1k mile new owner worthless observations

[chaosrob]

Hahaha you are right! I bought my '17 BMW X5 with individual paint, which alone cost $5200! By the time I was done - it was a $71K vehicle. And in some of the BMW forums, guys were ribbing me that I had a poverty level trim . Hey man, to each their own. But it's still one of the best vehicles I have ever owned, and I still own it to this day.

So yeah, no biggie on using the "poverty trim" label

People apparently can be a bit touchy about their vehicles choices. I suppose it never bothered me because I am more concerned with buying a vehicle for myself than the masses. Sounds like that is your philosophy as well.

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[chaosrob]

Keep in mind, all Broncos at their heart, are $35k~ish vehicles because they all have the same chassis. They might have different suspension, different wheels/tires, but the basic chassis is the same in all 2 door and 4 doors. The upper level trims are just $10K to $35K worth of goodies and options sitting on that basic Bronco.

Pretty good list you compiled. Agreed on the road noise. We owned a Jeep JL for 4+ years before the Bronco and thank God it was my wife's driver, because I would have got rid of the damn thing after a year if it were me. It was a terrible drive on the interstate. Not bad in lower around town settings. The Bronco - while it certainly doesn't have German car road manners - is a much better on road vehicle than the Jeep.

I only have my own vehicles to compare and comment on. I have never had a Jeep, never felt the calling. I can say from my experience of vehicles with removable tops this one is the loudest. Does mine need adjusting, possibly, I will look at doing so when the weather becomes more cooperative.

Here are two of the removable roof vehicles I am comparing it to, both ancient with tons of miles

 

[Grant3168]

I just hit 1.7k miles on my 4D Black Diamond and agree with much of your points here. Especially the windshield wipers. I got stuck in white out conditions on the highway and these wipers would not keep up and even SLOWED down when on the highest setting. Extremely dangerous and I never knew I couldn't rely on windshield wipers. Dealership was no help as they could not "replicate the issue".

Additionally I have a slight rattle on my hardtop, seemingly coming from the mid panel on the passenger side. Nothing too crazy or obnoxious. It only bothers me because its a brand new vehicle. If it gets worse, I'll get it checked out.

Wind noise- yes its definitely louder than any other vehicle I've owned. However, I really do not mind it. It's only gotten really loud when I hit 80 mph on a windy day. I'd say you start to notice it around 65mph, but doesn't get loud until you hit 80. Doesn't bother me at all. Turn up the music

Last note, I think its funny you say the BD is great as it doesnt have a bunch of creature comforts, but I felt like it is significantly more loaded than I thought. Features like the lane keep assist, reverse alert that will tell you if someone is coming up behind you in a parking spot, blind spot alerts, etc. All of these features I did not know came with the mid package and I'm very glad I got it. Maybe its because my other vehicles are a 2013 and a 2006, but this BD mid package feels very high tech for what it is.

 

[bcb1]

I only have my own vehicles to compare and comment on. I have never had a Jeep, never felt the calling. I can say from my experience of vehicles with removable tops this one is the loudest. Does mine need adjusting, possibly, I will look at doing so when the weather becomes more cooperative.

Here are two of the removable roof vehicles I am comparing it to, both ancient with tons of miles

Awesome! You are clearly a car guy like I am! Absolutely LOVE the Land Cruiser, and totally jealous of that one! That's one I rarely see, most of that body style I've seen are 4 door. The 2 door is great!

If I had more money and less brains, I'd have a 458 sitting in my garage. But I know from a close friend that actually owns one, the idea of owning one is way more fun than the reality of owning one. $1000 oil changes. Being afraid to park it near anyone. And being an absolute jerk magnet, for every pos rice burner and mustang that wants to race, when all you want to do is just take a nice ride on a Saturday or Sunday

 

[chaosrob]

Awesome! You are clearly a car guy like I am! Absolutely LOVE the Land Cruiser, and totally jealous of that one! That's one I rarely see, most of that body style I've seen are 4 door. The 2 door is great!

If I had more money and less brains, I'd have a 458 sitting in my garage. But I know from a close friend that actually owns one, the idea of owning one is way more fun than the reality of owning one. $1000 oil changes. Being afraid to park it near anyone. And being an absolute jerk magnet, for every pos rice burner and mustang that wants to race, when all you want to do is just take a nice ride on a Saturday or Sunday

It sounds like we are distant family. The LC is awesome, it is a 5 speed diesel LHD imported from Spain. I added a turbo to make it more drivable, it will climb a tree if need be. Even with the turbo it peaks at 115 hp which is just not suited to any long distance trips but is fun.

