The go-anywhere, do-anything Jeep Gladiator is a radical departure from what we, as South Africans, know double cabs to be but that is part of its appeal. Interest in the Gladiator has been great but many may be hesitant to pull the trigger on a purchase based on the perception that the Gladiator is expensive to repair. Here are our findings.
The Jeep Gladiator is a fairly new arrival on the local scene having been launched in June 2022, despite the model itself being around (globally) since 2019. As this model is so new, it’s tough to pull sufficient data from the local market to be able to ascertain whether or not it is an expensive vehicle to repair. In order to make an educated assumption, we have to turn our attention to the U.S. market and draw correlations from their experiences.
We factor these findings into the existing data found in recent AA Kinsey Reports where the Jeep brand has been compared to its market rivals locally, assessing the cost of services, replacement parts and repair items. This report only considers the parts themselves and doesn’t account for labour costs, as these may vary from dealership to dealership. This information does predate the acquisition of FCA by the Stellantis group and is thus only an indication of how the brand fares as much may have changed in the interim.
U.S. market experience
The Gladiator doesn’t score particularly high in the reliability rankings and while it manages to pip a few other popular models its rankings are still below average. It also posts slightly a higher-than-average ownership costs result, coming in at 14.3% higher than its main industry rivals. Despite this, reports also show that the Gladiator presents great value in the used sector. This means that it posted below-average cost estimations across eight different sectors including depreciation, insurance, fuel costs and maintenance. Naturally, the U.S. market varies from the South African one but this insight proves reassuring for buyers that are considering a used Jeep Gladiator.
Local market
When we draw on previous studies conducted on the Jeep brand in South Africa, the Kinsey report shows that the brand performs admirably when compared to its market rivals. The Kinsey report looks at the costs associated with services, replacement parts and repair parts.
In the repair parts cost basket assessment, the Jeep Grand Cherokee posted the third most affordable score coming in well below its German and British rivals. this side of the report looks at the parts that would need to be replaced in the event of a small traffic collision or accident. This is a rather impressive result considering the full-imported nature of the products.
The sector for replacement parts didn’t fare as well though and the Jeep came in as the third most expensive. This side of things looks at the price of components that will need replacing over time, items such as shock absorbers, brake discs, and timing belts or chains; the components that would require attention after a few years or at a major service.
The recent changes to the ownership and management of the Jeep brand in South Africa bode well for the Gladiator though with large-scale investment going into the dealership network and parts supply chain.
Keyword: Is the Jeep Gladiator expensive to repair?