Do you all think quality has gone DOWN?

[Blade1668]

IMHO:
Vehicle manufacturer's only want their vehicle to last just past the warranty life. Anything more is money left on the table to them. Their stated goal is to meet CAFE standards and to sell as many as possible as cheap (for them) but as high as possible to customer. Cut every thing out that's not a profit. Most of it is expected but If the vehicle isn't going to last, be reliable and easy to replace/ repair I'm not happy with it.
A buddy of mine has a new EV / hybrid car it has to have the battery pack replaced under warranty not long after buying it.
Yesterday driving back from getting blood drawn I got to drive past a house that had burned out from a fire in the garage with the remains of a car that looked to be the ignition point. Stuff happens but in the big picture it's a miniscule number of vehicles. Bad press does kill sales of more vehicles and that's something none of the manufacturers want.

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[NotSo Bright White]

I'd welcome anyone to buy a 1984 Scrambler and go daily it 80 mph through city traffic, and drive it hundreds of miles off road on the weekends and see what their outcome is.

Oh how I miss that Jeep!

 

[Bjeepz]

My 2022 was flawless and I drove it to enjoy it, meaning I had fun with it! It was stolen.... My 2023 Mojave with less than half the mileage is feeling soft and sloppy, the tonneau cover has been 'fixed' for a leak, then replaced because it wasn't fixed, guess what, the new on still f'in leaks! The 2023 rattles inside more than any of my past 5 Jeeps. Oh and the 4WD actuator had an intermittent connection issue... I still love it and am going to the dealership tmrw to have a new key fob programmed, the last one died in the washing machine, so that's on me. The good news is the service at the dealership where I currently live is really good.

***Edit to add something I forgot…. I get occasional random mild clunk from the transmission, feels like it is dropping a couple gears but isn’t, it’s a quick feeling then all is normal.

 

[YGBSM]

 

[Gvsukids]

On my 4th Gladiator.

That's a lot in a short time.

Vehicle manufacturer's only want their vehicle to last just past the warranty life.

At 99000 miles, our extended warranty has paid for itself.

 

[Hootbro]

I have two Jeep Wave oil changes and tire rotations. I'm currently at 5000 miles and have already done two oil changes and one tire rotation. Should I skip having them do the 10,000 mile oil change/tire rotation? I hate letting anyone touch my vehicle. Is it not worth the free oil and filter?

Really depends on your local dealership. I have two that are local and one is a nightmare I found out after the fact and the other one is alright and does a decent job.

To me, I just like to have those first few oil changes receipted on a dealership service invoice. I think it helps should their be a warranty issue early on.

Judgement call either way but the only way to be 100% certain it is done right is to do it yourself.

 

[Hootbro]

That's a lot in a short time.

Yeah, it is. Normally I would be on a second vehicle in the same 6 years time frame. Played the Covid market game though for two of them when I got basically 90%+ of MSRP selling to CarMax and ordering 7% below invoice for the replacement.

 

[Janster]

Knock on wood…. I bought my 2024 Mojave X in March 2024.
I haven’t had any issues…. Lately, when I put it in drive, it does clunk a bit more than it used to. This could be normal pending all sorts of things. I am keeping an eye on it. I have about 6,500 miles on it so far.

I use 2H mostly. When it rains, I put it in 4Auto, and when we take the boat to the ramp, I use 4hi while on the ramp (launching & retrieving).

 

[LouisvEarlleJT]

I don't think quality has gone down.

I think complexity has gone up and the exponential increase in systems and parts has raised the probability of failure.

Jeeps have always been maintenance intensive. More so if you do what they were built to do with them.

 

[MudderNuker]

My '21 JTR is coming on 50K miles. No issues. There are many creaks and annoying sounds but those are as result from our very long gravel driveway and the 1.5 mile county gravel road to the blacktop. The noise that annoys me the most comes from the hardtop on bumpy roads. But as far as quality, perceptions are subjective. Jeeps in my experience have been the most reliable out of the 42 cars I've owned. MB, BMW, Mini, Jaguar, Audi, Chevy, Ford, GMC, WV, Olds, Kia, Isuzu. Also, I have reasonable expectations from what I pay. If I pay $50k for a car, I don't expect Rolls Royce quality and top notch finishes. Now that prices have come down, I think the Gladiator is a fine vehicle for the money.

 

[shawnebell]

It’s not so much that quality has gone down—it's that complexity has skyrocketed. Today’s vehicles are overloaded with tech that most drivers don’t need and few mechanics can easily diagnose. It’s no longer a matter of turning a wrench and listening for a miss; now you're deciphering encrypted error codes while praying the issue isn’t buried under layers of software patches and proprietary systems.

What’s really declined is the practical, hands-on engineering intuition—both in those designing these machines and in the people driving or fixing them. Auto shop used to be a staple in high schools, giving young people real-world mechanical skills. But that’s been gutted, traded for the idea that a four-year degree is the only path to success. As a result, we’ve created a generation of drivers who can sync their phone to their infotainment system but can’t tell a serpentine belt from a timing chain—and a generation of cars that are smarter than their owners but more fragile than ever.

 

[Stan H]

Hi - I purchased a 2024 Mojave X in October, 2024. Over the winter I used the 4x4 a handful of times, and each time the vehicle was put in 4-wheel drive (4H btw) there was an audible, rhythmic knocking sound coming from the front end. You could hear it in the cab up until ~25 mph or so, then road noise would mask it. I didn't think too much of it, but figured I should get it checked out @ the dealer.

