Snow Storm in Toronto | 2019 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara Review

It's Auto Show week in Toronto, so we planned a road trip! We decided to drive the 2019 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara nearly 2,300km over 7 days to see how this vehicle handles on, and off the road.
Our full tour and review of the 2019 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara covers more than what we'd typically do on TestDrive as we take this convertible SUV on a road-trip from Acton Vale Québec to Mississauga Ontario and see how it performs in both the rough snow conditions and smooth highway roads. We go over a lot of what buyers might be interested in with this type of vehicle.
On the outside we go over the full suite of LED lights on the JL Wrangler, along with the high-quality backup camera, higher than normal running board, Jeep Freedom Top panels, and some of what'd required to take off the doors, roof, and fold down the windshield. Additional options available on the Wrangler Unlimited include forward collision warning and forward camera system.
Inside we talk about the features found on this upgraded trim, like the leather-faced Sahara branded seats, heated front seats, heated steering wheel, 8.4" Uconnect infotainment system with navigation, SiriusXM Radio, Apple Carplay, Android Auto, and Off-Road information. We also go over the design elements of the Wranger's interior and how it's roll cage affects interior space.
We then drive nearly 700km overnight to the Greater Toronto Area where we film an extensive road test in Mississauga, Ontario in the wet snow and covered parking lots. The 3.6L Pentastar V6 and 8-Speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission worked well for us, along with the Selec-Trac transfer case providing automatic 4W high mode with part-time availability. We discuss some of the other road-going elements such as the suspension and ride, along with a bit of Jeep culture.
We then wrap up by talking about our overall experience with this JL Wrangler and how it compares to some of the other SUV and crossover vehicles we've driven. Fuel economy is reported for our road trip and overall driving time as we show a timelapse drive of our return trip to Quebec.
Follow PRN on Facebook: / perpetualradio
Follow PRN on Twitter: / perpetualradio
Follow Nile on Twitter: / nilelivesey
Follow Nile on Instagram: / nilelivesey
Visit our website: www.perpetualra...
TestDrive is proudly produced in Acton, Québec, Canada. This special Road-Trip episode of TestDrive was partially filmed in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
#Jeep #Wrangler #Mopar

[@pcm7315]

Just what I was looking for: a long, over-the-road review. Thanks.

[@PRNTestDrive]

Glad it was helpful!

[@JakeDrives1]

Nile, Thank you for compiling this extended review. The footage and the presentation came out great. I was glad to hear that you came to like the JL. I've been considering a Sahara or rubicon since they came out. I've sat in one about ten times, i'm yet to drive one but i'm very much on the fence if I'd want something like that as a daily. The Sahara seems like it would be a decent middle ground. Thanks again for another great review! Coming from the snow belt, I LOVE to see it on your channel, and see you put the vehicle through it's paces in the bad weather.

[@PRNTestDrive]

Thank you! I'm glad the footage worked out too, I was hoping to film the whole episode in Toronto but it just didn't work out. I was impressed with the Wrangler overall, it's never been a vehicle I was interested in but having the chance to spend a considerable amount of time with it gave me a new perspective I didn't have before. The Sahara is definitely the route to go if you aren't using it for serious off-road stuff and want to have a good ride on normal roads. I'm serious about how many I ended up seeing during my week, so many people have these!

[@sylvaingladu6634]

I ordered the 2021 Sahara Unlimited (should be in early April). Living near the US borders and working in MTL. (about 60 kms). Need something good for winter and fun to drive in the summer and be able to do some road trip (like Buffalo) once or twice a year (before covid). Your ride in Toronto in winter was exactly the kind of review I was looking for. You helped me make my decision. Was owner of 2014 Jeep Cherokee 2X4 North and very pleased with it but after putting 225000 kms, I was ready for something new. MERCI!

[@PRNTestDrive]

Glad to hear it, enjoy it when it arrives!

[@jamieeisenhower1560]

Quit crying these jeeps are awesome they ride very well over other luxury vehicles With different suspensions Today's People complain too much If you want an everyday vehicle that looks like everything else then get one With your flimsy axles instead of solid axles and frame

[@PRNTestDrive]

I don't think I was complaining about this all things considered.

