Unexpected Baby

[BroncoMike]

I gave up on a Bronco Sport months ago, with all the commodity restrictions, ADM, long waits for orders and such. I was on a lookout list with a couple of Phoenix dealers, most stopped calling me when they learned how specific my must-haves were - Badlands, Premium, 360+, tow, and only a couple colors I liked. My phone stopped ringing back in February, but the only calls I was getting were Big Bends or moderately-optioned OBX packages anyways. Dealers in PHX weren't ordering high-optioned Badlands packages for the floor.

Last night at 6:30, my phone rang.

A customer dropped out of his special-order A51 Badlands, Premium, 360+, tow, moonroof, with Falkens. Even a full-size spare. Straight up MSRP, but this is practically a unicorn in today's market... at least around here. I drove the hour and a half to Phoenix, did the paperwork (1.99% from the credit union), had dinner, and was home by 11:30.

Still kind of shocked that I pulled the trigger. But now I have the agonizing decision of whether to off the '02 7.3l Excursion or the '98 CR-V. The Excursion is big and powerful and fun for weeks of travel camping, and can tow anything I have a mind to, but the CR-V is so cheap to operate and repair on the rare occasion something fails. I use the Excursion once or twice a year, the CR-V constantly. The Sport could entirely replace the CR-V (except... I'd feel compelled to wash and vacuum the Sport once in a while), but not the Excursion. I'd get pennies for the CR-V, even in this used car market, but probably very good money for the Excursion - it's in terrific shape with nice upgrades.

Decisions, decisions... I guess I could even get rid of both. At least I'm part of the Bronco Sport club now!

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[ChefDank]

Keep em both; that 7.3 inline is bulletproof and a tank. I have the 02 powerstroke F350xlt super duty and I'll drive it cross county without a blink of an eye. I had a 01 CRV with the VTec engine; cheap to work on and it was a tank. I beat the hell out of that vehicle and she kept coming for more I wish I still had her. Best part was the folding table in the trunk for tailgating and camping

Good luck either way....if you got the room hang on to em for now

 

[SWUKU]

Post your pics.
And give your new baby a name

 

[MJE]

I gave up on a Bronco Sport months ago, with all the commodity restrictions, ADM, long waits for orders and such. I was on a lookout list with a couple of Phoenix dealers, most stopped calling me when they learned how specific my must-haves were - Badlands, Premium, 360+, tow, and only a couple colors I liked. My phone stopped ringing back in February, but the only calls I was getting were Big Bends or moderately-optioned OBX packages anyways. Dealers in PHX weren't ordering high-optioned Badlands packages for the floor.

Last night at 6:30, my phone rang.

A customer dropped out of his special-order A51 Badlands, Premium, 360+, tow, moonroof, with Falkens. Even a full-size spare. Straight up MSRP, but this is practically a unicorn in today's market... at least around here. I drove the hour and a half to Phoenix, did the paperwork (1.99% from the credit union), had dinner, and was home by 11:30.

Still kind of shocked that I pulled the trigger. But now I have the agonizing decision of whether to off the '02 7.3l Excursion or the '98 CR-V. The Excursion is big and powerful and fun for weeks of travel camping, and can tow anything I have a mind to, but the CR-V is so cheap to operate and repair on the rare occasion something fails. I use the Excursion once or twice a year, the CR-V constantly. The Sport could entirely replace the CR-V (except... I'd feel compelled to wash and vacuum the Sport once in a while), but not the Excursion. I'd get pennies for the CR-V, even in this used car market, but probably very good money for the Excursion - it's in terrific shape with nice upgrades.

Decisions, decisions... I guess I could even get rid of both. At least I'm part of the Bronco Sport club now!

Good luck with the decision! Yes, the BS could entirely replace the CR-V, but agree, it’s probably not worth much. You don’t have teens driving do you?

The Excursion is useful on an entirely different level, but yes that’s why they’re worth quite a lot in any kind of condition never mind one in terrific shape. Honestly if you don’t need the money out of the Excursion and believe you still have a use case for it going forward, that’s the unit I’d find hard to get rid of. Mostly because once you do, you won’t find another you’re happy with.

