I think they tried to make Wheelie the POV character by making him a kid (i.e. "relatable" to the audience). Problem I had with Wheelie was that I couldn't understand most of what he said, and he didn't seem to display a wide enough range of emotions that fit the situations he was in. Most of the time he seemed either happy or confused. One thing I can give him credit for was that he often asked good questions which helped define or move the plot forward.

I think if I had to choose another toy to play the role of POV; I think Hot Rod would have been relatively more appropriate (thinking about the 1986 movie and some season 3 episodes like "The Ultimate Weapon" and "Hardest Burden to Bear"). Problem is that Hot Rod wasn't as cheap as Wheelie, and he spent most of his time in Season 3 as Rodimus Prime (which was even more expensive).