Supply chain is just an excuse, your dealer allocations are the reason you're waiting

[Sherminiator]

The only thing I really don't agree with is the top shortage. There was all kinds of discussion in 2019 about the tops being an issue with that jack ass company they used. They were trying to get it right in 2019 and failed but only had more issues when it went into 2020 with covid. Ford really messed that part up themselves.

The Bronco wasn't supposed to be in production till December 7, 2020.

Webasto was having issues building the plant then having issues staffing it because COVID just kicked off in March/April of 2020.

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[jddunfee]

The Bronco wasn't supposed to be in production till December 7, 2020.

Webasto was having issues building the plant then having issues staffing it because COVID just kicked off in March/April of 2020.

I assume you didn't read about the fitment problems they had in 2019? I was making jokes about it back then saying this was going to push everyone back......and it did. I was talked about way back when but it's not a big deal. All fun reading.....

 

[Cyber2D]

Oh don't get me wrong, I was quite interested in a Bronco (base 2-door manual). I even attended an early Ford invite-only event in my area, to see prior to release. Made a thread here somewhere about it, including photos and suspension measurements and other stuff. In that thread I wrote "Ford hit a home run".

And later I went to a free Ford offered driving event, where I got to test off-road a 2-door manual. As a long time open top 4x4 fan, the Bronco vehicle itself, I think is great.

But not great enough to pay ADMs or pay for aggravations. I was an early person pointing out why the reservation system would not work like many people thought.

I would still get a Bronco if easily available for MSRP. So at this point, I mainly check back to see if the availability situation has changed, and because I still own a bunch of Ford stock, and frankly also to make fun of the situation, lol.

Even though I do feel bad for folks who were all-in, and got screwed over by dealerships. To wait a year or more and have a dealer tack on 10k ADM or whatever, it would bite to invite that grief.

Makes sense. I'd hop on a list somewhere when 23 order books open. Not exactly hard and you just might get your 2d base before I do ‍

 

[Last Ride Bronco]

I was a 1st day reservation, ordered January 2021 and had my fully loaded WT delivered October 18, 2021. There were 40 allocations at my dealership. I was number 20, but I was the 7th to get my Bronco. There seems to be no rhyme or reason. Mine had every constraint you could have: MIC, lux, leather, 2.7, tow, 2 door, SAS. The 2 door Wildtrak was the biggest no-no and I was an early delivery.

 

[Sherminiator]

I assume you didn't read about the fitment problems they had in 2019? I was making jokes about it back then saying this was going to push everyone back......and it did. I was talked about way back when but it's not a big deal. All fun reading.....

But at the same time those tops where being made at a completely different facility and when they started producing them at the current plant, they ran into the delaminating issues that delayed things to fall 2021 for newly produced vehicles.

 

[jddunfee]

I was a 1st day reservation, ordered January 2021 and had my fully loaded WT delivered October 18, 2021. There were 40 allocations at my dealership. I was number 20, but I was the 7th to get my Bronco. There seems to be no rhyme or reason. Mine had every constraint you could have: MIC, lux, leather, 2.7, tow, 2 door, SAS. The 2 door Wildtrak was the biggest no-no and I was an early delivery.

Have you tried the lottery lately...LOL
Glad you got yours in a decent timeframe.

 

[Last Ride Bronco]

But at the same time those tops where being made at a completely different facility and when they started producing them at the current plant, they ran into the delaminating issues that delayed things to fall 2021 for newly produced vehicles.

That’s true, I had the 2.0 MIC top for my October delivery.

 

[jehines3]

I'm probably going with door #3 (was just pricing some Wranglers). Depends on how my old TJ is holding up, and amount of distant off-roading planned for the upcoming year.

Goal is to be driving up some picturesque mountain trail next summer. That fun and adventure doesn't require a Bronco. A Wrangler will get me there in top-down fashion as well.

Some folks are gluttons for punishment waiting around. Maybe too caught up in the image of a vehicle, rather than what they are actually doing?

Just hang in there (Intentional Hammock joke).

My plan was to wait through most of this winter and then just buy a used Wrangler JLU or Gladiator off Cargurus if the Bronco wasn't scheduled by February 2023. There is zero reason to buy a new wrangler since Its due for a refresh soon. Between the cycle refresh and the Bronco competition, bad investment to go after a new JL. I got lucky at only 757 days from reservation to delivery.

 

[huey]

I don't think that is a supply chain issue. Have there been issues, sure. But that is not early reservation holders hold ups now. It is allocation just like I am waiting for and have accepted it.
Remember, Ford said they could build 15,000 broncos a month at max and we all know that is difficult to do but they are pumping out 10-15k each month. They are not all softop base models.
Just my opinion. Thanks for listening (reading).

just a note from an OEM suppliers side - there are definitely supply issues still today. We need to manage our production schedule to reflect what our customer pulls(based on vehicle orders), and coordinate our raw material inventory to match. So if we need a certain steel to run through presses to make parts but the steel arrives late, we need to scramble. Sometimes this steel may take an extra week to arrive. We have the same issues with weld nuts and other fasteners. The supply issues are very much alive today from both a cost and availability perspective.