Fast forward to end of March this year, I took it in for initial diagnosis and they said the "entire 4x4 assembly" would have to be rebuilt and they needed to order parts. Parts came in and I dropped it off on 4/17. They replaced what they replaced (I never got an itemized list) but the technician wasn't satisfied with the fix as there was still a noise when 4x4 was engaged and "using a stethoscope." On 4/21 they gave me a loaner to drive and my truck is still sitting at the dealer waiting on more parts, which are on order with a 2-3 week delivery estimate.

As a side-note, my BSM indicators on the mirrors illuminate unevenly, as in the triangle does not light fully. The passenger side is way worse than the drivers side - about 2/3 of the triangle is lit up. After pushing them pretty hard on it, they agreed to replace the passenger side mirror. I haven't seen the results of this yet since the truck is still at the dealer. Again, I had to push them on this for some reason, as they said the BSM system is functioning as it should. My push back was that I didn't say it didn't function, that my issue was with the light indicators themselves. One last item that is bugging me is a random clicky sound coming from the front dashboard area - I can't track it down. It's random and quite consistent over bumps and such. Just aggravating!

I say all of this to say, or to ask - has anyone else noticed a degrade in quality on their newer Gladiators? I should also mention that I owned a 2020 JTR and it was flawless aside from the steering knuckle TSB thing which the dealer took care of. I have to admit that my experience and comparison in quality from a 2020 to a 2024 has gone down.

PS: I have 4,500 miles on the X

Initial bugs

 

[Stan H]

Yeah, I'm not likely to use those free Jeep Wave services.

There is free Jeep Wave services

 

[GoHack]

Hi - I purchased a 2024 Mojave X in October, 2024. Over the winter I used the 4x4 a handful of times, and each time the vehicle was put in 4-wheel drive (4H btw) there was an audible, rhythmic knocking sound coming from the front end. You could hear it in the cab up until ~25 mph or so, then road noise would mask it. I didn't think too much of it, but figured I should get it checked out @ the dealer.

Fast forward to end of March this year, I took it in for initial diagnosis and they said the "entire 4x4 assembly" would have to be rebuilt and they needed to order parts. Parts came in and I dropped it off on 4/17. They replaced what they replaced (I never got an itemized list) but the technician wasn't satisfied with the fix as there was still a noise when 4x4 was engaged and "using a stethoscope." On 4/21 they gave me a loaner to drive and my truck is still sitting at the dealer waiting on more parts, which are on order with a 2-3 week delivery estimate.

As a side-note, my BSM indicators on the mirrors illuminate unevenly, as in the triangle does not light fully. The passenger side is way worse than the drivers side - about 2/3 of the triangle is lit up. After pushing them pretty hard on it, they agreed to replace the passenger side mirror. I haven't seen the results of this yet since the truck is still at the dealer. Again, I had to push them on this for some reason, as they said the BSM system is functioning as it should. My push back was that I didn't say it didn't function, that my issue was with the light indicators themselves. One last item that is bugging me is a random clicky sound coming from the front dashboard area - I can't track it down. It's random and quite consistent over bumps and such. Just aggravating!

I say all of this to say, or to ask - has anyone else noticed a degrade in quality on their newer Gladiators? I should also mention that I owned a 2020 JTR and it was flawless aside from the steering knuckle TSB thing which the dealer took care of. I have to admit that my experience and comparison in quality from a 2020 to a 2024 has gone down.

PS: I have 4,500 miles on the X

I bought a new 2024 Wrangler Rubicon, w/a manual transmission, on sale last summer. After just 1500 miles, I started hearing a grinding noise when I went from 4th to 3rd. I brought it in, and they confirmed it and it took over 2 months to get parts. Then when they pulled the transmission, they found the clutch had broken springs on it. I don't know if the core issue was related to the bad clutch or want. I asked if I could put an aftermarket clutch in instead, but they wouldn't allow it due to the warranty issue. So Jeep still appear to still have clutch issues.
Once fixed it appeared to be OK for two weeks, and I was happy w/it, then some error lights came on. I brought it in again, and it took another two weeks to diagnose and repair, which appeared to be some sensor on the clutch petal. It required tearing the whole dash out. Once I got it back, it worked OK, but I wasn't too happy about having the dashed pulled. Then I found some fasteners on the floor from the repair, which I wasn't too happy about.
I decided to get rid of the Wrangler, and went w/a new 2024 Gladiator Rubicon, which was then available on sale, where I got $15,000 off, and which I really wanted over the Wrangler, but w/an automatic this time, my very first one. I've always driven manuals up to that point. I considered a Ford Bronco Badlands, but they were too expensive, and w/no rebates or sales on them at the time, and so I stayed w/Jeep.

Jeep did give me a check for my Wrangler of $7000 for my troubles, which I put on my new Gladiator, but I still came out w/a loss of around $5000.

So far so good w/the Gladiator, w/no issues. I've had to learn how to drive an automatic, since I've always owned manuals. They are different in how you handle them, though I still miss having a manual. It has a date of manufacture of August/2024, so I don't know if I got a better batch than yours.

As for my getting a loaner, I had to wait two weeks until they had a chance to even look at my Wrangler, and determine if it was covered under warranty, and so I had to pay for a rental out of my pocket. Once they determined that it was covered, I was able to get a loaner, but still had to wait another week for an available one. In the end, Jeep reimbursed me for the rental I had to pay for.

 

[GoHack]

Oh how I miss that Jeep!

I have a friend who still owns a Scrambler, thought its been highly modified, suspension and axle wise.
He loves it.

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