2024 Jeep Gladiator

The 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 is the sole 2024 Gladiator engine at 285 hp; the 3.0-liter EcoDiesel was dropped for this model year, so there is no higher-output alternative anywhere in the range.

260 lb-ft is the lowest torque figure in the mid-size truck class and it peaks high at 4,400 rpm — a naturally aspirated deficit against the turbo fours in the Tacoma (317 lb-ft) and Canyon (430 lb-ft). Losing the 442 lb-ft EcoDiesel for 2024 removed the Gladiator's only torque-rich option.

Representative figure for the volume Sport S/Willys with the 850RE eight-speed: MotorTrend measured a gas Sport at 7.9 s, and heavier off-road trims on 33-inch tires land slower (2024 Mojave X at 8.2 s, Rubicons 8.1–8.7 s) while the lighter, road-tired Overland is quickest at 7.2 s.

The naturally aspirated Pentastar delivers smooth, linear, lag-free thrust — no turbo hesitation and no hybrid handoffs to manage — but it needs revs to do it (peak torque at 4,400 rpm) and reviewers note it feels overwhelmed with the bed or a trailer loaded. Solidly in the mid band: pleasant unloaded, strained at work.

The ZF-derived 850RE eight-speed is the good half of the story — adaptive shift control plus Electronic Range Select for manual gear holding, and owners and reviewers consistently describe smooth, predictable up- and downshifts. It gives back some ground for hunting among eight closely spaced ratios behind a torque-light NA V6, and the standard six-speed manual is the notably coarser of the two choices.

7,700 lbs is class-competitive for a mid-size truck and well clear of the Ridgeline's 5,000 lbs, but it takes a specific Sport build — the automatic with the 4.10 axle and the Max Tow package. Willys tops out at 6,000 lbs, Rubicon at 7,000, Mojave at 6,000, and any manual is capped at 4,000–4,500 lbs.

1,725 lbs is only reachable on the same Max Tow Sport build; the trims most buyers actually order sit far lower — Willys automatic at 950 lbs and Rubicon at 1,200 lbs — because the Wrangler-derived solid-axle chassis carries a lot of its own weight (4,640–5,031 lbs base).

Below the core-aids band: there is no factory integrated trailer brake controller (Mopar sells a dealer-installed knob for $299), no trailer backup or steering assist, no trailer-side or hitch-view camera array, and no trailer scales. What is there is the basics — Class IV hitch and 7-pin wiring with Max Tow, standard trailer sway control within the stability system, a rear back-up camera, and ERS gear holding in place of a dedicated tow/haul mode.

Top of the band and effectively unmatched in the segment: four-wheel drive is standard on every 2024 Gladiator — there is no 2WD version — and buyers choose among three transfer cases, all with a genuine low range. Command-Trac part-time 2.72:1 is standard, MP3022 Selec-Trac adds full-time 4WD, and Rock-Trac brings a 4.0:1 crawl ratio.

The Gladiator is the benchmark the rest of the class is measured against, and the hardware is factory rather than aftermarket: Rubicon gets Tru-Lok electronic locking differentials front and rear, a 4.0:1 Rock-Trac case and an electronic sway-bar disconnect, while Mojave adds FOX hydraulic jounce bumpers and reinforced control arms. Even the base Sport clears 10.0 inches with a 40.8-degree approach angle, and Mojave reaches 11.6 inches and 44.7 degrees.

Bottom band, and 2024 is the year it got worse: the 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V-6 was discontinued, leaving the 3.6-liter Pentastar as the only engine in the entire range. No turbo option, no hybrid, and no 4xe plug-in despite the Wrangler offering one on the same platform — the only choice a buyer makes is six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic.

19 MPG combined for the volume automatic — the price of a body-on-frame, solid-axle, standard-4WD truck with the aerodynamics of a Wrangler and a bed on the back. With the EcoDiesel gone for 2024 there is no thriftier configuration left in the lineup.

17 MPG city is mid-pack among gas mid-size trucks and the Gladiator's relatively better figure of the two cycles, helped by the eight-speed's short first gear and the Pentastar's stop-start; there is no hybrid assist to lift it further.