[@SynysterGoose]

*Lives in Canada* "we don't have to many trails so we don't do to much of that." Your entire country is a trail...

[@Gabert1k]

You do absolutely amazing reviews. Great detail, very in depth and pleasantly articulate. You deserve way more subscribers!

[@PRNTestDrive]

Thank you! We're hoping all this hard work will pay off soon with some increased numbers! We're happy to have hit 20,000 subscribers recently, next goal is 50k!

[@ggolds5]

Absolutely LOVE my 19 Wrangler Sahara JLU. I have every option accept that ridiculous carpet called a headliner. It drives nicely, handles well, steering is excellent. Aside from some somewhat higher then average wind noise hitting the windshield, it's relatively quiet. 6100 miles, not a single rattle or any issues. I've had everything. From Corvette Grand Sport, to Range Rovers to every pickup brand. This is by far my favorite vehicle of all time. My wife has a 19 Cherokee and that's also a great vehicle. She traded her Mazda CX-5 2016, and I traded my 16 Kia Sorrento SXL-V6 and we are much happier.

[@PRNTestDrive]

Glad to hear it, congrats on the purchase! We certainly liked this vehicle a lot more than we had expected originally. We see a lot of the JLs on the road, easy to spot with those distinctive daytime running lights and unique tail lights.

[@ggolds5]

The first thing I notice is the crease in the side of the vehicle just below the door handle line front to back, rather then the slab side look of the JK. A friend of mine has 187K miles on his JK and has only replaced the battery , brakes, and a faulty door latch. That's it. @@PRNTestDrive

[@moviefan4life166]

Cool! Did you get the sky top and selec trac? Curious about your thoughts on both if so. Thx!

[@Vicobop]

Thanks for this review. It's reignited my want for one in 2 years when I turn in my current car lease! Alas, Canadian lease rates are terrible on these vehicles (5%) which greatly inflates the lease rates, and with these new models coming at 10 000$ higher than JK models for the same sort of configuration levels (I want a Sahara Unlimited, with the new 2L turbo, fairly fully loaded with all convenience options), ending up with a 60K vehicle, it makes it super difficult to afford for me. Yet I can't deny you've made me yearn for it again. Winter warrior plus now a highway companion makes this so much more appealing than before. I was impressed by the good city mileage you got. I get worse than that with my 2L turbo Accord. And that's not even with the more fuel efficient 2L eTorque engine. I imagine it could do really good given the mild hybrid powertrain.

[@PRNTestDrive]

5% is terrible! I'd be curious to see how their Hurricane inline 4 works, should be an option on the Gladiator which we're definitely looking forward to feature after having this!

[@gs98999]

Vic right now the lease rates are as low as 2.99%. They have low rates and 1K off or 7% lease and 3K off.

[@Vicobop]

@@gs98999 are you referring to Canadian leases?

[@gs98999]

Vic yup, was just looking at them today. Jeep website is terrible tho, it doesn’t show lease rates...I used unhaggle to see what incentives and rates exist for April in Canada. I guess they want you to come to a dealer to get the quotes there.

[@Vicobop]

@@gs98999 oh man that's awesome to know. Not in the market but I'm glad to see there's resources. I'm with you the website is really misleading if not just very buggy.

[@Riverlee74]

I just purchased the 2019 same model as yours and I’m from Toronto I’m so excited I pick it up today

[@PRNTestDrive]

Congrats on the purchase! We spotted tonnes of these during our trip out to Toronto when we filmed this, this generation seems to be just as popular with buyers as the previous.

[@chriszhou1355]

River could I know how much of it , cuz I really wanna buy it soon.

[@Riverlee74]

PRN_TestDrive yes I love it .. had it a few weeks now, couldn’t be happier.

