In its original American broadcast, "The Old Wagon" was viewed by an estimated 12.61 million households. The episode also received a 5.1 rating/14% share in the 18–34 demographic. This means that it was seen by 5.1% of all 18- to 34-year-olds, and 14% of all 18- to 34-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. The episode marked 19 percent increase from the series premiere, "Pilot". The episode also beat the closest competition by 28 percent. The show also become the highest-rated comedy of the week between the broadcast networks. The show was also the fifth highest-rated show in the 18–34 demographic and eighteenth in total viewers. The episode was also the fourth most DVR'd show of the week with 2.7 million viewers in the demographic making a total of 15.46 million viewers and received a 6.4 rating marking a 25 percent rise from the original viewership. The episode received mostly positive reviews. 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". "The A.V. 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 ultimately gave the episode an A- while readers gave the episode a B.  Samantha Zalaznick of "The Huffington Post" named Phil the best character of the episode and also stated "The Dunphys were definitely the highlight of this episode". Lesley Savage of "Entertainment Weekly" praised the episode for its character development. She also praised the subtle humor of the episode, particularly the scene featuring Cameron reading a tabloid magazine to Lily. James Poniewozik of "Time" called it a "relief" to watch the episode after multiple negative reviews of other fall shows. Despite this, he criticized the last minute of the episode saying "It's not necessary under any circumstances, but least of all when the episode's theme was already as subtle as a dangerously wielded power tool." Matt Roush called it a "wonderful season opener".