Thinking About Buying A Jeep Gladiator

[ChrisNLA]

I like mine a LOT.

That being said, I am often up against its limits as far as people capacity and bed capacity is concerned.

A JT will probably do everything you want keeping in mind that four is gonna be the people limit in the cab, big rear facing car seats are a pain if you are tall (if you ever have to cart around grand kids), and you quickly discover that a five foot bed that's only 18" deep isn't much.

I started looking at Silverado's again with 6.5' beds. I mean, I'm in no hurry to depart with the Gladiator, it's 'adequate' for my life right now - but as the next couple years transpire the scales may start to tip.

Also, the fact that the roof and the doors come off are a completely lost feature on me - so this is a HUGE selling point that may apply to you and definitely applies to others that I just don't care about.

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[Stuntman Mike]

Then why are you on this forum? Unless you have that super unreliable and over complicated, plus overpriced diesel.

That's not fair ...

 

[Zachanadandy]

That's not fair ...

The truth is funny like that, it doesn't really matter how we feel.

 

[Stuntman Mike]

The truth is funny like that, it doesn't really matter how we feel.

Was ment more like a joke.

I assume if I would have had the chance to get a JTR cheaper than a JTOD in Germany I most likely would have chosen the JTR, specificially because I am not a Diesel fan.

But after nearly 25K absolut troublefree miles on the JTOD I would immediately select it again.

And if I would have to buy annother Gladiator and only a 3,6 would be available I would buy the 3,6 because I don't want any other truck anymore.

 

[Zachanadandy]

Was ment more like a joke.

I assume if I would have had the chance to get a JTR cheaper than a JTOD in Germany I most likely would have chosen the JTR, specificially because I am not a Diesel fan.

But after nearly 25K absolut troublefree miles on the JTOD I would immediately select it again.

And if I would have to buy annother Gladiator and only a 3,6 would be available I would buy the 3,6 because I don't want any other truck anymore.

If the diesel didn't have the reliability issues and I didn't primarily use the mojave in the desert I'd have gotten one. Obviously the power numbers are much better.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Ha what a joke! Look at the power band on it…RPMs are too high for off roading use. As far as top end power goes, it’s a gutless V-6, with no torque…

You should see mine and many more offroad. Look at those hilarious tiny 80’s Toyotas. Good gearing, transfer cases, and transmissions changes it from, your words, a minivan, to offroad domination. I laugh to myself when a 392 comes up to the same obstacle I just walked up easily. So many of them can’t control that extra hp and end up spinning their tires. I watched one on holy cross become a literal dam, sideways on French creek. Yet many others with gutless v6’s crawled right through with little or no difficulty. Sorry. Several had 4 cylinders. It’s about gearing and control.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I like mine a LOT.

That being said, I am often up against its limits as far as people capacity and bed capacity is concerned.

A JT will probably do everything you want keeping in mind that four is gonna be the people limit in the cab, big rear facing car seats are a pain if you are tall (if you ever have to cart around grand kids), and you quickly discover that a five foot bed that's only 18" deep isn't much.

I started looking at Silverado's again with 6.5' beds. I mean, I'm in no hurry to depart with the Gladiator, it's 'adequate' for my life right now - but as the next couple years transpire the scales may start to tip.

Also, the fact that the roof and the doors come off are a completely lost feature on me - so this is a HUGE selling point that may apply to you and definitely applies to others that I just don't care about.

Most don’t choose a gladiator because they want a truck. They want a jeep that also does truck things.

 

[Deleted member 57233]

If the diesel didn't have the reliability issues and I didn't primarily use the mojave in the desert I'd have gotten one. Obviously the power numbers are much better.

Everyone says the diesel has reliability issues, but other than the few people with the fuel pump failure (more of a Bosch issue), what is the reliability problem with the diesel?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I'd assume the Challengers, chargers, and grand cherokee got the new version around 2018-2019 as it wouldn't make sense to still build the old version? I didn't see much about cam failures from the early version though.

Gen 1 until 2022 I believe for those two cars. CG got the upgrade 2016 model year

 

[DoctorDecoy]

Do it!

 

[WILDHOBO]

Everyone says the diesel has reliability issues, but other than the few people with the fuel pump failure (more of a Bosch issue), what is the reliability problem with the diesel?

I don’t have one and never will, but there seems to be a longer list than that. I agree that it’s probably low in comparison to the number out there, but it think they’re less reliable than the pug.

