A Wrangler Owner/Enthusiast/Builder honest review of the 2021 Bronco -- long.

[Headbarcode]

Saw my first bronco a few days ago. It was as if seeing it for the first time made me realize my excitement for it was long gone. What a disappointment.

Did the recovery go well, at least?

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[Joe98]

A large majority of Wrangler owners have Sports and Saharas.
They are still very capable off-road, sans lockers and low range.

But they do have low range.

 

[sentience]

Theres no cliff-notes for this. Read it or pass.

Challenge accepted. Here’s the TLDR. Skip to IMO at bottom for the super short TLDR.

Day 1
Looks: nice and different interior, bright gauge cluster
Materials: cheap plastics. Cheap plastics everywhere!
Engine/trans: weak off line, strong at speed. Overall great.
Soft top: I like it
Audio: I hate the base audio.

Day 1.5
Big but nimble. I like it. Great transmission.

Day 2
Went wheeling. Goat mode, lockers, all work well. No issue with IFS. Did well on hill, did well in water.

Compared to a Wrangler
Better daily. Better high speed. Wrangler good (better?) at rock crawling. Wrangler groups are friendly.

Bronco trumps Wrangler Sport, Sahara. Wrangler Rubicon trumps Bronco.

Bronco more comfortable to drive. Wranglers have better fit and finish.

Bronco has better transmission. Goat modes, brakes and tuning are excellent.

IMO
Bronco trumps Wrangler Sport, Sahara. Wrangler Rubicon trumps Bronco.

 

[JSFoster75]

Excellent review, I have a question though. In a video I've seen recently, the flex ability of the Bronco is severely limited compared to the Wrangler. Did you find that to be true as well?

 

[HungryHound]

Ford sales are taking a beating this year.

Ford sales in July shrunk 31% from the same period last year. Ford sales for the first 7 months if 2021 are 1% down in a market that is up 20%.

According to Auto News, Ford sold 3,300 Broncos in July and 2,300 Bronco Sports. But that wasn't enough to make up for steep declines everywhere else.

Ford appears to have lost the ability to walk and chew at the same time.

#1 rule of sales: if you don't have it, you can't sell it. Operations at Ford has failed on this Bronco launch. The new car market will be saturated by the time it hits at production volume.

 

[HungryHound]

Great review. Thanks! My "Cliffs notes" take-away is that the Bronco will mainly pull market share from 4-Runner and Defender, not hard core Jeep drivers. Makes sense due to the size and IFS.

 

[aldo98229]

Great review. Thanks! My "Cliffs notes" take-away is that the Bronco will mainly pull market share from 4-Runner and Defender, not hard core Jeep drivers. Makes sense due to the size and IFS.

The ultimate question is how many of sales go to non-hardcore Jeep buyers who buy Wrangler for looks and will be easily swayed by Bronco?

Within the Wrangler line, my guess is Rubicon will be hit the hardest by Bronco, which is ironic.

With JL, Jeep added snob appeal to Rubicon by adding the fancy hood, red accents everywhere, the red dash, a bigger hood decal, etc., and increased Rubicon’s price premium from $3,000 under JK, to $6,000 now.

As a result, Rubicon has grown as a proportion of total Wrangler sales. And FCA has been laughing all the way to the bank.

Every day I see posts on here from new Rubicon owners admitting that they never intend to off-road; they bought a Rubicon mostly for its “cool” looks.

IMO, they are Bronco’s primary target. That’s why Ford is not even attempting to compete on price. Ford knows that there are lots of affluent buyers out there for the pickings. They just have to dangle something new and flashy in front of them. And Bronco gives out all the right cues.

 

[Gunfighter]

Again, glad I decided to go Jeep.

 

[T Town]

#1 rule of sales: if you don't have it, you can't sell it. Operations at Ford has failed on this Bronco launch. The new car market will be saturated by the time it hits at production volume.

So no manufacturer sells cars after the market is saturated?

 

[HungryHound]

So no manufacturer sells cars after the market is saturated?

Far less. Folks have "Covid money" saved up and are ready to spend. Ford is going to miss the peak if that curve by a year due to failure to launch.

 

[Rogue Toad]

#1 rule of sales: if you don't have it, you can't sell it. Operations at Ford has failed on this Bronco launch. The new car market will be saturated by the time it hits at production volume.

The Bronco launch wasn't failed so much as over-promised initially and then various delays, some of which were out of Ford's control (Covid) happened. I dunno why so many companies from autos to video games, announce launch dates too far in advance to be sure they will happen. Delays are normal, but once you've committed to a date you'll be held accountable to it.

But let's not pretend that the decline in Ford sales has anything to do with anything other than the global semiconductor shortage. That's affecting F-150 sales big time, and that is everything at Ford. They're still selling pretty much everything they can make...they just can't make nearly enough.

 

[aldo98229]

The Bronco launch wasn't failed so much as over-promised initially and then various delays, some of which were out of Ford's control (Covid) happened. I dunno why so many companies from autos to video games, announce launch dates too far in advance to be sure they will happen. Delays are normal, but once you've committed to a date you'll be held accountable to it.

But let's not pretend that the decline in Ford sales has anything to do with anything other than the global semiconductor shortage. That's affecting F-150 sales big time, and that is everything at Ford. They're still selling pretty much everything they can make...they just can't make nearly enough.

That’s not entirely the case, though. Ford has been impacted by the shortages much harder than every other automaker. The company has to bear responsibility for that.

Not everything in Ford outside of F-Series is going up in sales, either. If you draw a circle on those models near Bronco Sport, in terms of price, size and relative capability, you will notice their sales are being cannibalized. Which was to be expected.

Finally, it was Ford’s own choice to over-promise. The guerrilla marketing tactics, and the amount of it on social media is simply nauseating. I started looking at Bronco genuinely excited. But between the never-ending delays, and then the fake “independent” posts and reviews online, I got soured towards it.

 

[HungryHound]

The Bronco launch wasn't failed so much as over-promised initially and then various delays, some of which were out of Ford's control (Covid) happened. I dunno why so many companies from autos to video games, announce launch dates too far in advance to be sure they will happen. Delays are normal, but once you've committed to a date you'll be held accountable to it.

But let's not pretend that the decline in Ford sales has anything to do with anything other than the global semiconductor shortage. That's affecting F-150 sales big time, and that is everything at Ford. They're still selling pretty much everything they can make...they just can't make nearly enough.

Ford was one of my customers when I sold fuel systems years ago living in Detroit. I can give you ZERO instances where excuses such as these were acceptable and our supplier rating was not negatively affected. They should live up to the same demands they place on their suppliers. No excuses accepted by me so I bought a new JLUR instead.

 

[DavidArmen]

Nice review!

No vehicle will ever feel and drive like a wrangler. No matter how much they try to copy and “improve” on the icon. That’s what jeepers love most about their Jeeps; the very unique driving characteristics.

 

[aldo98229]

Nice review!

No vehicle will ever feel and drive like a wrangler. No matter how much they try to copy and “improve” on the icon. That’s what jeepers love most about their Jeeps; the very unique driving characteristics.

Indeed.

Ironically, every competitor that sets out to “copy” Wrangler, be Xterra, FJ Cruiser and now Bronco, starts by getting rid of the front solid axle. The very feature that gives Wrangler its characteristic drive and feel, on and off-road.

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