Wrangler vs Gladiator?

[aldo98229]

I really like Gladiator. But after owning a Tacoma, a Wrangler Unlimited is as long a vehicle as I’m willing to drive. Especially around town.

In fact, I’m afraid to even test drive one. I might end up trading in the Wrangler... ?

Sponsored

 

[Cajun21]

Oh yeah the JT is definitely on the dealer lots around here as well, not sure why, they don't seem to be selling. But then again I did look at one and just couldn't bring myself to getting one, besides I needed a full-size truck and the Ram was actually a little more than a loaded rubicon-just couldn't justify a JLUR and a JTR. hmmmm. Keep the Jeep wave going.

 

[five9dak]

Prior to covid gladiators were not really moving and they were getting discounted. Supply chain problems with other brands may have artificially increased Jeep's market share for now.

 

[buckeye1996]

Interesting observation. See the same here. I REALLY tried to justify a Gladiator as the third vehicle in our family fleet but just couldn't. Ended up going with a Tacoma. The Taco is boring as hell but a ridiculous value compared to a similarly equipped Gladiator. My use case for a mid size light duty truck doesn't require solid front axle, and I already have a Wrangler in the fleet. Gladiators are very cool rigs, but maybe I'm not the only one who struggles to justify the value.

 

[aldo98229]

Prior to covid gladiators were not really moving and they were getting discounted. Supply chain problems with other brands may have artificially increased Jeep's market share for now.

Yeah, Gladiator had Employee Pricing during COVID.

But it wasn’t so much as they weren’t moving. At least before COVID hit. I believe it was more a matter of FCA trying to find a sweet spot between maintaining a decent production rate and a healthy per-unit margin.

 

[sciotola88]

We love our JT and have had it almost 2 years now. They need a lift/tires at a minimum though.. You cant find a new Wrangler on the lots around here but they have plenty of JTs.

 

[IdahoJOAT]

Couple things:

1. It's much different than other mid-size pickups, as the top and doors can't come off a Taco/Colorado/Ranger.
2. It's my wife's Wrangler but it has a bed. Granted, not SUPER useful, but as useful as a Taco/Colorado/Ranger. A hard sided kayak goes in. So do bikes. The several hundred pounds of dirt/bark/gravel from Home Depot can go in it.
3. 1 and 2 are why I want one soo badly.
4. The engine options are horrid. Absolutely horrid. Every time we see the dead horse beaten in the field I think of the poor, ignorant JT people who've never driven a JL with the 2.0 or 4xe. This is single handedly the biggest reason I haven't found a reason to pick up a JT yet. I just CAN'T justify the diesel nor can I take a step backward to the 3.6. Apologies to all those that love the pentastar, but I've driven 3 powerplants on JLURs and the 3.6 is by far the worst.
5. We have tons of JTs on the lots around here, and my belief is because of what others have already said: price is too high, tons of competition(because people never actually try them) and underwhelming engine choices.

 

[Jtclayton612]

My dad’s gobi JT just got built and is waiting to be shipped. He wanted a wrangler but he also wanted something where the tongue weight of his trailer wasn’t quite so close to the wranglers max tongue. So gladiator it was. He won’t be lifting it but he will be putting 35s on the rubicon model just so he doesn’t need to run a lower drop hitch.

I got a lot of input on it cause he intends for it to pass to me one day, hopefully in the far future.

 

[UM_Ftown]

There's not many Gladiators around here, mostly Wranglers. Even when on the lot, they tend to sit longer than the Wrangler. It is by far the most expensive compared to the coemption, Jeep banking on customers willing to spend $10-$20k more than the competition just to be able to take the top off and disconnect the front sway bar. Plus it's not going to turn, ride, or be as quiet as the competition because of those things.

I think once everyone grabs that has wanted a Jeep truck over the years, it will become harder and harder to sell to the everyday customer in the super competitive smaller margin mid-size truck market.

A manual transmission Sport with hard top and limited slip is only around 3k off a ZR2 and now you have a truck with manual locks / windows and cloth seats to something that has leather, heated everything, locking front and rear diffs etc.

I really like the Gladiator, and would likely have one but not because of it's price point.