 

[Outback Texan]

Congratulations... similar to my story 3 weeks ago with someone backing out of his deposit on a BS BL.

 

[BroncoMike]

Glad to see all the support for keeping the entire family! I am among my people here.

No kids to give a car to, I already gave my stepdaughter a '97 CR-V that is nicer than this one (I bought them at the same time).

One of my recurring experiences with the Excursion is someone walking up to me and saying, "I used to have one, wish I'd never sold that truck". And I can tell I'll miss having a beater (CR-V) if I let that go.

Pics at some point when I see a backdrop worthy of a photo op... but it's just like any other A51 Badlands. There are a lot of Sports around here all of a sudden, but I never paid much attention to trim levels - should be fun picking them out now.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

I gave up on a Bronco Sport months ago, with all the commodity restrictions, ADM, long waits for orders and such. I was on a lookout list with a couple of Phoenix dealers, most stopped calling me when they learned how specific my must-haves were - Badlands, Premium, 360+, tow, and only a couple colors I liked. My phone stopped ringing back in February, but the only calls I was getting were Big Bends or moderately-optioned OBX packages anyways. Dealers in PHX weren't ordering high-optioned Badlands packages for the floor.

Last night at 6:30, my phone rang.

A customer dropped out of his special-order A51 Badlands, Premium, 360+, tow, moonroof, with Falkens. Even a full-size spare. Straight up MSRP, but this is practically a unicorn in today's market... at least around here. I drove the hour and a half to Phoenix, did the paperwork (1.99% from the credit union), had dinner, and was home by 11:30.

Still kind of shocked that I pulled the trigger. But now I have the agonizing decision of whether to off the '02 7.3l Excursion or the '98 CR-V. The Excursion is big and powerful and fun for weeks of travel camping, and can tow anything I have a mind to, but the CR-V is so cheap to operate and repair on the rare occasion something fails. I use the Excursion once or twice a year, the CR-V constantly. The Sport could entirely replace the CR-V (except... I'd feel compelled to wash and vacuum the Sport once in a while), but not the Excursion. I'd get pennies for the CR-V, even in this used car market, but probably very good money for the Excursion - it's in terrific shape with nice upgrades.

Decisions, decisions... I guess I could even get rid of both. At least I'm part of the Bronco Sport club now!

Congratulations! So lucky to find a Bronco that works for you. Welcome to the Bronco family!

 

[Mark S.]

Decisions, decisions... I guess I could even get rid of both. At least I'm part of the Bronco Sport club now!

As me old Gaffer used to say, life is full of little tradeoffs. This is a "good" kind of problem to have.

 

[Glamdring70]

Congratulations on your find. That's similar to my experience just over a year ago. I went to a half dozen dealers and left my wants and contact with them. In the end, I had to find my own on a lot. I think the salespeople right now are seriously unmotivated to lift a finger. I would definitely unload whichever vehicle that's going to take the biggest depreciation after this used car bubble blows up.

 

[BroncoMike]

The trip home from the dealer last week was from Phoenix (1000' elevation) to Prescott (my living room floor is at 5282'). Having only 96 miles on it, I didn't fill before leaving on the weekend trip.

On Friday, we left for Alamogordo NM, across the mountains through Payson. The first section was also mountainous, climbing to Payson where I filled up for the first time. The first tank averaged 21mpg on the trip computer, I wasn't impressed but considering it was a climb the entire way, there was no way to use it as a baseline. Interestingly, hand calculation showed it as 25.5mpg.

From Payson, it was a fairly flat, 70-ish mph cruise to Alamogordo. While there were some areas I could have had more fun, my girlfriend can become carsick just when I begin enjoying myself. The little Sport felt nimble to me, but considering the rest of my stable, that's maybe not so shocking. I mostly used the adaptive cruise and "Normal" mode. Tank 2 netted the following:

So far, not disappointing. Hand calculation showed it at 27.7.

The next day was a wedding, no playing with Sport! I did clean the bugs off, I'm not a compulsive car washer but I might turn into "that guy" with this car as I haven't had a new car in 20 years.

