LOL - Every 2021 Ford Bronco With a Hardtop Needs a New One

[ShrimpHappens]

It's hard not to keep piling on when they set themselves up for it so well.

Last summer, Ford COO Jim Farley said the Bronco is a "much superior product" than the Wrangler. Off to a great start, huh?

And what's even better is what's also in the source reporter's tweet, a chart showing how Ford plans to fix its product launch issues:

So how's that gone for the Explorer, F-150, and Bronco? Oh boy. At least we haven't heard any widespread problems about the Bronco Sport.

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[jbehrn]

When it was first released, didn't the gladiator have issues with welds, rear driveshaft assembled without grease, and other issues?

It's one thing to laugh at foreign company assembly lines & designs, but I wouldn't want to root against an American manufacturer. Particularly one whose product might incentivize Jeep to make a better Wrangler/Gladiator. Schadenfreude at the expense of an American company and American workers is sort of crappy, not to mention the consumers buying them.

A lot of people in this thread seem to conveniently forget several threads that are hundreds of pages long on the shoddy steering boxes and shoddy rear window installs. Sure, Ford screwed up on the Bronco tops, but FIAT has its own serious QC issues. The top on the Bronco won’t get you killed, but the steering box in my Jeep allowed it to wander so much that driving it was a white knuckle experience. It was a constant while avoiding side swiping vehicles in other lanes!

 

[jbehrn]

Tired: Found On the Road Dead

Wired: Found On the Recall list Delayed

As others have said, at least they're addressing the problem head-on instead of insisting everything's fine like what they did with the PowerShift transmission.

Couldn’t help but think of this one:

FIAT-Fix It Again Tony!

 

[arneb04]

Couldn’t help but think of this one:

FIAT-Fix It Again Tony!

I hate this, tell “Tony” in Toledo, Ohio where he just built the Jeep that it’s Italian. Doesn’t matter what parent company owns them, I’m guessing the vendors have stayed mostly the same since before the JK. In the case of the 500x platform Jeeps you have a point maybe but it’s still stupid.

 

[Klutch]

I have no direct knowledge, but I get the impression it's Webasto who pooched this one. While they do make some tops for European vehicles, the Bronco tops are manufactured in Plymouth, Michigan.

Dollars to doughnuts, the Michigan plant suffered from the proverbial American priority of, "We gotta keep these labor costs down!" and hired people to work for low wages and minimal benefits. As we all know, you get what you pay for.

While there are certainly scofflaws around, I don't think it's fair to say, "Americans don't want to work anymore". Rather, I think Americans are fed up with working long, hard hours for peanut pay, ever-shrinking benefits and no chance of raises or promotions while CEOs buy private islands and superyachts.

 

[texanjeeper]

You act as if the Gladiator hasn't had issues.. This is why people say not to buy the first model year of a new product. This isn't ford specific.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. They rushed their truck to market, and I believe you'll see recall item after recall item on the Bronco. If I'm wrong, I'll say so but it's obvious they needed this truck in showrooms to compete with Jeep.

 

[LostWoods]

It's a matter of scale or numbers. You can bet if the numbers were in the 10% range, there'd be no such communication from Ford.

This huge scale is Ford getting ahead of the "talk" in the rags and blogs.

I dunno this is a make or break roll-out for Ford and is kicking of a new brand. They're going to have to make sure they're overly involved in any issues because social media is savage. They blow this launch they'll never catch Jeep and that will be a massive investment lost for them.

 

[CapnStereo]

Hmmm....

I had put in a reservation for the Bronco. I liked it. Time killed that idea. I had an '08 wrangler, quite fond of it, but man! That thing needed a LOT of maintenance and work...of course, it's a jeep and I knew that going in, but I did not know how addictive the Jeep thing is. Getting my Glad, was a huge PITA. I will say that I don't think I got a very good deal (4 months of negotiations) and am not happy with the sales dept... But I love the Glad. I still like the Bronco (in the future) too. Hope when my wife replaces the Subaru in 2 years that we can get that.
I guess I do not see much difference in Ford or Jeep customer service or quality. About the same from where I sit. And, I do love my Glad...pretty cool!! Wish I had not already scratched it up and broken things...with only 10k.
But....at least Ford was gettin out in front of the issue.

