Jeep Gladiator Years to Avoid — and the Years to Buy
Every Jeep Gladiator model year from 2020 to 2026, benchmarked against each other with 1,392 federal complaints, 17 recall campaigns, and the odometer readings owners put in their reports.
Avoid: 2020–2021. These years top the Gladiator's complaint rankings by volume and severity.
The method in one line: every NHTSA complaint for this model is counted, weighted for crashes, fires, injuries, and deaths, and each year is measured against the Gladiator's own worst year — full methodology.
Under investigation. Federal regulators currently have 3 open defect investigations on the Jeep Gladiator.
Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL
The Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) is opening a Preliminary Evaluation on 2020 Model Year Jeep Gladiators and Wranglers involving a malfunctioning Instrument Panel Clusters (IPC) resulting in the loss of important vehicle metrics and other status information. ODI has received 89 Vehicle…
Model years named: 2020
Component: STEERING:HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST:PUMP
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received 9 Vehicle Owner's Questionnaire (VOQ) reports, 1 Death and Injury report, and multiple field reports alleging incidents of engine compartment fires in model year (MY) 2021-2023 Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator vehicles. The majority of the reports…
Component: FUEL SYSTEM, DIESEL:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE21-021 on October 14, 2021, to investigate incidents alleging a stall/loss of motive power as a result of high-pressure fuel pump failures in certain model year (MY) 2019-2020 Ram 2500, 3500, 4500, and 5500 heavy duty trucks equipped with 6.7L…
An investigation is not a recall; it may close with no action. All open investigations →
The trouble strip
One cell per model year. The whole answer in one glance — click any year for the full report.
The defining problem
Steering tops the Jeep Gladiator file with 326 complaints, concentrated in the 2020–2021 model years, most often reported around 3,587 miles. The year pages break down what fails and when.
Every year, ranked
| Year | Verdict | Complaints | Recalls | Top problem | Trouble index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Few reports | 3 | 1 | — | 1 |
| 2025 | Few reports | 26 | 1 | — | 5 |
| 2024 | Too early to call | 30 | 2 | — | 7 |
| 2023 | Typical | 77 | 6 | Electrical | 12 |
| 2022 | Below average | 172 | 8 | Electrical | 40 |
| 2021 | Avoid | 452 | 8 | Steering | 74 |
| 2020 | Avoid | 632 | 7 | Electrical | 100 |
Technical service bulletins
Beyond complaints and recalls, 2,750 manufacturer communications — service bulletins, service campaigns, warranty extensions — are on file for the Jeep Gladiator. A TSB is factory repair guidance, not a recall — the repair is not automatically free.
Browse the Jeep Gladiator TSB list by year →
Questions buyers ask
What Jeep Gladiator years should I avoid?
Federal complaint records point to 2020–2021 as the Jeep Gladiator years to avoid — they drew the highest volume of serious complaints relative to the model's other years.
What is the most common Jeep Gladiator problem?
Steering tops the Jeep Gladiator file with 326 complaints, concentrated in the 2020–2021 model years, most often reported around 3,587 miles.
Every number on this page is a count of records in the federal complaint, recall, and investigation files published by NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation. Counts cover the Jeep Gladiator only, scored against this model's own worst year — not against other models. Check any specific vehicle's open recalls by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.