22 MPG highway is the weaker end of the Gladiator's EPA numbers relative to the class, and the reason is structural — a boxy Wrangler-derived body, a removable roof, tall all-terrain tires and full-time-capable 4WD hardware all cost drag and rolling resistance at cruise.

A large 22-gallon tank partly rescues the mediocre economy, but 418 miles still trails the mid-size trucks that pair similar tanks with better MPG. Real-world range drops meaningfully on 33-inch tires or with a trailer attached.

$3,250 a year at EPA's standard assumptions, and EPA further estimates the Gladiator costs about $5,250 more to fuel over five years than the average new vehicle. Running on regular rather than premium is what keeps the figure from being worse.

Top band with no caveats: Jeep specifies 87-octane regular unleaded for the Pentastar, so nothing about the fuel itself is costly or complicated — the Gladiator's energy expense comes entirely from how much it burns, not from what it has to burn.

NHTSA has never published a combined overall rating for the JT Gladiator — the 2024 record carries only a 3-star rollover result, with frontal and side left untested. The 4-star frontal rating published for the other years of this generation is used per the item's "latest tested year of this generation" allowance.

2024 is a genuine improvement year — moderate overlap front rose from Marginal to Good after Jeep added rear-belt pretensioners and load limiters, and the tough updated side test returns Good, the best rating available. But the driver-side small overlap front result stays Marginal, the passenger side has never been tested (so the rating is formally incomplete), and the Gladiator earns no Top Safety Pick.

On the volume Sport S trim, forward collision warning and adaptive cruise with full stop are standard for 2024 — a real gain — but blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-path remain optional (standard only on the new Mojave X and Rubicon X), rear park assist is optional, and lane keeping is not offered at any price. The base Sport gets neither FCW nor ACC.

IIHS rates pedestrian front crash prevention Poor for the sole reason that the system is not available on this model — there is no pedestrian detection at any trim, day or night. Full-speed forward collision warning with active braking is an extra-cost item rather than volume-trim standard equipment, and IIHS publishes no vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention result.

Blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-path detection is available across the range and standard on the two new X trims, but it is alert-only — no active steering or braking intervention — and Jeep documents no trailer-aware extension, a real gap on a truck rated to tow 7,700 lbs. Rear park sensors are likewise optional on the volume trim.

There is no lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist or lane centering on the 2024 Gladiator on any trim — NHTSA records the feature as unavailable and the manufacturer's own safety content list omits it entirely. Scored just above zero rather than at it because electronic roll mitigation and ESC provide some standard lateral-stability intervention.

Adaptive cruise control with full stop became standard on Sport S and above for 2024, which is a meaningful upgrade and covers the full speed range including bringing the truck to a halt. It is capped short of the upper band because with no lane centering available there is no combined highway-assist mode at all — the ACC works alone.

No hands-free highway driving system is offered on the 2024 Gladiator. Stellantis had no equivalent to BlueCruise or Super Cruise in the Jeep truck or Wrangler-platform lineup for this model year.

Every headlight configuration IIHS tested rates Marginal or Poor — there is no Good-rated option at any price. The volume Sport S trim ships with the halogen reflector setup, which is one of the two Poor-rated variants; even paying up for the LED projectors only reaches Marginal.

The upright greenhouse, thin A-pillars, low beltline and near-vertical windshield give genuinely excellent forward and side sightlines — among the best in the segment, and the flat hood corners make placing the truck easy off-road. Rearward is the weak side: a small, distant back window looking down the length of the bed, no surround-view camera offered, and rear park sensors optional on the volume trim.

IIHS rates the Gladiator's child-seat anchors Acceptable rather than Good — the crew cab's real rear doors and standard outboard LATCH positions make installation workable, but the anchors take some digging and the upright, short-legroom rear bench compromises rear-facing seats and makes three-across a squeeze.

Every 2024 Gladiator is a five-passenger four-door crew cab — Jeep has never offered a regular or extended cab on the JT, so there is no two-seat work-truck variant and no six-seat bench configuration.

