Test drove the Gladiator in the San Diego Market

[Rover_boy]

How must do you estimate the licensing and taxes will hit you for, when you register in CA? It sounds like you made a smart move.

$1200 + need to bring the car and DMV form to the nearest police station for visual inspection for any vehicles purchased outside of state.

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[kayakmike]

I missed your post. We probably drove the same Gladiator. That's about a 900 mile drive for you.

Ramona? <40 miles

 

[sandbaja]

Ramona? <40 miles

Nampa ID to SD. Mentally working out the cost. 3 tanks of gas, airfare 1 way, 1 overnight hotel, food etc. I've never been to ID and it might be a good excursion.

 

[sandbaja]

$1200 + need to bring the car and DMV form to the nearest police station for visual inspection for any vehicles purchased outside of state.

Good info. Thanks.

 

[kayakmike]

Nampa ID to SD. Mentally working out the cost. 3 tanks of gas, airfare 1 way, 1 overnight hotel, food etc. I've never been to ID and it might be a good excursion.

Ah.

For 5% under invoice/11% under MSRP, on my LE that’s a lot of gas. Plus taking it to our OR house after we pick it up to register it there.

 

[2020 SCRAMBLER]

How must do you estimate the licensing and taxes will hit you for, when you register in CA? It sounds like you made a smart move.

Thankfully I live just outside L.A. county so that helps some with lower taxes. I’ll be at ~$3.3K for CA + county sales tax which is rape and pillage any way you look it. Thought long and hard over registering in MT...but this will be my daily driver.

Yeah it’s a few tanks of gas...and three plane tickets (hoping the timing works so I can take my 11 & 6 year old sons on the trip). This truck is all about making memories with my sons.

 

[Rover_boy]

Thankfully I live just outside L.A. county so that helps some with lower taxes. I’ll be at ~$3.3K for CA + county sales tax which is rape and pillage any way you look it. Thought long and hard over registering in MT...but this will be my daily driver.

Yeah it’s a few tanks of gas...and three plane tickets (hoping the timing works so I can take my 11 & 6 year old sons on the trip). This truck is all about making memories with my sons.

Amen. And that savings from the car will do just that!

 

[sandbaja]

Thankfully I live just outside L.A. county so that helps some with lower taxes. I’ll be at ~$3.3K for CA + county sales tax which is rape and pillage any way you look it. Thought long and hard over registering in MT...but this will be my daily driver.

Yeah it’s a few tanks of gas...and three plane tickets (hoping the timing works so I can take my 11 & 6 year old sons on the trip). This truck is all about making memories with my sons.

Completely understand. My 2 sons now 19 and 21 grew up in jeeps travelling on and off road. Ouch! Taxes are insane in CA. Rover_boy says $1200. I wonder what the $2100 difference is. It cant be just local taxes.

 

[kayakmike]

Completely understand. My 2 sons now 19 and 21 grew up in jeeps travelling on and off road. Ouch! Taxes are insane in CA. Rover_boy says $1200. I wonder what the $2100 difference is. It cant be just local taxes.

Do the math. When Kent first drew up my contract using my San Diego address, sales tax was $4321.40 (7.75%). Registration fees are on top of that.

You can see all of the fees (taxes & reg) for each state here: https://www.factorywarrantylist.com/car-tax-by-state.html

From this thread: https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/out-of-state-taxes-and-registration.15876/

CA registration when we purchased my wife's XC60 last year was ~$560 on a similarly priced vehicle.

 

[Sorbs]

How must do you estimate the licensing and taxes will hit you for, when you register in CA? It sounds like you made a smart move.

You pay the tax when you pick it up at delivery. Just like you would buying in Cali. They send the paperwork to the Cali DMV just like you bought it in Orange CO. vs. SD County. Save thousands, get it exactly how you want it, be happy. SWA to Idaho is cheap and the ride home is priceless.

 

[sandbaja]

Do the math. When Kent first drew up my contract using my San Diego address, sales tax was $4321.40 (7.75%). Registration fees are on top of that.

You can see all of the fees (taxes & reg) for each state here: https://www.factorywarrantylist.com/car-tax-by-state.html

From this thread: https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/out-of-state-taxes-and-registration.15876/

CA registration when we purchased my wife's XC60 last year was ~$560 on a similarly priced vehicle.

