Texas Off Roadeo thoughts and experiences?

[tburner]

I bought my BS Badlands back in April but am just now finally verified as the dealership failed to put in something I'm told. Looks like I'll be able to attend the Texas one in November.

Oh hey I also bought mine in April! But I'm going this weekend. Bummer I won't see you there, I was really hoping to tag up with some forum members.

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[ZA-Val]

I went back in July and wound up driving a big Bronco the entire time but I asked someone to go over the features of the sport at the end of the day so I could see it. I would have loved to do the sport one day and bronco another but that wasn’t an option. I figured that when I get my car I’ll figure out what it does but I’ll likely never have the chance to OffRoad in a big bronco again so I did it for the experience and I had a lot of fun.

Like someone else mentioned here driving the big Bronco at the event makes you want one because its pretty awesome. Realistically though for myself and others who would be using the Bronco as a daily driver, not a weekend toy:

1) How often am I ever going to need the features of a big Bronco Badlands or Wildtrak? There really isn’t terrain like that where I am and the main difference between what my sport BL an do and the big one is for serious rock crawling which I would probably never do again anyway. I need it mostly for snow and sand which I know my sport is more than capable of.

2) GAS MILEAGE! (17 mpg vs 25) So many ”tough guys” on the Bronco forums talking about “well nobody who buys a Bronco cares about that”..Well buddy, when gas is over $5 a gallon and you are filling up at least twice a week plus making a $600+ a month car payment lets see how long that lasts before they are trading it in for an Ecosport because they are broke ?

3) Safety factor for our sports is top notch as we know but I’m ? on the fact that the Bronco has not been rated yet and I wonder if it will ever be. I have a really hard time believing that a soft or MIC top Bronco is going to be anywhere near as safe as our sports are. If I had a big Bronco as a weekend car for the beach thats one thing but commuting on highways etc where the risk is higher for an accident is another.

After weighing the pros and cons I had to come to terms with the fact that although I loved the Bronco, it‘s not now or never. I bet in a few years when these things are all over the road people will be selling them for way below what they are worth now and then maybe I can pick one up as a summer car and have some fun with it. I know for sure that many sport owners who went to the Texas event eventually went to upgrade or will in the future.

 

[KodiakMomCrawler]

I went back in July and wound up driving a big Bronco the entire time but I asked someone to go over the features of the sport at the end of the day so I could see it. I would have loved to do the sport one day and bronco another but that wasn’t an option. I figured that when I get my car I’ll figure out what it does but I’ll likely never have the chance to OffRoad in a big bronco again so I did it for the experience and I had a lot of fun.

Like someone else mentioned here driving the big Bronco at the event makes you want one because its pretty awesome. Realistically though for myself and others who would be using the Bronco as a daily driver, not a weekend toy:

1) How often am I ever going to need the features of a big Bronco Badlands or Wildtrak? There really isn’t terrain like that where I am and the main difference between what my sport BL an do and the big one is for serious rock crawling which I would probably never do again anyway. I need it mostly for snow and sand which I know my sport is more than capable of.

2) GAS MILEAGE! (17 mpg vs 25) So many ”tough guys” on the Bronco forums talking about “well nobody who buys a Bronco cares about that”..Well buddy, when gas is over $5 a gallon and you are filling up at least twice a week plus making a $600+ a month car payment lets see how long that lasts before they are trading it in for an Ecosport because they are broke ?

3) Safety factor for our sports is top notch as we know but I’m ? on the fact that the Bronco has not been rated yet and I wonder if it will ever be. I have a really hard time believing that a soft or MIC top Bronco is going to be anywhere near as safe as our sports are. If I had a big Bronco as a weekend car for the beach thats one thing but commuting on highways etc where the risk is higher for an accident is another.

After weighing the pros and cons I had to come to terms with the fact that although I loved the Bronco, it‘s not now or never. I bet in a few years when these things are all over the road people will be selling them for way below what they are worth now and then maybe I can pick one up as a summer car and have some fun with it. I know for sure that many sport owners who went to the Texas event eventually went to upgrade or will in the future.

I agree with this 100%! The full size Bronco is definitely cool and I’m sure it’s a lot of fun, but I love my BS for so many more reasons (like you mentioned) than it just being cool.

 

[ZA-Val]

I agree with this 100%! The full size Bronco is definitely cool and I’m sure it’s a lot of fun, but I love my BS for so many more reasons (like you mentioned) than it just being cool.

I’m calling it now- in a year you will see a lot of the big broncos for sale for the gas reasons, people who never owned a soft top before are going to hate it in the winter and IMO a LOT of the people who are ordering or buying these can’t really afford them. There were a few salespeople on these forums (or maybe it was the facebook pages?) that said they ran into the issue that people ordered a big bronco and then when it came time to pick it up they don’t even come close to qualifying income wise or had credit scores in the toilet, like below 500! Of the people that can barely afford it, I’m sure some of them are going to wind up selling or trading in after a year or less of those high payments plus costs in gas and insurance. Sure they are marked up now but that’s not going to be forever. My dealer ran my credit when I placed my order, I thought that was standard but apparently it isn’t.

