Ford will ship Broncos without chips controlling non-safety critical features

[TheMostToysWins]

cli

You might get into an accident because people in the rear seats of your Explorer cannot adjust the vehicle temperature?

No it wouldnt. But not being able to defrost/defog your windows would be pretty bad

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[BigMeatsBronco]

I've never driven a vehicle with auto start stop. But I had a 2008 mariner hybrid that lagged really bad when the gas pedal was hit at light change. If it causes a lag then I'm never using it.

Yep causes lag....super stupid and even unsafe in my observation.

 

[Drex]

I think the intent is to backfill to lost functionality later, so it is not really sacrificing the bells and whistles.

Interesting theory; You are asserting that not having the use of a feature for a year is not sacrificing the use of that feature for a year.

I will have to respectfully disagree.

 

[Mountain Mike]

Not really enough info to have an opinion. Which features wont work? How long to have a fully functional vehicle? Dealer backups for the warranty work? ETC. My main concern would be ability to trade or sell it before it was completed. So if you get one with lots of QC concerns you might be stuck with it for a year or year and a half. Kinda leaning toward "ship it" tho.

 

[TheDoctor]

cli

No it wouldnt. But not being able to defrost/defog your windows would be pretty bad

That would be a safety feature now, wouldn’t it?

 

[techdisaster]

I will not purchase a vehicle with intentional defects from the factory. I want a complete Bronco or no Bronco at all. Ford can keep kicking my build date until they have all the parts for what I ordered. No dirt mountain, no ice mountain, no waiting a year for the features I paid for today.

 

[Plala]

Jesus H. Christ. When this article dropped, I couldn’t even imagine there would be a downside to getting your vehicle scheduled and built or off ice mountain, even if it lacked heated seats or some other creature comfort or nanny aide wasn’t available for a while. But, apparently I have underestimated the cynicism and insatiable appetite for bitching and complaining with this group.
I would say….if your seat warmer doesn’t work and it’s twenty below in April or May, then park it in the garage until it warms up for f**k sakes. If the radio don’t work, get out your iPhone and earbuds, or an effing boom box, etc., etc. I swear…..it’s no wonder Ford is always effing with us……we’re a miserable, whiny lot that can never be satisfied.

I’m with you.

 

[MyFirstBronco01]

Just wait till you get to replace your starter AND ring gear on your steed just after the precious warranty expires! You get to pull the engine or drop the trans (and most likely get a new ring gear as well) to fix all the unnecessary wear!

not to mention leaving you stranded when it fails!

Remember extended cranking wears out the electric internals of the starter motor by overheating, BUT thousands of starts causes extreme wear to the ring gear, and starter gear INSTEAD!

Hahaha this far exceeds a fuel savings you thought you were getting with your favorite eco gimmick!

How stupid of a design! The least the manufacturer could do is bathe the starter nose and ring gear in oil!

So I can see where you're coming from. Sure it has its issues, but more and more manufacturers are making it standard, so eventually all of your new vehicles will have it. The starter and ring gears are bolstered to be able to handle it, and the computers are programmed to only use it under normal conditons, and never when your AC is blasting at either hot or cold temps to be able to still run the system. The EPA and NHSTA stds are changing, and regardless of if it has it or not those gear teeth will wear down. Its not a matter of how, its a matter of when. Just the way it is.

 

[Plala]

Good post, I really feel some people believe dealer mechanics will be soldering in transistors on a circuit card!!

I'm pretty sure not a single "chip" is installed in any car at any factory, it's all about the modules.

This whole thing is a debacle. I just bought an Auto-Stop eliminator for $100 that has a chip in it so I can counteract the $50 chip that Ford (really the government) saw a need to include that NO ONE wants!! What a mess.

Which chip is that?

 

[NC_Pinz]

Folks will have two opportunities to make a choice. Once when its been shipped to the dealer and he asks if you want it or not. If not, then it will go on the lot to be sold to someone else. The other opportunity is earlier when we get confirmation from our dealers that yes Ford is moving forward with shipping units without modules. At that point, you can probably change your status to 99 and wait out the missing module period.