The tall, upright JT body built around a removable roof gives 42.8 in of front headroom — near the top of the truck band and well clear of anything else in the mid-size class.

41.2 in sits barely above the bottom of the truck band — the Wrangler-derived cockpit is upright and short in the footwell, and tall drivers notice the pedal box before they notice anything else.

Rear headroom matches the front at 42.8 in because the removable hardtop runs flat over both rows — comfortably above the top of the truck band and the Gladiator's single strongest interior dimension.

38.3 in of rear legroom is mid-pack at best for a crew-cab mid-sizer and is the price of packaging a 5-ft bed onto a 137.3-in wheelbase; adults fit but the bench is upright and short on under-thigh support.

One bed, five feet long, no long-bed option anywhere in the range — the shortest cargo box in the mid-size truck class and the clearest structural compromise of hanging a bed on a Wrangler.

35.5 cu ft is near the bottom of the truck band; the box is usefully deep at 33.9 in and clears 44.8 in between the wheel houses, but there is simply not enough length to make up the volume.

The fold-up rear seat cushion hiding lockable under-seat bins, the washable interior with tub-floor drain plugs, the available Trail Rail bed system and the available 115V household outlet add up to genuinely thoughtful outdoor storage. What keeps it out of the top band is ordinary console and door bins and the absence of any in-bed trunk, frunk or gear-tunnel of the sort the Ridgeline and the EV trucks use to lead this item.

2024 is a real if partial improvement: 12-way power-adjustable front seats became available for the first time (standard with Nappa leather on the new Rubicon X and Mojave X), and reviewers found the front chairs supportive. The volume Sport S still gets manual seats with limited travel, and the flat, upright, short-cushioned rear bench is unchanged.

Solid front and rear axles under a body-on-frame chassis produce the busiest unladen ride in the mid-size class — the truck wiggles and jiggles over lumpy asphalt where a Colorado, Ranger or Tacoma stays settled. The 2024 refresh changed the fascia and the dashboard, not the suspension architecture.

A body engineered around a removable roof and removable doors cannot seal like a fixed cab, and the blocky shape gives wind plenty to catch — reviewers rate it comparatively noisy at highway speed even with the hardtop fitted, and all-terrain tires on Willys/Rubicon add road roar.

The Cold Weather Group bundles heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, remote start and automatic temperature control, the climate system itself is powerful and does feed rear vents, and 2024 adds heated 12-way power seats to the options list. But none of it is standard on the volume Sport S, there is no separate rear climate zone, and ventilated seats are not offered at any price.

2024 is the rare model year where a Jeep got cheaper: the refreshed Gladiator's entry Sport came in $1,725 below the 2023 it replaced, keeping the nameplate under $40,000 all-in. Every trim includes four-wheel drive as standard, which is part of why the floor sits above the two-wheel-drive base prices of the Tacoma, Ranger and Colorado.

The volume Gladiator is the Sport S — the trim this nameplate's other 2024 scorecards describe, and the point at which forward collision warning and adaptive cruise become standard — and virtually all of them leave the lot with the automatic, which was a $2,500 option in 2024 because the six-speed manual was still standard equipment. That build starts at $45,790 before a single package, and CarEdge's typically-equipped figure of $46,890 is the honest representative number.

Estimates split by basis, so the midpoint is the defensible figure: CarEdge's owner-cost model puts maintenance and repair at $3,948 across five years, while RepairPal's $634/yr in unscheduled repairs alone comes to about $3,170 before any scheduled service, which pushes a dealer-retail total nearer $5,500. Simple mechanicals and a naturally aspirated Pentastar keep the Gladiator cheaper to service than the mid-size trucks it competes with, but Jeep carries above-average ownership costs and this generation's front-end 'death wobble' history is a real repair-severity tail.

Retention is decent in absolute terms but is the one place the Gladiator does NOT inherit the Wrangler's halo — iSeeCars measures 32.3% five-year depreciation against 29.6% for mid-size pickups, so it depreciates faster than its own class rather than slower like the Wrangler does. I've marked it a point or two below the published nameplate figures because 2024 trucks specifically were sold into a Stellantis inventory glut at 10% or more off sticker, and retention here is measured against MSRP rather than what buyers actually paid.

