New Jeep Owner - 2025 Jeep Gladiator NH

[Dthrill_08]

Hey everyone,

I haven’t been on a forum since my RuneScape days—feels nostalgic haha. Not sure if this is the right location to put this, but if not, let me know!

I’m new to the Jeep family—well, kinda. I previously had a 2016 Grand Cherokee, but this is a totally different experience. It came down to either a Nissan Frontier Pro X or a Jeep, and I originally went to the Dodge/Ram dealership thinking I’d get something in my price range, like a Ram 1500 or a Wrangler.

To my surprise, the finance guy worked out a deal on a Jeep Gladiator NightHawk—which I wasn’t super familiar with, but I had done plenty of research on Gladiators in general. After reading mixed reviews, I took the leap, and honestly, I’m glad I didn’t listen to the negatives.

First Impressions:

• The ride quality is exactly what I expected for this size and type of vehicle. It’s not a Ridgeline, full-size pickup, or SUV, but it gets the job done and not as "jittery" as reviewed by the experts.
• The excess tire and wind noise does not bother me.
• Spacious
• minimalist but has enough goodies.

Negatives

• No Auto Headlights
• would've loved some of the safety features.
• Auto Stop/Start Feature – Super annoying. Anyone in South Florida that can help me disable it with a Tazer? Happy to pay a fee.
• Weird Seating Position – Feels like the seat angle is digging into my thigh/knee. Any fixes for this?
• Lack of a Phone Mount Spot – Bought a Bulletpoint MagSafe mount to solve this.
• Fuel Economy: I’m averaging 13.5 MPG, which is way off from the 17/22 MPG rating. I drive pretty conservatively—anyone else seeing similar numbers?

Entry-Level Mods I’m Considering:

• Tints – A must in Florida.
• Tri-fold Cover – Already bought.
• LED Headlights Upgrade – Any recommendations?
• Left Foot Rest/Pedal –
• Exhaust Upgrade? – Worth it or nah?
• Cold Air Intake? – Any noticeable gains or just for sound?
• Maybe add some color to the exterior (orange, lime green, red or blue) for contrast. All black looks like a Government Vehicle.

Would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions—especially on inexpensive but effective mods! Looking forward to learning from you all. Terrible photo. I haven't taken many photos yet. Normally I don't like Black cars but this one with all black stood out. I like the wheels and tire size. I don't do off road so it's perfect for me.

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[DirkG]

Congrats and welcome. This forum is full of info and knowledgeable owners to help along the way. I'm on my second Gladiator (by choice) and I just love the experience of owning a Jeep. I've owned a lot of brands, including currently owning a Mercedes and an Acura, and the Gladiator is by far our favorite family vehicle.

My new '24 JT has LED headlights, but my '20 did not. That's my biggest compliant: LED headlights should be standard. The halogens are just not safe. The good news is there are many options out there to upgrade. Check out the lighting section of this forum.

 

[Afternoon Spray]

I bought a brand new 2024 back in September. I have averaged around 13.9 mpg. I do have the manual transmission but the consensus I've heard is, it opens up and gets better mileage after you hit 3k-5k miles but I'm at 2500 and it hasn't improved. It's my only complaint with the truck as I love everything else about it. I was expecting to get about 17-18mpg like I had on my '14 Wrangler. It is the same engine after all.

 

[Afternoon Spray]

Also, I have a button to turn off the auto start/stop. Is that unique to manual transmissions? Or are you looking for a more permanent solution? It is tedious to have to turn it off every time I drive.

 

[Janster]

Welcome!! From Pennsylvania… Grew up in NH (Dover) and still have family up in Kingston.

Are you talking ‘Auto headlights’ or are you talking ‘Auto High beams’?
The Auto High beams came with the Mojave X versions (2024) - I have it.

Auto Start/Stop has a button to turn it off, but you have to hit the button every time you start the truck. Tazer mini is what you need. I have that too…

I have 2024 with 5,700 miles… fuel economy stinks (to be honest). I’m only seeing 13-14mpg. Someone once said “It’ll get better the closer you get to 10,000 miles”
I‘m doubtful……. I didn’t buy the Jeep for fuel economy.