 

[CapnStereo]

Oh,

And when I was looking at the Bronco, I will say the Ford sales guys were far more helpful than the Jeep guys.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I dunno this is a make or break roll-out for Ford and is kicking of a new brand. They're going to have to make sure they're overly involved in any issues because social media is savage. They blow this launch they'll never catch Jeep and that will be a massive investment lost for them.

Heck, ford people will take this in stride. They've been waiting for this beast.
I agree social mediocre is savage beyond belief but Ford has survived some crazy times with money in the bank. Do they even need to catch Jeep - or just keep Jeep on the edge of their collective seats?
Bronco will sell - likely to what used to be called "yuppies" - today's young professionals (or wannabes) looking for comfort and trusting the Ford brand.

 

[WXman]

I tried to tell people for a long time....this Bronco will be riddled with problems for years.

FCA brands actually score near the top in initial quality studies. Yet, just now, with this current generation, did they finally get rid of the creaks, moans, leaks, rattles, and common issues. And Jeep has been building an open top 4x4 every year for as long as any of us have been alive. It's a lot more of an engineering feat than people think to get this right for all climates and all people.

Here comes Ford with a brand new clean sheet design, and it's the first open top 4x4 they've designed in 30+ years? Um, yeah, that's going to be a train wreck. You can bet that it'll be at least 3 years and probably longer before they get their issues resolved and it'll be worth taking a chance on.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Oh,

And when I was looking at the Bronco, I will say the Ford sales guys were far more helpful than the Jeep guys.

That's a given where I live. Surprised Jeep sells anything knowing the sales tactics around Des Moines. Wait, I have to go check with my manager (while they talk the Iowa/Iowa State game)
The best sales people I ever ran into in the Des Moines area were those at Karl Chevrolet - those people bent over backwards, NO PUSH at all, answered all questions and were actually willing to talk without checking with a manager.
Jeep sales people here, with only a couple of exceptions, were working other jobs last month and have no clue what some of the common features are or what this switch is for.
If it was based on sales staff in our area, Jeep would go bust. No wonder the vast majority, and I mean Majority - of trucks here are Chevy and have Karl's badge on the back.

 

[CapnStereo]

Heck, ford people will take this in stride. They've been waiting for this beast.
I agree social mediocre is savage beyond belief but Ford has survived some crazy times with money in the bank. Do they even need to catch Jeep - or just keep Jeep on the edge of their collective seats?
Bronco will sell - likely to what used to be called "yuppies" - today's young professionals (or wannabes) looking for comfort and trusting the Ford brand.

There is a lot of tribalism with things I guess, especially these days. Smoke Meat!

 

[CapnStereo]

That's a given where I live. Surprised Jeep sells anything knowing the sales tactics around Des Moines. Wait, I have to go check with my manager (while they talk the Iowa/Iowa State game)
The best sales people I ever ran into in the Des Moines area were those at Karl Chevrolet - those people bent over backwards, NO PUSH at all, answered all questions and were actually willing to talk without checking with a manager.
Jeep sales people here, with only a couple of exceptions, were working other jobs last month and have no clue what some of the common features are or what this switch is for.
If it was based on sales staff in our area, Jeep would go bust. No wonder the vast majority, and I mean Majority - of trucks here are Chevy and have Karl's badge on the back.

You hit it on the head. Exactly right.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I tried to tell people for a long time....this Bronco will be riddled with problems for years.

FCA brands actually score near the top in initial quality studies. Yet, just now, with this current generation, did they finally get rid of the creaks, moans, leaks, rattles, and common issues. And Jeep has been building an open top 4x4 every year for as long as any of us have been alive. It's a lot more of an engineering feat than people think to get this right for all climates and all people.

Here comes Ford with a brand new clean sheet design, and it's the first open top 4x4 they've designed in 30+ years? Um, yeah, that's going to be a train wreck. You can bet that it'll be at least 3 years and probably longer before they get their issues resolved and it'll be worth taking a chance on.

I don't disagree - but aside from Jeep owners, Ford people tend to be pretty loyal. Ford withstood some horrible times - while GM floundered and needed a cash infusion. Ford will survive this. Ford people will buy them. Now as far as people from OTHER past ownerships jumping into - this will be interesting.
Our Grand Cherokees over the years have been some of the most reliable, trouble-free, QUIET, rattle and squeak free vehicles we've ever owned. We've had at least one of every version Jeep put out, in some cases, more than one of each platform. Quiet as can be, never a rattle or squeak.
My JT is a truck with a lot of removable parts - no small feat to make something like that not rattle or squeak or leak.

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