Cameron asks Jay for help when Mitchell decides to build a life-size princess castle for Lily even though he is not very handy with the tools.

"The Old Wagon" received positive reviews from critics, with Samantha Zalaznick of The Huffington Post naming the Dunphy's and Phil the best part of the episode.

In the Dunphy's house, Claire (Julie Bowen) gets Phil (Ty Burrell) to agree to sell their old station wagon.

Alex's seatbelt is stuck and Claire decides to unhook it, but accidentally spills her milkshake.

Cameron decides to call Jay (Ed O'Neill) in for reinforcement and the two try to get Mitchell to do meaningless jobs.

In his review, James Poniewozik wrote that the episode's main message was to show that "it can be sad when things change and we get older".

[10] Samantha Zalaznick of The Huffington Post wrote that the episode aligned with the second season's main theme that "the kids are growing up".

Joel Keller of TV Squad gave the episode a positive review and also stated "the sequence of mishaps in the car as they overlook the city reminds viewers how this show excels at physical comedy".

He also complemented the series for not featuring a big guest star for the season premiere writing that it is "always the sign of a quality show".

Club reviewer Donna Bowman, praised the sequence of mishaps in the Dunphy's car stating "That’s all I need to be confident that season two could be as good as the show’s critical reputation would have us believe" despite being worried it would go through a sophomore slump.

She also praised the subtle humor of the episode, particularly the scene featuring Cameron reading a tabloid magazine to Lily.

[19] James Poniewozik of Time called it a "relief" to watch the episode after multiple negative reviews of other fall shows.

HitFix reviewer Alan Sepinwall, was mixed towards the episode and criticized it for being a " refresher course on who these people are and what the show is".