Yahoo Autos New Ford Bronco Owners Report Hardtop Quality Issues
Back in March, Ford announced that the optional painted hardtop would not be available on 2021 model year Broncos. The delay meant that owners looking to get their hands on the first allocation of four-door Broncos would instead have to pick from either a gray molded-in-color (MIC) hardtop or a soft top with an optional hardtop prep kit. Two-door buyers do not have a soft top option, so all of those buyers are being pushed toward the MIC top. Unfortunately, cars being delivered with that top now have issues of their own.
These tops are produced by a contractor called Webasto. Their new Michigan plant, one designed specifically to produce tops for the Bronco, has been overwhelmed by the demands of Bronco production. The company is planning to greatly increase its production of hardtops, perhaps by opening a second facility in the Detroit metro area, but that would still not provide a serious solution until 2022. That is a major concern for the production and delivery of Broncos already changed to an MIC hardtop order earlier this year. All of this would mean that the Webasto-built tops would be a problem for Ford even if they were of consistently high quality.
Unfortunately, that has not been the case. One user at the Bronco owner forum Bronco6G spotted a wide range of 2-door Broncos marked as "Bad roof" at Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant. Another found and photographed a shoddy-looking MIC hardtop on a car already delivered to a dealership. But most concerning of all is a third case, an owner who took delivery of his car and quickly saw the top develop a visible honeycomb texture.
The owner of that car claims he waxed it about 24 hours before noticing the damage, but the damage does not seem to be related to the waxing. Instead, the most common theory is that it is the lattice structure of the top showing underneath a fairly thin layer of laminate, creating the same effect as years of UV aging.
Serious questions remain about both the volume and quality of these MIC hardtops, potentially delaying the already-slowed Bronco production line even further over the next few months. A spokesperson for Ford said that the company is aware of the issue and looking into it, but has no further comment at this time.
Until it can provide a solution, the only way to guarantee a relatively quick delivery of a Bronco is to order a 4-door with a soft top.
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