Manual transmission will “hopefully” be back for model year 2024 Bronco says Mike Levine

[JAM]

Back in February Ford scheduled all of the remaining reservation orders that involved manual builds. Have any of those manual broncos actually been built yet? I’m one of them and my build week keeps getting pushed, makes me think Ford hasn’t figured out how to fix the manual issue yet.

The progression of my build week: 4/10->4/17->3/27->4/17->4/24

I was hoping I’d have my build for a trip to MT in early June, that’s starting to look unlikely.

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[ChetC]

Well, I don't think I am the only manual Bronco owner that does not have a grinding.

You're not. I've had mine for more than a year and 22,000 miles and have no grinding. I will say, however, when I took delivery of my Bronco I was the 26th Bronco the salesman had delivered at that time (Team Ford in Las Vegas) and I had the first manual transmission of the bunch. I firmly believe if Ford is getting rid of manual transmission Broncos it's because there's not enough demand.

 

[new to bronco]

Preferred ford in gran haven Michigan is selling a base 2 door manual transmission at sticker no forced add ons. I’d buy it but just bought a 2-door auto base.

 

[HotRod76]

Back in February Ford scheduled all of the remaining reservation orders that involved manual builds. Have any of those manual broncos actually been built yet? I’m one of them and my build week keeps getting pushed, makes me think Ford hasn’t figured out how to fix the manual issue yet.

The progression of my build week: 4/10->4/17->3/27->4/17->4/24

I was hoping I’d have my build for a trip to MT in early June, that’s starting to look unlikely.

I also got the e-mail back in Feb. Scheduling was pushed to 4/3. When I logged into the tracker yesterday it showed I was in production and have a window sticker, but given that it’s not 4/3 yet, I will only believe it when I get “the photo”.

I also wondered if the MT has been updated. My wife’s MY22 BB makes the noise (pretty much from when she took possession) but it is very seldom, and only on a cold start. We’ve taken it on multiple long trips (12+ Hours back in October) and it did great and did not make the noise during the trip (like it is happy as long as it is warmed up). She just reached 6k miles. It only shows up on cold mornings first starting up and not always. Makes me wonder if it needs more lubrication or something. I digress…I am not a mechanic and there are other threads about this. Just wanted to give some hope to those who are we worried.

So far, no regrets on getting / ordering the MT and our Broncos wouldn’t be our Broncos without it. I hope the absence of the MT is just temporary and everyone gets it if they want it. I also read Mike’s post as he is just casually indicating that he believes / expects it will come back but just wants to cover himself “just in case” and does not know for 100%.

 

[Lowcountry Bronco]

Back in February Ford scheduled all of the remaining reservation orders that involved manual builds. Have any of those manual broncos actually been built yet? I’m one of them and my build week keeps getting pushed, makes me think Ford hasn’t figured out how to fix the manual issue yet.

The progression of my build week: 4/10->4/17->3/27->4/17->4/24

I was hoping I’d have my build for a trip to MT in early June, that’s starting to look unlikely.

Same, originally scheduled 4/3 then sequentially to current 5/1.

 

[BroncoManualBB23BMBB]

You're not. I've had mine for more than a year and 22,000 miles and have no grinding. I will say, however, when I took delivery of my Bronco I was the 26th Bronco the salesman had delivered at that time (Team Ford in Las Vegas) and I had the first manual transmission of the bunch. I firmly believe if Ford is getting rid of manual transmission Broncos it's because there's not enough demand.

That's good your transmission isn't defective, although most of us with the issue notice it a lot more in freezing Temps, so maybe if you moved to the snow belt you'd have it. I'm not sure about the demand being the reason, think of the development costs, they must have planned on milking the manual for more than 3 years. Even of they throw the hail Mary and charge extra for the manual, I feel like the demand would still be enough to make sense. Adding extra trim levels seems like more scheduling issues than manual.

 

[johntesi]

I firmly believe if Ford is getting rid of manual transmission Broncos it's because there's not enough demand.

That or they just keep screwing people over until they acquiesce to Ford's Master Plan or go buy something else entirely...

 

[Rick Astley]

Amidst the saga of my dealer selling my custom ordered 2 door / Badlands / 7MT / High Package out from under me, I got this fun little tidbit in a very unhelpful Twitter conversation with everyone’s favorite Ford rep.

Since Ford isn’t doing anything for me, I figured I’d throw some gasoline on the rumor mill / frustration fire.

Enjoy!

That's messed up.

Almost the same boat in that it took 965 days for delivery and I'm sorry to say, but we have identical builds.

And as you're finding, dealerships aren't getting many 2-doors. Or manuals, or Badlands 2-doors, or Badlands 2-door manuals.....

FWIW, I know this dealership has an erection green 2-door Badlands in stock, drove past it thr other day.

Don't know the package, transmission or price. They are known for price gouging but maybe with price protection you get that no matter what????? Dunno, just trying to help. They are also by JBLM so they might have discounts for armed services.