So step up and make a decision. You may not like any of it, but we know that Ford really doesn't care what any of us thinks. We just have to find our own path that we can live with.

 

[Plala]

Yeeeeah, I’m paying for a fully loaded bronco, I’ll wait until they can deliver a fully loaded bronco. Unless they’re knocking something off the price… not going to just casually throw away the time value of that money for undisclosed somethings they’re not giving me until some undisclosed later date.
To anyone who just wants their truck or who just wanted something without “bells and whistles” anyway, more power to ya. I hope this helps you get behind the wheel all the sooner.
But for me, bad deal, not interested. I’ll keep waiting.

Someone’s going to love you moduleless Bronco!! Honestly though I wonder if you refuse delivery if you have to go to the back of the line because I think they’ll just sell it with big ole adm to someone else…

 

[Deleted member 21681]

I’m not being condescending…….just trying to understand your thought process. If it’s going to take a year for ford to get whatever module controls auto start/stop or a heated steering wheel…..with spring, summer, and early fall next up in the Season cycle, you’d rather not receive your Bronco at all?

I didn’t take it as condescending. The scenario you lay out is a good one. I’d have to give it some thought, if that’s all it turned out to be (and I’m in the “don’t bother with my stop/start chip” camp), I’d have to consider it. But if it ended up being a significant portion of the lux package’s nice-to-haves… that’s a different story. As I said, I’ve got some rules with money in the four figures and up. I keep my money working and being out of the market (especially a down market like now, pronounced: “on sale”) can end up being significant opportunity costs. I’m willing to take those on for something that I want (fully loaded kickass bronco), but I’m not nuts about the notion of selling low and taking the hit for nothing but vague promises. I’m fundamentally opposed to giving a corporation (or the govt) an interest-free loan.
So, like in all things, we’ll have to see what the situation looks like when it is being implemented. If it’s minor like your example, I might try to set aside my somewhat hardliner stance and write it off as “the cost of cool.” If it ends up being four figures-worth of non-essentials, that’s a big no and a 99 from me. Like I said, YMMV. I can wait.

 

[Plala]

I feel the same... It would open ford for so much liabilities.. Like if someone gets in an accident and blames ford for not having a chip it should have had.... chaos...?

It’s NON-SAFETY related chips….

 

[Big Diamond]

I'll definitely be checking out ice mountain this week to see what's going on. BTW. 16 degrees and snow this weekend, 70 degrees by mid week. Michigan weather

Thank you!

 

[BigMeatsBronco]

So I can see where you're coming from. Sure it has its issues, but more and more manufacturers are making it standard, so eventually all of your new vehicles will have it. The starter and ring gears are bolstered to be able to handle it, and the computers are programmed to only use it under normal conditons, and never when your AC is blasting at either hot or cold temps to be able to still run the system. The EPA and NHSTA stds are changing, and regardless of if it has it or not those gear teeth will wear down. Its not a matter of how, its a matter of when. Just the way it is.

Agreed there's no changing the movement towards these, but let's face the facts, MOST vehicles are disposable after 100k-200k miles. And they don't build make anything really outlast the warranty! I plan on keeping my rare 2 dr FE a long time and I drive ALOT, so for me this is just reducing those parts life by ALOT!

Next time your out and about, keep a count of how many times your start-stop-start feature automatically works. In some traffic or roads with stoplights, you might be surprised!

Sorry but 10 to 30 times the starts per trip IS gonna wear your ”bolstered” crap out WAY faster. And I hate being stranded with a junk starter or replacing them!


We had this exact conversation ongoing with our porsche service dept. (Who by the way offer this to be deactivated when you purchase! ) they say the starter
is NOT any different than previous year models w/o start stop. And the funny part is the starter factory warranty ONLY last 40k on those models...Is this manufacturer planning on replacing more starters (and ring gears) ”DUH yes obviously” were the words straight from the service managers mouth.

So believe whatever non-factual hypothesis you want about beefier parts, but that's definitely NOT part of the manufacturers equation here or in other cases like Ford!

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