Seating position (in relation to the door opening) - is a little odd - tight. I’m 5’5” so my seat is a little closer than most folks (my husband). I have my steering wheel up higher (than I’d prefer) and is pushed the whole way towards the dash (than I’d prefer) so I have room to swing my legs around and slide out the door. I’m predicting some wear & tear on my drives seat because of this.

Over the years in various other trucks….. I’ve had exhausts & CAI’s and stuff….. Not worth it. Save your $ for something else. Like…. get yourself a hard top hoist so it‘s easier to take the top off and go naked. Get yourself a door cart or build something to store your doors…gotta take the doors off too!!

Have fun!! Jeep waves… and don’t be surprised if you get some ducks on your door handles. It’s all in good fun!

 

[Gvsukids]

I haven’t been on a forum since my RuneScape days—feels nostalgic haha. Not sure if this is the right location to put this, but if not, let me know!

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/introductions-welcome-thread-👋.88079/unread

 

[Steve_ss]

Welcome to the party. I'm new here too. What I've learned so far:

Auto stop start: I have seen a few people talk about this product: https://www.smartstopstart.com/jeep-dodge-chrysler-products.html It plugs in under the dash and takes care of the problem. I have no personal experience with it. I just push the button on the dashboard.

Left foot pedal: I like this one, but there are many others... https://www.quadratec.com/p/quadrat...diator-jt/qua-dead-pedal-jl-jt-pedal-with-pad It's top on my list of things to get.

Cold air intake / exhaust: My last car was an Dodge Challenger Redeye w/ 800hp. The more power the better. However, with this motor, I don't know how much extra power you get for the money. Mopar makes kits for this, as do others. Let us know if you get anything.

Graphics: I've used products from this company on my Challengers. https://ridergraphix.com/store/JEEP-GLADIATOR-JT-PICKUP-GRAPHICS-c34268051 Post pictures if you choose anything.

 

[Dthrill_08]

Welcome!! From Pennsylvania… Grew up in NH (Dover) and still have family up in Kingston.

Are you talking ‘Auto headlights’ or are you talking ‘Auto High beams’?
The Auto High beams came with the Mojave X versions (2024) - I have it.

Auto Start/Stop has a button to turn it off, but you have to hit the button every time you start the truck. Tazer mini is what you need. I have that too…

I have 2024 with 5,700 miles… fuel economy stinks (to be honest). I’m only seeing 13-14mpg. Someone once said “It’ll get better the closer you get to 10,000 miles”
I‘m doubtful……. I didn’t buy the Jeep for fuel economy.

Seating position (in relation to the door opening) - is a little odd - tight. I’m 5’5” so my seat is a little closer than most folks (my husband). I have my steering wheel up higher (than I’d prefer) and is pushed the whole way towards the dash (than I’d prefer) so I have room to swing my legs around and slide out the door. I’m predicting some wear & tear on my drives seat because of this.

Over the years in various other trucks….. I’ve had exhausts & CAI’s and stuff….. Not worth it. Save your $ for something else. Like…. get yourself a hard top hoist so it‘s easier to take the top off and go naked. Get yourself a door cart or build something to store your doors…gotta take the doors off too!!

Have fun!! Jeep waves… and don’t be surprised if you get some ducks on your door handles. It’s all in good fun!

I meant NH (NightHawk). I am in Miami, FL :P>

Are you talking ‘Auto headlights’ or are you talking ‘Auto High beams’? Autoheadlights. I feel like I am a teenager again using my parents car.

Auto Start/Stop has a button to turn it off, but you have to hit the button every time you start the truck. Tazer mini is what you need. I have that too… Is it easy to do? I know I have to buy the equipment but how difficult is it?

Hard top hoist - I had no idea about this. I didn't plan to remove the whole top, maybe just the roof panels. Is it that heavy?!

I started seeing random jeeps with a bunch of ducks on the dash lol. I think I will get some Psyduck, Golduck, and other Duck mons.

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