What's the Appeal??

[DirtyD]

I traded in my 2015 Ram 1500 Laramie on my Sport S. I recently sold my RV, so didn't need to tow 7k+ anymore, but I still needed a truck. My Ram had 100k on the odometer an another 2 years to pay, taking into consideration that I had zero warranty coverage left and the Hemis of that vintage have the propensity of eating lifters at around 130-150k it was time for something new. I always wanted a Jeep, I missed my old SFA 99 Ram and didn't NEED a full-size truck. The Jeep brand has an aftermarket and owner support group similar to Harley. Parts are EVERYWHERE and so much cheaper than equivalent mods on a full-size truck. Did I mention MPG??? So far my daughter (20 years old) loves the Jeep, my son (16) and wife miss my 1500. My son misses it because he is a 16 year old who loved the "redneck" mobile with the big AT tires, v8 rumble and ranch bumpers, my wife misses it because it was the family road trip vehicle and we will now be using her Lincoln. Not going to lie, every now and then I miss the shoulder room and some of the luxury items that came with the Laramie trim package I had in my 1500, but absolutely love the simplicity and ruggedness of my JT. I can take this thing anywhere I need to go and then some. I am also willing to bet the resale is higher than my truck in another 4 years....

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[Valhrue]

I traded in my 2016 Power Wagon to get my Gladiator. I traded a Wrangler to get the Power Wagon because the Wrangler wouldn't pull the camper I wanted. The Power Wagon was wider than I liked for trails. It got lots of pinstripes. It was too heavy to play in deep mud. As soon as I saw the towing capacity of the Gladiator, I knew I was going to get to do some proper jeeping again. I just had to wait on a decent color. Black, white, red and gray are not acceptable colors for me. So, I went Punk'n.

 

[Gobi Wan K]

I traded in my 2016 Power Wagon to get my Gladiator. I traded a Wrangler to get the Power Wagon because the Wrangler wouldn't pull the camper I wanted. The Power Wagon was wider than I liked for trails. It got lots of pinstripes. It was too heavy to play in deep mud. As soon as I saw the towing capacity of the Gladiator, I knew I was going to get to do some proper jeeping again. I just had to wait on a decent color. Black, white, red and gray are not acceptable colors for me. So, I went Punk'n.

I will be trading my 2013 Power Wagon on my JT. I made a deal with myself that if I didn't use my boat this spring I would sell it and get the Gladiator. Well, I sold it and am waiting on my Gobi. I really love the Power Wagon. The nicest truck I have ever owned. But it is big. It gets like 11.5 mpg. And at least 90% of the time it is only hauling me. I have been out of the Jeep game for a while. I feel like I am ready to get back in. And the Gladiator will be much easier to park at the airport.

 

[5JeepsAz]

... hold out the keys, "here, take a drive, lemme know what you think?" ...

 

[darksidedesign]

Big truck guys have a need to pull their hobbies. Jeep guys drive their hobbies.

This almost brought me to tears! You have hit the nail on the head! I think I want a T-shirt that says this.

 

[surge101]

Glad I found this thread...

So, my car buying history has been mostly small performance cars that I usually end up modifying a good amount. My friends were pretty surprised when I said I was looking at the Gladiator. As much as I love the driving experience in those cars, I started to really want the functionality of a truck. I do a lot of things that are a bit difficult to transport with a small sports car; fishing, biking, etc. I wanted to get a truck so I could haul my fishing gear, mountain bike, motorcycles, etc. It also opens up the ability for me to buy a kayak or even a small boat if I want. I really destroyed the inside of my cars transporting this type of stuff.

However, the thing that really keeps me from a truck is 1. I don't really want to drive a big sluggish vehicle 2. I find them boring. The one truck that always had appeal to me was the Raptor because of the off-road capability. My current car was going to get old soon and I wanted to get some value out of it, so I've been leaning towards getting a Tacoma TRD Off-Road as I couldn't really justify the price tag on the TRD Pro. I then learned about the Gladiator. I always said I would love to have a Jeep, and now that there's a Jeep pickup, this seemed to be perfect. I will have the utility to haul all my stuff and while I won't be modding a performance car anymore, I can dive into the off-road side of things and have a whole new modification hobby. The Gladiator allowed me to get a truck and not have it be boring.

 

[Rocksalt]

What's the appeal??? If you must ask then you will never know

 

[Rickv100De]

Owning a Dodge M37 and a old Land Rover the Gladiator comes closest to them with the modern safety and conviences.

 

[txbillwright]

I traded my Ram in on the Gladiator because I like the lower bed, the towing is enough for me and on our ranch it will be fun to take people around with the doors and roof off.

 

[primethios]

I traded my Ram in on the Gladiator because I like the lower bed, the towing is enough for me and on our ranch it will be fun to take people around with the doors and roof off.

