Debating on a new Gladiator and have some questions

[Barnaby’sdad]

To be honest, if a Land Rover Defender is in your affordable toy category, then you want a JLU with a 392 and call it a day.

Yes, If you don’t mind the towing capacity (and obvious lack of a bed). The towing capacity of the JL killed it for me (we’re planning on getting a travel trailer in the next year or so).

Edit: If money was no object though…I’d pick up a JL to have as a toy. Never been fortunate enough to have two Jeeps at once, lol.

Sponsored

 

[Gren71]

@Blitzinger

Then getting what you want up front and stock seems important. So the rubi or mojave are borh great options for a little oem lift and feel. From what ive read the mojave has the better ride quality between the two.

 

[Snake Eyes]

I like my Sport S Max Tow. Ordered it with the LED lights, Aux switches. It comes with the wider axles, BLD and Trac-Lock which is fine if you are not going to do intense rock crawling. Everyone says you need lockers. But the others should do you fine if you are not intense off road. Even my FJ has locker and I have never had to use it.

You can get leather in it and the 8.4 screen.

The upside of the Sport S is you get the maximum payload capacity which is great.

I got the passive entry and did not have to get the half doors. Forget what the configurator says. IT said that even when I ordered. It comes with the Technology package.

Then just do an aftermarket lift.

 

[NachoRuby]

BLD and Trac-Lock which is fine if you are not going to do intense rock crawling.

They do work very well. That's all my wife's JKU has, and it holds its own.

 

[Gren71]

They do work very well. That's all my wife's JKU has, and it holds its own.

I wish they had the trac loc when I gor my JT in 2019.

 

[amoyer_01]

Find a Willy trim, you get most of what the Rubicon includes. I take mine camping beach and parks/mountains. I was able to get mine for 36 OTD. I did not get LED or the 8.4 and no back media ports. I have upgraded the headlights to Oracle LED and added 2 12v ports and 4 USBs to the back of the center console. I have not needed lockers and highly doubt I will. Oh I also have a soft top way better then the hardtop and I was only looking at manuals. So probably already 7k cheaper by these. You can find capable versions just depends on your needs.

 

[Blitzinger]

My .02:

I wouldn't get any vehicle without power locks and windows.

I wouldn't get a JT without a hardtop, tow package, 8.4 sound system, passive entry, and the auto trans (sorry, 4,000lbs of towing for a truck ain't enough).

The problem is that even a Sport S with the above options, MSRP is $53,000ish (if you somehow get the dealer to order the passive entry in a Sport S without making you get half doors too as the online configurator currently does).

Sorry guys, I'm not paying upward of $50,000 for a mid size "offroad" truck without at least one locker. You can keep the overland's leather seats and whatever other luxury features it has. I'll take the Mojave or Rubicon any day for the "value".

And this is kind of where my heads at. Rubicon or, like others suggested, Mojave. The dealers near me have plenty of both and they seem pretty well loaded (with a super weird exception of not including the 12v outlet which really pisses me off as someone who was specifically looking for that as it is standard in defender and is a great accessory for someone who likes to plug in a pellet smoker at a tailgate/end rant)

Speaking of defender, what put me off for longest time is the 4cyl engine didnt seem powerful enough for the 110. It has 296 hp and 295 ft lb torque for a 4900 lb car but looking at rubicon, it has less hp and torque and weighs a bit more.

Perhaps I’m missing something here but are there any concerns for engine wear long term?

 

[Dakota Kid]

Never owned a Jeep. Live in Ny. Have one car because never needed a second.

Now wife and I have a kid and we are running into scenarios of needing a second vehicle. I want something to take Off-road and camping. Tacoma steering felt cheap IMO, I test drove a rubicon gladiator and a LR defender. Defender was comfortable but I like the versatility of the Jeep for getting mulch and stuff.

A rubicon seems like it’s got all I would need. Would it even make sense to look at overland and add the shocks/suspension/lift? Would I save money doing that?

also, there’s a ton of gladiators near me for sale, two dealers I know locally have a combined 31. And with 2023 coming out, how much can we shoot for On discount? One rubi I’m looking at is $58. $55 seem plausible?

Unless you’re going to do hardcore off-roading, I would suggest a well optioned Willys.

Slightly softer ride, less money as you won’t have some add-ons you don’t need.

Upgrade components as you want if you feel you’re lacking after using it for awhile.

I personally upgraded the tires to Falken AT3W’s, which only came standard on the Rubicon/Mojave in my area…. Better on road and on snow/ice than BFG KM2’s that came with my Willys. Otherwise I had towing/full LED/etc packages and I was ready to go.

It is my first Jeep as well, and my daily driver and we road trip with wife and 2 older kids no problem.

I went with the diesel option and average 22.5mpg in town all day/every day and 30mpg at 60 mph, 25-26mpg at 80mph on interstate. The engine is a $4k upgrade, but take one for a test drive…that turbo diesel has way more snort than the gas?, the increased mpg is just a bonus.

 

[Gren71]

And this is kind of where my heads at. Rubicon or, like others suggested, Mojave. The dealers near me have plenty of both and they seem pretty well loaded (with a super weird exception of not including the 12v outlet which really pisses me off as someone who was specifically looking for that as it is standard in defender and is a great accessory for someone who likes to plug in a pellet smoker at a tailgate/end rant)

Speaking of defender, what put me off for longest time is the 4cyl engine didnt seem powerful enough for the 110. It has 296 hp and 295 ft lb torque for a 4900 lb car but looking at rubicon, it has less hp and torque and weighs a bit more.

