Dealer Visit: !) What they said about ordering. 2) Test drove FE Bronco Sport. 3) Area 51 & Cactus Grey.

[Cheshire]

In reverse order...

3) Cactus Grey is better than Area 51. I preferred A51 to CG before seeing in person. Definitely some green in CG. A51 is blase, imo.

2) Test drove First Edition Bronco Sport - Took on highway and stomped on it, remember FE has the larger 2.0L 4 cyl. Turbo lag was annoying and so was the whir trying to go faster. IMO - The Sport is underpowered and would annoy the hell out of me. The smaller 3cy 1.5L must be abysmal. The Bronco Sports they have are flying off the lot.

3) Dealer knowledge: This was largest dealer in Miami with stated 500-ish reservations. They had NO iDEA when ordering starts. Sales manager with WT order for himself was unaware you can change trim level at order time. Salesperson told me I would get my Bronco sooner, the sooner I gave them additional deposit (My bullsh_t meter was buzzing and flashing red). They are MSRP only. The floor manager thinks 100% of converted orders will take delivery (huh?), doesn't think Ford will penalize dealership for selling reserved Bronco to a different person, was unaware that reservation/order conversions affect allocation. Sales manager admitted that folks on the forums are better informed than him. Also, said he's got many non-reservation holders that really want Broncos and was interested in getting my 3 reservations, but his boss was unwilling to give me a dollar below MSRP on even one. Most dealers are clueless and don't give a crap until they can actually start selling. Recent rumor that ordering may get pushed to summer is 100% speculative b.s.

Sponsored

 

[Squatch]

You beat up on someone's FE Bronco Sport? Or was this one that magically ended up as dealer stock?

 

[toughtoaster]

You beat up on someone's FE Bronco Sport? Or was this one that magically ended up as dealer stock?

Haha guess the break in period really doesn't matter

 

[KirchTX]

As someone with close family members in the car biz I can confirm a sales manager’s job is to coach the sales people on how to sell. Knowing the product, unfortunately, isn’t a job requirement.

 

[Lcubed]

that there is the fancy learning automatic transmission for ya. give it a year or two to figure out what the appropriate response to your foot jab should be. ?

 

[Cheshire]

You beat up on someone's FE Bronco Sport? Or was this one that magically ended up as dealer stock?

It was for sale, special order that didn't take delivery. I was there two days, seems many special orders don't take delivery. Imagine that!?

 

[BadBradBronco]

Having been born in Miami and having lived and worked there most of my life I can say this sounds like exactly what I would expect from a dealership there. Im surprised he didn’t try to get your deposit today...

 

[broncosor]

2) Test drove First Edition Bronco Sport - Took on highway and stomped on it, remember FE has the larger 2.0L 4 cyl. Turbo lag was annoying and so was the whir trying to go faster. IMO - The Sport is underpowered and would annoy the hell out of me. The smaller 3cy 1.5L must be abysmal. The Bronco Sports they have are flying off the lot.

You are not gonna like the Bronco then. The Bronco Sport FE is 3707 lbs, with 250HP that is 0.067 HP per pound. The Bronco 4D FE is 5226 lbs and with 310 HP that is 0.059 HP per pound or 13% less power per pound. Comparing the same with Torque gives a negligible 2% advantage for the Bronco.
Most people here do not realize the Bronco is several hundred pounds heavier than a Wrangler and a Ranger, so while a 2.0L 270HP is zippy on a Jeep, it won't be the case on a loaded Bronco.

 

[Squatch]

It was for sale, special order that didn't take delivery. I was there two days, seems many special orders don't take delivery. Imagine that!?

Yeah, that's what I meant by "magically" lol. The same thing is going to happen with the real Broncos, especially, in Miami.

 

[vrewald14]

This is a horrifying dealer account. Thank God I live 20min from Granger here in good 'ol Iowa

 

[Squatch]

You are not gonna like the Bronco then. The Bronco Sport FE is 3707 lbs, with 250HP that is 0.067 HP per pound. The Bronco 4D FE is 5226 lbs and with 310 HP that is 0.059 HP per pound or 13% less power per pound. Comparing the same with Torque gives a negligible 2% advantage for the Bronco.
Most people here do not realize the Bronco is several hundred pounds heavier than a Wrangler and a Ranger, so while a 2.0L 270HP is zippy on a Jeep, it won't be the case on a loaded Bronco.

The agreed standard is weight-to-power not the other way around... man that looks funny.

 

[TalexBrizzley]

Most dealers are clueless and don't give a crap until they can actually start selling.

I think this is an important point. Other than losing a reservation here and there, I'd assume there's little incentive for the "average" dealership to put their time and effort into Broncos that they can't sell for another 9-12 months when they can be pushing more F-150s and other vehicles off their lot right now. Same goes for the dealership that I'm reserved with that has given me little communication.

 

[BroncoJay]

Local dealers are friggin clueless. Mine told me he couldn’t guarantee any of his reservation holders ( I’m not one of them) a delivered bronco until Ford decides on their allocation process. I told him that’s Bullshit...
I hate dealing with people that don’t know their products they are trying to sell.. lazy and incompetent are bad traits...

 

[Judge Rufus]

Sales manager with WT order for himself was unaware you can change trim level at order time.

Salesperson told me I would get my Bronco sooner, the sooner I gave them additional deposit

 

[Lcubed]

it's stuff like this that makes some of us wish for a different sales model.

Sponsored