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Update #6 11/3/21
I finally, after four months, have my Bronco back. The dealer finished installing the new engine and I picked it up this afternoon. It seems good. There’s still an airbag fault, but I will take it back in when those parts arrive. It seems that Bronco parts are especially hard to come by. The final missing piece was the front driveshaft bolts. The service manager was very nice and I am beyond happy to have a Bronco back in my garage.
Unfortunately the news today was not all great. The GM apparently told Ford he did not intend to cooperate with a buy-back or replacement. Of course, this comes after I already placed the order. I am hoping his intent is not to try to mark it up for a big profit, but who knows. I have an email from the salesman stating no ADM and specifying MSRP plus $500 doc fee. I very much hope they honor that without a lot of fuss. We’ll see what happens on that front. In the meantime, I intend to enjoy the Bronco and hope for a few more good top down days before winter. Here’s a pic of the new 4-banger installed.
Update #5 9/16/21
Well, I finally have some resolution. Ford is going to replace my Bronco. I used my early reservation (day 2 i think) and placed an order. When the new one comes in, I swap them for the defective one (assuming the dealer actually gets it fixed). I ordered another 4 door Badlands with soft top so it will schedule quickly. The reacquired vehicle team representative has been great to work with. On the other hand, I was in the dealership Monday and they told me the new engine had been there for a week and they hadn’t started installing it. The service manager said it would be 2 more weeks because they’re having staffing issues
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Update #4 8/26/21
Well, my Bronco has been in the dealership's service center for a month now. A few days ago, I finally got to talk to a Ford powertrain engineer. He was super nice and more knowledgeable than anyone else I have talked to. He evaluated my video and showed it to people from the Bronco/Ranger and Mustang powertrain divisions. They are supposed to be providing a resolution to the dealer by 8/31. However, under Maryland law, it will qualify legally as a lemon as of tomorrow because it will have been out of service for 30 days. Technically, they'll be on the hook to replace it or buy it back.
UPDATE #3 8/6/21
So, the story is getting worse. After 10 days at the dealer, I still don’t have the Bronco back. They put a whole new clutch in, but that did not solve the problem. Now they cannot figure out what the issue is. I can’t get in touch with anyone at Ford that has any authority to do anything, so I guess I am stuck. So if anyone has had any success getting in touch with anyone at Ford about issues, please let me know who you called.
UPDATE #2:
It’s officially with Ford for service. No idea how long it will be in there, but I’ll keep this thread posted for anyone who’s interested.
UPDATE:
I got in the Bronco to take a quick spin and the issue came back and is worse. I can hear the juttering even when I’m not pushing in the clutch. The Bronco is not driveable, so looks like I’ll be having it towed to the dealer. @Ford Motor Company I’d love your input.
So, I am 620 miles into Bronco ownership and have had three issues so far with the latest being potentially the most troubling. The first issue occurred immediately. The airbag light came on day 1 and I’ve had a driver’s side airbag circuit fault ever since. I was going to hold off taking it in for work until the break-in period is over because I don’t trust the dealership to respect the “take it easy” mandate in the manual. The second issue was a minor one. The driver window will not go all the way up on one touch. It stops halfway up every time. Also not urgent. Then last night I was cruising home and I slowed to make a turn and pushed the clutch in. It immediately started doing this weird “juttering” kind of thing. I could feel the jutter coming through the clutch pedal and I could hear whatever it was. It did not feel or sound good. I was still able to shift. It did this for the next three shifts and then went back top normal. I’ve not driven it since, but I figure if it happens again, I will have to suck it up and go to the dealer. I really wanted to get the break-in period accomplished before putting it in the hands of dealership mechanics. So, about the issue itself, does anyone know if the clutch has any kind of electromechanical assist to make the pedal easier? If so, it could have been the solenoid or motor binding or hangin up. That’s really all I can think of that would have felt like that. It certainly wasn’t a hydraulics issue (if the clutch is hydraulic). Thoughts? Again, I expected issues on an early build, so I’m not freaking out or anything and after two weeks of driving the 2.3 with the 7-speed, I wouldn’t take the 2.7 and 10 speed even as a free upgrade. The manual is so much fun. @Ford Motor Company any ideas what this could be?