Stellantis' standard Basic Limited Warranty applies to every 2024 Gladiator trim and sits at the floor of the segment band. Toyota and Ford match it at 3/36 on the Tacoma and Ranger, so it is not a competitive disadvantage within mid-size trucks so much as an industry-wide floor that Hyundai's 5-year term shows up.

The 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain term covers engine, transmission and drive system on all 2024 Gladiator trims and is the bottom of the segment band — half the 10-year term Hyundai advertises on the Santa Cruz. With the EcoDiesel deleted for 2024 and the 4xe hybrid not yet launched, there is no longer-term battery or diesel coverage to add on top.

Jeep Wave is standard with automatic enrollment on the 2024 Gladiator and bundles more than bare roadside — 24/7 assistance for the full powertrain-warranty period, trip-interruption reimbursement and a no-charge same-day loaner during routine service — but the included maintenance is only the first two oil changes and tire rotations inside 24 months, down from the three-in-36-months that 2021–2023 Jeeps received and short of the two full years of scheduled service Toyota includes on the Tacoma.

$46,890 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (62% retained, or about $29,072) leaves about $17,818 in depreciation. Add the projected $5,200 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $23,018 in total.

Signals are mixed and 2024 is the first year of the mid-cycle refresh (new dashboard, standard 12.3-inch Uconnect 5, structural side-impact changes, 12-way power seats), which adds first-year-of-change risk on top of an already uneven Gladiator record. Consumer Reports rates the 2024 as more reliable than the average 2024 vehicle, but third-party aggregate scoring puts it only in the mixed band and below the settled 2025/2026 years.

Jeep sits at or near the bottom of both major brand dependability studies and has done so for several consecutive years — Consumer Reports placed Jeep dead last in its 2024 brand report card, and J.D. Power's dependability studies keep Jeep in the bottom quartile. This is a consistent bottom-third brand, which is the 0-49 band by definition.

The 2024 model year carries two NHTSA recalls, one of them a park-outside fire risk — the electric hydraulic power-steering pump wiring can overheat and ignite even with the ignition off — which is a severity level that lands squarely in the low band regardless of count. The generation also has a persistent TSB pattern (freedom-panel and rear-slider water leaks, coolant leaks, filiform paint corrosion, 3.6L valvetrain ticking) plus new Uconnect 5 freezing complaints specific to 2024-and-later.

For 2024 the 3.6L Pentastar V6 is the only engine (the 3.0L EcoDiesel was dropped after 2023), and it is one of the most-produced and best-proven V6 families in the market, commonly reaching 250,000-300,000 miles with maintenance; the 850RE eight-speed automatic is a licensed ZF 8HP derivative with a strong service record. Held short of the top band by documented camshaft/rocker-arm valvetrain wear and oil-cooler leaks on some units, and by premature clutch hydraulic failures on the six-speed manual.

The cabin is deliberately washable rather than rich — hard plastics, rubberized surfaces and cloth on the volume trims, with drain plugs and a removable roof driving the material choices. The 2024 refresh genuinely improves the perceived-quality picture (redesigned dash around the standard 12.3-inch screen, available 12-way power seats where every seat was previously manual), but relative to the truck's premium price class it still reads plain, so it lands mid-band rather than above it.

Body-on-frame construction with a removable roof and doors sets a low structural ceiling on assembly consistency, and water intrusion around the freedom panels and rear sliding window is one of the nameplate's most reported complaints with a TSB behind it. 2024 specifically adds first-year-of-refresh electronics teething — Uconnect 5 freezing and CarPlay dropouts appear in complaints from this model year forward — which keeps it below the settled later years despite Stellantis's strong corporate showing in initial quality.

Coverage is a genuine strength — roughly 2,363 Jeep dealer points nationwide put a franchised service bay within reach almost anywhere in the US, including the rural and trailhead areas Gladiator buyers actually use. Service satisfaction is the offsetting half: Stellantis stores rate mid-pack at best in J.D. Power's customer service work, and long appointment waits and repeat-visit rates were widely reported across the 2024 window, so this is 'adequate coverage, mixed reputation' rather than the top band.

