First Off-Rodeo impressions by Bronco6g members

[Tor148]

@Tor148 , I've finally recovered from my 10 hour drive home (got home after midnight) so I'm working on adding my content now.... I'm going to do a write-up on the manual transmission and I'll throw my pics up in a minute.

Awesome, glad you made it safe!

Sponsored

 

[thatguy92]

Has anyone tried to use their $250 voucher for merchandise at the event instead of a guest?

 

[tyrobronco]

Um you seemed to have read that wrong, this just means the most you will pay is $3575 vice up to the replacement cost of the vehicle But yes this would not be my first "rodeo" so I would pass as well.

You sure about that?

It says, pay 75 "to limit his/her financial liability to $3500".

If you do $1000 in damage, you have not reached your limit in damage - so you are paying for it out of pocket.

If you do 6,000 in damage - you pay 3500 and Ford's insurance covers the other 2500.

This was the point I was making.

 

[Felix808]

You sure about that?

It says, pay 75 "to limit his/her financial liability to $3500".

If you do $1000 in damage, you have not reached your limit in damage - so you are paying for it out of pocket.

If you do 6,000 in damage - you pay 3500 and Ford's insurance covers the other 2500.

This was the point I was making.

Absolutely, you limit your liability not dissolve it. You are liable for up to the first $3,500 in damages if you buy the insurance. it does not read like rental car insurance where you walk away.

 

[j_marinelli]

I haven't done this but someone in a post made the comment that it might be worth checking your insurance to see if its something that would cover the damage (minus your deductible). I never really have heard of this (that's why rent a cars have insurance options as well) but it might be a thing.

 

[Ryuk]

I'd think they would, as it's no different than a rental, but best to ask and get the answer in writing to be safe.

 

[Natai]

Thanks for the write-ups, pics, and vids!
I seem to recall that some of the Off Roadeos were also offering optional paid add-on experiences, but there wasn't much detail. Were there any options like this in Austin?

$75 and you are still responsible for the first $3500 in damage?

A little surprising you have to pay extra for this limit of liability given the amount you are already spending and the nature of the activity. Seems like it should already be included as part of the $500-600 experience.

So during all the excitement of the last 2 days I totally forgot to ask one very very important question that I hope that anyone who's going to the off rodeo will ask and hopefully get an answer I don't know if anyone else noticed this but every time I got into the Bronco I was driving the auto start was always off but the button was not lit up which means it was programmed some way to never come on and the little indicator on the dashboard showed it off but like I said the button was not lit up. So anyone who's still going to the off rodeo Let's start asking those questions and find out if they will tell us how they did it so we can all permanently turn off the auto start if you want to which I know you want to!!!!

IIRC, most, if not all, of the off-road GOAT modes automatically disable the Auto Start Stop.

 

[blanchardsbronco]

Yea!!!! I am going on July 4th!!! I can't wait. So did everyone have their own bronco to drive.... scared they are going to try to give me a sport to drive!!!!!
I am super stoked. My build was pushed from June 18 to July 19th..... so at least I can tide myself over!!!!!!

 

[Tor148]

Yea!!!! I am going on July 4th!!! I can't wait. So did everyone have their own bronco to drive.... scared they are going to try to give me a sport to drive!!!!!
I am super stoked. My build was pushed from June 18 to July 19th..... so at least I can tide myself over!!!!!!

Congrats!!
Yes you actually pick which one you want from about a dozen vehicles and only you (and if you have a guest) are in it.

 

[tyrobronco]

Absolutely, you limit your liability not dissolve it. You are liable for up to the first $3,500 in damages if you buy the insurance. it does not read like rental car insurance where you walk away.

Yes, we agree.

 

[emulous74]

I have to say I was really, really impressed with what Ford did for the Off-roadeo, it truly was a class act, the staff did a great job and the vehicles were great. Here's what I posted on ExpeditonPortal when I got back to the airbnb I rented (look up the cottage in round mountain, only 12 minutes away and it sits on 300 acres). I was the only one wearing a mask (it's my choice, IMO these events can be super spreader), but my guide came up to me an asked if I would feel more comfortable if the guides were wearing them. I told him, no it's my choice to wear one, it's your choice not to wear one. I still thought that was very classy. I didn't get to go to the second day (and trust me I wanted to go) as I had no place to keep my dog.