Next up was the drive home, a quick stop at White Sands for the first photo session as requested:

From White Sands to Deming, it was straight into a stiff headwind and 75+ mph. I tried this leg on eco mode, and I was expecting a dismal number. I topped off in Deming after lunch and only 145 miles to avoid having to stop in Lordsburg - there are few options between Lordsburg and Globe. The trip computer sided with my pessimism, reporting 21.2. Calculation, however, revealed a stunning 28.5. That's a lot to ask of a mouse motor pushing a brick through what was probably 100mph of airflow. We got off the Interstate in Lordsburg and headed to Safford, through Globe to Payson, and on to home. This is hilly if not mountainous landscape, 70mph average, with some passing of RVs and trucks towing boats near Theodore Roosevelt lake. Temperatures were also high, reaching 102 degrees for part of this leg. The trip computer was again slightly pessimistic, reporting 23.4mpg while hand calculation showed 23.7.

Overall, I'm pretty happy so far - seats were comfy, ride was good if a little on the firm side. I did notice a good bit of low-frequency wind roar at highway speeds (I don't have roof crossbars) coming from somewhere above and behind the front seating area, but I do understand that this is not exactly a slippery aerodynamic vehicle. I have a couple of little complaints about the infotainment system, but they aren't major annoyances. I've never had a vehicle that attained the EPA estimates for economy, much less exceeded them... for the type of driving I do, I am very comfortable with the fuel economy thus far, to say the least.

Next up, solo camping in Colorado for 3-4 weeks. I used to sleep in the Excursion, but it's going to be a base camp tent this time - unless the bears get too thick!

 

[cgparsons1983]

That birth must have been brutal

 

[BroncoMike]

That birth must have been brutal

Oh, I'll be feeling the effects for years.

 

[Mark S.]

I've never had a vehicle that attained the EPA estimates for economy, much less exceeded them... for the type of driving I do, I am very comfortable with the fuel economy thus far, to say the least.

Tank-to-tank comparisons are not terribly accurate: Different fuel dispensers cut off at different fill levels, there may be slight differences in the vehicle's attitude referenced to level, etc. Ford recommends averaging your fuel economy over at least three tanks to get the most accurate measurement. I averaged the four numbers you reported and came up with 26.35, which is slightly higher than the EPA estimate. This jibes with my numbers as well.

 

[BroncoMike]

Tank-to-tank comparisons are not terribly accurate: Different fuel dispensers cut off at different fill levels, there may be slight differences in the vehicle's attitude referenced to level, etc. Ford recommends averaging your fuel economy over at least three tanks to get the most accurate measurement. I averaged the four numbers you reported and came up with 26.35, which is slightly higher than the EPA estimate. This jibes with my numbers as well.

The driving conditions were significantly different on each tank as well. I think that's going to be a bigger wildcard than than anything (except payload or towing), but the fill level is certainly a variable nonetheless. Thanks for doing the math, I'm happy with the number!

 

[BroncoMike]

Just got back from 21 days camping in Colorado, sleeping in the little Sport every night. Not too bad considering I'm used to an Excursion, which is like taking a medium-sized NYC apartment along with you.

My only complaint was entering "deep sleep" mode a couple times due to infrequent use (3 days without starting) to conserve battery. Having all the videos play and multiple systems remain energized for 30 minutes or so when a door is opened doesn't work well for a vehicle used for extended camping. This caused me to start and run the little beastie for about a half hour every couple days out of fear of having a no start.

Which brings me to fuel economy. So far, this trip registered both the best and the worst fuel economy so far, with some 'splaining. Camp is at 8166', about 2400' above town. A couple trips into town, along with the aforementioned idling left me with one tank at 21.47mpg, calculated. Both tanks that achieved less than 26mpg included extended idling as well as trips up and down a very steep and twisty nine-mile dirt road.

ODO Trip ODO QTY Indicated Calculated

1433.4 353.8 13.319 27.2 32.5

1811.8 378.4 12.561 30.5 30.127

2091.8 280 13.037 NR 21.47

2411.6 319.7 12.909 25.4 24.76

2781.1 369.4 13.727 27.0 26.91

AVG 27.1534

Overall, pretty happy with that. I'll soon find out what city driving results are, no big trips planned for a while.

Instant campsite:
(that's bear poop between the camera and the rear wheel)

Sorry for the laundry in the background!

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