Few vehicles are better supported: the Gladiator shares its front end, roof, suspension and most mechanical hardware with the JL Wrangler, so it inherits one of the largest aftermarket and parts ecosystems in the industry, and the 3.6L Pentastar's ubiquity keeps mechanical components cheap and stocked everywhere. Routine service costs run modestly above the midsize-truck average because of the off-road-specific hardware, which is what holds it just under the ceiling.

The 2024 refresh is where the Gladiator's screen jumped: the 12.3-inch Uconnect 5 display replaced the old 7- and 8.4-inch units and became standard on every trim from Sport up, which Jeep marketed as best-in-class standard screen size. It still measures mid-band against a truck class where Ram and Silverado offer 13.4 in and up.

Uconnect 5 is among the best mainstream systems on sale — Stellantis quotes five-times-faster operation than Uconnect 4, the display uses full-array local dimming so it stays readable with the top and doors off, and Jeep kept real HVAC and volume knobs below the screen instead of burying climate in a menu. Five user profiles and dual-phone Bluetooth are new for 2024.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto are standard on every 2024 Gladiator including the base Sport — the top-band configuration, and one several mid-size rivals still gate behind an upper trim or a wired-only base system.

A new seven-microphone array is a genuine engineering answer to an open-air cabin and makes voice commands work with the top down, and the Uconnect 5 Nav system carries Jeep Adventure Guides with Trails Offroad content — 62 Badge of Honor trails preloaded, 3,000-plus behind a $39.99/yr subscription. Embedded navigation is still an upper-trim item, so most Sport S buyers navigate by phone projection.

The base eight-speaker setup is adequate and the nine-speaker Alpine premium system with subwoofer is available on select trims, but a cabin designed to come apart is acoustically the worst case for fidelity — the premium upgrade is a modest step rather than a class-leading one, and there is no reference-grade option like the Tacoma's JBL or the Ram's Harman Kardon.

The JT never got the full-digital cluster its Wrangler-platform rivals now offer: 2024 keeps analog speedometer and tachometer flanking a center driver-information display — 3.5-inch monochrome on Sport, 7-inch color on Sport S and above. The 7-inch screen is crisp and configurable as far as it goes, but partial digital is the ceiling at any price.

Uconnect 5 brought over-the-air map updates and infotainment software updates to the Gladiator for 2024, which is real but is squarely the maps-and-apps tier — there is no whole-vehicle OTA that adds features or touches body controls, powertrain calibration or driver assistance the way Rivian and Tesla trucks do.

The Jeep app covers the core set — remote start, remote lock/unlock, vehicle locate and vehicle health — over the standard 4G LTE connection with a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to eight devices, and SOS/roadside calling is built in. It is a competent rather than a polished app, the useful remote functions move behind a paid Connect subscription once the trial lapses, and there is no phone-as-key.

Seven USB ports across both rows in mixed Type-A and Type-C, with fast-charging dual USB-C standard, is one of the better port counts in the segment, and a 115V household outlet is available in the Technology Group for jobsite and campsite use. The gap is a factory wireless charging pad — Jeep does not list one for the 2024 Gladiator, which is why the aftermarket console-lid business exists.

Keyless Enter-N-Go proximity entry with push-button start is available across the range and standard from the mid trims up, and remote start comes with the Cold Weather Group or through the Jeep app. The base Sport still ships with a conventional key, there is no phone-as-key, and the manual tailgate — damped, but hand-operated — means none of the power-liftgate convenience full-size trucks now offer.

ParkView rear backup camera with dynamic gridlines is standard and ParkSense rear park assist is optional, and the new Rubicon X and Mojave X add a forward-facing integrated off-road camera that is genuinely useful cresting obstacles. But there is no 360-degree surround view at any 2024 trim, no front parking sensors on volume trims, and no parking automation — a clear gap against the Colorado, Canyon and Ranger.

No head-up display on any 2024 Gladiator trim. The Wrangler-derived architecture — a near-vertical windshield that folds flat and a dashboard designed to survive being rained on — was never engineered to project onto glass, so this is a structural absence rather than a decontenting decision.

