MotorTrend: Bronco vs Wrangler - Which is Best?

[aldo98229]

Ford announced today that the planned Bronco pickup is dead.

With F-Series, Ranger and now Maverick, Ford must have taken a look at all the headaches Bronco is causing and figured it wasn’t worth it.

You can hear the pessimism on Bronco6G members. I found this post especially revealing:

“I know y'all hate all things Stellantis, but the Power Wagon, TRX, Wrangler 392 and 4XE, Rubicon Recon and Gladiator. Those are some serious range of real off-road options and models. Stellantis doesn't just take reservations they bring them to market as best-in-class off-road.​

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Can't say I'm overly impressed by Ford lately. Seems like the Bronco was just a blip and not a commitment to be the best...”​

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[ThirtyOne]

I’m really sorry for the guys on the Bronco forums. The year i was on this forum before the JL was released was so much fun. Honestly buying a 2021 Rubicon was nowhere near as exciting as buying my 2018 Sport. There were issues and griping here for sure. And some people had to wait 3-6 months to get their Jeeps. But for the most part it was pretty positive and a lot of excitement.

when they Get the Bronco right those guys will be just as excited and in love with their rigs as we are with our Jeeps. But it won’t be the same first-year experience that most of us got.

 

[aldo98229]

Ford set itself to fail by doing two things:

1. Take “reservations“ before the vehicle was even ready for production
2. Go ahead with the launch when it knew the manufacturing wrinkles hadn’t been ironed out

They feed off each other. The reservations generated a lot of demand, which is what Ford wanted, but it added too much pressure on the launch date, pushing them to launch a half-baked product.

Taking reservations might have seemed like a brilliant idea at the time, but I doubt there’s anyone left at Ford who still feels that way.

 

[Sean L]

Ford announced today that the planned Bronco pickup is dead.

With F-Series, Ranger and now Maverick, Ford must have taken a look at all the headaches Bronco is causing and figured it wasn’t worth it.

You can hear the pessimism on Bronco6G members. I found this post especially revealing:

“I know y'all hate all things Stellantis, but the Power Wagon, TRX, Wrangler 392 and 4XE, Rubicon Recon and Gladiator. Those are some serious range of real off-road options and models. Stellantis doesn't just take reservations they bring them to market as best-in-class off-road.​

​

Can't say I'm overly impressed by Ford lately. Seems like the Bronco was just a blip and not a commitment to be the best...”​

Isn't the Maverick based on the Bronco Sport? I thought that's what the "Bronco Pickup" was, lol!

 

[Thill444]

First off, I have no beef with Ford and I think some of their vehicles from a design and performance perspective are brilliant. I owned a Focus RS and Shelby GT350.

But here’s the problem. The dealer network sucks. Most Ford dealers insist on big dealer markups. And the real kicker is Ford quality is terrible. My Focus RS had to have the head gasket replaced because they put the wrong head gasket on thousands of Focus RS’s at the factory. Yes. The wrong friggin head gasket. Not a defective one. A head gasket made for a different engine. And they did this thousands of times on a low production halo car.

I should have learned my lesson, but the Shelby GT350 really made an impression on me. Should have known better. Once again Fords inability to execute and lack of quality. As amazing as the Voodoo engine is, its a ticking time bomb. I personally know many people on their second and third engine. There are terrible panel gaps, with many panels ssgging in the showroom on a $70-120K Mustang. Lots of cheap plastic used. The more expensive Gt500 is plagued with poor quality as well.

Ford needs to get their act together and start firing people. They can’t keep blaming Wabesto (top manufacturing) for all these issues, this is on Ford just as much.
I would not trust a first or even second year Bronco. Let’s see how they hold up after 5 years and lots of trails.

 

[aldo98229]

First off, I have no beef with Ford and I think some of their vehicles from a design and performance perspective are brilliant. I owned a Focus RS and Shelby GT350.

But here’s the problem. The dealer network sucks. Most Ford dealers insist on big dealer markups. And the real kicker is Ford quality is terrible. My Focus RS had to have the head gasket replaced because they put the wrong head gasket on thousands of Focus RS’s at the factory. Yes. The wrong friggin head gasket. Not a defective one. A head gasket made for a different engine. And they did this thousands of times on a low production halo car.