 

[Scarif Patrol]

Couple things:

1. It's much different than other mid-size pickups, as the top and doors can't come off a Taco/Colorado/Ranger.
2. It's my wife's Wrangler but it has a bed. Granted, not SUPER useful, but as useful as a Taco/Colorado/Ranger. A hard sided kayak goes in. So do bikes. The several hundred pounds of dirt/bark/gravel from Home Depot can go in it.
3. 1 and 2 are why I want one soo badly.
4. The engine options are horrid. Absolutely horrid. Every time we see the dead horse beaten in the field I think of the poor, ignorant JT people who've never driven a JL with the 2.0 or 4xe. This is single handedly the biggest reason I haven't found a reason to pick up a JT yet. I just CAN'T justify the diesel nor can I take a step backward to the 3.6. Apologies to all those that love the pentastar, but I've driven 3 powerplants on JLURs and the 3.6 is by far the worst.
5. We have tons of JTs on the lots around here, and my belief is because of what others have already said: price is too high, tons of competition(because people never actually try them) and underwhelming engine choices.

#4 exactly! I love the JT and wanted to pick one up as my next vehicle but the 3.6 in the JT is an absolute DOG. It feels so underpowered compared to the same engine in the JL. I've heard rumblings that the 4Xe is coming to the JT in 2024. That has piqued my interest, I love the 4Xe platform on the JLU and am looking forward to its implementation on the JT.

 

[CaJLMetalHead]

I wonder how popular it would be to have the option of a 2 door Gladiator with the same wheelbase as a JLU.... that way you would have a longer and more practical bed and the same off-roading capabilities as a JLU... when I go off-roading the groups always have Gladiators and they always struggle to clear obstacles..

Besides buying a Gladiator for looks I wonder what attracts people to the Gladiator model.. Overlanding?.. the bed?.. not sure about towing capacity as other options have better towing capacity (unless you want to look cool while towing LOL)

 

[IdahoJOAT]

I wonder how popular it would be to have the option of a 2 door Gladiator with the same wheelbase as a JLU.... that way you would have a longer and more practical bed and the same off-roading capabilities as a JLU... when I go off-roading the groups always have Gladiators and they always struggle to clear obstacles..

Besides buying a Gladiator for looks I wonder what attracts people to the Gladiator model.. Overlanding?.. the bed?.. not sure about towing capacity as other options have better towing capacity (unless you want to look cool while towing LOL)

I'm honestly not sure. I would think it would be for the 5-10% of the time people actually need a truck, yet as soon as people get a JT they throw a rack on the bed... defeating that purpose.

I don't think a 2 door JT would be popular. Donut did a video on the Wrangler and pointed out that when the JKU came out in 2008 something like 80% of sales were of the 4 door. IMO because households have kids.

The Wrangler went from a weekend, fun toy that if you HAD to take the kids in you could, to: "Oh shit. So I can have my big pickup(which we need), and my wife can have the Jeep and still do just about everything she could normally do in a sedan."

 

[IdahoJOAT]

#4 exactly! I love the JT and wanted to pick one up as my next vehicle but the 3.6 in the JT is an absolute DOG. It feels so underpowered compared to the same engine in the JL. I've heard rumblings that the 4Xe is coming to the JT in 2024. That has piqued my interest, I love the 4Xe platform on the JLU and am looking forward to its implementation on the JT.

If they came out with a JT 4xe, that'd be so awesome.

I'm already finally calling around for quotes on my 50/60 amp outlet install. Shit, might have to have them put two in...

 

[John VonJeep]

One thing the JT really has (had?) going for it is Gator. Man, what a cool color.

 

[Shibadog]

I wonder how popular it would be to have the option of a 2 door Gladiator with the same wheelbase as a JLU.... that way you would have a longer and more practical bed and the same off-roading capabilities as a JLU... when I go off-roading the groups always have Gladiators and they always struggle to clear obstacles..

Besides buying a Gladiator for looks I wonder what attracts people to the Gladiator model.. Overlanding?.. the bed?.. not sure about towing capacity as other options have better towing capacity (unless you want to look cool while towing LOL)

Sign me up for the 2 dr.?

Sponsored