Jason Wallace, who lives in a suburb of Birmingham, Ala., ordered a Bronco Badlands for his wife last June. It was built Feb. 1.
After receiving a May delivery date, Wallace said he called a Bronco hotline to get answers. The operator mentioned the chip shortage but didn’t provide additional information. His dealer wasn’t able to offer more details, either.
“It’s been a pretty frustrating process, especially without any transparency on Ford’s end,” he said.
Wallace, who previously lived in Michigan, said he was “extremely concerned” about the vehicle potentially sitting in the snow for weeks or months.
“I know how brutal the winter is up there,” he said. “I’m of the mindset that if my vehicle is going to get trashed by the elements, I’d like to be the one doing it.”
Ultimately his concerns were short-lived. Last week, Wallace said he received a notification “out of the blue” that his Bronco was en route to his dealership and would be delivered in the coming days.
“At the end of the day, the whole process has been somewhat of a shit show, but we are really excited to be getting our Bronco,” Wallace said. “I know there are a lot of folks out there who aren’t as lucky.”
Schanzmeyer, a self-described loyal Ford owner and Bronco fan who placed a reservation the day the SUV was unveiled, said he’s not only frustrated with the apparent chip-related delay, but with Ford’s handling of Bronco reservations in general.
Bloomberg last week reported on owner angst over how Ford has handled dealerships’ Bronco allocations, which haven’t followed the first-come, first-served path that many expected.
“I was patient with COVID, supply shortages, etc., but I am very upset that the advertised reservation process has not been followed and I still do not have my Bronco that I ordered in July of 2020,” Schanzmeyer said.
Meanwhile, it looks as though Craig Appleby, who lives in Sullivan, Ill., will get the Bronco he ordered four months ago without much of a wait at all.
Appleby’s vehicle, a base model, came off the assembly line in late January. It’s been sitting at Dirt Mountain since then but is supposed to be delivered this week.
“I feel pretty lucky to be getting it as soon as we are,” he said.
Appleby said he hasn’t received much communication from Ford but that it’s understandable given the extraordinary circumstances the industry is going through.
“I think Ford is doing the best they can given all of the building and raw-material limitations that they are facing,” he said. “I do think they could be communicating better, but as a company facing everything that they have had to face the last two years, it’s hard for me to feel too upset about it.”