Edit: I know it isn't on their website. It wasn't on their site when driving past it 2 weeks ago either and was just there last Wednesday. Might be worth a call? Because dealership salespeople are so great to talk with!

 

[Thingfish]

2dr BL High or LUX MT

Most of these seem to be special orders that are spoken for

 

[johntesi]

That's messed up.

Almost the same boat in that it took 965 days for delivery and I'm sorry to say, but we have identical builds.

And as you're finding, dealerships aren't getting many 2-doors. Or manuals, or Badlands 2-doors, or Badlands 2-door manuals.....

FWIW, I know this dealership has an erection green 2-door Badlands in stock, drove past it thr other day.

Don't know the package, transmission or price. They are known for price gouging but maybe with price protection you get that no matter what????? Dunno, just trying to help. They are also by JBLM so they might have discounts for armed services.


Edit: I know it isn't on their website. It wasn't on their site when driving past it 2 weeks ago either and was just there last Wednesday. Might be worth a call? Because dealership salespeople are so great to talk with!

That last line was great for a laugh.

I placed a deposit for a Rivian R1T the same time as I ordered my Bronco. Figured one of these vehicles would pay for the other.

With the EV tax credit and Rivian price protection (which is honored no matter what and there are no shady dealerships to talk to) vs. Ford markups and price gouging dealers, my net transaction delta appears to be closing in on less than $10k.

While that’s a ton of money, I’m about to sell my business and the brain damage of talking to Ford dealerships + insult of paying way more for the same exact thing has me eyeing the Rivian again. Owning one of those for roughly $62k and never talking to a Ford dealership again is looking a lot more appealing than paying mid $50s for the privilege of padding Ford’s bottom line for a vehicle I initially had out the door at 46.5k.

No, it won’t have a third pedal or a removable roof. But I think 1000 ft/lb of torque might drown out all the Ford BS.

I’ve never been on an active automotive forum where the users hate the brand even more than they love their vehicle. Until now.

 

[johntesi]

Most of these seem to be special orders that are spoken for

Correct. And all the rest have 5-10k markups and won’t get within 3-4k of the trade in offer I had. After a couple of weeks of losing sleep and talking to Ford for WAY too many hours, the bronco dream is going gently into that good night..

 

[Rick Astley]

That last line was great for a laugh.

I placed a deposit for a Rivian R1T the same time as I ordered my Bronco. Figured one of these vehicles would pay for the other.

With the EV tax credit and Rivian price protection (which is honored no matter what and there are no shady dealerships to talk to) vs. Ford markups and price gouging dealers, my net transaction delta appears to be closing in on less than $10k.

While that’s a ton of money, I’m about to sell my business and the brain damage of talking to Ford dealerships + insult of paying way more for the same exact thing has me eyeing the Rivian again. Owning one of those for roughly $62k and never talking to a Ford dealership again is looking a lot more appealing than paying mid $50s for the privilege of padding Ford’s bottom line for a vehicle I initially had out the door at 46.5k.

No, it won’t have a third pedal or a removable roof. But I think 1000 ft/lb of torque might drown out all the Ford BS.

I’ve never been on an active automotive forum where the users hate the brand even more than they love their vehicle. Until now.

Glad I helped go to effort for ya!

If it's just a bitch-thread, chsnge the OP to say you're through with it and not taking any help or opinions.

Plenty of decompression bitch threads out there and they are great fun!

 

[BigMeatsBronco]

He was confused. Somebody posted a link to an article about BMWs YEARS ago. I can't remember, but I think those trannys were ZF, not Getrag...doesn't matter anyway. Apples, oranges, quarter century difference. AFAIK MT88 is Bronco only at this point...and appears in danger of becoming an orphan at a pretty young age. Anybody wana sell theirs? PM me

mines for sale in the sale section

 

[johntesi]

Glad I helped go to effort for ya!

If it's just a bitch-thread, chsnge the OP to say you're through with it and not taking any help or opinions.

Plenty of decompression bitch threads out there and they are great fun!

Nah, I really will give them a call. Lots of helpful posts and DMs here really do remind me why I want to be a part of this community in spite of all the heartache. Your line about dealerships being fun to talk to was good for a laugh but I digress. A few good salesmen have messaged me here because of this thread.

I’m still actively trying to find one and this thread is focused on the demise of the MT.

Product planning and availability is part of the recurring automotive trope of manual transmission popularity. Did people actually not buy manuals or did dealerships not stock them? Did manufacturers make it too hard to buy them?

These are the real questions and I apologize for the personal anecdote.

 

[Thingfish]

Correct. And all the rest have 5-10k markups and won’t get within 3-4k of the trade in offer I had. After a couple of weeks of losing sleep and talking to Ford for WAY too many hours, the bronco dream is going gently into that good night..

My wife bought herself a Badlands 2dr automatic and I have to say, even as an auto it’s a very fun vehicle. For me to buy a 2nd one it would have to be manual, but if I had none? I’d seriously consider a 2dr Badlands even with an auto.

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