 

[KodiakMomCrawler]

I’m calling it now- in a year you will see a lot of the big broncos for sale for the gas reasons, people who never owned a soft top before are going to hate it in the winter and IMO a LOT of the people who are ordering or buying these can’t really afford them. There were a few salespeople on these forums (or maybe it was the facebook pages?) that said they ran into the issue that people ordered a big bronco and then when it came time to pick it up they don’t even come close to qualifying income wise or had credit scores in the toilet, like below 500! Of the people that can barely afford it, I’m sure some of them are going to wind up selling or trading in after a year or less of those high payments plus costs in gas and insurance. Sure they are marked up now but that’s not going to be forever. My dealer ran my credit when I placed my order, I thought that was standard but apparently it isn’t.

I never thought of that either. I bet you’re right. And yes, they’re supposed to run your credit, but I believe they don’t do it until you’re ready to pay for it. I bought mine off the lot so I did everything in one shot.
I agree, that once the hype dies down, the prices will come down - and that does suck for people who are paying way over MSRP for the full size. All in all, I think the BS really has it all!

 

[ZA-Val]

I never thought of that either. I bet you’re right. And yes, they’re supposed to run your credit, but I believe they don’t do it until you’re ready to pay for it. I bought mine off the lot so I did everything in one shot.
I agree, that once the hype dies down, the prices will come down - and that does suck for people who are paying way over MSRP for the full size. All in all, I think the BS really has it all!

The other thing is, I like all the luxuries and options in my cars and that is impossible for me if I were to order a big Bronco now it would be out of my budget. When I do pick one up in the future as a summer car I am more than willing to compromise on all the bells and whistles for a cheaper model because it wouldn’t be my daily driver. It’s all about having patience and waiting it out. I am so excited to get my car its supposed to arrive between 11/16-22 ?

 

[KodiakMomCrawler]

The other thing is, I like all the luxuries and options in my cars and that is impossible for me if I were to order a big Bronco now it would be out of my budget. When I do pick one up in the future as a summer car I am more than willing to compromise on all the bells and whistles for a cheaper model because it wouldn’t be my daily driver. It’s all about having patience and waiting it out. I am so excited to get my car its supposed to arrive between 11/16-22 ?

That’s awesome! I hope you get it soon! What color did you order?
I like all the bells and whistles too - especially for a daily driver. Never had a car like this that checked off so many boxes for me.
I believe that if the BS came out after the full size Bronco, people would be more obsessed with it. People like wanting what they can’t acquire.

 

[ZA-Val]

That’s awesome! I hope you get it soon! What color did you order?
I like all the bells and whistles too - especially for a daily driver. Never had a car like this that checked off so many boxes for me.
I believe that if the BS came out after the full size Bronco, people would be more obsessed with it. People like wanting what they can’t acquire.

I ordered Alto Blue but I went back and forth between that and cactus gray because I love that color too but out of all the sports I’ve seen on the road so far almost all of them have been that color and I wanted something different.

 

[Steinfeld9]

I’m calling it now- in a year you will see a lot of the big broncos for sale for the gas reasons, people who never owned a soft top before are going to hate it in the winter and IMO a LOT of the people who are ordering or buying these can’t really afford them. There were a few salespeople on these forums (or maybe it was the facebook pages?) that said they ran into the issue that people ordered a big bronco and then when it came time to pick it up they don’t even come close to qualifying income wise or had credit scores in the toilet, like below 500! Of the people that can barely afford it, I’m sure some of them are going to wind up selling or trading in after a year or less of those high payments plus costs in gas and insurance. Sure they are marked up now but that’s not going to be forever. My dealer ran my credit when I placed my order, I thought that was standard but apparently it isn’t.

I've been saying that people aren't going to be able to afford them since the beginning of the roll-out. Most people ordered/reserved them before Covid hit and with all the job losses and general cost of living increases across the country we are going to continue to see a lot of people who can't afford them. And the dealership shouldn't be running your credit before you order... You're running an unnecessary hard credit inquiry before you are even making an actual purchase. While it's a good idea to know where you are personally it can have an impact on credit score (only slightly but why do it if you don't need to). And as someone who lives in SoCal the gas prices kill the draw to getting a big bronco right now. Although I'm definitely putting in a reservation/order for the Raptor if I get the chance. It'll be a while before that even starts shipping so we'll see what everything is like then. People are paying 10,000 over for the First Edition Sport and maybe I'll take that profit to get something that will hopefully continue to hold value too.

