollar-for-dollar by most rivals, offsetting its modest on-road content.

2022 lineup spans Sport, Sport S, Sahara, Rubicon, Willys, High Altitude, the new Rubicon 392 (6.4L V8) and Sahara/Rubicon 4xe plug-in hybrids, each in 2-door and 4-door body styles with manual or automatic transmissions — an unusually wide, well-spaced range.

181,410 Wranglers sold in the US in 2022 despite chip-shortage-constrained inventory; it remained Jeep's top or co-top seller and the dominant seller in the dedicated off-road SUV niche, with the 4xe the best-selling plug-in hybrid in the US that year.

Wrangler carries one of the strongest brand halos in the industry — an aspirational, culturally iconic nameplate with a loyal owner/enthusiast community and the Wave loyalty program reinforcing it.

2022 was the worst possible year for Wrangler deals: chip-shortage inventory shortages pushed it to the highest average dealer markup of any new vehicle in the US, with buyers commonly paying 20-29% over MSRP rather than receiving any discount.

2022 sits mid-cycle in the JL generation (launched for 2018); no redesign or facelift occurred for 2022 (the next major refresh came for 2024), though the 4xe and Rubicon 392 additions from 2021 kept the lineup current.

Reviewers consistently praise the 2022 Wrangler's unmatched off-road capability and character (Rubicon 392 drew strong enthusiast press), but it is routinely dinged for on-road manners, wind/road noise and fuel economy, and rarely wins head-to-head comparisons against on-road-focused rivals like the Bronco.