I thought that Gladiator sales were tanking? I never see any of those ugly things-even a trip to Colorado I saw maybe two, yes anecdotal -but 4runners, Tacos and Wranglers were everywhere.

They are tanking, that's why you see incentives galore for a brand new model.

It's designed by a bean counter not an enthusiast.

The reality is the 4runner doesn't do take the lead for anything in stock form, but it's good enough for all most any of it.

Design criteria is - Unless it can attract a soccer mom (or dad) it's not main stream enough to justify the engineering time. i.e. Don't count on Toyota sinking money into a specialized vehicle. They want you to modify it at your expense. They only have to put the idea out there and some 3rd party will take the risk for very little profit margin. Once it's works Toyota will mainstream it. This is the model Toyota has.

Bet you didn't know that you were a beta tester did you?

The next gen will be a hybrid. Which may not be so bad off road except for the weight. Crawling with an electric motor is much more efficient than gas and has more torque. The Rubicon is ~22 miles. That's within the battery range of most hybrids.

I recently drove a JL Wrangler Unlimited, lots of Gladiators on the lot, but not a single Jeep Rubicon Unlimited, most dealers here in Phoenix have like nothing on the lot! Plenty of Gladiators though😜

Ah, I thought they were doing well. I guess i'm thinking of last year when they were all the rage. I guess that's cooled considerably.

My 2019 OR is the most comfortable vehicle I’ve owned.

I don’t see many Gladiators in Ohio. I think any popularity they’re enjoying will be short-lived due to the plethora of nicer pickups available.

Gladiator is a good example of the risks an automaker takes when introducing a new model. On paper it probably looked great - use a lot of Wrangler parts and add a bed. Selling them is a whole ‘nother thing.

I was ckecking the new Bronco out this morning, BASE model with the Sasquatch Package Id be happy. I will wait a year or two so they get ALL the bugs worked out, but yea, may be time to leave toyota after about 25 years.

Problem with the Gladiator is that it costs more than every "mid-size" pickup it compares to if you map out similar equipment on it.

Once everyone who didn't mind spending an extra $5000 to $10000 for the novelty of a Jeep pickup truck was satisfied got one, moving these things has gotten really hard for FCA.

How do you know how the new Bronco does off-road and drive? are you able to wheel one or drive one yet?

Agreed, I am always hesitant to buy a first model year car. I like to give them a couple years to find the little (or big) things that their QA process couldn't find.

One big reason that the 4runners hold their value so well is that Toyota rarely changes the design. If they played the same games that domestic auto makers played our vehicles would see far more depreciation. Me thinks we have to be careful what we ask for.

Amazing isn't it? I was very curious about the Gladiator when it was first announced. I am reasonably sure it turned out to be the butt ugliest vehicle I have ever seen...especially in the soft top version.

This is a good point. Comfort means different things to different people, but Toyota does well to engineer its BOF trucks to make them comfortable which is relative obviously to other decisions the company makes like sticking with BOF construction and avoiding air suspensions on these vehicles etc. They are comfortable though not as luxurious as competition. The 4Runner does a good job, but the LC200 really takes it to another level IMO. And both of these are competing with unibody vehicles like the Grand Cherokee, Land Rovers etc. As long as the fundamentals are good for basic off-road, and the vehicle is well engineered for reliability and is tried and tested, I'm happy to overlook the warts and take care of things I need to take care of to suite my own needs. This, to me, is 10X better than a company throwing the entire kitchen sink of its R&D at offering capability and not getting anything in particular exactly the way it should be.

It is very easy to fall into the trap of polling or trying to find out 10-15 things a particular targted demographic wants and unleashing your R&D on getting that. You may end up checking boxes but you will always struggle to get everything as dialed in as you ought to have. I'd much rather get a vehicle that gets the fundamentals right and then work around the things that don't work for me. It is easier and cheaper (long term) to do that. This is the reason that the 70 series is still in production despite its obvious shortcomings right out of the dealership, and why the 80 and 105 series are so desirable as overland vehicles globally and why the 5th gen 4Runner has been doing well in its category despite being quite old and in need of a major refresh. For the most part, Toyota got the fundamentals right with these designs.. and these are global platforms across Toyota, and Lexus lineups and not just US specific vehicles that barely sell outside of US or NA..Major design shortcomings would be easier to detect given their global presence.. Yes, I hated it when my spanking new 4runner (in 2019) didn't have HID or LED lights. But that's an easy fix. Same for interior LED lighting and even the audio system. Better that be the source of my dislike than a completely unreliable vehicle that may look great, and may even perform great when it works but isn't engineered to the same degree of reliability and longevity. There is something to be said about loading up your rig right up to its GVW and being confident that it can handle..

I'd much rather live without factory HID lights or a more modern infotainment system than live with something like this below (my wife had the 2016 Jeep GC till just 5 months ago) -

Current Jeep Grand Cherokee Has Been Recalled 20 Times In Australia | Carscoops.

https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/...20J.D.%20Power.