[@Riverlee74]

Chris Zhou base model 45 thousand .. mine in total was 61 thousand very expensive definitely could have lowered him more, but my sales was such a jerk. Good luck Chris

[@marioapaza4405]

Don't worry you we get it soon 😍

[@christiankonig6499]

I was immediately thinking of Sammy Hager ( " RED " ), cant change it, grew up with this music! Informative video, this carriage suits your taste!

[@PRNTestDrive]

I'm certainly a lot more open to this type of vehicle after driving it than I was before!

[@mylesl2890]

Really appreciated your review. Also appreciated that you were open minded.

[@PRNTestDrive]

Thank you! I always try to approach each vehicle with an open mind, sometimes it can be a little hard though. We've requested a few other 2019 Jeep models for this year and we plan to approach them the same way!

[@NeutralGenericUser]

Great review! I respect you for being careful with curbs since it's not your car. Also, thank you for using the left lane only to pass! I see so many journalists hog the left lane in their videos. By the way, that fast speed highway video was fun to watch. Looking forward to more of your videos :)

[@PRNTestDrive]

We’re always very respectful with vehicles, as well as following general driving courtesy when it comes to the passing lane.

[@brucekendall52]

Great analysis,thks.I own a 2007 wrangler 6 speed diesel.It has never let me down and we have done some proper Off Rd here in S Africa.

[@PRNTestDrive]

Glad to hear it, thanks! We had a blast with this one!

[@shiftintohigh5564]

Great review!👍 Good point on rating it against others. Hard to do so unique. I was just as curious about road manners as off road. 👍👍

[@PRNTestDrive]

We're hopefully going to be doing some light off-roading with the 2020 Gladiator Rubicon next week, similar course that we just did with the 2019 Renegade Trailhawk. I imagine this Wrangler and the Gladiator should perform similarly off and on-road.

[@shiftintohigh5564]

PRN_TestDrive 👍👍👍

[@1969darr]

Sahara is the perfect Mall Crawler esp. Unlimited. Ya want to go on the trails 2dr Rubi. Peace out

[@PRNTestDrive]

We featured that one also, on some off-roading.

[@alfreddoumtaz215]

How is the seat comfort and space compared to the grand cherokee? I have a 2018 grand cherokee and i am thinking of this wrangler type. I am not expecting to be the same at all but for long trip since you try it? The grand cherokee i can drive 12 hours from halifax to Québec and have no back pain.

[@PRNTestDrive]

Grand Cherokee is much more comfortable overall.

[@miramichi69]

Great review, I really enjoyed it.

[@PRNTestDrive]

I'm glad you did, thanks!

[@sonyhk3824]

Nice views well done Nile. Cheers

[@PRNTestDrive]

Thank you! Got to do something a little different which is always fun.

[@sonyhk3824]

Very interesting and enjoyable. Thanks

[@marobaham4296]

Great content so helpful. Appreciate it

[@PRNTestDrive]

Glad you liked it, thanks!

[@jamesengelsman9369]

Looks bloody cold there! Time to move south

[@PRNTestDrive]

It’s even colder this week! I’m amazed I got through filming without a battery dying or the gear flying away in the wind 😳

[@whoeverwhoever400]

Looks bloody hot there! Time to move North

[@ssaini5028]

I remember that storm, it was nasty.

[@PRNTestDrive]

I’m just glad this car has winter tires, I lost count of how many people we’re stuck around Mississauga as I drove around.

[@DD-xu3nl]

Nice review man !

[@PRNTestDrive]

Glad you liked it, thanks!

[@TheKeenMechanic]

Nice one Nile Thanks mate

[@PRNTestDrive]

I'm glad you think so, thanks!

[@stephenfreyseng1748]

Nice review, but the running boards are not useless. Try swapping the hard top and soft top, you will be glad they are there! They are also great rails when you need to avoid the puddle and mud you “hopefully” park in 😂

[@PRNTestDrive]

I drove the 2 door Wrangler in the summer and was able to take off the roof, I suppose it can be useful for that, though personally I'd skip it.

