📝 UPDATE Dec 12th: My Letter to the Ford Executive Team: Submitted Customer Feedback Proposal and Response

[Efthreeoh]

Well, what I actually see is a Bronco with 4 Sasquatch wheels and one Wildtrak wheel on the back spare. The bronco logo is also blacked out which indicates that it is a Wildtrak Bronco with the wrong wheels. I observed this while driving by.

No drama to my post at all, just a simple observation. If you don’t like the forum or it’s content you are free to leave it after all.

And I'm free to comment too, as are you. So what was the point of your post regarding the mismatched wheels?

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[Cat]

Well, what I actually see is a Bronco with 4 Sasquatch wheels and one Wildtrak wheel on the back spare. The bronco logo is also blacked out which indicates that it is a Wildtrak Bronco with the wrong wheels. I observed this while driving by.

No drama to my post at all, just a simple observation. If you don’t like the forum or it’s content you are free to leave it after all.

Isn't WildTrak a Sasquatch?

 

[Efthreeoh]

As someone who took delivery of a First Edition last week I'll tell you about drama. So step off that high horse and come down and try and find the piece of metal that is rolling around in my roll bar over the back seat. What about the unfinished edges of my MIC 2 hard top? So as someone who's been here for less than six months maybe you should.......... well I'll be polite.

I joined two weeks earlier in the same month as you did in 2020, so...

 

[Cat]

No offense meant to Cat by any means, but did you really expect a major automotive company to be interested in a customer's comments (regardless of her professional qualifications and good intentions) on manufacturing quality at MAP? I know my (recently former) company where I worked on major engineering programs would not be interested in an unknown third-party offering comment and help on one of our projects.

I get it B6G is an open public social media platform and drama abounds. But in the real world of real business, the fifth-largest automotive Corportation that has over 100 years of experience in automotive engineering and manufacturing, which has thousands of qualified staff to resolve a few minor quality issues, will look in-house to correct the few noted issues with the Bronco at its initial manufacturing start up. This would be true in any business; none would just accept a "walk-in" to help with issues it knows it can solve.

No offense taken. However, bringing the Customer/End-User in during the design AND Delivery process has been proven to be very valuable, and, many times much swifter resolutions. Customer Satisfaction should be paramount. I am not so sure Ford Production is all that aware of the escapements.

 

[BigSteveO]

Isn't WildTrak a Sasquatch?

WildTrak has a gloss black beauty ring, all other Sasquatch are carbonized gray. At least I think thats what I've seen. But what do I know, it's not like I have my dam Bronco or even a vin after a 15+ months. Not bitter or anything

 

[Cat]

WildTrak has a gloss black beauty ring, all other Sasquatch are carbonized gray. At least I think thats what I've seen. But what do I know, it's not like I have my dam Bronco or even a vin after a 15+ months. Not bitter or anything

Ohhhh...that is just not right. I am so sorry. I finally got a vin a couple weeks ago. (Day 2 res holder). I know its hard...but how sweet it will be when you get yours delivered. You know that feeling, when as you're walking away from a sweet ride you just parked, look back at it and happily think, "That's mine!"? THAT is what keeps me hanging in there.

 

[Efthreeoh]

Well, what I actually see is a Bronco with 4 Sasquatch wheels and one Wildtrak wheel on the back spare. The bronco logo is also blacked out which indicates that it is a Wildtrak Bronco with the wrong wheels. I observed this while driving by.

No drama to my post at all, just a simple observation. If you don’t like the forum or it’s content you are free to leave it after all.

And we thought the Bronco has "wheel problems"... WTF Ford!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Efthreeoh]

I agree with you that most businesses wouldn't accept outside help, but pointing out Ford's 100 years of experience doesn't help your argument. You'd think a 100 year car manufacturing company would have their sh*t together but this roll out is a great example of how they don't. Sure the pandemic is to blame for a lot of their issues but I'm starting to feel like it's just magnifying issues that existed prior to the the pandemic. It still blows my mind that the B&P page was such a mess when they first rolled that out and somehow over a year later it still has issues. As someone who works in the software industry I get that they're a car company and not a tech company but sheesh it's not a crazy complicated page. Then there's the terrible Ford Explorer roll-out which happened prior to the pandemic. There are things I'm willing to overlook because of the pandemic but some of these issues just seem so basic and really put into question their "100 years of experience".

I find the adage that automotive manufacturers "are not tech companies" amusing. Since the mid 1970's the automotive industry has digitally synthesized engine ignition systems and digitally synthesized the carburetor, just to name two examples. They helped pioneer the first commercial use of CAD/CAM systems in design and manufacturing. Use of "software" as tech literally flows from the initial elements of design to the end-item manufacturing process, including automated quality control systems. So, to say Ford or any other automotive company, are "not tech companies" is a misnomer.

As I've stated in other posts (later than just 6-months ago - LOL) to accomplish what Ford accomplished with the Bronco rollout amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, from my view, is commendable. I think Ford's 100-year experience, which means they have a lot of experienced engineers and manufacturing personnel to rely on, actually made the best of the situation. When looked at from a business perspective as a whole, full-rate Bronco production is about 8 months late from the stated "Spring 2021" initial delivery date. Considering the situation, I see that as a success. Sure, the MIC 1.0 top surfaced as a major production constraint, but considering Webasto used resources from Wuhan, China and Northern Italy, two of the hardest-hit of the pandemic, it a reasonable assumption that COVID greatly affected final production of the MIC top. It appears Ford has resolved the MIC top production issues and not too much changed the actual base engineering design of the top.