 

[ChrisNLA]

Most don’t choose a gladiator because they want a truck. They want a jeep that also does truck things.

For sure!

I chose mine because I DO like the Jeep body style, and I had a great experience with my 2 door JK - but I simply outgrew it and I needed a truck, and I thought I was still going to spend some time doing some offroading and traveling.

Well, I grew away from my Jeep friends, I haven't done any offroading since Merus in the spring of 2023 - and my camping has been in places that most road going vehicles can access. My life changed to endless Home Depot runs and hauling the eventual step kids on trips. Literal suburban dad stuff LOL.

So the Gladiator made a lot of sense three years ago - less so now, but its in no danger yet. I think I want a boat before I want another truck

Or a pop up - I'd love to camp at the Atlanta NASCAR Cup race twice a year...

 

[Zachanadandy]

Everyone says the diesel has reliability issues, but other than the few people with the fuel pump failure (more of a Bosch issue), what is the reliability problem with the diesel?

The engines have had issues with egr, dpf, and fuel pumps fairly frequently. I like to keep my new vehicles 100-200k miles. Being reliable during the warranty period holds 0 value to me. In Jeeps the sample size is already small and those with high mileage are very rare. On the ram side they seemed to have more issues and I realize there was some redesign for the last gen, but it's not something I'd trust beyond the warranty. Especially as hard as I tend to run my rigs. That and it was never offered in the mojave and it was gone by the time I bought my JT it was never a consideration for me.

 

[JTdiRtyD]

Everyone says the diesel has reliability issues, but other than the few people with the fuel pump failure (more of a Bosch issue), what is the reliability problem with the diesel?

I don’t have one and never will, but there seems to be a longer list than that. I agree that it’s probably low in comparison to the number out there, but it think they’re less reliable than the pug.

The engines have had issues with egr, dpf, and fuel pumps fairly frequently. I like to keep my new vehicles 100-200k miles. Being reliable during the warranty period holds 0 value to me. In Jeeps the sample size is already small and those with high mileage are very rare. On the ram side they seemed to have more issues and I realize there was some redesign for the last gen, but it's not something I'd trust beyond the warranty. Especially as hard as I tend to run my rigs. That and it was never offered in the mojave and it was gone by the time I bought my JT it was never a consideration for me.

90% of the issues the eco has stems from emissions, and thats the case with all modern diesels on the market regardless the make.

Fuel pump issue stems from the shit fuel we get in the US. That same pump is used worldwide and other countries see far less issues. It's also easy to mitigate with proper care and preventative maintenance.

The other larger issue is heat, which has nothing to do with the engine and everything to do with Jeep not wanting to put effort into engineering an adequate cooling system for the small engine compartment.

You don't see many high mileage Gladi ecos simply because most of them haven't yet reached those miles because they've only been offered since 2021, but they are out there. Additionally, there are plenty of ecoD well over 200k in the Ram.

I get it, diesels aren't for everyone. It's not a vehicle to just get in and drive and not pay attention to preventative maintenance. But if you take care of them they take care of you. There are just as many, if not more issues with the Pentastar, but since it's a gasser no one really cares.

 

[Zachanadandy]

90% of the issues the eco has stems from emissions, and thats the case with all modern diesels on the market regardless the make.

Fuel pump issue stems from the shit fuel we get in the US. That same pump is used worldwide and other countries see far less issues. It's also easy to mitigate with proper care and preventative maintenance.

The other larger issue is heat, which has nothing to do with the engine and everything to do with Jeep not wanting to put effort into engineering an adequate cooling system for the small engine compartment.

You don't see many high mileage Gladi ecos simply because most of them haven't yet reached those miles because they've only been offered since 2021, but they are out there. Additionally, there are plenty of ecoD well over 200k in the Ram.

I get it, diesels aren't for everyone. It's not a vehicle to just get in and drive and not pay attention to preventative maintenance. But if you take care of them they take care of you. There are just as many, if not more issues with the Pentastar, but since it's a gasser no one really cares.

As many issues from an engine with 100x the total volume isn't really a vote in favor of the EcoDiesel? To me that says it's about a hundred times less reliable on a case by case basis. Are there some high mileage examples? Sure. Are there also several low mileage failures? Absolutely. Not sure what preventative maintenance you do for a fuel pump that's known to self destruct at various mileage? Change it out every 10k miles to be safe?

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