Why Tommy from TFL bought a Wrangler instead of a Bronco (or 4Runner)

[DanW]

All kinds of Broncos near me. In fact, my neighbor has one. I see a few on the lots too when I drive by. Of course I live just south of Detroit…so maybe that makes a difference?

I see Sports all the time. Near my home, I've seen none of the real Broncos. Hopefully that will change soon.

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[DanW]

All kinds of Broncos near me. In fact, my neighbor has one. I see a few on the lots too when I drive by. Of course I live just south of Detroit…so maybe that makes a difference?

Of course it does. Jeep execs were driving JL's all over the Detroit area in 2017, before sales even began.

 

[Ridgway Jeeper]

Even if there was, Ford does not offer a soft top option on the 2 doors yet. It would have been added cost for him down the road to add an aftermarket soft top and unlike the Wrangler there will be no real market to sell hard tops since everyone will have one.

Ditto on the 2.0T, everyone seems to love them at high altitudes.

To be fair, the 2 door soft top option is listed on Fords site under accessories when you "build your own". Made by Bestop, just like the Wrangler. We wanted both tops for our Rubicon but Jeep doesn't offer a dual top option on the two door Rubi. I had to order a soft top from my dealer after the fact. If you can get your hands on a Bronco, I suspect you can also get the soft top for it. I do not see much actual difference there and stating you can't get one on the 2 door Bronco appears to be false.

 

[DanW]

He wanted the manual. That means 3.6 is the only option.

He has always spoken fondly of the 3.6.

 

[DanW]

I wouldn’t call half the press out there, including Automotive News, a “Jeep echo chamber.”

If anything, lately they've been a Bronco echo chamber. Ford has clearly hit the paid media hard on this thing.

 

[aldo98229]

If anything, lately they've been a Bronco echo chamber. Ford has clearly hit the paid media hard on this thing.

Indeed.

 

[Chris2183]

TFL didn't love their experience with the 2.0 and e-torque.

Tommy often praises the pentastar, even when his dad is going gaga over the v8, and has said he'd pick it if he were buying. So he wasn't bs'ing on that.

Right on. I also saw someone else post the 3.6 was the only option on the manuals.

 

[aldo98229]

I’m pretty sure Tommy meant that there will not be Broncos sitting on dealer lots for sale for sub-retail prices within his purchase window.
I was surprised he didn’t go with the 2.0L tho-

He got a manual transmission, so the 2.0T was not an option for him.

TFL reported issues with a Rubicon 2.0T they got early on. I forget what the issue was; it was easily resolved by the dealer from what I recall. But I’m sure that experience colored his choice, too.

 

[ThirtyOne]

If anything, lately they've been a Bronco echo chamber. Ford has clearly hit the paid media hard on this thing.

I don’t think they have to pay them hard. It is a brand new exciting vehicle. Of course they are going to gush about it. They gushed about the Jl the same way. I don’t blame them.

 

[legacy_etu]

He got a manual transmission, so the 2.0T was not an option for him.

TFL reported issues with a Rubicon 2.0T they got early on. I forget what the issue was; it was easily resolved by the dealer from what I recall. But I’m sure that experience colored his choice, too.

TFL also have a video of them running the Rubicon trail “ I think” at a Jeep event where they were able to drive a 3.6 and a 2.0 back to back and they both said they preferred the low speed response of the 3.6 when off-road.

 

[rallydefault]

@DanW
Lol come on, man, you're splitting hairs and you know it. Sure, you wanna talk specific options, then you can technically argue some JL buyers have been waiting "years" for half door orders. But hey, you play whatever semantics game you wanna play, you do you.

@aldo98229
Broncos are out there in the general public long before most of us thought they would be. If that doesn't jive with whatever forum line you wanna keep repeating, then totally go for it. You make whatever world you wanna live in, and have fun with it.

In reality, Broncos are already out there, and there will most likely be thousands of them before the end of the summer., no matter what kind of roof they have (lol).

 

[aldo98229]

TFL also have a video of them running the Rubicon trail “ I think” at a Jeep event where they were able to drive a 3.6 and a 2.0 back to back and they both said they preferred the low speed response of the 3.6 when off-road.

I went from a 2009 JKUR with the 3.8 V6 and 6-speed manual transmission, to a 2012 JKUR with the 3.6 V6 and manual transmission.

Although the 3.6 V6 put out better numbers and drove better 90% of the time, I found that the 3.8 made its torque available at lower RPMs than the 3.6, which made a big difference in some trail situations.

This is the reason Jeep doesn’t offer the 2.0T with the manual transmission.

I believe a number of Bronco owners are going to find out that winding up the 2.3T to be able to manually shift is not a luxury they have on the trail.

 

[Ridgway Jeeper]

FWIW, I drove a friends new Tacoma 3.6 V6 manual the other day back to back with our 3.6 manual Rubicon and IMO the Jeep version is vastly superior. The Toyota V6 is rough, like Toyota V6's always have been. The Jeep 3.6 rev's better, sounds WAY better, feels much smoother. I am very happy with the 3.6 manual combo. The only thing I would prefer is a 5.7 Hemi manual but that will likely never happen. The 3.6 so far has been impressive, altitude or not. I live at 8000 ft and have not been the least bit disappointed in the 3.6

 

[aldo98229]

@DanW
Lol come on, man, you're splitting hairs and you know it. Sure, you wanna talk specific options, then you can technically argue some JL buyers have been waiting "years" for half door orders. But hey, you play whatever semantics game you wanna play, you do you.

@aldo98229
Broncos are out there in the general public long before most of us thought they would be. If that doesn't jive with whatever forum line you wanna keep repeating, then totally go for it. You make whatever world you wanna live in, and have fun with it.

In reality, Broncos are already out there, and there will most likely be thousands of them before the end of the summer., no matter what kind of roof they have (lol).

@rallydefault
@rallydefault
@rallydefault
@rallydefault

Honestly, I’m starting to think you are obsessed with me...

 

[Chris2183]

To be fair, the 2 door soft top option is listed on Fords site under accessories when you "build your own". Made by Bestop, just like the Wrangler. We wanted both tops for our Rubicon but Jeep doesn't offer a dual top option on the two door Rubi. I had to order a soft top from my dealer after the fact. If you can get your hands on a Bronco, I suspect you can also get the soft top for it. I do not see much actual difference there and stating you can't get one on the 2 door Bronco appears to be false.

The last time I built a Bronco the soft top nor the sunrider top on the accessories list, but I never said you could not buy a soft top. I have seen pics of the Bestop soft top on a 2 door so I am sure they are being made currently.

The person I replied to was saying that TFL was not going to find a Bronco for less than MSRP. My point was that even if he did,it will be an additional cost on the Bronco vs the Wrangler due to the soft top being a must have item.

TFL said they got a discount of $2k and some change, if he got the same discount on the Bronco it would be instantly negated by the additional $2229 to purchase the soft top.

Personally I think he should have at least spent the extra to get the twill top instead of the sail cloth as it is a far nicer top and will look a lot better for a lot longer.

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