I try to look at the positives of the Bronco launch rather than the negatives. If I had the position, which seems a lot of forum members here have that "Ford completely sucks", then I'd get my $100 refunded and walk away and buy a Jeep if I still want an off-road SUV. If a prospective Bronco customer thinks the company they are dropping $40K+ on for a SUV "sucks" then why in the hell would they continue with the purchase? That makes no sense at all.

My 2 cents.

 

[AlpineDescent]

Ford spends less time/money in design and the factory/dealer/customer has to deal with the issues.

There are trade-offs with this extra design investment, though: speed to market for new models and model refreshes are slower. Product offerings tend to be simpler.

I don’t see how you can say that Ford spends less in design, but you do have a point that Toyota tends to stick with the tried and true much more than Ford. The down side of that is boring products, but it is obviously a strategy that is working for them.

 

[AlpineDescent]

And we thought the Bronco has "wheel problems"... WTF Ford!!!!!!!!!!

It does improve approach and departure angles.

 

[Badlands2015]

And we thought the Bronco has "wheel problems"... WTF Ford!!!!!!!!!!

So you’re comparing a computer generated image to a real world example? Tells me all I need to know about your logic.

This thread was for discussion about production/QC issues so that is why I shared my image.

 

[Bullitt]

Choices. We all have them... I'm 55 years old and have purchased countless vehicles over the years. If I'm not happy with a vehicle that I'm interested in, I simply don't purchase it. It's really that simple.

I'm a 7/15 reservation holder and mine will be built next month. When it arrives at the dealership, (probably early Feb) I'll look over everything very closely, test drive it and then make my decision. If I'm not 100% satisfied, I'll walk. If I am 100% satisfied, I'll buy it and then it's on me after that.

 

[Jdc]

And we thought the Bronco has "wheel problems"... WTF Ford!!!!!!!!!!

I find the adage that automotive manufacturers "are not tech companies" amusing. Since the mid 1970's the automotive industry has digitally synthesized engine ignition systems and digitally synthesized the carburetor, just to name two examples. They helped pioneer the first commercial use of CAD/CAM systems in design and manufacturing. Use of "software" as tech literally flows from the initial elements of design to the end-item manufacturing process, including automated quality control systems. So, to say Ford or any other automotive company, are "not tech companies" is a misnomer.

As I've stated in other posts (earlier than just 6-months ago - LOL) to accomplish what Ford accomplished with the Bronco rollout amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, from my view, is commendable. I think Ford's 100-year experience, which means they have a lot of experienced engineers and manufacturing personnel to rely on, actually made the best of the situation. When looked at from a business perspective as a whole, full-rate Bronco production is about 8 months late from the stated "Spring 2021" initial delivery date. Considering the situation, I see that as a success. Sure, the MIC 1.0 top surfaced as a major production constraint, but considering Webasto used resources from Wuhan, China and Northern Italy, two of the hardest-hit of the pandemic, it a reasonable assumption that COVID greatly affected final production of the MIC top. It appears Ford has resolved the MIC top production issues and not too much changed the actual base engineering design of the top.

I try to look at the positives of the Bronco launch rather than the negatives. If I had the position, which seems a lot of forum members here have that "Ford completely sucks", then I'd get my $100 refunded and walk away and buy a Jeep if I still want an off-road SUV. If a prospective Bronco customer thinks the company they are dropping $40K+ on for a SUV "sucks" then why in the hell would they continue with the purchase? That makes no sense at all.

My 2 cents.

In this case I used "tech" company as shorthand for companies focused on software development. Ford certainly creates software but that's not their main focus as a company and it shows. While I'm sure Ford has done it's best during this roll-out it's not as if all the planning of this vehicle and it's roll-out started during the pandemic. While the equipment for designing the MIC top may have been produced in Wuhan and Italy, the design( and it's associated issues ) was Fords'.

As far as the position of "Ford completely sucks", I don't think they completely suck but I've never thought their quality was that great. I worked a summer, many years ago, at a Lincoln/Mercury dealer ( only a summer because I'm not cut out to be a car salesman..or in sales in general ). I saw the lack of quality first hand. Even though that was 20 years ago, I still remember showing a customer a new Mercury Mountaineer with the trim falling off around the moon roof. What changed for me was reading good reviews about the Ranger on which the Bronco is at least partially based.

I've driven a Jeep and I don't really like it. I was actually waiting for the new 4Runner when I heard that the Bronco is coming out, though to be honest if a new 4Runner came out, I probably wouldn't be here. I drove the Bronco at the off-roadeo and really like it. I like the design and it's capability but I'm not excited at the possibility of driving a car that has lots of issues.

 

[Efthreeoh]

It does improve approach and departure angles.

It's the "extended wheelbase" option, I guess.

 

[Efthreeoh]

So you’re comparing a computer generated image to a real world example? Tells me all I need to know about your logic.

This thread was for discussion about production/QC issues so that is why I shared my image.

Yes, to make a joke and to reinforce my position about internet car-forum "drama"...

Peace-out.

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