I finally, after four months, have my Bronco back. The dealer finished installing the new engine and I picked it up this afternoon. It seems good. There’s still an airbag fault, but I will take it back in when those parts arrive. It seems that Bronco parts are especially hard to come by. The final missing piece was the front driveshaft bolts. The service manager was very nice and I am beyond happy to have a Bronco back in my garage.
Unfortunately the news today was not all great. The GM apparently told Ford he did not intend to cooperate with a buy-back or replacement. Of course, this comes after I already placed the order. I am hoping his intent is not to try to mark it up for a big profit, but who knows. I have an email from the salesman stating no ADM and specifying MSRP plus $500 doc fee. I very much hope they honor that without a lot of fuss. We’ll see what happens on that front. In the meantime, I intend to enjoy the Bronco and hope for a few more good top down days before winter. Here’s a pic of the new 4-banger installed.
Update #5 9/16/21
Well, I finally have some resolution. Ford is going to replace my Bronco. I used my early reservation (day 2 i think) and placed an order. When the new one comes in, I swap them for the defective one (assuming the dealer actually gets it fixed). I ordered another 4 door Badlands with soft top so it will schedule quickly. The reacquired vehicle team representative has been great to work with. On the other hand, I was in the dealership Monday and they told me the new engine had been there for a week and they hadn’t started installing it. The service manager said it would be 2 more weeks because they’re having staffing issues
.Update #4 8/26/21
Well, my Bronco has been in the dealership's service center for a month now. A few days ago, I finally got to talk to a Ford powertrain engineer. He was super nice and more knowledgeable than anyone else I have talked to. He evaluated my video and showed it to people from the Bronco/Ranger and Mustang powertrain divisions. They are supposed to be providing a resolution to the dealer by 8/31. However, under Maryland law, it will qualify legally as a lemon as of tomorrow because it will have been out of service for 30 days. Technically, they'll be on the hook to replace it or buy it back.
UPDATE #3 8/6/21
So, the story is getting worse. After 10 days at the dealer, I still don’t have the Bronco back. They put a whole new clutch in, but that did not solve the problem. Now they cannot figure out what the issue is. I can’t get in touch with anyone at Ford that has any authority to do anything, so I guess I am stuck. So if anyone has had any success getting in touch with anyone at Ford about issues, please let me know who you called.
UPDATE #2:
It’s officially with Ford for service. No idea how long it will be in there, but I’ll keep this thread posted for anyone who’s interested.
UPDATE:
I got in the Bronco to take a quick spin and the issue came back and is worse. I can hear the juttering even when I’m not pushing in the clutch. The Bronco is not driveable, so looks like I’ll be having it towed to the dealer. @Ford Motor Company I’d love your input.
So, I am 620 miles into Bronco ownership and have had three issues so far with the latest being potentially the most troubling. The first issue occurred immediately. The airbag light came on day 1 and I’ve had a driver’s side airbag circuit fault ever since. I was going to hold off taking it in for work until the break-in period is over because I don’t trust the dealership to respect the “take it easy” mandate in the manual. The second issue was a minor one. The driver window will not go all the way up on one touch. It stops halfway up every time. Also not urgent. Then last night I was cruising home and I slowed to make a turn and pushed the clutch in. It immediately started doing this weird “juttering” kind of thing. I could feel the jutter coming through the clutch pedal and I could hear whatever it was. It did not feel or sound good. I was still able to shift. It did this for the next three shifts and then went back top normal. I’ve not driven it since, but I figure if it happens again, I will have to suck it up and go to the dealer. I really wanted to get the break-in period accomplished before putting it in the hands of dealership mechanics. So, about the issue itself, does anyone know if the clutch has any kind of electromechanical assist to make the pedal easier? If so, it could have been the solenoid or motor binding or hangin up. That’s really all I can think of that would have felt like that. It certainly wasn’t a hydraulics issue (if the clutch is hydraulic). Thoughts? Again, I expected issues on an early build, so I’m not freaking out or anything and after two weeks of driving the 2.3 with the 7-speed, I wouldn’t take the 2.7 and 10 speed even as a free upgrade. The manual is so much fun. @Ford Motor Company any ideas what this could be?
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