| HornetJK |
Jun 5, 2019 09:22 AM |
Gladiator Disappointment
So I've been excited about the Gladiator since it was announced a couple years ago and gearing up to buy one.
My first disappointment is the price. I think all levels are 8 to 10 thousand above what they should be. Jeep could easily lower the cost by including some of the features that should be standard on basic models. I'm sorry the front metal bumper, bed liner, and LED lighting should be standard across the board.
My second disappointment is all the extra goodies they have been boasting about aren't even on any of the initial production vehicles that were released. For Ex. The front camera that cleans itself, the Bluetooth speaker and the biggest one of all a soft top/dual top. Its based on a Wrangler, I want to be able to take my top off with little effort during the summer to drive to the beach without having to remove the hardtop and figure out how to take it with me. In order to get any of these options you have to purchase one of the 4190 special first run editions for $65,000 or custom order and wait a couple months. One dealership I spoke with ordered a first run edition for a customer was their first gladiator customer. He found out he was waiting up to six months for his gladiator so he wound up purchasing a Rubicon.
Another issue with the soft top. Very few pictures have been released with the soft top folded back. Yes, it only folds back like a sun rider. They couldn't produce a top that folds all the way down below the head rest. I think this was a marketing issue. If they constantly showed the truck with a soft top just folded back on their commercials it wouldn't go over well. Sounds like the engineers missed the mark on this one. I'm hoping Best top produces a top to solve this problem.
My last issue is with all the Wranglers since 2010. Other than the red leather seats produced for the Anvil JK's they have only produce black and tan interiors. I'm sorry lets put an entirely black interior in a convertible vehicle. We should let the person making that decision sit on a black leather seat in the middle of summer in shorts. As for the tan I'm just not a fan. How about a gray interior like I had in my 2007 JK.
I still love the idea of the Gladiator and yes I will be stupid enough to get one however the price is going to have to come down a bit and I want to see some of the special features in person(like the front camera) before I pull the trigger. I guess Ill let them work some kinks out over the next year or two.
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