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Motor Trend says Bronco has "poor build quality". Fact or Bias?

markregel

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The latest SUV of the year issue of Motor Trend says the Bronco has "poor build quality". After carefully shaking down a 4dr Big Bend in my garage during a test drive, this reeks of bias in my opinion. Sure, there is the MIC roof issue, but the overall build quality is excellent and remember this is a modular vehicle most body panels are designed to be easily removable. Slapping it with poor build quality is laughable. I think MT is desperately trying to justify their choice of Land Rover for SUV of the Year. It may be a great SUV, but it’s a unibody crossover with low profile tires like all the rest, hardly an off-road machine. Obviously, MT is passing up the most exciting new vehicle launch in decades for a niche market crossover with little fanfare.
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Based on some posts here, wrong rear seats, test equipment shipped with vehicle, scroll down to the weld thread... I think QA is strongly lacking on the Bronco and it's fair to say the build quality is questionable. There were also a few design decisions that are simply bad, shocks lower is a perfect example.

I think the MT Rubicon vs FE article is pretty bad but I also think the Bronco isn't above criticism.

Edit *
We also argued for weeks about the quality of the dash.
 

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I will say that I was very nervous about build quality when messing around on a bronco at a regional event back in May. I felt like i could rip off the upper dash, and the grab handle was loose. When i took delivery of an October build, it actually seemed better put together. Even when compared to a demo I sat in in August. Materials are still a bit dreadful, but the interior construction of it seemed slightly improved.
 

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The latest SUV of the year issue of Motor Trend says the Bronco has "poor build quality". After carefully shaking down a 4dr Big Bend in my garage during a test drive, this reeks of bias in my opinion. Sure, there is the MIC roof issue, but the overall build quality is excellent and remember this is a modular vehicle most body panels are designed to be easily removable. Slapping it with poor build quality is laughable. I think MT is desperately trying to justify their choice of Land Rover for SUV of the Year. It may be a great SUV, but it’s a unibody crossover with low profile tires like all the rest, hardly an off-road machine. Obviously, MT is passing up the most exciting new vehicle launch in decades for a niche market crossover with little fanfare.
Couldn’t disagree with you more. Ford gas dropped the ball numerous times with the vehicle
 

Baddie64

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Test drove a four door BB soft top 2.3 - pretty much the opposite of my build and I was very satisfied overall with the quality.

I will always be baffled at Fords decision to forego 2 door soft top, however.
 

604Bronco

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Every vehicle will have issues. Even a Rolls Royce will, albeit probably few and far between and when it does go wrong, will cost more than your Bronco to fix lol.

There's a warranty for a reason, and a vehicle like this I'm also getting the extended warranty. Even if it's just for my piece of mind and hopefully never need it, it'll be worth it.

Heck, look at Tesla's poor build quality, and you see a million of those on the road.
 

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I haven't received mine, but I'm concerned about the build quality. MIC issues, top leaks, hoses contacting pulleys, hose clamps not tightened, paint removed due to doors/tailgate not aligned properly, etc. Quality control appears to be suspect. I hope I'm wrong for being concerned.
 

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I haven't received mine, but I'm concerned about the build quality. MIC issues, top leaks, hoses contacting pulleys, hose clamps not tightened, paint removed due to doors/tailgate not aligned properly, etc. Quality control appears to be suspect. I hope I'm wrong for being concerned.
I think it's more than just quality control. Maybe some lack of quality engineering/design. Things like the windows that catch when opening the doors. MIC top along with soft top could use better design.
Some real half baked results here...
 

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BroncoBuckaroo

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Mine has been excellent 3000 miles, no problems, 2.7 , lux SAS, no quality issues ..perfect.

I will say the little panels between the taillights and the tail gate door.. waiting for them to fall off, as of now look fine and no problems.

however I don’t have a MIC top, in addition the builds with problems seem to be early than mine, and few if any after.

I do expect the first run of any new mass production car to have its assembly faults (especially when Ford had to play catch up on orders after that MIC top supplier fiasco) which will be straightened out the more that go down the line.
 
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markregel

markregel

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Based on some posts here, wrong rear seats, test equipment shipped with vehicle, scroll down to the weld thread... I think QA is strongly lacking on the Bronco and it's fair to say the build quality is questionable. There were also a few design decisions that are simply bad, shocks lower is a perfect example.

I think the MT Rubicon vs FE article is pretty bad but I also think the Bronco isn't above criticism.
I don't think its above criticism but its also fair to say there are plenty salivating to criticize just because of the hype, or perhaps promote another vehicle paying sponsorship fees? There are tons of reviews online and very few call out "poor build quality", this MT issue is the first time I heard it. Poor build quality is when things don't work and don't fit on many or most vehicles. You can dig up anything on the Internet. Heck I wouldn't mind getting some free test equipment with my Bronco. How about an oscilloscope? Just my opinion.
 

NotApplicable

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As others have stated, it depends which aspect of the vehicle you're focusing on. My biggest issues with the vehicle are minor/cosmetic QC issues. They have thus far not impacted functionality, so there's still an opportunity for this Bronco to rank in my most solid, reliable vehicles I've owned if it continues to perform well.

That being said, there are certainly a fair number of quality issues. My front 2 doors don't line up quite right, all 4 doors "catch" the weatherstripping to different degrees when opened at a normal speed, the front passenger window rattles like hell in the wind when left partially down at speed. My front and rear bumpers are ever so slightly misaligned (1/2 to 1cm lower on the driver side than the passenger side of the vehicle), some sort of loud metal rattle/pinging is coming from within the tailgate itself when I go over certain bumps/undulations in the road, and obviously all of the MIC v1 issues including the popping/rattling, snakeskin texture, liner that sheds sharp particles.

But, it "feels" solid as hell when I drive it, and like I said, if it does its job reliably I'll be happy since I'm sure I can address the above issues over time. My JLU on the other hand, maybe cosmetically looked better and had better QC. But it drove worse and had serious repetitive functional issues, rendering it "unreliable" by my judgement.
 

Sitruc_btb

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“Poor quality” is relative. Coming from an 18 year old economy car. The build quality and material is good for me.
I'm with you there. Come roll around in my 23 year old Expedition. Bronco will look, and sound, like a Mercedes. ha.
 

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Given the issues with the MIC and few other quirks like the whistling in certain trims I’d say that’s fair criticism. Overall though the design and build seems to feel very solid once the quirks are ironed out. I think it’s a pretty impressively truck considering it’s a brand new ground up model that got hit by a global pandemic at the absolute worst time.
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