I love the idea of the Gladiator but I agree that the dependability will probably be lacking. I had a JK that needed axle seals every second oil change and a new rad at 60,000 km. It was replaced with an F150 ecoboost that has been absolutely trouble free over twice the mileage. I'm waiting on the Bronco.
Jeep prices are obnoxious. My parents have a 97 TJ and they absolutely love it. The frame was going though. Friend of mine suggested a place that fixes specifically Jeep frames. Was something like $3,000. Totally went through it. Even coated the frame, replaced the exhaust, and the front brakes. Underneath is brand freaking new. Cheaper then a new Jeep for sure. There's another 22 years under the Jeep easy. Has the 4.0 so that's a solid motor. They'll have that thing for the rest of their lives probably. As for truck prices, you can find deals. My 2015 F250 XLT 4x4 CCLB with a 6.2 I bought for the same price as a medium equipped F150. Sticker prices are bullshit. Absolute bullshit. I had people telling me I paid $75,000 for my truck. Freaking morons. I had a five year loan. Paid it off in three. Big deal. Its the truck I wanted. I've had it since new and I know it hasn't been beat on.
I have 2 friends that have paid north of 70 grand for there pickups and 1 of those guys doesn't even need a truck. There money so if it makes them happy then more power to them, I just don't understand how they afford it. Hell they are probably losing 10 grand a year in depreciation if not more. Add the payment and insurance and that pickup is costing around 25 grand a year at least. NO NO NO !
Not sure how used truck prices look now, but when I was shopping, a used 3/4T pickup was about $4,000 less than a new truck. I mean, for an extra $4,000 why not. Registering the first two years sucked, yes. Insurance was also high the first two years, now its leveled out. Now, did they tell you they paid $70k+ for the trucks? Or are you just thinking that's what they paid? There is a nice feeling of not having to bang out balljoints on the dirt driveway in the winter and worried about breaking down on a cross country roadtrip. To us it was worth it.
Actually those 2 trucks were a lot closer to 80 than 70, 1 of the guys told me what he paid. It wasn't that long ago that a pickup was cheaper than a nice car. They weren't as fancy as they are now, more for work but still. The majority of the time, that fancy 4 door diesel pickup is a status symbol. Hey, your money, your business, I'm just saying. I've owned several Peterbilts over the years, maybe that's why I think paying north of 70 for a pickup is nuts. Back to the Gladiater, make it plain jane for around 30 and we'll talk.
This is my WAG, so take it with a grain of salt. These aren't for Jeep enthusiasts but these are here to get a bigger chunk of the truck market for Fiat/Chrysler. The truck market is ruled by Ford and Chevy who increased their sales last year while Ram's sales went down. Dodge doesn't have a midsize yet either, while GM has the Colorado and Ford just brought back the Ranger. This fills that gap until the Dakota comes back out, but at a premium. It almost seems like the Rubicon version competes with the Raptor and ZR2 Bighorn, because while Ram does have the Power Wagon, it is sold in what appears to be small numbers. As for it being 4 door, well, four door trucks sell. Even the Wranglers being sold are almost all 4 door now and they've gotten huge. Besides all that, this truck and the new Dakota will be sharing a platform. That's likely the reason why we get the Gladiator at all. Gladiator shares 90% of it body with a Wrangler, even the rear doors keep the angle for a wheel wheel that doesn't exist on the Gladiator. Modifying the Wrangler body to a gladiator Body is trivial compared to designing and building a new Dakota body, so we get the gladiator before the Dakota. Interestingly enough, it appears to have been called the Scrambler up until late last year. Not sure why it changed.
Must be fully loaded then. Diesel does add $8,000 right off the bat too. I only ask because I had people throwing numbers at me telling me what I paid. I good a chuckle at the $75k one. But yea, back to the Gladiator. Isn't this thing just the Jeep Brute that aftermarket company had for awhile?
I like that has 4 doors. As far as a lot of the comments about expected reliability being poor. I disagree. I have a 2 door jk wrangler and I do the maintenance and modifications to a lot of wranglers. They are really dependable and easy to work on. Now the jeep compasses and patriots are garbage. You couldn't give me one.
I think you were missing my point. The Comanche was based on the XJ Cherokee that had a unibody. The Ridgeline has always been unibody. I wasn't saying that a Wrangler-based truck wasn't a real truck. I wasn't even saying that the Grand Cherokee was an ideal base to build a full-size pickup from. I was saying that "Gladiator" is a more appropriate name for a FULL-SIZE pickup. A smaller truck based on a convertible Jeep would have been more-appropriately named "Scrambler", or something entirely new.
OK, I get it. But they are using the biggest platform they have, and using the GC would be a step down. To build an "authentic" Gladiator or J2000, they would need a whole new chassis(Not that that's a bad thing). I'm holding out for the 2 door version myself, to get it back down to Wrangler Unlimited length.
No, they have one in the Ram. They won't build a bigger truck. Why would they compete with their own full-size truck brand?
Those are identical trucks. There is little difference in cost to have two identical product lines with different names. Two completely different body styles, different story. Beyond that, the reasoning behind that Marque existing is more complicated than GMC and Chevy both wanting to build a truck.
Looks great, but I want 2 wheel drive that sits lower, for easier loading into a 7’ bed. Single cab would be fine too.
You can easily build a $50k 4 door Wrangler Rubicon on the Jeep site, what do you think something like that (admittedly cool looking) black truck above will cost? I say $55k easy. Maybe $58k fully loaded. Plus the inevitable mark ups when they first come out? I don't think so. If I want a Jeep I'll get an old TJ that I won't feel bad about thrashing.