Crew-cab-only means real rear doors and outboard LATCH on every 2024 Gladiator, the fold-up rear cushion opens lockable bins for kid gear, and having an open 5-ft bed means strollers and muddy sports kit never come into the cabin — a genuine advantage over the Wrangler it shares a cab with. Against that: IIHS rates the anchors only Acceptable, 38.3 in of rear legroom is tight for a rear-facing seat behind a tall driver, and the step-in height means lifting toddlers up rather than in.

2024 is the best safety year this generation has had — first- and second-row side-curtain airbags became standard, rear belt pretensioners and load limiters lifted the IIHS moderate-overlap result to Good, and forward collision warning with active braking plus adaptive cruise with stop became standard from Sport S. It still does not add up to a family recommendation: every headlight configuration IIHS tested rates Marginal or Poor, there is no pedestrian AEB at any trim, there is no lane-departure warning or lane-keep assist at all, blind-spot monitoring is optional on the trims families buy, and NHTSA publishes only a 3-star rollover with no overall rating.

The 137.3-in wheelbase and the bed do the two things that matter most on a family trip — the truck tracks better than a Wrangler and the luggage lives outside the cabin — and the climate system is powerful with rear vents. But four people spend those hours in a loud cabin over a jittery solid-axle chassis on a flat rear bench with no rear climate zone and no rear entertainment, stopping roughly every 400 miles on 19 MPG combined.

The Gladiator is among the least restful mid-size trucks to commute in: recirculating-ball steering that wanders on-center and demands correction in crosswinds and ruts, a busy ride, and a loud cabin add up to fatigue on a daily basis. The 2024 gains help at the margins — adaptive cruise with full stop is now standard on Sport S and the 12.3-in Uconnect 5 is quick to use — but with no lane centering and no lane-keep assist of any kind, none of the load comes off the driver.

17/22/19 MPG on the sole 3.6L Pentastar puts the 2024 Gladiator at the bottom of the mid-size truck class on fuel cost — about $3,250 a year at EPA's 15,000-mile assumption, and EPA flags it as roughly $5,250 more to fuel over five years than the average new vehicle. 2024 makes it worse rather than better, because the EcoDiesel that used to be the economy answer was discontinued for this model year. Regular 87-octane and a deep, cheap DIY parts ecosystem are the only mitigations.

At 218 in long on a 137.3-in wheelbase with a ~44.8 ft turning circle, the Gladiator is one of the most awkward mid-size trucks in a parking structure or a parallel space — it is roughly 30 in longer than a Wrangler Unlimited and cannot be shrunk with a shorter box, because there is only one box. Sightlines partly redeem it: the upright greenhouse, thin pillars and flat hood corners make placing the truck unusually easy, and the rear camera is standard. Rear sensors are optional and there is no surround-view camera.

The headline numbers lead the mid-size class — up to 7,700 lb tow and 1,725 lb payload — and standard four-wheel drive with the ZF-derived 850RE eight-speed makes the truck credible on an unpaved jobsite where a 2WD rival is not. Two caveats keep it out of the top band: those maxima require a specific Sport build with the automatic, the 4.10 axle and Max Tow (Willys drops to 950 lb payload, Rubicon to 1,200 lb), and the 5-ft bed will not take a sheet of plywood flat.

The hardware is about as abuse-tolerant as anything in the class: a real ladder frame, Dana 44 solid axles front and rear on Rubicon and Mojave, the Pentastar V6 in its second decade of high-volume production, the durable ZF-derived eight-speed, and an interior with washable surfaces and drain plugs in the tub floor. What holds the score back is brand-level rather than part-level — Jeep sits consistently below the industry average in J.D. Power and Consumer Reports reliability rankings, so fleet buyers price in more unscheduled downtime than a Tacoma would incur.

Standard bed tie-downs and a damped tailgate, the available Trail Rail cargo management system, a spray-in bedliner option, a 115V household outlet in the Technology Group, auxiliary switches for wiring accessories, and arguably the deepest upfit aftermarket of any mid-size truck (Mopar, Quadratec, ARB, Rough Country) make the Gladiator easy to build into a work tool. The short box and the lack of any factory bed-lighting/power package of the sort Ford and GM bundle keep it below the top band.

