2022 Gladiator Willys Sport is a bargain in today’s market…

[Blknblu]

Omaha.

same here welcome

Bruce

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[Reasoner]

same here welcome

Bruce

Nice. I’ll have to make sure I deploy a duck if I see yours roaming around.

 

[Zissou]

I was just about to put in an order for one because soft tops are usually a special order where I live and even the sport models are a little hard to find. I ended up finding mine at a local dealer. Willys sport with soft top is basically a unicorn for my area. The only issue was I maybe would have preferred the hydro blue or gobi color, and the one they had was black. I didn’t want to deal with ordering delays or my trade-in value potentially going down (dealer gave me a very good trade in price in hopes to make the sale that day), so I jumped on the opportunity and snatched it up.

The black is growing on me though. I’ve never owned a black vehicle. Hard to keep looking nice, but I will admit that black looks stunning when it’s actually clean.

You should explore ceramic coating it. It's some incredible technology for keeping cars clean or making them easy to clean. I coated my BMW and will be doing my Gladiator at some point too.

 

[Reasoner]

You should explore ceramic coating it. It's some incredible technology for keeping cars clean or making them easy to clean. I coated my BMW and will be doing my Gladiator at some point too.

Oh yeah I’ve looked into that a bit. Not sure if I’m comfortable doing it myself and I don’t want to spend the money on getting it professionally done. Any suggestions on a DIY method?

I saw that another forum member uses turtle wax hybrid spray. They even have a spray specifically for black. I don’t think it’s a true ceramic coating, but the results seem to be pretty amazing with just a simple wash and the hybrid spray afterwards.

 

[Zissou]

Oh yeah I’ve looked into that a bit. Not sure if I’m comfortable doing it myself and I don’t want to spend the money on getting it professionally done. Any suggestions on a DIY method?

I saw that another forum member uses turtle wax hybrid spray. They even have a spray specifically for black. I don’t think it’s a true ceramic coating, but the results seem to be pretty amazing with just a simple wash and the hybrid spray afterwards.

I spent the money to have a professional do it personally. I am pretty sure the stuff the pros use will last longer than what I try to apply.

I have heard that it's not terribly difficult to do yourself though, especially if you do not need to do paint correction.

 

[Barnaby’sdad]

100% agree, Reasoner. You took the exact same path I did for the exact same reasons. The Willys Sport is the best value, imo. The price increase from the Willys Sport to the Willys is pretty substantial (like $3500) and the only discernable difference is PW and PDL. When I ordered mine, the dealer said, "You know that this is the base model, right?" I said, "Yeah, I can roll my own windows for a few thousand dollars!"

Only? Lol. Glad that you’re happy with it, but my last four door Jeep (XJ) didn’t have PW and PDL. Wouldn’t consider going that route again, but that’s me.

Really curious to see how some of the electronics in the upper trim models hold up though. That and I’d much rather have a traditional (even chipped) key than push-button start.

 

[Reasoner]

Only? Lol. Glad that you’re happy with it, but my last four door Jeep (XJ) didn’t have PW and PDL. Wouldn’t consider going that route again, but that’s me.

Really curious to see how some of the electronics in the upper trim models hold up though. That and I’d much rather have a traditional (even chipped) key than push-button start.

Sounds like you just needed to run with the doors off more often. PW and PDL don’t matter if the doors don’t exist!

 

[Barnaby’sdad]

Sounds like you just needed to run with the doors off more often. PW and PDL don’t matter if the doors don’t exist!

Probably depends on where you live. I’d be constantly reinstalling and removing them due to the weather and my commute/highway driving.

If they were cheaper…the half-doors might be a nice compromise.

 

[Reasoner]

Probably depends on where you live. I’d be constantly reinstalling and removing them due to the weather and my commute/highway driving.

If they were cheaper…the half-doors might be a nice compromise.

The half door option is absurdly expensive. I got excited when they were finally available, but then I saw the price and said nope!

 

[redriderjf87]

Prices on vehicles are insane these days!! Jeeps have always been expensive, but I feel like the price premium between a Jeep and other vehicles have narrowed quite a bit.

Anyway, I ended up trading my 2-door for a 2022 soft top Willys Sport.

I now have 4 doors with back seats that can actually fit adults, plenty of utility and cargo space with the bed, the ability to go naked, and top tier off road capability with skid plates, anti spin rear diff and mud tires from the factory with the Willys package.

The only real competitor in the price range would be the Toyota Tacoma, and only if you stick with the SR5 trim. You would gain a bunch of fancy tech features with the Tacoma, but lose out on all the great features that make Jeeps what they are.

Anyway. My 2 cents.

Also, local dealer inventory for gladiators in general seem to thriving. Everything else, including Tacomas have very low inventory with dealer markups. In fact, Jeep is even offering some discounts and incentives currently. Do people not want Gladiators? Or is Jeep just able to keep up with production as opposed to everyone else? I sure see a lot of Gladiators driving around town.

Congrats, and good call going straight to the soft top and saving some money. Put that towards gears later ha.

 

[BA33]

Probably depends on where you live. I’d be constantly reinstalling and removing them due to the weather and my commute/highway driving.

If they were cheaper…the half-doors might be a nice compromise.

I have to admit that power windows would be nice. PDL are a non-factor with a soft top for me. No sense in having to replace what someone might steal as well as the top they cut open to get in. Doors are off or unlocked.

 

[jebiruph]

Oh yeah I’ve looked into that a bit. Not sure if I’m comfortable doing it myself and I don’t want to spend the money on getting it professionally done. Any suggestions on a DIY method?

I saw that another forum member uses turtle wax hybrid spray. They even have a spray specifically for black. I don’t think it’s a true ceramic coating, but the results seem to be pretty amazing with just a simple wash and the hybrid spray afterwards.

Check out the newer Turtle Wax with graphene. Easy to apply and very durable.

 

[Falcor]

The half door option is absurdly expensive. I got excited when they were finally available, but then I saw the price and said nope!

I was thinking of doing a Sport and adding the half doors. That puts it in leasing territory, but the lease on these things (esp the Sport and Willys Sport) is very low.

 

[Jeeperjamie]

Willy's and Max Tow are probably the 2 best values. I got a base Max Tow because of the 7600lb towing capacity and I don't need power windows or locks. Plus as much as I take off of them to make them my own it doesn't make sense for me to spend the money on a Rubicon. My previous JKU was built probably better than Rubicon for less money. I'm still trying to figure out if I'm satisfied with how I currently have mine built.

 

[Garemlin]

I can't believe how much prices went up for 2022. My exact 2021 Willys build is over $5k more for 2022.

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