Tom C
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
So a little background first. We live in a rural area. If the roads get bad due to ice, etc., no one will come out and de-ice or clear the roads. We aren't the typical Jeep demographic, we wanted a mid-sized truck with 4wd, and the Gladiator seemed to be a good fit (hated the Chevy Colorado, Toyota Tacoma was Okay).
We test drove several JTs from December 2022 through March 2023. We liked the feel, liked the retro Jeep styling, and my wife really seemed to like driving it and we needed a replacement vehicle for her 2009 CTS. On March 31st 2023 we placed our order for a 2023 Gladiator Overland Diesel.
Fast forward to August, and because of the recall, it hadn't been build, and didn't know if it ever would. We gave up, I traded in my 2014 Camaro SS for a 2023 Silverado 1500 High Country. But that left my wife still driving her almost 15 year old car, so we kept looking for an alternative for her.
We went and drove several vehicles. She didn't really like the Bronco, so we were going to go with a 2024 Wrangler Sahara, but, when we were going to order, only the 6 cylinder was available because of constraints on the 4 cylinder turbo. Even though we didn't place the order, the dealership went ahead and ordered the Wrangler under our name (I wasn't too happy when I received the email from Jeep saying our order was accepted, and let the dealership know).
Then the strike happened, BUT, a couple of weeks into the strike, the stop sale was lifted on the diesels. I started combing through dealer inventory looking at diesel Wranglers. I found a few, but most were lifted Rubicons, and my wife didn't want one that high. She then asked, "Has the one we ordered been built?", which it wasn't (and still is in D1 Scheduled status). I started searching for Diesel Gladiators and found a High Altitude she liked in San Antonio. After contacting the dealership, they reserved it for me, and also told me that they had the parts to fix the recall. After waiting an additional week for a new fuel line (single use item apparently), we drove down and made the purchase. 18.28% below sticker price.
The 4+ hour drive home from San Antonio, it seemed to handle pretty well, especially when it rained the majority of the way home against a 25-35mph headwind. Still got an impressive 25mpg. It was a little loud, but as expected in the rain and wind. The built in Navigation does Okay, BUT, it likes to find you short cuts on roads that you'd not normally drive, and some of them not paved, or even gravel. We ended up driving through a nature preserve, which I'm not even sure we were supposed to drive in, but I didn't turn around because I didn't trust the Navigation at this point and I didn't want to get lost. The second shortcut that wasn't that far from our home, was on an unpaved county road which had segments of road missing. We're talking not even gravel and the ruts were pretty deep. I didn't know I was going to have to use the 4wd on the very first day of ownership, but it worked pretty well.
Our first full weekend, we drove it everywhere. Drove it to Canton, TX, 2 1/2 hours each way. It drove and handled really well. I'm glad we went with the High Altitude with it being a bit lower in height, and having all season radials instead of off road tires. It was a bit loud, especially on roads that aren't paved well. I let my wife drive the majority of the trip. Averaged ~28mpg for the trip. She cranked the tunes and had a big grin on her face the whole day. Needless to say, she really likes her new "Gladis" as she calls it.
I'd almost consider it a luxury JT, but there will be a couple of items that I'll try upgrading to get it there. I'll be adding sound deadener on the floors, firewall, and most likely inside of the doors. It came with the the hardtop headliner, but I'll probably replace it with sound deadner and the CoverKing headliner kit. I will also replace the rocksliders with the Amp Research PowerStep XL running boards.
Just in case someone on this forum might want it, I'm still going to watch the status of the JT Overland Diesel we ordered, and I'll post here if it ever gets built.
We test drove several JTs from December 2022 through March 2023. We liked the feel, liked the retro Jeep styling, and my wife really seemed to like driving it and we needed a replacement vehicle for her 2009 CTS. On March 31st 2023 we placed our order for a 2023 Gladiator Overland Diesel.
Fast forward to August, and because of the recall, it hadn't been build, and didn't know if it ever would. We gave up, I traded in my 2014 Camaro SS for a 2023 Silverado 1500 High Country. But that left my wife still driving her almost 15 year old car, so we kept looking for an alternative for her.
We went and drove several vehicles. She didn't really like the Bronco, so we were going to go with a 2024 Wrangler Sahara, but, when we were going to order, only the 6 cylinder was available because of constraints on the 4 cylinder turbo. Even though we didn't place the order, the dealership went ahead and ordered the Wrangler under our name (I wasn't too happy when I received the email from Jeep saying our order was accepted, and let the dealership know).
Then the strike happened, BUT, a couple of weeks into the strike, the stop sale was lifted on the diesels. I started combing through dealer inventory looking at diesel Wranglers. I found a few, but most were lifted Rubicons, and my wife didn't want one that high. She then asked, "Has the one we ordered been built?", which it wasn't (and still is in D1 Scheduled status). I started searching for Diesel Gladiators and found a High Altitude she liked in San Antonio. After contacting the dealership, they reserved it for me, and also told me that they had the parts to fix the recall. After waiting an additional week for a new fuel line (single use item apparently), we drove down and made the purchase. 18.28% below sticker price.
The 4+ hour drive home from San Antonio, it seemed to handle pretty well, especially when it rained the majority of the way home against a 25-35mph headwind. Still got an impressive 25mpg. It was a little loud, but as expected in the rain and wind. The built in Navigation does Okay, BUT, it likes to find you short cuts on roads that you'd not normally drive, and some of them not paved, or even gravel. We ended up driving through a nature preserve, which I'm not even sure we were supposed to drive in, but I didn't turn around because I didn't trust the Navigation at this point and I didn't want to get lost. The second shortcut that wasn't that far from our home, was on an unpaved county road which had segments of road missing. We're talking not even gravel and the ruts were pretty deep. I didn't know I was going to have to use the 4wd on the very first day of ownership, but it worked pretty well.
Our first full weekend, we drove it everywhere. Drove it to Canton, TX, 2 1/2 hours each way. It drove and handled really well. I'm glad we went with the High Altitude with it being a bit lower in height, and having all season radials instead of off road tires. It was a bit loud, especially on roads that aren't paved well. I let my wife drive the majority of the trip. Averaged ~28mpg for the trip. She cranked the tunes and had a big grin on her face the whole day. Needless to say, she really likes her new "Gladis" as she calls it.
I'd almost consider it a luxury JT, but there will be a couple of items that I'll try upgrading to get it there. I'll be adding sound deadener on the floors, firewall, and most likely inside of the doors. It came with the the hardtop headliner, but I'll probably replace it with sound deadner and the CoverKing headliner kit. I will also replace the rocksliders with the Amp Research PowerStep XL running boards.
Just in case someone on this forum might want it, I'm still going to watch the status of the JT Overland Diesel we ordered, and I'll post here if it ever gets built.
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