Here's my impression of the 2.3 badlands auto I drove:

I spent 4 hours today, riding trails, going over slip rock, through flooded creeks and some light mud in a 2.3l Badlands 4 door automatic with the Luxe package (33” BFG KO2 tires). First impressions, with the sway bar disconnected this thing is sprung and the shocks are calibrated perfectly, I have never been any vehicle that is this smooth in slow off-road conditions. Unfortunately I did not get to drive it at speed or on-road. I thought the DSSV shocks in my Bison were amazing off-road compared to other vehicles, but I think the badlands bronco has it beat for moderate rock crawling. I know this is a limited test, but needles to say I was impressed, the good thing about the DSSVs is they are amazing in all conditions, so fast off-road, washboards, and on street driving will be needed for a real comparison.

They do look better in person IMO, much smaller than I imagined and driving it, it felt it had more interior room in the front seats than my extended cab Colorado, but drove much narrower than it. The interior is a great design, but a major let down in materials (with the exception of the marine grade vinyl, which I really liked). The Colorado isn’t known for a good interior, but the quality of materials in the Bronco interior have no place in a 50K+ vehicle. I would not expect them in any vehicle sold in the US, it’s a good thing they look good, but I imagine a ton of scratches everywhere down the road just don’t touch them, none of the plastics feel good to touch or of quality. The small door arm rests and the center console arm rest are covered in the marine grade vinyl, with very little padding, but my arms didn’t hurt resting on them, but when you are going down trails, you very rarely touch anything other than the steering wheel and the locker switches. The only things that felt good to touch, where the rubber? covered knobs and buttons. The 12” infotainment system was very responsive and I was able to connect apple car play wirelessly without any trouble the first time through, interestingly when I placed my iPhone 12 pro on the wireless charger, the infotainment system said it wasn’t compatible but my phone indicated it was being charged. I also was able to the indicated steps to connect via Bluetooth and play music from my phone. Most of the time the infotainment system was on the cameras (they automatically enable and show in certain GOAT modes. The cameras were good quality, but not great as the color representation was not very accurate. However the camera system is complete and was a game changer off-road, I used the forward camera (that even points down when cresting a hill) and the overhead view, which the system displayed on a split screen. For someone who usually drives alone, this system is impressive in what you are able to see and determine the perfect line to take. It was a little strange of not looking out the windshield, or the windows to figure out your line. The system did beep at me quite a few times, when the vehicle was at angle and it thought I was going to hit something, it didn’t try to stop me, it just beeped at me, usually from the rear when I was going up a slope. The one I drove had a softop and I moved the seat as high as it could go (I’m 5’11”) and there were at least 4 inches above my head. Overall, despite the poor quality of materials (even the seatbelts, felt not as wide as every other seatbelt I’ve used) the interior is packaged and laid out really well. The window switches in the center console took some getting used to as the fronts are on the bottom.

Visibility is decent out the front, the trail guides are supposedly positioned in the center of the front tires and they really do help in placing the vehicle, considering how the overall design is a slab, it’s easy to learn where the vehicle ends, side view is also decent and rear view is only fair, the opening is small and the tire does obscure a good portion. I would really need to drive it on a highway to see what the visibility is really like. The side view mirrors are decent in size and give a good view, especially when the workers were walking alongside the vehicle.

I really like the way these look, the 2-door with Sasquatch package is my favorite, but the space in the 4-door is just more practical, the 2-doors did a much better job in rock crawling. Overall, I’m glad I ordered one and can’t wait to get mine and spend a lot more time in it.

Things I didn’t like or care for:
The rear bumper is plastic on the badlands or the thinnest steel I ever felt.
There is only one stalk on the steering wheel, it operates the turn signals and the wipers, I don’t know why they didn’t do the standard two, because you loose the ability to have a single pass of the windshield by pulling up or down on the stalk, which is really helpful when going off-road.
As mentioned prior, the biggest let down was the quality of materials for the interior.
The manual door locks on the door, it was impossible to lock the drivers door manually from the inside, you had to use the power locks (which are located on the door), it just seemed strange that I couldn’t manually lock the door.
I get that the doors are designed to be light to make them easy to take off, but the feeling of opening and closing the door feels cheap, trade off that I get, but loss of a firm, robust door closing is noticeable.

This is by no means a thorough review, but hopefully my first impressions give you some insight to what the vehicle is like.

 

[Felix808]

Yes, we agree.

Sorry, someday I'll learn to actually read

 

[Vinny6G]

Has anyone tried to use their $250 voucher for merchandise at the event instead of a guest?

Curious about this too.

 

[PSUTE]

Curious about this too.

Also curious, who is the guest if my wife and I are co-owners?

 

[Ryuk]

I would assume the person who is normally on bottom.

Sponsored