This is why forums are great! I've never bought out of state and now I know. Thanks for the effort to put the detail and links together.

 

[sandbaja]

You pay the tax when you pick it up at delivery. Just like you would buying in Cali. They send the paperwork to the Cali DMV just like you bought it in Orange CO. vs. SD County. Save thousands, get it exactly how you want it, be happy. SWA to Idaho is cheap and the ride home is priceless.

Perfecto! Nice Jeep!

 

[kayakmike]

This is why forums are great! I've never bought out of state and now I know. Thanks for the effort to put the detail and links together.

There's pages upon pages of discussion about out of state purchases, logistics, fees, etc. in the ordering section of the forum. Most of the questions you are asking have been asked and answered time and time again.

 

[Rover_boy]

Completely understand. My 2 sons now 19 and 21 grew up in jeeps travelling on and off road. Ouch! Taxes are insane in CA. Rover_boy says $1200. I wonder what the $2100 difference is. It cant be just local taxes.

Sorry, the question was how much is registration for CA. I almost purchased a rubi from the east coast, their registration is about $1200 (I rounded up) on top of 9.5% LA tax. And $1600 shipping. I still ended up with MSRP out the door.

 

[JP1]

I'm curious to hear your impressions.

So, I stopped by San Diego Jeep this morning, was there when they opened at 1000. Another guy showed up and we looked like the Paparazzi pacing and taking pics.

The Good:
+ This dealership had multiple Gladiators. There were 3 out front, all Rubicon's, two black and a red.
+ Friendly staff, I talked to David KULLMAN, low pressure, seemed to have an idea on the Gladiators. no issue hopping right in the red one and going for a ride.
+ umm, look what was sitting right inside the door:

(@steffen707)
The Bad:
- MSRP + $2995 'Market Value Adjustment' ummm, no bueno…
The Sales Manager made it sound like he could overlook the $3k prison shower sodomy fee if I wanted to sign today.



The Gladiator Rubicon:
The pictures do not do justice to the red, it really popped. Beautiful color. The blacks were sharp also, I'm just not a fan of black as it is impossible to keep clean.

Here is the sticker on the Red one I drove:

Interior:
+ Very impressed with fit/finish, nice feel to almost everything, I fit inside perfectly (5'5", 180lbs), I would think a bigger dude would have issues as it'll probably be a tight fit. I really like all the tech toys. The Driver's seat was VERY comfortable, (well, for the 10 minutes I was in it).
- The mirrors are small, it has Blind-spot, but the mirrors look like they're an afterthought and pulled off a small Toyota. the 'insulation in the Freedom top was loose, couldn't they have spray adhesive the foam in?
Steering wheel felt really small.
Exterior:
+I'll say it again, very impressed with it in person. pics aren't fair to this truck. OEM Height was easy for me to climb in, but I am going to need to throw a grappling hook to pull myself in with a lift and 37s. I WILL NEED STEPS!!!

Driving Impression:
Very impressed with the road manners, seemed like a better ride than the JL Rubicons I test drove before. The tires on this one were set to 36 all around. Very impressed with the turning radius.
Steering: Ya, a little wandering on the highway, but nothing that I wasn't prepared for, fully manageable.
Power: So the best description I can come up with is OK. While merging with traffic, seems to accelerate fine. When watching the speedo, it accelerates fine. BUT there's just no 'seat of the pants' urgency to it. I'm sure I'll be looking into some type of solution down the road, especially after bigger tires.
Again, I am really overall impressed.

After driving, the other dude had them rolling out a Red Overland:

My Sales dude asked what color I liked, I said Gator, and got the puzzled look I was after. He googled it and went, 'ya, that's cool'
I said I knew it wouldn't be available right away and said I like the Billet. He replied one was pulled off the hauler last night, so we went looking for it in the rain:
(Queue the Angels singing):

now THAT'S HOTT!!!

one note, I was not impressed with the Tonneu cover. I'm really hoping it just needs an adjustment as it just wasn't sitting good on the bed. Sorry, I don't have a good pic to demonstrate what I saw, we were pretty wet by the time we found it.


LAST pic was a quick shot of the saddle interior on one of the Black Rubicons:

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