[@OriginalTeddy]

My experience owning one so far... Every ad, pamphlet, sales literature and even the sales pitch at the dealership revolve around it's off road capabilities. Yet doing things I did on a weekend basis with my 20 year old Wrangler TJ Sahara caused the yolk on the front inner axle to fail, taking out a ball joint and snapped an ear off of the now cheap aluminum steering knuckle. All on a brand new 2019 Wrangler JL Rubicon! First they tried to brush me off due to evidence of mud under the vehicle (for real?). The argument quickly escalated that I possibly hit something despite 0 damage on any other components. They wouldn't say I did hit something for sure, but since it was a possibility... they had an argument. It was also a possibility a part failed... just saying. When making it clear I couldn't be without a vehicle any longer and that I have to get it fixed, I asked if it needed anything else. They didn't know, as they didn't inspect it. They just saw it was broke and dirty and essentially just said nope unless I paid up. I was told they could see if anything aside from what they could see by looking behind the tire was broke, but I'd have to pay for a full inspection. At one point I was given the option to pay in "advance" to speed up the repairs and if the warranty kicked in, I'd be reimbursed. Ya, right... Being jerked around between the dealership and customer service, I took my jeep elsewhere to get fixed. Doing so apparently waived my right to complain anymore or receive compensation. But after 2 weeks of being without a vehicle... it had to be done. It turned into 3 weeks after everything was said and done. That's what 60k buys you! I've posted this a few times on Jeeps facebook page. Which are all deleted and I am blocked now from commenting. Guess your only allowed to tell people to go ahead and void your warranty work, it's fun!

[@PRNTestDrive]

Those are some troubling stories, especially considering Jeep themselves are the ones who promote these vehicles as being off-road machines. I'm sorry to hear this ended up happening with you, I hope this isn't a trend with FCA and just something they dropped the ball on that ended up spiraling down.

[@OriginalTeddy]

@@PRNTestDrive I got FCA customer service involved and a regional manager or rep of some sort. But it all was just a dead end. I'm also shocked posting this experience in the comments on facebook ads from Jeep got me deleted and blocked. No swearing, name calling, or wild accusations... just posted like above. Yet it was perfectly fine when I posted positive comments in the past. So I won't waive FCA any leeway in this scenario.

[@james2042]

The Wrangler in 2018 was the 16th best selling vehicle (in the US I assume) with 240,032 units sold. That is an insane amount of vehicles sold. Though for long road trips, you would be better off with a larger SUV or half ton pickup

[@PRNTestDrive]

I believe MotorTrend named it the SUV of the year also. It's one of the few new (within 12 months) vehicle I've seen in quantity. I must have spotted at least 2 dozen JLs during the week, on top of the hundreds of previous generations.

[@james2042]

@@PRNTestDrive I know at least 15 people with Rubicons. These things are everywhere lol. I'm not a fan of them but I do agree with you, there is a lot of respect to be had as it's one of the only unique vehicles below 100k usd

[@sadmanh0]

really misleading because it's a truck not an SUV

[@runierunie]

Perfect.

[@coll912]

This man sounds like he works for *VALVE*

[@PRNTestDrive]

Like Half-Life Valve? Let’s just hope I never create a series and leave viewers hanging after the second instalment.

[@RCGJR_]

PRN_TestDrive know this was posted a year ago, but your comment made me chuckle.

[@PRNTestDrive]

I’m still bitter about Half-Life 2 Episode 2 ending without concluding.

[@jgambler1188]

Great review man.

[@PRNTestDrive]

Glad you liked it, thanks! I'm revisiting this episode as we've got the 2020 Gladiator Overland this week, still really liked this Wrangler especially after driving the Gladiator.

[@gg7642]

What your opinion about bmw 750 1996 (v12,5389,322hp) and mercedes sel 1983 (5000)

[@PRNTestDrive]

We've had the pleasure of featuring both of those vehicles on this channel, we've produced over a dozen different videos on E38 7 Series models, including the episode you commented on earlier, and we've driven the same W126 twice on the show, the most recent episode was last year where we covered a lot more about it. Overall both cars offer a lot to buyers, even 20-30 years on.

[@jamescockriel9883]

Did you experience the steering wheel to feel loose after a certain speed 60 mph U.S.