Perhaps I’m missing something here but are there any concerns for engine wear long term?

Its still a relatively new vehicle when we talk about long term engine wear. Personally i have the 3.6 gasser and have 76,000ish miles on it without any major issues. The engine its self is a pretty well tested engine (as far as i read and on this forum and elsewhere)

performance is always a subjective question since you could plop the same engine in a vehicle with different aerodynamics and have an entirely different driving experience.

I certainly wish the 3.6 had more power and torque. But I also enjoy having a Jeep that I get 20-22mpg with. Coming from a 2013 four door wrangler that got 14 on a good day its been very nice! Haha

 

[Hootbro]

Perhaps I’m missing something here but are there any concerns for engine wear long term?

Yeah, that is going to be dicey question on who you ask. Pentastar from a larger aggregate pool is overall a reliable engine but there is probably a low single digit percentage of people who have problems with misfire issues and associated part problems causing that.

It will be better than anything long term from Land Rover/Ranger Rover that is for sure.

 

[Dakota Kid]

I would also add that there are a couple dealers on other threads (Gupton comes to mind) that are selling at up to 8% off invoice…check that out as the cost of a plane ticket might save you thousands of dollars.

 

[dcmdon]

Unless you plan on off roading and using the lockers a rubi may be spending extra $ on stuff you dont wont / need.

Its an expensive vehicle so trying to loointo the future a bit would benefit you.

Do you intend to tow?
do you intend to run sand dunes?
do you want the most high end feeling ride?
do you intend to strip it bare and build a crawler? (mall crawler or otherwise)
Do you demand a manual? Or automatic?
gas or diesel?

I honestly think a well equipped sport will serve most everyones needs without the added markup of a rubi.

if you intend to tow a camper at all id suggest the rubi or a sport s w/ max tow so you get the best tow/cargo combo there is in the lineup.

A sport doesn't give you the ability to get certain luxury options. The specifics seem to change monthly on the configurator. But one constant is factory leather. Remember that factory leather does more than put leather on the seats. It puts in a center armrest on the rear seat.

Also, I'm not sure what specific option does it or if its part of the Overland/Mojave/Rubicon package, but you can't get leather (pleather?) on the dash, center arm rest, door panels, steering wheel or shifter as an option on the Sport.

If you want something that feels "loaded" you start with an Overland. You can't reasonably make the interior of a sport feel "fancy".

An Overland with a limited slip and some Rubicon or Mojave take-off wheels/tires would meet the needs of most people.

As far as other questions to consider.
1) what are your wife's preferences.
2) How old are your kids?
3) how long do you keep your vehicles?

I tend to keep my vehicles for a while. My kids are early teens. So I actually care about the accommodations back there. If they were 2 and 4, I wouldn't care because they will be in car seats for a while and won't have a choice as to whether to join us on certain activities.

The center arm rest is Ince for the kids, it also includes 2 more cup holders, and generally makes the rear seat a nicer place to be.

 

[SpeedNeed]

- The factory options on a Jeep vehicle are important, even critical, and can account for (estimating) almost 50% of the price. I suggest the Jeep configuration site to figure out which ones are important to you before you select. They cost a lot more to add later unless you do your own work. The LED lights, the AUX Switches, Max Tow package and the 8.4” screen with upgraded sound are among the most popular. There is a thread on Options somewhere around here.

-As Gren71 says, we are all a little partial to the model we selected. I live in (eastern) NY and went with the Rubicon as I expect to use the locking front differential in the snow. A tonneau cover on day 1 also for the snow. Heated seats.

- Gladiators do not have rear airbags if that’s critical.

- The warranty is important to me. If you install a lift other than a MOPAR you may be in for a fight if something goes wrong. Just saying’.

- The 2023 model Gladiators are not yet up on the Jeep site. There may be a negotiating advantage in waiting for that.

In any event, I think you’re right OP: what’s more versatile than a Jeep with a truck bed? Nothing!

 

[Rahkmalla]

My .02:

I wouldn't get any vehicle without power locks and windows.

I wouldn't get a JT without a hardtop, tow package, 8.4 sound system, passive entry, and the auto trans (sorry, 4,000lbs of towing for a truck ain't enough).

The problem is that even a Sport S with the above options, MSRP is $53,000ish (if you somehow get the dealer to order the passive entry in a Sport S without making you get half doors too as the online configurator currently does).

Sorry guys, I'm not paying upward of $50,000 for a mid size "offroad" truck without at least one locker. You can keep the overland's leather seats and whatever other luxury features it has. I'll take the Mojave or Rubicon any day for the "value".

Your 2 cents is frankly wild to me as we seem to disagree on almost every major point. I love my mojave, but it was a function of what was needed, not what I wanted. If i didn't have a family, i'd have a softtop willys sport manual with tow and aux for an MSRP of 41,400. My passive entry would be never locking the doors because i'd never have anything valuable inside and I wouldn't want my softtop slashed

 

[Rahkmalla]

Unless you’re going to do hardcore off-roading, I would suggest a well optioned Willys.

Do you know the price different between a well-optioned willys and a rubi or jave? willys with 8.4 is like 2300 cheaper than a rubi or jave (which has 8.4 standard)

The second you abandon the stripped down mentality of a willys, the savings doesn't justify NOT going for the higher trims

Sponsored