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Comment by SigmundA | Hacker News Reader

I really want a 4XE Wrangler to replace my aging JK at some point, on paper its amazing, lots of torque and power, decent economy for a brick with large tires, and can actually run a pure electric enough to get around town, plus still takes all the standard Wrangler parts.

However in classic Jeep style they just can't get reliability down, and the PHEV part seems too complicated for them.

If it was just reliable it would still be the best selling PHEV in America, they let that go.

There is no sign of the 2026 Wrangler 4XE it might be canceled like the Gladiator version...

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My Wife just got one last year, the electric engine will give you about 17 miles on a full charge that takes about 7 hrs, its pretty much useless on full electric mode, pretty good with the milage on hybrid which is what this really is. And yes do not expect reliability, first day out of the dealership we got a check engine light, apparently one of the workers at the dealership forgot to attach a wire or hose, at least thats the explanation that we got, i told my wife to insist on getting it documented somehow or get a log from the dealer but of course they played it off as human error (total BS). Few months later and her screen started to turn off and on, or just die completely when air play was connected. Stay away from these cars.

I’ve always been surprised that people even buy jeeps given the notorious reliability issues and frankly strange design choices.

The times that I have been given a jeep rental while on vacation or work trips have always left me disappointed with the vehicle.

My Wrangler JK is 10 years old with almost no issues, its a relatively simple vehicle compared to most, easy to work on as well. The Pentastar V6 is well proven engine and the issues with it are well understood.

I really like the vehicle, it has served me well and taken me many interesting places across the country, along with daily driving. I tow it with a RV and its one the few that can do so now days, plus its extremely capable offroad.

The 4XE is very alluring, much more fun to drive (I have rented one) and I could charge it off home solar and still tow with RV (the only PHEV thats possible to do so). If only it was reliable...

There’s just no comparison when you consult reliability reports, though. Of course, even companies like Toyota are going in the direction of always on, arbitrarily updated software and subscriptions.

I have no idea what I’ll buy when my 11 year old toyota finally retires.

As a happy owner of a 30 year old Toyota 80 series I'd recommend getting one! The computer can be diagnosed with a light bulb. Or go even older like a 40 series Land Cruiser. No computers anywhere in those.

Agreed, it's an expensive but great vehicle. Closing the last mile of the reliability gap is always tough, but they need to figure it out.

It's probably canceled, not only for reliability reasons. EVs and plugin hybrids are probably doomed, at least in the US: The EV tax credit subsidy is gone, fuel economy requirements will be or already have been eliminated, electricity prices climbing (my rate increased almost 50% on my most recent bill) and the Trump administration is extremely hostile towards anything related to renewable energy.

Does the market actually want EVs and hybrids if they require subsidies and regulation to make significant market penetration?

Unfortunately to survive the next few hundred years, we may need another dictator of human behaviour than what the market wants.

A functioning market that priced in the externalities and future risks would far prefer them.

yes, because EVs are cheaper to operate than combustion cars. US auto makers are obsessed with creating EVs the size of tanks, hence the absurd prices. The Chinese auto makers are selling what people want to buy.

It's funny to me that you think car manufacturers are either not doing any market research or are completely ignoring it.

US car manufacturers care only about profits. Is market research the reason why US automakers sell "SUVs" instead of practical station wagons?

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