https://www.ford.com/suvs/bronco-spo...t-outer-banks/

Well, my next-door neighbor (who, although roughly my age, has never in her life had a new vehicle registered to her in her name, came home this afternoon (too late the take pictures in the fading light) with the new Bronco Sport I've been telling you for months she has been interested in. The tight vehicle-supply and high prices have made it difficult for months (and she looked at them at the D.C. auto show) but a local dealership had one in stock, in the color she wanted (red) and a black roof, with the Outer Banks package and two-tone Leather inside (real leather seating surfaces). It came with the white trim-lettering and Michelin tires.

She said she was influenced partly by my review, and partly by on-line research. She didn't say the exact sales price, except to say that, even though it was more than she had wanted to settle on, she might as well get one while the color and trim she wanted was available. And, Hey, you only live once, and Dear Lady, she had never created herself to a new set of wheels before....always drove used vehicles. She currently had a 20-year-old 1Gen Escape (red) with fourth gear in the 4-speed automatic transmission inoperative....simply too expensive to fix...it's going to be donated for a tax deduction. She and her husband are basically Ford people....he's got a big black Expedition a couple of years old (now THAT was some money L)L) and an old silver Contour SVT sedan from the 90s.

The PDI guys at the dealership did a superb job cleaning/detailing/waxing it, particularly for the low salary they make (I don't the exact amount, but I'd wager not much more than minimum wage. It was absolutely spotless inside and out (Believe me, I'm a tough inspector of that LOL) and slick as a baby's butt.

It basically looks like this, although I'll take some actual pictures tomorrow in the sunlight and post them.

 

Congrats to your neighbor! One minor thing - unless your neighbor is able to get an inflated valuation, chances are she's not going to get much benefit if she donates the car for a tax deduction. It's not a credit, so it only reduces her/their tax based on their marginal rate so that will never be more than 37% and most likely in the low 20s. In other words, even if they gave her a valuation of say 5K it's only going to deliver a benefit of around $1100 to $1200. Chances are they would get more than that for parts, even if the transmission isn't fully operational.

 

It's old enough now, though, and has enough miles on it that, even if the tranny was repaired, something else is ready to go the next morning. Even so, she's had it, and driven it, for so long (she bought it used), that it doesn't owe her a cent....whatever she can get in tax-adjustments, well and good. It's clearly time to retire it....let it spend its last days helping people in a charity or helping mechanics/technicians in training at an auto-academy. They are the people that we will be depending on in the future to maintain and service tomorrow's vehicles..though most of them will probably be electric or hybrid rather than ICE.

 

Fair enough. But with that said, I’ve lost count of the number of otherwise smart people who think that they get the amount on the donation receipt off their tax bill. The difference between a credit and a deduction isn’t as well understood as it might be and nor is the impact of their marginal rates.

 

Here are some exterior shots. I'll get the interior shots when the sun is at a better angle. My camera is not the best for taking interior shots.

 

particularly now that the standard deduction is much higher.

@mmarshall -- I hope your neighbor loves it. I wouldn't want her to "blame" you for buying it based on your review....

 

Love it? OMG...she's walking on Cloud Nine. She told me this morning she managed to talk them into list price, which is quite good for a high-demand vehicle like this. (some people have been waiting for months to get them). In addition, she got the Ford debit-card at the D.C. show for the $50 test-drive, and Ford gives you an additional $750 now on a new vehicle. Whether that "list" price included the $750 rebate, she didn't say...dealerships sometimes shuffle numbers around to make something look like more of a bargain than it is. She said that they actually wanted more at Car Max for some used 2021 Bronco Sports.

Of course, any vehicle can turn out to be a lemon, and Ford has not had the best luck in the QC department turning out new SUVs lately. But she knew that before she went shopping, and she was attracted to these some time ago, before I even wrote my review. She and her husband have (more or less) been Ford people for many years.....just as I like Buicks. And all the major stuff in the drivetrain is under warranty for 5/60, and the rest of the car for 3/36.

The donation-plans for the old Escape may (?) be on hold. Our condo-maintenance man (who is like family to many of us here in the development) came by today and said he might be interesting in buying it and putting a new tranny in it. He had one of those older Pathfinders with the unreliable Nissan crap-transmissions in it, and had to replace the tranny in it. Unfortunately, he just missed the limit on the Class-Action-Suit-settlement on those trannies by a few thousand miles.

 

I stopped in to my Local Ford dealership to look at a Mach-e. I was told they couldn't find the person that ordered it, so it's available for $10,000 over MSRP. I said no thank you.

The sales man then turned and pointed at 2 Bronco sports they just got in and he said they were for sale $20,000 over MSRP. I left.

This is the largest Ford dealer in Tampa Bay.

 

Broncos? Or Bronco Sports? That's an enormous markup, but ridiculous on a Bronco Sport - could be a 50% hike, depending on which trim level.

 

Yeah, you can bet that she would not have paid that kind of money....nor, IMO, should she.

You did the right thing, IMO. Dealerships can ask anything they want, but there is probably a limit on what I can be considered a sensible price.

 

Although I can't vouch for the local Tampa vehicle-market, there's (probably) more demand for the Bronco Sport than the larger, more rugged Bronco. Most of the Broncos will probably be sold out West. But, yes, 50% mark-up is ridiculous.

 

Looks good, I don't see many of those around yet. Hopefully it gives her years of trouble-free miles.

 

The Bronco Sport is not getting mark-ups here in my SoCal region. In fact, Ford has some very low APR on them right now and they are even dealing on them. It's the full-sized Bronco (and Maverick) that is going bonkers on price and availability. I think many are confusing the two Bronco names. This is a good example of what happens when a manufacturer gives two different cars roughly the same name.

 

There is absolutely nothing special enough about the Bronco Sport to command a $55-60K sale price - so many better options for buyers if they are going to spend that kind of money. It's a crazy markup but it makes much more sense if it's the Bronco, which only has 1 true competitor.

 

As I have said before, in other threads, I at least partially blame GM for the relative lack of competition for the Bronco. Chevy and GMC could have done a real Blazer and Jimmy instead of the Camaro-esque crossover, but chose not to. As a result, Ford and Jeep have been the big winners. Ford played it smart......they not only did a real Bronco for the die-hard, but the crossover Sport for people like my neighbor who liked the looks and utility but didn't need an actual Mountain Goat.