Originally I thought I wasn't going to like the shallow bed but it has grown on me quite a bit since I can reach in without climbing in the bed. I realized that other than hauling "loose" product like dirt, mulch, etc it isn't much of a difference in capacity. Yes it will affect me some with firewood but it sure handles more of everything than my 2 door JK could and that was the main reason for the purchase. The few hundred dollar costco trip today wouldn't have fit in the JK that is for sure (well I probably could have by playing tetris but it would have not been fun).

 

[KMal618]

So I was approached by a coworker today who initially asked the standard question, "how do you like your Gladiator?" Being quite used to this by now, my canned response is, "I like it, so far, so good". He then mentioned that he owns a RAM diesel and was at the dealer for service when they tried to sell him on a Gladiator. He laughed at them because he needs to tow big loads, like a 5th wheel and other, giant, manly objects well in excess of even the 'Max Tow' rating of 7600pds. He was amazed at how expensive the gladiators are (they had what must've been a loaded Rubicon for $60K). Then as politely as he could muster, "If you don't mind my asking, what is the appeal of the Gladiator? Is it just the look?"

I thought this was actually a fair question, particularly coming from a "big towing" pick up guy. Even though most reviews on the gladiator try to compare it to other, midsize pick-ups, it's really possible to get a full size truck fairly well optioned, for what an Overland or Rubicon would cost. I could somewhat understand my co-workers confusion; Looking purely from a pick-up perspective, the Gladiator doesn't really have a good value proposition.

Of course, as we all know; it starts to make a lot more sense when the "Jeep Factor" is considered. For Gladiator buyers; standard pick ups are very useful and capable at many things, but they're maybe just a bit too "boring". In my view, we're mostly paying a premium for one thing; the small pick up bed is attached to a Wrangler! No other pick up has removable doors & roof, access to the Jeep Community, and Solid Axle articulation (excepting some older trucks).

I know I'm preaching to the choir in the last paragraph, but has anyone else had similar questions from "John Q Public"? If so, how have you responded?

“It’s a Jeep thing. You wouldn’t understand”

My husband and I both had JKs and we really needed a truck to tow our camper and being home owners, there’s always something we need to buy for the house. Neither one of us wanted to part with our Wrangler. The Gladiator is perfect for us! Best of both worlds!

 

[Wholand]

Big truck guys have a need to pull their hobbies. Jeep guys drive their hobbies.

Perfect, I'm using that line

 

[JoseQ_80]

I have owned more motorcycles than Cars. I commute on them. So my vehicle needs were always related to motorcycles in the sense I needed something that could carry motorcycles without a trailer if possible. So I have only owned pickup trucks, with one exception:

A 1992 Mazda Miata. I had a lot of fun with that car, especially restoring it, but as time went on, I drove it less, because when the weather was nice, I was on the bikes.

Other than the Miata I have owned four trucks: 1. A auto 4 cylinder 2wd 2 door Nissan before they were named Frontiers 2. A manual V6 2wd 2 door Tacoma. 3. A Silverado 1500 2wd 2 dr regular cab 8 foot box in WT Trim (Vinyl seats & floor, roll up windows).

So next I wanted a 4WD 4 door convertible pick up truck that is not so tall that I can still carry motorcycles in the bed, and the Gladiator was released.

I waited a year, lurked on these forums just absorbing as much as I could, and after Jeep updated the steering box I pulled the trigger last month and picked it up last Saturday.

2021 80th anniversary edition.

My "build" will be The Best of Both Worlds, inspired by the VH song.

So first mod - Sunrider

 

[FoxForce4]

I came out of 20 years of Audis, which were my commuters when I had to bomb down the interstate every day twice a day. With COVID even after vaccines and such I will not be making that drive as often.

Many of my colleagues are set up as I was- a nice sedan to deal almost exclusively with commuting and a family truckster of some sort. We didn’t *want* a good commuter car... we *needed* one. Now we need it less, and we can own something a little less commuter focused.

I can tell you this- almost all of the folks I talk to in situations similar to mine are finally getting around to getting a vehicle “for them” to replace their commuter. The dudes are to a man looking at mid and full pickups. It’s what we always wanted, really, but couldn’t justify.

So why the JT? It’s cool as hell, the doors and roof come off, it can go all sorts of weird places, and it can haul my toys and my chores. Better question is why the hell not? It covers a ton of ground.

 

[SuburbanGP88]

Number one appeal factor is that it's a Jeep. What else do you need?

Compared to the other trucks, this is so much more fun. Other trucks are just trucks. This one lets you live the Jeep life. Customize it all you want. Take the top and doors off. Have a full community and aftermarket to support every whim you want to indulge.

You can't get this with any other truck the market. When you get a Jeep, you get a lifestyle along with it.

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