 

[jddunfee]

just a note from an OEM suppliers side - there are definitely supply issues still today. We need to manage our production schedule to reflect what our customer pulls(based on vehicle orders), and coordinate our raw material inventory to match. So if we need a certain steel to run through presses to make parts but the steel arrives late, we need to scramble. Sometimes this steel may take an extra week to arrive. We have the same issues with weld nuts and other fasteners. The supply issues are very much alive today from both a cost and availability perspective.

I am not disagreeing with anyone saying that there is a supply chain issue. But 100% that is not the reason why early reservation holders are still waiting. That's it. No side bar conversations. Supply chain is not stopping my 2020 order from being built. If anyone thinks it is, they simply do not pay attention to all the hard facts out there.
Thank you and peace to all.

 

[MayhemMike]

I recall when people slept on a sidewalk outside of a movie theater for six months in order to buy tickets for a movie that will be exactly the same movie the day the sun explodes.

The first week of Bronco reservations , if all were turned into orders and sold would have provided Ford with a gross take of well over a billion dollars. You can believe they wanted nothing more then to be pumping out Broncos like 1965 Mustangs. I know nothing about how dealership contract agreements work with the factories, but if there are allotment clauses in these agreements, you can rest assured the dealerships realizing they were about to have empty lots due to the supply chain failure used every bit of leverage they could to have cars to sell. These dealers aren’t just short of Broncos. All their models are absent. When I reserved I hated I had to opt a specific dealer. I selected the closest. Apparently, through dumb luck, my Bronco experience went rather well. Did I receive an ordered Bronco in five and a half weeks like every other Ford I have ordered? Nope. However, considering all the issues I think I made out rather well, as I am confident thousands of others have. BTW, my local dealer’s lot is returning to the stock level they had before the world shut down. This sign is a positive for Broncos. I hope everyone takes delivery soon.

 

[AZ_Liberty]

The frustrating part to understand is how does a dealer get any retail "stock" or have available allocation at this point. Everything should be going to fill current in-system orders before any surplus is handed out.

Dealers got retail stock by having low customer Bronco orders relative to their overall Ford sales. OF course, this means there was a perverse incentive to be a complete jerk whom nobody wants to order from.

The other way they got stock Broncos is if all of their customer orders are Hard tops. My dealer is in the "largest 100 dealers" list. They have received zero stock orders, because enough people in Phoenix were willing to convert to soft tops, so those got allocated. I understand that other places in the country have this thing called "Winter". Those folks were less likely to swap to the softie, and so those dealers got Bonus Broncos.

 

[flip]

Dealers got retail stock by having low customer Bronco orders relative to their overall Ford sales. OF course, this means there was a perverse incentive to be a complete jerk whom nobody wants to order from.

The other way they got stock Broncos is if all of their customer orders are Hard tops. My dealer is in the "largest 100 dealers" list. They have received zero stock orders, because enough people in Phoenix were willing to convert to soft tops, so those got allocated. I understand that other places in the country have this thing called "Winter". Those folks were less likely to swap to the softie, and so those dealers got Bonus Broncos.

And this is the problem I've got with "stock" at this point. Some of these stock units are probably identical to other dealer retail builds but in order to keep the "big" dealers happy, they feed them and keep a legit retail order hanging.

Bill Brown is the largest dealer (total new retail sales as of today) the next closest is 2K less than them. The frustration is that any dealer out here can move full size broncos as fast as they can be produced. Why is it then they feed only the mega stores? Only thing I can come up with is they've got more weight than all of the other mid and small dealers combined. None of that helps relieve the backlog of reservations or old orders, it just feeds certain geographical areas without much consideration of a more balanced national spread.

ETA: I don't want this to come off like big dealers are bad or the problem with lack of production. It's all on Ford and how they chose to handle this. The preferential treatment Ford has give to large dealers or dealer groups has been this way forever and will continue. My issue is Ford acts like it doesn't happen. I can just about bet some of the "stock" coming off the line could be configured easily to fill at least a few of my current old orders. Multiply that by 3000 dealers and it's easy to come to the conclusion, those production slots should be reserved for current reservation holders regardless of what dealer the orders at. That's my point.

 

[fields_day]

What about people who are waiting putting in separate orders at all these different dealerships? I agree that allocation has a lot to do with it. I ordered the day the 2021 Order banks opened (Oct) and received my Bronco March 1 2022.. I had almost every constraint item (Badlands auto 2.7, Lux, Sasquatch, Tow) and didn't take anything off. I received my VIN in two weeks and build date for January. Maybe extremely lucky but who knows.

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