The long wheelbase makes the Gladiator a far better highway truck than a Wrangler, the 22-gal tank stretches 19 MPG to roughly 418 miles between stops, and standard adaptive cruise with full stop from Sport S plus wireless CarPlay on a 12.3-in screen genuinely help on a long day. It is still tiring work: wind and road noise are class-worst, the steering needs constant small corrections at speed, and there is no lane centering to share the load.

This is what the truck is for, and 2024 sharpened it. Four-wheel drive is standard on every trim with four transfer cases up to Rock-Trac 4:1; Rubicon adds Tru-Lok front and rear electronic lockers and an electronic front sway-bar disconnect, Mojave adds FOX 2.5-in internal-bypass shocks with reservoirs and hydro jounce bumpers for desert running, and the new X trims add steel bumpers and a forward off-road camera. Layer on 11.1 in of clearance, a removable roof, removable doors, a folding windshield, in-dash Trails Offroad guides and a 7,700-lb hitch for the toys and nothing else in the segment is close.

The bed is short but genuinely versatile — 44.8 in between the wheel houses, 33.9 in deep, 81.3 in of floor with the tailgate down, standard tie-downs and available Trail Rail — and the cabin adds a fold-up rear seat with hidden bins. The differentiator is that the body itself comes apart: with the roof panels and doors off, the Gladiator swallows shapes no other mid-size truck can take, and the 7,700-lb hitch handles what will not fit at all.

Solid axles front and rear under a tall body-on-frame chassis, on off-road-biased springs and all-terrain rubber, make the Gladiator the least composed handler in the mid-size class — reviewers describe it wiggling and jiggling where a Colorado, Ranger or Tacoma stays settled, and lateral grip and body control both trail the field. The 2024 refresh changed the fascia, dashboard and screen; it left the suspension alone.

The Wrangler-derived recirculating-ball box is the Gladiator's biggest on-road demerit: vague on-center, short on cornering feedback, and needing constant small corrections in crosswinds or on rutted pavement. Nothing in the 2024 refresh addressed it.

Stopping power is adequate and fade-resistant, but the pedal has long initial travel and a soft mid-stroke, the nose dives under hard braking on the soft off-road springs, and the 33-in all-terrains on Rubicon and the X trims stretch distances further than the Sport S's road-biased tires.

The 3.6L Pentastar (285 hp / 260 lb-ft) with the 850RE eight-speed is smooth and lag-free once rolling — no turbo hesitation and no hybrid handoffs to manage — but peak torque arrives at 4,400 rpm, so it feels soft off idle and the transmission hunts a little at part throttle. 2024 narrows the choice rather than widening it: the EcoDiesel was dropped, leaving one engine, though the six-speed manual is still on the order sheet.

Idle and light-load refinement are fine, but the Pentastar turns coarse and vocal above 4,000 rpm — exactly where its torque peak forces you to work it — and the solid axles pass impact harshness straight through the floor. The removable-top body then lets the resulting noise mix with class-worst wind and tire roar at highway speed.

The 137.3-in wheelbase — 30 in longer than a Wrangler Unlimited's — is what sets this number, and 44.8 ft is mid-band for a truck: not nimble, but no worse than a crew-cab mid-size rival. Rubicon and the X trims on 33-in tires need more room still.

The commanding upright seat, near-vertical windshield, thin pillars and low beltline give some of the best sightlines in any truck, and the 2024 dashboard keeps physical HVAC and volume controls under the new 12.3-in screen instead of burying them. Newly available 12-way power front seats widen the fit range for the first time, but they are an upper-trim item, the volume Sport S has limited manual seat travel, and getting in still means a real step up.

Judged as a road car it is not fun — slow steering, a busy ride, an engine that needs revs. Judged as the thing it actually is, nothing else in the class comes close: take the doors off, fold the windshield down, drop the roof panels, disconnect the sway bar and lock both diffs, and the 2024 Gladiator delivers an experience no other pickup on sale can offer. Enthusiasts buy it on exactly that basis.

