Is the Jeep Gladiator, which sells for more than 500,000, worth buying?

In April, the Jeep Gladiator Advance Edition was listed, although according to the official version of its 30-minute order exceeded 1,000 units, but many pre-booked netizens still wondered whether this car was worth buying? Today, the pickup truck city will take you to find out.

Affordable or not?

For an imported model, fans often compare with foreign prices, in fact, an imported car plus tariffs, consumption tax and value-added tax these consumers can understand, but plus these taxes and foreign prices there is a big difference, for the price is so transparent today, fans will certainly be unhappy, after all, the same product, differential treatment will always make people uncomfortable.

First of all, let's first look at the price of the same model in the United States, Jeep Gladiator Advance Edition is actually the Willys model sold in the U.S. market, its starting price is $42775, but according to the configuration table of the Central Edition, it can be seen that the car is equipped with a lot of special optional packages, including multimedia systems, cruise control, AUX interface, seat heating, LED headlight fog lights, automatic air conditioning, cargo box slides, and 8AT automatic transmissions, etc., as well as 18-inch wheels that the American model does not have. The car should be priced at about $56,000 in the United States, or about 373,000 yuan.

Next, let's calculate the customs duties and value-added tax, the current pickup truck is counted as a freight model with a tax of 8704.2100 of no more than 5 tons, while the United States enjoys the most-favored-nation exchange rate of 15%, the tariff to be paid is 373,000 yuan×15% = 55,950 yuan; then, the VAT calculation method is (dutiable price + tariff) × the value-added tax rate, so the value-added tax is (37.3 + 5.595) × 13% = 5.576, and finally the tariff and value-added tax are added together. The total price is 485,000 yuan. Referring to the current official retail price of 509,900 yuan, the price is still affordable.

Is the configuration real?

The configuration is really unreal I think it should be viewed from two aspects, on the one hand, from the perspective of the manufacturer, is it to install all the configurations that can be given, on the other hand, it is from the perspective of the consumer, do I need these configurations?

If from the manufacturer's point of view, I think Jeep has done it in place, because the official comfort configuration that can be selected has been selected, and the whole vehicle is still worth affirming in terms of configuration and comfort. However, one of the questions we need to think about is whether I need this configuration, or if I bought a gladiator, what is my fundamental need?

I still remember what the car said when it was unveiled at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show: "You can believe in legends and drive one"! This sentence, because the Jeep Gladiator as a model with a legendary history of 45 years, its unique positioning of climbing + pickup truck is the reason why it can be popular with American consumers, perhaps not as good as its brother Wrangler in climbing and off-road performance, but it can also provide pickup characteristics that Wranglers do not have, which is why the name of the car was first rumored to be "Scrambler" climber.

So in my opinion, the early version officially introduced by Jeep may be sincere in terms of its own configuration and price, but in view of the characteristics of the gladiator itself, it is lacking. First of all, the lack of the most powerful Rock-Trac transfer case, rear axle ratio of 4:1, and up to 84:1 climbing ratio; secondly, the lack of front and rear two electronically controlled differential locks, electronically controllable disconnectable anti-roll bar, and these configurations in the gladiator's Rubicon model is standard, which returns to the original question, consumers at a price of more than 500,000 to buy a pickup truck, to endure the restrictions, 15 scrap and annual inspection and many other problems, just get a sufficiently comfortable, high enough off-road vehicle? And in fact, the comfort of the gladiator is not a strong point, so why don't I buy it with a wrangler?

Is it worth it compared to the same price point?

Compare it with your own wranglers. The price of the Wrangler Robin Hood four-door version of the Wrangler is 559,900 yuan, which is 50,000 yuan more than the gladiator, but it has all the hardcore configurations, including the aforementioned transfer case, differential lock, disconnectable anti-roll bar, and the Wrangler model does not have to endure many problems in China, such as traffic restrictions, 15 years of scrap and annual inspection.

So who is more worth buying these two cars I think it is obvious, if you say that I just like pickup trucks, like the shape of pickup trucks, like the cargo box of pickup trucks, and also like the towing ability of pickup trucks, and can endure these policies, and do not need these hardcore configurations on The Wrangler Robin Hood, then I think you can completely choose the gladiator's first version, but in my opinion, the gladiator first version is really not cost-effective.

Whose fault is it that the Gladiator Advance Edition is low in value for money?

I think seeing this, most people will definitely think that this problem is very screwed! Why is the Gladiator Advance Edition so much less cost-effective than Wrangler Robin Hood? In fact, it is no wonder that the Chinese personnel of the gladiators were introduced, because in fact, the prices of the two in the US market are basically the same. In fact, this also confirms the unique positioning of the gladiator "climbing + pickup truck" that I mentioned earlier, the gladiator's pickup truck identity allows it to have a cargo box that can be loaded, as well as a strong dragging ability, which is incomparable to the Wrangler, so the premium of the gladiator in the US market is naturally much higher.

So whose fault is it? I think one is that the Jeep brand side in the United States gave the gladiator a high premium of this "affectionate, historical" model, and the other is that some unfair policies for pickup trucks in China make the price-performance ratio of the gladiator first version so low that it is completely inferior to buying a Wrangler model in China. Of course, with the release of a series of favorable policies, we can fully expect that the treatment of domestic pickup trucks will gradually become better in the future, if the policy is improved, then the cost performance of gladiators may not be as low as it is now, but when all this will come, no one can say for sure.

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