 

[ZA-Val]

I've been saying that people aren't going to be able to afford them since the beginning of the roll-out. Most people ordered/reserved them before Covid hit and with all the job losses and general cost of living increases across the country we are going to continue to see a lot of people who can't afford them. And the dealership shouldn't be running your credit before you order... You're running an unnecessary hard credit inquiry before you are even making an actual purchase. While it's a good idea to know where you are personally it can have an impact on credit score (only slightly but why do it if you don't need to). And as someone who lives in SoCal the gas prices kill the draw to getting a big bronco right now. Although I'm definitely putting in a reservation/order for the Raptor if I get the chance. It'll be a while before that even starts shipping so we'll see what everything is like then. People are paying 10,000 over for the First Edition Sport and maybe I'll take that profit to get something that will hopefully continue to hold value too.

In all fairness when I ordered the car it was supposed to come in like 8-12 weeks so I think that would’ve covered the finance grace period. I believe if anyone could’ve anticipated it would’ve been this song they wouldn’t have ran it because I bought several cars from the dealership they know I’m good for it. With a big bronco even if people didn’t want their credit run they should at least have to show some sort of proof of income, a hefty down payment or that they can buy it in cash. The truth is most people cannot afford a buy a $60,000 car and that will become pretty clear once these cars start showing up at the dealerships and they wind up on the lots as dealer stock. In the various forums and social media pages for the bronco there are tons of questions on what is your monthly payment well if you’re worried about monthly payment first and not the overall price of the car that’s probably a good indicator you can’t afford it because that’s a sales tactic people used to upsell and now I believe Ford is doing 84 month loans which is going to stretch people even further. For me I’ll probably take the 72 month loan because it’s low interest with no pre-payment penalty so I can double up my payments or not depending on my expenses that particular month.

 

[KodiakMomCrawler]

I ordered Alto Blue but I went back and forth between that and cactus gray because I love that color too but out of all the sports I’ve seen on the road so far almost all of them have been that color and I wanted something different.

I love Alto Blue!! I was between my color (Kodiak Brown) and Alto Blue. Love the metallic and how the color shifts in different lights. I know what you mean about having something different. Best of luck with it!

 

[ZA-Val]

I love Alto Blue!! I was between my color (Kodiak Brown) and Alto Blue. Love the metallic and how the color shifts in different lights. I know what you mean about having something different. Best of luck with it!

Kodiak brown is an amazing color as well. In fact when I first went to inquire about a BS back in Feb they had a Kodiak brown big bend or outer banks (can’t remember) on the showroom floor that I could have taken home that day but I had my heart set on a badlands. I remember saying what a nice color the KB was in person.

 

[Steinfeld9]

In all fairness when I ordered the car it was supposed to come in like 8-12 weeks so I think that would’ve covered the finance grace period. I believe if anyone could’ve anticipated it would’ve been this song they wouldn’t have ran it because I bought several cars from the dealership they know I’m good for it. With a big bronco even if people didn’t want their credit run they should at least have to show some sort of proof of income, a hefty down payment or that they can buy it in cash. The truth is most people cannot afford a buy a $60,000 car and that will become pretty clear once these cars start showing up at the dealerships and they wind up on the lots as dealer stock. In the various forums and social media pages for the bronco there are tons of questions on what is your monthly payment well if you’re worried about monthly payment first and not the overall price of the car that’s probably a good indicator you can’t afford it because that’s a sales tactic people used to upsell and now I believe Ford is doing 84 month loans which is going to stretch people even further. For me I’ll probably take the 72 month loan because it’s low interest with no pre-payment penalty so I can double up my payments or not depending on my expenses that particular month.

Yeah it's crazy how desperate people are to try and get these vehicles and putting themselves in deep for it. Also the grace period for a credit check on the same type of loan is 30 days. So although it may only affect it by a couple of points if you get it checked again, why take the hit if you don't need to. Especially important for these people who are on the edge of not having good enough credit.

 

[CaptainCrud]

2) GAS MILEAGE! (17 mpg vs 25) So many ”tough guys” on the Bronco forums talking about “well nobody who buys a Bronco cares about that”..Well buddy, when gas is over $5 a gallon and you are filling up at least twice a week plus making a $600+ a month car payment lets see how long that lasts before they are trading it in for an Ecosport because they are broke ?

I totally agree with this. I think the big bronco is really cool, but the economy is so disappointing. I've had several friends ask me why I didn't order one. I'm like, dude I get paid a comfortable sum of money. But purchasing a vehicle that gets ~17mpg is utterly illogical for me (and for most people that don't have F U money).

I'm driving an old jeep right now while I wait for my BL to be built. It gets around 15-17mpg average. It is absolutely brutal. I feel like I have to go to the gas station every time I look at it. Hard pass.

 

[zatguy]

I feel like I have to go to the gas station every time I look at it. Hard pass.

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