I should have learned my lesson, but the Shelby GT350 really made an impression on me. Should have known better. Once again Fords inability to execute and lack of quality. As amazing as the Voodoo engine is, its a ticking time bomb. I personally know many people on their second and third engine. There are terrible panel gaps, with many panels ssgging in the showroom on a $70-120K Mustang. Lots of cheap plastic used. The more expensive Gt500 is plagued with poor quality as well.

Ford needs to get their act together and start firing people. They can’t keep blaming Wabesto (top manufacturing) for all these issues, this is on Ford just as much.
I would not trust a first or even second year Bronco. Let’s see how they hold up after 5 years and lots of trails.

That is disappointing to hear.

Thing is, Ford doesn’t fire incompetent people; it promotes them. Only after they cause a lot of damage, Ford might or might not fire them.

I still don’t understand what Ford saw in Mark Fields. The guy was obviously incompetent. Yet, Ford spent decades grooming him and setting him up for the top post.

I worked with Ford on three separate studies. Each time I was shocked by the internal politics. Yes, every organization has them, but I never saw politics like those at Ford.

My guess is Ford promotes based on how people act and the words they use, not on the ideas they articulate or on the results they achieve.

After what we’ve seen over the past 12-18 months, I am afraid Jim Farley might be another dud.

 

[Sean L]

I really haven't had any complaints about the two Fords I've owned. Both SN95 Mustangs so I'm close to 20 years out of date! I think the only issues I had resulted from previous owner abuse rather than any lack of quality. The F series trucks we have at work also have worked great too, so the Bronco debacle is pretty surprising for me.

Probably a result of the internal politics that Aldo mentioned.

 

[aldo98229]

I have had a love-hate relationship with FCA over the past 10 or so years. But I might have agree with that poster on Bronco6G: when it comes to specialty vehicles, FCA appears to execute better than most.

 

[Sean L]

I have had a love-hate relationship with FCA over the past 10 or so years. But I might have agree with that poster on Bronco6G: when it comes to specialty vehicles, FCA appears to execute better than most.

You gotta at least love the ability to shove a Hemi in just about anything they make. Also interesting now, the only Chryslers (non Fiat/Alfa) that have 4 bangers and good fuel efficiency are Jeeps... sometimes I have that sink in.

 

[aldo98229]

Interestingly, just saw on Bronco6G that Ford unceremoniously stopped the “reservations” scheme a couple days ago.

Clearly, Ford finally figured that all the hype generated by the “reservations” wasn’t worth upsetting so many people.

If you want a Bronco, the reservations page now instructs you to go see your Ford dealer. Like it’s been done for the last 100+ years.

True to Ford, the guy who 20 months ago came up with that awful reservations idea ...got promoted to CEO 10 months ago...

 

[aldo98229]

Cool story. Thanks for sharing!

Meanwhile, for the next two years you can practice your Bronco wave...as you wave to fellow Jeepers on the trail...

 

[LongTimeListener]

Dealer is reaching out, trying to get me to convert my March 2021 Bronco reservation into an order.

TBH, I had forgotten I made one.

 

[Richtor]

That is disappointing to hear.

Thing is, Ford doesn’t fire incompetent people; it promotes them. Only after they cause a lot of damage, Ford might or might not fire them.

I still don’t understand what Ford saw in Mark Fields. The guy was obviously incompetent. Yet, Ford spent decades grooming him and setting him up for the top post.

I worked with Ford on three separate studies. Each time I was shocked by the internal politics. Yes, every organization has them, but I never saw politics like those at Ford.

My guess is Ford promotes based on how people act and the words they use, not on the ideas they articulate or on the results they achieve.

After what we’ve seen over the past 12-18 months, I am afraid Jim Farley might be another dud.

Farley is a dud. He was ousted at Toyota. His big claim to fame is he’s a car guy. Whatever.

They pushed the good guy out to give it to Farley. The guy that should be in charge is Hua Thai Tang who was once head of team mustang and Svt.

The Bronco is 100% Fords fault. Webasto has been flawless in Jeeps tops. They have been testing it for 5 years it should be gold now.

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