Photo: BuckingBronco72 on Bronco6G forum
Revealed more than a year ago, the sixth-generation Bronco is the most hotly anticipated utility vehicle of the 2021 model year. Now imagine going through a pre-order and a deposit, adding a few thousand bucks on top of the retail price as dealer markup, and taking delivery of an SUV that features many quality issues with the molded-in-color hardtop.
At least three members of the Bronco6G forum have posted close-up snaps of the MIC hardtop with misaligned latches, etching in the glass, separating headliners, raw edges, small cavities, warping around the mounting bolts, scratches, and a thin outer laminate layer that shows a snakeskin pattern.
I wish I was joking, but it’s true. As if that wasn’t bad enough for current and future owners, another forum member has photographed a plethora of vehicles parked at the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne with “bad roof” written on their back windows. Alas, these problems are not isolated cases.
Ford hasn’t commented on the quality issues that affect the MIC hardtop, and chances are the Blue Oval won’t comment for a long time because it can’t be bothered. Lest we forget, the Dearborn-based automaker was forced to admit the 10-speed automatic transmission is the cheaper 10R60 of the Explorer instead of the sturdier 10R80 of the Ranger mid-size pickup.
Adding insult to injury, FoMoCo had to give in to customer demand over the Mansquatch package (Sasquatch package with a manual tranny) after failing to understand that off-road enthusiasts want a stick shift in conjunction with off-road goodies. Jeep does exactly that in the Wrangler Rubicon and Gladiator Rubicon, which makes this blunder particularly bad.
That being said, we shouldn’t pose the finger at Ford alone. The supplier - namely Webasto Roof Systems from Auburn Hills - bears responsibility for the MIC hardtop as well for not making them right or fast enough. And in an ideal world, Webasto would have also told the Ford Motor Company that the original specifications for the molded-in-color hardtop aren’t satisfactory.
I wish I was joking, but it’s true. As if that wasn’t bad enough for current and future owners, another forum member has photographed a plethora of vehicles parked at the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne with “bad roof” written on their back windows. Alas, these problems are not isolated cases.
Ford hasn’t commented on the quality issues that affect the MIC hardtop, and chances are the Blue Oval won’t comment for a long time because it can’t be bothered. Lest we forget, the Dearborn-based automaker was forced to admit the 10-speed automatic transmission is the cheaper 10R60 of the Explorer instead of the sturdier 10R80 of the Ranger mid-size pickup.
Adding insult to injury, FoMoCo had to give in to customer demand over the Mansquatch package (Sasquatch package with a manual tranny) after failing to understand that off-road enthusiasts want a stick shift in conjunction with off-road goodies. Jeep does exactly that in the Wrangler Rubicon and Gladiator Rubicon, which makes this blunder particularly bad.
That being said, we shouldn’t pose the finger at Ford alone. The supplier - namely Webasto Roof Systems from Auburn Hills - bears responsibility for the MIC hardtop as well for not making them right or fast enough. And in an ideal world, Webasto would have also told the Ford Motor Company that the original specifications for the molded-in-color hardtop aren’t satisfactory.
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