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I have a little different take on my Bronco review. I hope to put some people at ease who are still waiting for their rides.
I picked up my rig today at Van Cleve Ford in Morton Washington. A small dealership in a small town. I was originally placed with Bellevue Ford, and although it appears they are turning out to be a great dealership, I had some concerns about communication and also where I might fall in line for a Bronco. I was turned on to Van Cleve by another B6G member and I'm very happy about the recommendation.
I've read the forum posts along with everyone else, and have seen all the troubles and concerns that have been expressed. "Don't go with a small dealer because they won't get the allocations", "get a price quote signed by the dealer or they will screw you", "your reservation timestamp won't matter", and multiple other things I'm not remembering at the moment. It's easy to start freaking out. But I chose to go to a small dealer anyway. One who seemed to treat me fairly from the very beginning. No big promises, but always friendly and seemed to be honest. In the end, the process went exactly as it should. They took my reservation from the other dealer without asking for a deposit, they called and converted my order when the 2022 order banks opened up (as I requested), I was immediately scheduled for production (reservation timestamp), and they delivered the car at MSRP and treated me great while I was there.
So I would tell anyone to be concerned if you feel you have a reason to be concerned, but otherwise, just go with your gut and if you have a good feeling about your dealer, you will likely be okay. (It won't solve Ford's supply problems of course, but there's not much anyone can do about that)
When I went to pick up the Bronco I had the OCD checklist in hand, but I'll be honest that it went out the window after about 30 seconds. I looked at some body sections and some panel gaps and then pretty much said "f**k this"
. I had already sent the dealership the few important mechanical items to inspect ahead of time, the owner told me they go through the vehicles with a fine tooth comb before releasing to the customer, and to top it off I was just too damn excited to sit there going over tiny stuff that wasn't going to stop me from driving off that lot with my new ride.
One cool thing about this small dealership is that it's been a family business since something like 1952. The owner grew up racing cars and has some cool as shit Fords in a personal collection. It was a lot of fun talking to him.
Finally, the last thing to hopefully put some people's minds at ease, I drove home nearly 100 miles and experienced none of the problems that some people have found with their Broncos. The cabin was very quiet to my ears (I have the MIC). Very little wind noise and the road noise was on par with my other cars. There were zero rattles from either the top or the back. I didn't break down or experience any weird computer issues. I had an incredibly pleasant drive home. (Yes, the base stereo is crap, but that was known ahead of time and it's no crappier than any other manufacturer's basic stereo.)
Another set of steelies hits the road! It was a long journey to get here and I hope it's another very long journey of ownership fun going forward.
I picked up my rig today at Van Cleve Ford in Morton Washington. A small dealership in a small town. I was originally placed with Bellevue Ford, and although it appears they are turning out to be a great dealership, I had some concerns about communication and also where I might fall in line for a Bronco. I was turned on to Van Cleve by another B6G member and I'm very happy about the recommendation.
I've read the forum posts along with everyone else, and have seen all the troubles and concerns that have been expressed. "Don't go with a small dealer because they won't get the allocations", "get a price quote signed by the dealer or they will screw you", "your reservation timestamp won't matter", and multiple other things I'm not remembering at the moment. It's easy to start freaking out. But I chose to go to a small dealer anyway. One who seemed to treat me fairly from the very beginning. No big promises, but always friendly and seemed to be honest. In the end, the process went exactly as it should. They took my reservation from the other dealer without asking for a deposit, they called and converted my order when the 2022 order banks opened up (as I requested), I was immediately scheduled for production (reservation timestamp), and they delivered the car at MSRP and treated me great while I was there.
So I would tell anyone to be concerned if you feel you have a reason to be concerned, but otherwise, just go with your gut and if you have a good feeling about your dealer, you will likely be okay. (It won't solve Ford's supply problems of course, but there's not much anyone can do about that)
When I went to pick up the Bronco I had the OCD checklist in hand, but I'll be honest that it went out the window after about 30 seconds. I looked at some body sections and some panel gaps and then pretty much said "f**k this"
. I had already sent the dealership the few important mechanical items to inspect ahead of time, the owner told me they go through the vehicles with a fine tooth comb before releasing to the customer, and to top it off I was just too damn excited to sit there going over tiny stuff that wasn't going to stop me from driving off that lot with my new ride.One cool thing about this small dealership is that it's been a family business since something like 1952. The owner grew up racing cars and has some cool as shit Fords in a personal collection. It was a lot of fun talking to him.
Finally, the last thing to hopefully put some people's minds at ease, I drove home nearly 100 miles and experienced none of the problems that some people have found with their Broncos. The cabin was very quiet to my ears (I have the MIC). Very little wind noise and the road noise was on par with my other cars. There were zero rattles from either the top or the back. I didn't break down or experience any weird computer issues. I had an incredibly pleasant drive home. (Yes, the base stereo is crap, but that was known ahead of time and it's no crappier than any other manufacturer's basic stereo.)
Another set of steelies hits the road! It was a long journey to get here and I hope it's another very long journey of ownership fun going forward.
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