Jeep Gladiator - happy owners? seeing scary stuff in the repair forums

[Wild thang]

26 months, 36,000 miles. Had a trans cooler leak around 30,000 miles. Fixed under warranty other than that no issues. Great truck!

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[P.Lo]

4 years old this October, 65K
Water pump bearing....... and a new set of tires!
Love this truck....... JEEP!!!

 

[coalcracker]

I know this is an old thread, but just in case it helps anyone:

Bought my 2021 JTR in January 2023. 6MT. Had 13,500 miles or so on it, now has about 20,000 miles on it. Previous owner installed a 4” Readylift and 40” tires, but didn’t really beef up any of the other steering components And it had death wobble. I wanted to take it in a different direction anyway, got a good deal on it when prices were elevated (still paid less than what I see comparable JTs listed for today), and fixed the issue. I know it’s weird to REDUCE the tire size, but I went down to 37s, did a different lift even though probably unnecessary but I wanted to have known components, RCVs on the recommendation of a local shop, new ball joints, and some other things. At the time I wasn’t sure if I was being crazy by buying someone else’s project gone wrong, but it all worked out and I love the JT way more than I even thought I would.

No issues other than what I mentioned above and obviously that’s not the fault of Jeep/Stellantis, as someone else modified it.

It’s a manual transmission, so yeah it has the open recall on the clutch. However, I haven’t had any issues with the clutch since I’ve owned the JT, although I agree it feels very soft and car-like.

ESS works on it, but it’s intermittent. I‘m not denying that some people have had trouble with it, but there are a number of conditions that need to be met for ESS to work. So for example on a hot day if I’m running the air conditioning, ESS generally doesn’t work because I’m running the AC (if you look through the menus on the dashboard, it’ll usually tell you something along the lines of ‘ESS not active because of climate control’ or whatever). Also it usually doesn’t engage on shorter trips but will on longer trips once all of those conditions are met (vehicle is warm enough, battery is charged, etc etc etc). I don’t LOOOOVE ESS but I wonder sometimes if people get confused about how that works and think something is broken when it’s really not.

Mine is just one experience out a lot of them on this thread but I’m super happy with my JTR.

 

[Eric Kern]

90k on my JTRLE, short of some small peripheral items/accessory fixes, things been flawless

 

[Casique]

2021 JTHA with 8K no issues, or visits to the dealer. Most reliable vehicle I ever had...

 

[ShadowsPapa]

My 21 JTR @74k kms (46k miles)
2 engines, 3 power steering pumps, truck is now in getting the 4th transmission.

My loaner 2022 Gladiator Sport, 8 speed auto I am driving now with 6k kms has the same, but faint whine in 1st and 2nd gear and a front bearing howl between 68-72 km/hour.

It has been one hell of of a ride…

Too much maintenance? LOL. I've never seen anyone have such "bad luck" with any make or model vehicle.

I do the regular maintenance, don't sweat trying to do much more than the book outlines, use their recommended stuff and have to say - I've never ever had any engine or transmission failure in anything that wasn't old or high miles with 2 exceptions - Stratus head issue waaay back in the 90s and current 4xe transmission leak issues FCA hasn't resolved (that's a ZF issue as the 4xe transmissions are made in Germany).
Hope I don't hex or jinx myself here, but other than that Stratus head and 4xe leak, I've never had an engine issue on a car that wasn't already 30+ years old - and that one had 160,000 miles on it and had been abused as a child. The PO likely weighed 500 pounds and never did anything for maintenance, even the driver's seat frame was busted into 5 pieces and 3 of the springs under the car were broken.
The other engine - well, it was a high compression engine from 1970 running today's fuel and we later determined, 40 years later, it was the piston design that was the trouble. Still - 40 years ain't bad. It was a one year only 390 with modified pistons and deck height prepping for the following year's release of the 401. The piston top was too thin over the top ring due to the increased valve clearance cuts. ANY detonation meant destruction.

Otherwise, anything we've bought new has had no engine or driveline issues (the Stratus had known head issues and was in twice - the first repair went fine when the warranty company FINALLY approved repair, the second time they balked and we got screwed. Traded it for a Jeep and never looked back.)

Two Gladiators - both just fine. The weird hot start misfire was quickly resolved by dealership in the first visit. The tech was one of those who didn't give up. And it was only under certain very specific conditions - and it wasn't an engine issue, it was the PCM not paying attention in class and learning what it was being taught. They slapped it, it learned and we moved on.

So for example on a hot day if I’m running the air conditioning, ESS generally doesn’t work because I’m running the AC (if you look through the menus on the dashboard, it’ll usually tell you something along the lines of ‘ESS not active because of climate control’ or whatever).

Yes - auto stop/start not ready cabin temperature or words to that effect.
I'm one to watch the gauges, keep an eye on things, and after some longer trips I've noticed that even after two full minutes at a stop light, the voltage has stayed at 12.4, indicating batteries are charged and the capacity is still quite good.

 

[Bluefalcon]

4,150 miles and only a wonky speaker.

I have one of those... passenger side sound bar

 

[Stan H]

My 21 JTR @74k kms (46k miles)
2 engines, 3 power steering pumps, truck is now in getting the 4th transmission.

My loaner 2022 Gladiator Sport, 8 speed auto I am driving now with 6k kms has the same, but faint whine in 1st and 2nd gear and a front bearing howl between 68-72 km/hour.

It has been one hell of of a ride…

Drive it till the wheels fall off !!

 

[Maximus Gladius]

Drive it till the wheels fall off !!

I keep checking that they’re torqued just right…. They will fall off

 

[Gvsukids]

2021 JTHA with 8K no issues, or visits to the dealer. Most reliable vehicle I ever had...

Only 8000 in 2 years?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Drive it till the wheels fall off !!

With some shops' work, that won't take long.

 

[Wildtoad]

Only 8000 in 2 years?

I bought a twice owned Gladiator this past June with just over 10k miles. So far I’ve put on just over 2k.

 

[Casique]

Only 8000 in 2 years?

I commute to the Pentagon a total of 6 miles a day, usually three days a week. 2.5 years and actually 7.7K miles.

 

[Klicht87]

2022 with 22K miles - zero issues

 

[Hockeypilot44]

I got my 2020 in Feb of 2020. Almost 70,000 miles. Runs great other than the break squeak after sitting for awhile. I live in Florida so it’s always hot out. I can live with the squeal. Not worth the aggravation.

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