[@PRNTestDrive]

I didn't have any experiences like that, and I spent a considerable amount of time on the highway with this one.

[@johnk6534]

there was a recall on the dampers I had both changed and it drove much better

[@Losttouchjs]

Is that dash cam a Garmin?

[@PRNTestDrive]

No dashcams for us, if you're looking at the camera visible during the cockpit view it's our older model GoPro Hero 4, the camera we ended up using to compile our timelapse was a Monster HD Action Camera.

[@RCGJR_]

Did they fix the leaks for the 19’ and 20’ models, hardtop & softop? Edit: anyone here owns the 19’ or 20’ let me know what’s your take on it.

[@PRNTestDrive]

Might be a good idea to check with any local Jeep enthusiast groups in case. I didn't notice any leaking during this road test, but then winter doesn't necessarily give you the best idea. Subsiquently the 2020 Wrangler we just did was driven exclusively in dry weather without the hardtop installed.

[@RCGJR_]

PRN_TestDrive alright thanks for looking out boss, might try reddit wrangler’s page.

[@PRNTestDrive]

Good place to start! Hopefully they have some feedback on it.

[@manpreetmann3095]

No driver powered seat in 50k car??

[@PRNTestDrive]

Seems to be a sacrifice people are willing to make for that off-road capability.

[@AStanton1966]

Fast forward to 2024: Jeep is installing them now in some models.

[@bigbossman5969]

people don't understand jeep they are a wholedifferent animal they are maid to b different period

[@PRNTestDrive]

Which is why we wanted to feature this vehicle, some reviewers make the assumption that the viewer already knows everything about the vehicle.

[@bigbossman5969]

@@PRNTestDrive exactly people don't realize jeep is in a class of its own that's why they make more custom accessory s for jeeps than any other vehicle out there

[@Sc0rpy]

great review mate as always very informative so is this 3.6 pentastar the only engine choice ?!

[@PRNTestDrive]

Thanks! FCA offers their "Hurricane" 2.0L Turbo inline 4 on this, I believe it's a few horses slower but about a dozen lb-ft more torque.

[@Sc0rpy]

@@PRNTestDrive it'd be great if they put a turbo or two on that v6 and make it produce 350 to 400 hp and similar torque

[@PRNTestDrive]

For towing it would definitely be nice, but I think FCA wants to keep the Wrangler positioned as an off-roader while thinks like the Grand Cherokee can get crazy with the SRT treatment.

[@jgg204]

my 2016 Wrangler JKU Unlimited Sport was $33,000. i priced a 2020 Wrangler JLU Unlimited Sport and it was $41,000. And it's less capable with lower axle ratio. Big hard pass. I welcome the Bronco

[@PRNTestDrive]

I'm curious to see how the Bronco ends up doing in the marketplace and if Wrangler sales will take a hit from it.

[@jgg204]

@@PRNTestDrive i think it's going to eat the Wrangler's lunch. for $29,000 you can get a Bronco 2 door base model, add the $6,000 Sasquatch package which adds more capability than a $52,000 Rubicon

[@louisjames1062]

Shame about the 1 star crash grading, the Fiat punto, also related, scored a zero. First car in 20 years to do so

[@PRNTestDrive]

I wonder what they changed about this generation that made it score poorly on that frontal impact test. Either FCA changed something, or Euro NCAP changed their testing since they tested the Wrangler last.

[@codysmith9813]

The ride isnt that bad and your in a lux Sahara model its not a lexus.

[@PRNTestDrive]

We never said it should ride as smooth as a luxury sedan, but the point of our episodes is to inform people who might not have experienced these SUVs before, which is why we mention the ride isn’t like other SUVs.

[@767dag]

Yeah and they are very cheap too

[@armouredskeptic]

I actually can not believe what you are wearing.

[@PRNTestDrive]

Uh, ok

[@ien2023]

Over priced..

[@bigbossman5969]

most vehicles are

[@SPNKr02]

If its selling like it is, it is not overpriced, you just don't want one enough.

[@bigbossman5969]

show me a vehicles.thats not over priced. they all are