I absolutely loved my Gladiator, but given how much I drive it was becoming more and more of a compromise as both a daily driver and a weekend toy. 3-4k miles a month @ 15mpg was not my favorite, not to mention the wear and tear on my expensive tires and such.

So I traded it in on a proper weekend toy, and I'm buying a dedicated daily driver for commuting. Crazy that I traded it in after 25k miles for more than I paid for it brand new. I have a feeling the used car market is going to crash return to normal sometime this year so it was time to get in while the prices were high. The last time I took it off-road I nearly broke the LED taillight and once I saw the replacement price I realized it was probably not the best rig for bashing on trails

Here's my new project Jeep:








2014 Rubicon X. The Jeep world has strayed from the light so these 2 door stick shift models are a bargain compared to the bloated 4 door automatic Jeeps. The lift and bigger tires are coming as soon as I decide on a daily driver.

I highly endorse this choice. Those gladiators are horrendous My pop has a 2015 Wranger Unlimited with a stick. He's got a lift kit and massive tires. Its not great on the road but its a blast and very capable off road.

What you looking at for the daily?

Have to agree to disagree on the Gladiator. Just too hard to fuck around with a $55k truck that I take my kids to school in but I loved it overall.

Any pics of your dad's Wrangler? I'm trying to decide on which 37" tires to get because these little stock tires aren't going to cut it lol.

I'm looking at a used Lexus CT200h as a daily. Pretty wild I can get that and the Wrangler and still come out with thousands leftover.

I get the appeal on paper, absolutely. I just think they are so very ugly

This is from when we swapped the bumper and added a winch


I can ask him what tires he has if you want.

Is that the hybrid Lexus wagon?

Damn I can't believe you did this!

But fucking win on the value sitch

Lol, yeah they are certainly polarizing no doubt.


That's a pretty dope Unlimited and those BF Goodrich KM3 tires are one of the models I've narrowed my search down to. Looks to be about the same size I'm going with as well and just need to find a place with them in stock



Yes, the hybrid wagon. 40+ mpg will cut down on my current $700 a month fuel bill quite a bit

I like it better

I like it just the way it is.

Jeeps really aren't my thing but I have to admit the Unlimited has grown on me quite a bit since my Pop bought it.

That's a great kid carrier dude. I haven't been in that Lexus but every Lexus I have been in is really nice.

That looks great. I love Jeeps. In the 90's I went through a Jeep phase and had several of them. I used to buy the old CJ 5s and 7s though. At some point I even had a CJ3A but ended up way over my head with the restoration and sold it before completing it.
At the time the new Wranglers had those ugly square headlights so I avoided them and stuck with the older ones (which were also very easy to work on).
But I should look into the newer models now. They look great again. Man I haven't even thought about Jeeps in decades. They as fun as projects as they are to drive. There are so many customization options for them.

It’s definitely more traditional




What’s the fun in that?!




I’ve been a jeep guy since I was 16 with my first one. This is my 6th or 7th jeep

Aaaaand my 3rd Lexus

I just finalized the deal on the CT200h



I both miss my old CJ and hate it at the same time

Jeeps are another addiction all of their own

It’s like buying guitar gear but worse

Nice, looking forward to the lift. Congrats!

Fuck that’s pretty crazy though. Beautiful machine congrats! That bed though didn’t hold much did it?

Thanks, me too!



Thanks. The bed held a decent amount, but it turns out I don't need a pickup as often as I would have thought lol.



Anyway got the daily part sorted out today. They had to fix a paint issue on the front bumper, install new tires, and replace the windshield but it's all wrapped up and home now:






These two vehicles combined were $10k less than the Gladiator trade-in value.

Fuck yes; looks rad man!

I can't even wrap my head around that

nice lexus !

Thats a fucking win.
The vehicle market in general is total insanity right now, glad you were able to capitalize on it.

We have a lot of really good dealership hookups but this even surprised me. The Gladiator is selling like crazy right now and thankfully 2 door manual transmission Jeeps are cheaper because everyone wants the 4 door automatics. Add in sedans/hatchbacks dropping in value because everyone wants an SUV and we lucked out on that one too.

That's a helluva daily!

It's so damn small!

Me and my GTI welcome to the hatchback squad Dave.

then proceed to leave me in the dust because this thing is slow af

It's a reskinned third gen Toyota Prius. Great on fuel but terrible on fun.

It'll probably last forever too



my beat up 2002 prius is at 240K miles and showing no sign of stopping

Yes, I will happily gap you at any and all opportunities.