2026 Jeep Gladiator Willys Review: Still a Jeep, Still Charming, Still Saddled with the Wrong Engine

• Jeep charm and genuine truck usefulness remain, but brutal fuel economy wrecks the Gladiator ownership equation.

• The Willys suspension handles rough Montreal roads well, especially with cargo loaded in the bed.

• At $70,000 tested, smarter midsize pickups make the Gladiator very tough to justify financially.

I am a firm believer that plenty of homeowners in North America would love to have a pickup truck in the driveway. I’m one of them. Not because I need to tow a backhoe every weekend or because I’m pretending to be a contractor on IG, but because life accumulates stuff. Your family grows, the garage fills up, junk piles up, and at some point, you need to haul everything to the dump. That is exactly the kind of real-world duty the 2026 Jeep Gladiator is meant to handle.

The problem is that the compact and midsize pickup segment is no longer the affordable, common-sense corner of the market it once was. These trucks were once easy to recommend because they mixed honest capability with manageable prices. That’s over. Today, the segment includes the Ford Maverick and Ranger, Nissan Frontier, Honda Ridgeline, GMC Canyon, Chevrolet Colorado, Toyota Tacoma, and Gladiator.

And right away, let’s be honest: It’s not the best choice in the segment. Not even close. But it is a Jeep, and that still counts. It has its own vibe, its own aura, and a personality that none of the others can really duplicate. That matters. It just doesn’t matter enough.

Off the Trail Pricing

The serious problems start with the price. The 2026 Gladiator opens at $53,000, which already feels rich for what it is. The Willys trim I tested starts at $58,000, and this one, with a few extras, rings in at $70,000. Yes, seventy grand. That is an absurd number for a midsize pickup with cloth seats, a removable roof, and an engine I wouldn’t recommend to anybody. Oddly, that price is also about $10,000 less than an equivalent 2025 example, which tells you how out of control things had become.

What makes it a Willys? You get the decals, black 17-inch wheels, black grille, LED fog lights, and the tougher-looking bumpers. More importantly, you also get a locking rear axle and a Willys-specific heavy-duty suspension. My tester’s final tally was pushed upward by rock slider side steps, the convenience package, remote start, and the three-piece Freedom Top. The green paint, called 41, is a nice touch and a nod to Jeep history.

Inside, it’s pure Jeep. That means charm, functionality, and exposed personality. The doors are now easier to remove for 2026 thanks to revised hinges, and that sort of thing is part of the Gladiator’s whole reason for existing. The 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster is fine, but the star is still the 12.3-inch Uconnect display, which remains one of the best systems in the business. It loads quickly, it’s easy to use, and Jeep still gives you proper hard buttons, which is a gift in a world increasingly run by touchscreen nonsense. The cabin is also roomy enough for child seats in the back, and overall comfort is acceptable.

Pickup Work

As a truck, the Gladiator does the basics well enough. The bed is five feet deep and just over three feet wide between the wheel wells, which is enough for dump runs, home-improvement materials, and the usual homeowner chaos. The payload is 1,720 lbs, and during my test, I had about 400 lbs in the bed. Nothing dramatic, but enough to show what this suspension is about.

On the road, the Gladiator drives exactly like a Jeep Gladiator. No surprises there. The Willys heavy-duty suspension, however, deserves credit. On Montreal’s cratered, broken, disgraceful roads, it does a very respectable job, especially with some weight in the bed. In fact, like a lot of off-road-ready or heavy-duty vehicles, it settles down nicely once loaded. Ride quality improves, and the whole truck becomes more composed. Then we get to the steering and brakes, and both are Jeep-like, meaning they work.

An Engine, Please

The real problem, the one that completely kneecaps the Gladiator, is the standard 3.6L Pentastar V6. On paper, 285 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque are perfectly acceptable numbers. It’s paired with an eight-speed automatic, and none of that sounds outrageous. In practice, though, this powertrain is the Achilles heel of both the Gladiator and the Wrangler.

Fuel economy is dreadful. Jeep’s official consumption figure suggests about 12.0 L/100 km on average. I saw around 18.0 L/100 km. That is brutal. That is not “well, it’s a truck” bad. This is about 450 km on an 80L tank, which will cost $150 to fill as of this writing, catastrophic. And this was in decent driving conditions, without me tearing around like gasoline was free. With fuel prices where they are, the Gladiator’s engine turns every trip into a reminder that Jeep needs another answer immediately.

That is what kills it for me. Most Gladiator owners won’t regularly use the rear locker. Most won’t spend their weekends in 4Lo. Most are buying the look, the Jeep identity, and the added practicality of a bed. Fair enough. But if the truck is going to be used mostly as normal transportation with occasional truck duty, this engine is impossible to excuse.

What to Watch For

The big ownership concern is fuel cost. The 3.6L V6 is thirsty enough to become a constant irritation. It also occasionally suffers from internal component failures despite regular maintenance.

Beyond that, the Gladiator’s rugged mechanical layout may appeal to buyers who prefer old-school hardware, but at this price, never expect anything more than a true Jeep experience, which, for many, is the main purchase reason. Long-term durability may not be the issue; daily operating cost absolutely is.

Verdict

I like the Gladiator. I really do. It has character, usefulness, and a style all its own. But I could never buy one with this engine.

In this segment, the Ford Maverick makes far more sense financially and practically, especially in hybrid form. For about $40,600, the hybrid AWD version can tow up to 4,000 lbs and haul up to 1,400 lbs – perfect specs for urban trucking. The Tacoma still has appeal and is available with a manual transmission(!). The Frontier, old as it is, may end up being the safest bet of the bunch.

The Gladiator remains lovable, but with this V6, I wouldn’t touch it with someone else’s money.

Model	2026 Jeep Gladiator Willys	2026 Ford Maverick XL Hybrid AWD	2026 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab PRO-4X
Pricing	$57,890	$40,595	$59,297
Engine / Transmission	3.6L V6 / 8-speed auto.	2.5L 4-cyl + hybrid / CVT	3.8L V6 / 9-speed auto.
Power (hp)	285	184	310
Torque (lb-ft)	260	236 (electric motor)	281
Rear differential	3.73 electronic locking	N/A	Ratio N/A, electronic locking
Combined fuel consumption (NR Can)	12.4 L/100 km	6.2 L/100 km (estimated)	13.0 L/100 km
Max towing	6,000 lb (2,722 kg)	4,000 lb (1,814 kg)	6,690 lb (3,035 kg)
Max payload	1,025 lb (465 kg)	1,400 lb (635 kg)	1,200 lb (544 kg)
Bed length	60.3 in (1,531 mm)	54.4 in (1,382 mm)	59.5 in (1,511 mm)
Approach / departure angle	40.8 degrees / 25 degrees	20.4 degrees / 21.0 degrees	32.3 degrees / 22.9 degrees
Ground clearance	10 in (254 mm)	8.1 inch (206 mm)	8.6 inch (218 mm)