Outer banks Soft Top Debacle.

[Nikwhyte]

In early October I noticed my soft top was peeling and sagging over the drivers seats.
I scheduled an appointment with my local dealer and they attempted to glue the sagging canvas. The fix lasted about 24 hours.
My dealers ordered a replacement soft top from Ford Canada and we were excited to see the top arrive in early December.
And then everything went to crap.
First instead of receiving a soft top and frame we instead received replacement canvas. My top was removed from my Bronco and the canvas was removed from the frame, half way into the process of putting the new canvas on my frame it’s found to be the wrong canvas. Apparently my original top has a cable along the frame to keep the top taunt. The replacement canvas didn’t have a cable or channel for the cable to run.

My Bronco is now parked in a repair bay at my dealership without a top and with no possibility of reinstalling my original canvas while Ford continues to send canvas that will not fit my vehicle (4 wrong so far) my dealership has confirmed with the design team at Ford that my top has a cable and channel, we have a copy of the blueprints for my vehicle and yet Ford has no idea when or if I’m going to get the correct parts for my vehicle.
No one on either side wants to admit Ford has changed their canvas design since my 2021 was shipped and they have no answer to when I’m getting my car back.
My dealership has been great keeping me informed and allowing me access to communication with Ford Canada, I’m currently driving a Ford Maverick until this is resolved.
But I worry that this will not be fixed anytime soon and if they do find a top what happens if the original problem re-occurs on the replacement part.
At this point I expect when summer comes I will be able to borrow my vehicle from the dealership to drive on nice days without a top and return it when it’s scheduled to rain.

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[PWillette]

Two words...Hard Top. Probably not what you want to hear but obviously the soft top debacle could drag on for who knows how long.

 

[Nikwhyte]

I don’t think I have the option to change at this point.
I know I’m seriously looking at trading my Bronco once we get it back. Which is a shame I truly love my Bronco.

 

[PWillette]

Wouldn't hurt to make the suggestion for a hard top. If they can't come up with the correct fabric one would think they should at least be able to replace the entire soft top...not just the fabric. Hopefully they get you fixed up sooner than later.

 

[604Bronco]

Well, they did update the soft top design from 2021, but Ford should know that…

This video explains some of the changes made:

Like mentioned above, there’s no hard inquiring on a hard top. The worst they’ll say is no, but at this point, they’re not really finding a solution to your issue. They should just send you a new soft top already on the frame and call it a day.

Wishing you all the best with this - I can imagine it’s frustrating, but don’t give up on your Bronco!

 

[Shlep]

What part of Ontario are you in? Call customer care and get them working on this. Also get a request for a field service engineer to get involved.

 

[Nikwhyte]

We have been in contact with customer service , first call got us a very helpful response and they were able to work with our dealer to arrange a lender vehicle.
Our 2nd call was completely useless the rep told us they can’t handle mechanical repairs and to talk to our dealer.
we have made 3 attempts this week to reach customer service and no response.

We are based in the Belleville area.

 

[IPRoutes]

No options available for an non-oem/aftermarket alternative?

 

[Shlep]

We have been in contact with customer service , first call got us a very helpful response and they were able to work with our dealer to arrange a lender vehicle.
Our 2nd call was completely useless the rep told us they can’t handle mechanical repairs and to talk to our dealer.
we have made 3 attempts this week to reach customer service and no response.

We are based in the Belleville area.

Yeah I can see that happening, but not getting back to you isn't acceptable. One question for you, 2 or 4 door? I'll check something out tomorrow morning and see what's going on with the tops, my parts guy is pretty good.

 

[Nikwhyte]

My Bronco is a 4 door Outerbanks model, manufactured date August 2021.

 

[huey]

as someone else mentioned tell Ford they can buy you a hardtop, or Ford can pony up for an aftermarket soft-top. That won't be an easy battle, but put some pressure on them. You have some leverage here as you are paying(or have paid) for a vehicle that you can't drive.

good luck!

 

[BroncoA512021]

In early October I noticed my soft top was peeling and sagging over the drivers seats.
I scheduled an appointment with my local dealer and they attempted to glue the sagging canvas. The fix lasted about 24 hours.
My dealers ordered a replacement soft top from Ford Canada and we were excited to see the top arrive in early December.
And then everything went to crap.
First instead of receiving a soft top and frame we instead received replacement canvas. My top was removed from my Bronco and the canvas was removed from the frame, half way into the process of putting the new canvas on my frame it’s found to be the wrong canvas. Apparently my original top has a cable along the frame to keep the top taunt. The replacement canvas didn’t have a cable or channel for the cable to run.

My Bronco is now parked in a repair bay at my dealership without a top and with no possibility of reinstalling my original canvas while Ford continues to send canvas that will not fit my vehicle (4 wrong so far) my dealership has confirmed with the design team at Ford that my top has a cable and channel, we have a copy of the blueprints for my vehicle and yet Ford has no idea when or if I’m going to get the correct parts for my vehicle.
No one on either side wants to admit Ford has changed their canvas design since my 2021 was shipped and they have no answer to when I’m getting my car back.
My dealership has been great keeping me informed and allowing me access to communication with Ford Canada, I’m currently driving a Ford Maverick until this is resolved.
But I worry that this will not be fixed anytime soon and if they do find a top what happens if the original problem re-occurs on the replacement part.
At this point I expect when summer comes I will be able to borrow my vehicle from the dealership to drive on nice days without a top and return it when it’s scheduled to rain.

Many 2021's had the fabric replaced. Mine was the first to be done ay my dealer. I did not like the way it was done, they got it right the second time. The frame is rarely replaced. @Ford Motor Company is aware of the issues.

 

[Nikwhyte]

Does Your top have the cable channel?

 

[Nikwhyte]

Ford Customer service have closed my ticket# apparently this is why we are not receiving any calls back, we have asked to speak with a manager in customer service but of course that will take 24-48 hours. (do I believe someone will call me back? NO!)

Ford design team are saying the design of the top has not changed.

My Bronco was originally sent to my dealership to be a test model, they shipped 1 to all the dealers in September 2021 to increase sales even though at that time all orders were still being wait listed. I was able to get my Bronco because my dealership had received 2 for testing and they only needed 1 so they sold the unit to me. I'm starting to feel my issues may all stem because I have a vehicle that wasn't supposed to be sold.

 

[604Bronco]

Ford Customer service have closed my ticket# apparently this is why we are not receiving any calls back, we have asked to speak with a manager in customer service but of course that will take 24-48 hours. (do I believe someone will call me back? NO!)

Ford design team are saying the design of the top has not changed.

My Bronco was originally sent to my dealership to be a test model, they shipped 1 to all the dealers in September 2021 to increase sales even though at that time all orders were still being wait listed. I was able to get my Bronco because my dealership had received 2 for testing and they only needed 1 so they sold the unit to me. I'm starting to feel my issues may all stem because I have a vehicle that wasn't supposed to be sold.

That's ridiculous. As per the video I posted above, you can see there's been a change in the soft top since release. It's common knowledge on B6G and the internet - Maybe you need to share some links with them (although you shouldn't have to...).

Maybe they should try sending you a full new soft top, and not just the canvas, since that should fit properly and eliminate any of this back and forth.

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