I have a few muscle cars but the ones I drive long distance I have LS swapped. I know it isn't great to the purists but over 700 who and 20 mpg on the highway with cruise, ac and all the other comforts makes it livable for that.

I love many makes and models, I am not a brand loyalist. I truly just love cars

 

[2112]

The stock suspension setups on these Broncos are quite soft. Makes for a very comfortable ride but they dive and roll like crazy. The good news is that aftermarket suspensions help that problem quite a lot.

I installed SVC perch collars and E rated tires and it firmed up the (to me) unacceptably soft/squishy road manners quite a bit.

I am not a rock crawler so I don’t need the super compliant suspension and tires.

 

[69-300]

I just hit 1.7k miles on my 4D Black Diamond and agree with much of your points here. Especially the windshield wipers. I got stuck in white out conditions on the highway and these wipers would not keep up and even SLOWED down when on the highest setting. Extremely dangerous and I never knew I couldn't rely on windshield wipers. Dealership was no help as they could not "replicate the issue".

Additionally I have a slight rattle on my hardtop, seemingly coming from the mid panel on the passenger side. Nothing too crazy or obnoxious. It only bothers me because its a brand new vehicle. If it gets worse, I'll get it checked out.

Wind noise- yes its definitely louder than any other vehicle I've owned. However, I really do not mind it. It's only gotten really loud when I hit 80 mph on a windy day. I'd say you start to notice it around 65mph, but doesn't get loud until you hit 80. Doesn't bother me at all. Turn up the music

Last note, I think its funny you say the BD is great as it doesnt have a bunch of creature comforts, but I felt like it is significantly more loaded than I thought. Features like the lane keep assist, reverse alert that will tell you if someone is coming up behind you in a parking spot, blind spot alerts, etc. All of these features I did not know came with the mid package and I'm very glad I got it. Maybe its because my other vehicles are a 2013 and a 2006, but this BD mid package feels very high tech for what it is.

I have also the 4D BD and would say it’s the best value of the line - it has an amazing ride, it’s fairly quiet around town, and what seems a right balance of bells and whistles - I had it with both hard and soft tops and it is a VERY loud car at highway speeds and worse on windy days - I would highly recommend for the hardtop the pipe insulation hack, it made a huge difference in noise - particularly the header and front door one - huge - yet still at 70-75mph IT’S exactly as the tornado description, maybe a bit louder than that …

 

[MayhemMike]

I instantly discounted your review the second I read “ blow drying my hair”. Lol

 

[chaosrob]

I instantly discounted your review the second I read “ blow drying my hair”. Lol

That's from memory of the 80's, I do not have enough to be concerned with anymore, If I tried that now I would look like this

 

[Limpetman]

Number 4 on your list does my head in!!!

Have formally complained about it being a major safety issue.

 

[gaaangs]

It's incredible to me the differing opinions on the MIC top and how "loud" it is. Some people say its no different than a regular car, other people say it's as loud as a "blow dryer".

 

[UNBROKN]

quite frustrating during a decent rain

They do not go fast enough in a heavy rain.

complete lack of ambient light

On the topic of Ambient Lights. I have a BD with the MID package

I have the same issue. It drives me NUTS. I do not understand why it will not stay on all the time once you set it to be on. Same issue with the recirc button. If I am behind a vehicle with horrible exhaust smell, I can't get the recirc to stay on. Once I turn it on, I want it to stay on u ntil I turn it off.

I do love the comfort of the truck but I am concerned those MGV seats are going to extort their pound of flesh (or sweat) come summertime.

You will SWEAT. Not as bad on short trips, but the long ones will have you sweating like 2 teenagers waiting on a pregnancy test...

 

[omg_bbq]

Oh yea, my recirc button does that too, thanks for the reminder lol

 

[ecomguy]

Did you opt for the headliner? Doubt it does much for insulation or noise reduction, but I’m hoping thst it minimizes echo within the cab.

And the one I have specced out at the dealer is essentially the same as yours… I considered it the best “city spec,” since the narrower tires, shorter length, and steel bumpers will all be favorable for street parking. Plus, who would want to steal steel wheels?

 

[Dover157]

Little over 8k miles on my 2dr manual BD and kinda agree with your observation. Noise doesn’t bother me because I wasn’t expecting a quiet ride. Haven’t had the wiper issue, but I applied rain-x to all the glass on day 2 and hardly ever use the wipers. I would like to have the heated seats and intelligent unlock from the mid package but honestly didn’t want any of the other options that came with it so was able to get over not being able to order mid with the manual pretty quickly. The noisy gearbox is annoying but so far does not affect drivability and just waiting on them to sort out the parts for a rebuild. Still loving the bronco and spend a lot of time staring at it when I’m not in it lol.

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