The 2024 refresh materially improved the standard spec — a 12.3-inch Uconnect 5 touchscreen (the largest in the segment) on every trim, side-curtain airbags in both rows for the first time, four-wheel drive standard across the lineup, and forward collision warning plus adaptive cruise with full stop standard from the volume Sport S up. Against that, the base Sport still ships with halogen reflector headlights that IIHS rates Marginal or Poor, blind-spot monitoring stays optional, there is no lane-departure warning or lane-keep assist at ANY trim or price, and the automatic transmission was still a $2,500 line item — gaps that a $40,000 Tacoma or Ranger does not have.

Value depends entirely on whether you want the capability: measured in off-road hardware per dollar the Gladiator is a bargain — Rubicon at $52,995 brings front and rear lockers, an electronic sway-bar disconnect and 33-inch tires for less than a Ranger Raptor, and nothing else on the market offers a removable roof and doors on a pickup. Measured as a truck to drive daily it is poor value: a Sport S with the automatic is $45,790 before packages and returns 19 MPG combined with fewer driver aids than rivals costing thousands less, and the market rendered its own verdict when buyers walked away in 2024.

The trim ladder is genuinely wide and well spaced — seven core trims from $37,895 to $62,995, split into a road-biased branch (Sport, Sport S, Willys), a desert branch (Mojave, Mojave X) and a rock branch (Rubicon, Rubicon X), plus special editions like Nighthawk and Texas Trail and a real choice of two transmissions. Configuration breadth is the opposite story: one body only, crew cab with the five-foot bed, no regular cab, no long bed, no two-wheel drive, and for 2024 exactly one engine after the 3.0L EcoDiesel was deleted, where every domestic rival offers multiple cab-and-bed or powertrain combinations.

By Q3 2024 the Gladiator had fallen to dead last among mid-size pickups — outsold not just by the Tacoma, Colorado, Ranger, Frontier and Ridgeline but by the GMC Canyon, a badge-engineered low-volume derivative — on a 35% year-over-year collapse. Full-year 2024 came in at 42,123 against 55,188 in 2023, less than half the 2021 peak, and the decline is a straight line rather than a blip.

Jeep remains one of the few genuinely aspirational mass-market badges, with an owner culture no rival replicates, and the Gladiator is the only open-air pickup you can buy — the desirability of the thing itself is not in question. What holds the score out of the top band is that 2024 was the year the brand's image took real damage: aggressive pricing drove a public buyer revolt and open dealer-body dissent, and Jeep's reliability reputation continues to work against resale and satisfaction.

This is the one place the Gladiator's market weakness is an unambiguous win for the buyer, and it lands in the top band: Jeep ran blanket percentage-off offers on the whole lineup, cash rebates reached $7,000, trucks sat on lots long enough to give buyers real leverage, and 2024 examples were still being advertised more than $10,000 below sticker well after the model year closed. A patient buyer paid something close to the 2025 price without waiting for 2025.

2024 is the Gladiator's mid-cycle refresh year and a real one rather than a trim shuffle — new seven-slot grille and seven wheel designs, an all-new instrument panel with a standard 12.3-inch Uconnect 5 head unit, side-curtain airbags and structural side-impact work, two new X trims, and a lower starting price. The bones underneath are older: the JT platform dates to 2020 and derives from the 2018 Wrangler JL, and the year moved backwards on powertrain with the EcoDiesel deleted and the promised 4xe hybrid still unlaunched.

Reviewers respect what the Gladiator uniquely does and then decline to recommend it: it wins the off-road leg of essentially every mid-size comparison and reviewers single out the Pentastar and eight-speed as the smoothest powertrain of the group, but it loses the comparisons themselves to the Tacoma and Ranger on ride, economy, safety tech and price, and sits at the bottom of U.S. News' segment ranking. Aggregate verdicts are split rather than bad — Edmunds 7.6/10 against The Car Connection's 5.2/10 — and the nameplate's major honours (MotorTrend Truck of the Year 2020) belong to the launch, not to 2024.