Tacoma vs. Gladiator

A buddy of mine and me were both going to get Gladiators. He got one but I changed my mind after remembering my last Jeep which was a 2005 Wrangler unlimited broke down constantly from day one. It was a fucking pile. In fact I named it the "Piledriver 2000". I sold it for around 15K after 13 years of ownership. It's insane how high the resale is on those. I actually sued Chrysler and won over it's leaking issues.

 

This is what jeep should've built.....

 

Jeep keeps trolling that they have all the necessary equipment to build a 2 door, but won’t because they hate us.

 

I though this was a decent list until I seen this:


Also find it hard to believe BMW would be "more reliable" than a Honda.

 

I agree. The Jeep just has heavier-duty everything. It's a Fiat and Fugly though...

 

Had to agree with everything he said...but him failing to mention price was a huge turn off for me.

He mentions factors like lockers and the Tacoma not having a front locker. You don't get ANY locker in the Gladiator until you get into eye-watery 53k+ price tags. Tack on the diesel, the "better" automatic transmission, etc. and you're at 60k.

I spent 32k on my Tacoma. For that 28k difference I can have a massively different truck. Even nowadays after inflation/etc a TRD-OR can be had for around 40k. That's 50% more expensive for a vehicle that is arguably built for a different crowd.

The Gladiator honestly is in a class of its own. I'd say it mainly compares to the Bronco but they have the Wrangler for that battle.

Edit: I should add that I really did want to consider the Gladiator but it was way out of my price range.

 

I’d put a Japanese Honda against a German car any day in terms of reliability, but Hondas these days are made in the US.

 

Both trucks were running Magnuson Superchargers. The Gladiator was otherwise stock for the engine, the Toyota had smaller pulleys, intake, fuel pump and made far more power than Magnuson designed. The Toyota did that for 5 years without issue. The Gladiator made it 8mos with the stock supercharger. Easy to point fingers at the supercharger of course, but it is from an OEM supplier grade company Magnuson, not some off niche brand way down the aftermarket rabbit hole. The Jeep had periodic engine tapping noises, Jeep said it was normal, turns out a few engine defects are associated with 3.6 tapping. The 3.6 has known rocker issues that cause metal shavings to be put into the oil supply and known oil pump failure issues. In the updated 3.6 Pentastar put into the Wrangler in 2018+, Jeep reduced oil capacity ~20% and lightweighted the oil pan to save 5lbs from the engine while having the engine make more power. Never did get a solid root cause analysis other than the rod clearly broke. If it was at the bearing it could have been an oiling issue. If mid-rod, then a manufacturing defect as they utilize forged rods that should easily take the base Magnuson power level. The truck was on a slight downhill grade at 60mph cruise on the highway at time of failure, virtually no load.

Since it was supercharged, Jeep wouldn't cover it under warranty (not surprised of course) but Jeep roadside requires you to take it to the dealer. They agreed to look at it, gave me a free rental while it was in the shop, several days later they got around to looking at it and said it wasn't covered and so I would be charged retail for my rental for the time I've had it.

The Jeep also had multiple battery failures in 18 months and annoying system faults that would take all traction and stability control systems offline when driving for extended periods that were never resolved and always seemed to occur going over the pass in sketchy snowy conditions when I was actually interested in those systems working. Had a TPMs sensor fail shortly after delivery as well, which was quickly swapped out under warranty.

I like the concept of the Gladiator, it is a cool looking truck. Execution though leaves some to be desired. The belly is really low with the long wheel base makes for terrible breakover angle. The truck really needs 37s to look proportional, it just ends up being really big and the space not well utilized whereas the Tacoma is packaged much better in size vs space for a multi-use daily driver/weekend warrior. There is very little storage space in the cab of the Gladiator, or even room to set something down like a phone. And on any vehicle quality and reliability charts, Toyota is always at the top and Jeep is always near the bottom.

There is no arguing that the Gladiator has superior off road capabilities, and friendlier to use for larger off-road builds. IMO the Tacoma makes a better daily driver and all round better multi-purpose truck while being higher quality and more reliable.

Of course this is just my experience, plenty run the Magnuson supercharger without issue. And of course if you keep it stock things should be covered under warranty (maybe) but I like to buy high quality machines, not warranties. I'd certainly not buy another modern Jeep product again. If interested in a Gladiator, you can check out my Gladiator build thread. I'd keep the engine stock to have a warranty, but there are lots of other useful parts/ideas in the thread for the platform:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/crashnburn80s-supercharged-gladiator-mojave-build.700918/

And for comparison, here is the supercharged 2nd Gen:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/sold-2015-supercharged-trd-or-pro-clone-for-sale.685662/

 

Favorite quote in the link posted

 

Yes, lol, I've been called out for that one a few times. It was just a lot more money in losses and a lot sooner than I anticipated.

 

You can’t fairly compare the supercharger second gen when it came as an option with a TRD tune, which showed Toyota at least knew the SC would play nice with that motor. Jeep, afaik, has never done that.

This would apply to any auto warranty. You pay to play, and unfortunately for you, you paid a lot more.

 

Certainly fair points. Magnuson designed both systems. Toyota didn't design the 4.0 to be boosted, but they did the ECU tuning for Magnuson on the 2nd Gen, though I also did operate it outside of the designed tune and power level. Jeep didn't offer a supercharger, it was also designed by Magnuson and they partnered with HP Tuners for the tuning. Magnuson stood behind it enough to warranty it, as long as a Magnuson certified shop did the install. I did my own.

 

Simply put...Tacomas look great. Gladiators are fugly.

That is all.

 

Jeep did put the hellcat motor into the wrangler. But only the JLU.

 

Especially stock vs stock.

Gladiator looks hideous without a 3” lift and 37”s, but then it’s just a lifted trail limo.

 

Yes, but Audi owners might be more likely to keep up with maintenance. Hence why the statistics might differ even if the tech is the same.

 

I'd have been a lot more interested in the Gladiator if it had been a two-door Unlimited with the back end extending further past the rear axles.

 

My wife's A6 3.0 supercharged is maintained to the "T" and is a smooth as glass rocketship. Such a fun car to drive. Zero issues in 7 years of ownership; it's flawless.

 

This holds as much water as me saying owners of cheaper cars might maintain them better because they can’t afford to easily replace them. The reality is that most people don’t maintain their own vehicles and fall behind on paying someone else to do it.

 

Most cars, when maintained, do. Only issue I’ve had with a VAG product is my Golf R’s discs and pads glazing at 12k miles, which apparently is a common problem due to inconsistent materials from their supplier.