MIC Top Owners — It’s Time to Make Noise

[NatureBoy]

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[911braptor]

Love the idiots that responded with “no”. Common sense people.

 

[HOSSMAN]

Ford's too worried about charging back warranty claims right now and recouping their money from dealers. Everyday is a fight to get claims covered as they tighten up in the economy. If anyone thinks they really monitor this site and are truly interested/vested in our opinion I am afraid you might be mistaken. Being in the biz nobody comes on my service drive because they are just wanting to say hi, hello, how are you, every one has a concern so we only see the bad 9 out of 10 times. We service a crap ton of Broncos and Braptors here, I have warrantied maybe 5 or 6 tops in the past couple years. Compare that to the amount we sell/service and it's a small fraction fortunately/unfortunately. You'd be amazed how many damage their own tops and try to blame warranty defects because they "read it online", Ford isn't completely naïve. I am actually more afraid of the new painted tops when we start to get the customers complaining of paint issues, cracks and defects than I am the MIC tops.

Are there problems with them, yes. Are there problems with every one, no. Is it the majority of them, no. The people with issues voice their concerns (understandably) so that is the majority of what we read on the forums. I applaud you for your cause but you also get more flies with honey than you do vinegar.

It's like the old saying.... piss off one and they tell 10, those 10 tell 20. Make someone happy and they tell nobody.

 

[BadmansSAS]

Let me correct some misinformation in this thread so far.

This is something that happens without any interaction from the owner. My BRAND NEW 2024 wildtrak came off the truck from FORD with the cracks in the top. Brand new. Let me say it again, my WT was delivered to the dealer and was pulled off the truck and had the cracks already. In the 3 weeks since I purchased it, the cracks got worse and more of them. My Bronco has 400 miles on it now and has been washed ONCE.

The dealer just replaced the top under warranty this week. New top is perfect (so far).

ALSO... At that same dealer, I looked at the other 10 or so Broncos they had sitting on the lot and the raptor in the showroom, and most of the ones sitting outside on the lot had the cracks in the same places. Again these are brand new Broncos. Never been waxed, never been washed, never been offroaded or driven for that matter aside from on and off the trucks in transit.

This is not an owner caused problem. This is 100% proven to be a manufacturer or design defect. Period. Why else would they be cracked already before they have even been sold off the dealer lots??

This was what mine looked like - straight off the delivery truck brand new.

 

[Techun]

Maybe add a free text field or way to expand this to other issues.

I don't have any breaks but my middle section is a different color ...

 

[joeman]

Are there problems with them, yes. Are there problems with every one, no. Is it the majority of them, no. The people with issues voice their concerns (understandably) so that is the majority of what we read on the forums. I applaud you for your cause but you also get more flies with honey than you do vinegar.

Ok, what's the "honey?" Help me out here. Problem has existed since YEAR ONE and, as mentioned in many other threads, some tops have been replaced under warranty with bad tops. And some come off the line with problems (my dealer had 6 with MIC tops on the lot, 2 had cracks...brand new).

It sucks that the dealers are caught in the middle of replacing bad products from the factory. I can empathize with that.

Again, were aksing for what's fair. Ford needs to cover these tops for the life of the original owner of the vehicle. It's the ROOF, not a small part that's cheap to replace. I want to keep my Bronco for many years..even bought an extended warranty from Ford (which I never do) becuase I plan to keep it...I.love it. Except for the inferior roof.

 

[Soulstice]

Ford's too worried about charging back warranty claims right now and recouping their money from dealers. Everyday is a fight to get claims covered as they tighten up in the economy. If anyone thinks they really monitor this site and are truly interested/vested in our opinion I am afraid you might be mistaken. Being in the biz nobody comes on my service drive because they are just wanting to say hi, hello, how are you, every one has a concern so we only see the bad 9 out of 10 times. We service a crap ton of Broncos and Braptors here, I have warrantied maybe 5 or 6 tops in the past couple years. Compare that to the amount we sell/service and it's a small fraction fortunately/unfortunately. You'd be amazed how many damage their own tops and try to blame warranty defects because they "read it online", Ford isn't completely naïve. I am actually more afraid of the new painted tops when we start to get the customers complaining of paint issues, cracks and defects than I am the MIC tops.

Are there problems with them, yes. Are there problems with every one, no. Is it the majority of them, no. The people with issues voice their concerns (understandably) so that is the majority of what we read on the forums. I applaud you for your cause but you also get more flies with honey than you do vinegar.

It's like the old saying.... piss off one and they tell 10, those 10 tell 20. Make someone happy and they tell nobody.

The oldest top is 5 years old? 2.0 2 years? This has only started. A poor design is a poor design, and you are talking about painted problems making assumptions. Mic is a known flaw. And everyone who owns one would benefit from sticking together. The problems with mic are very hard to see, but they are there. Just look at a cross section picture. Looks like recycling day trash. Why would anyone fight against people protecting themselves about this? Why would anyone fight for cardboard roofs? Everything on these cars will probably need a website soon, if people don’t stick together as customers. Are there more pressing issues? Maybe? These new cars are like smartphones that made babies with powerwheels, raised by cartoon CEO villains. How is it a person can roll a 60s car out of the woods and rebuild them but a new car can become unusable after ten years? Stuff like this mic website is atleast an attempt to slow down a lease-only future. They are not asking for imagined problems with mic, they are trying to gather all those with obvious problems together in one place. I guess we well see what happens in five years. If this design is refined or dropped then that will say who is correct. That still leaves the people that bought in that enjoy the Bronco left either alone or together.

I think Ford should pay fiber roof maker to open a factory and pump out those roofs. And switch current manufacturers to those too. But opinions are like buttholes, everyone’s got one.

 

[joeman]

Maybe add a free text field or way to expand this to other issues.

I don't have any breaks but my middle section is a different color ...

I've seen that on brand-new Broncos. Webasto can't manufacture a top within specs as far as material thickness/amount OR color. Inferior product.

It will be interesting to see if my center section replacement is at least in the ballpark as far as color match (and NO, my existing top is garage-kept and almost never in the sun).

 

[HOSSMAN]

Ok, what's the "honey?" Help me out here. Problem has existed since YEAR ONE and, as mentioned in many other threads, some tops have been replaced under warranty with bad tops. And some come off the line with problems (my dealer had 6 with MIC tops on the lot, 2 had cracks...brand new).

It sucks that the dealers are caught in the middle of replacing bad products from the factory. I can empathize with that.

Again, were asking for what's fair. Ford needs to cover these tops for the life of the original owner of the vehicle. It's the ROOF, not a small part that's cheap to replace.

Cover for life? Yeah, that won't happen even if you owned and paid for a Bugatti. That is not logical thinking IMO, thats a "you owe me" line of thinking, Ford doesn't owe any of us anything other than honoring the warranty period 3/36 - 5/60. Now, offering a program that extends the warranty coverage for "1 time replacement" for X years or X miles outside of 3/36 I could see which they do on other model lines.

What's the honey? Don't be an a$$ when asking for something when talking to Ford. I have seen assistance lost when those asking for it don't want to play ball or think they are king.

Honey:
"Hey there. Man I am really looking for some assistance. I understand that I am out of warranty but looking for some assistance or consideration in replacing the top" I am a loyal Ford customer, service with the dealer and have owned many Fords, any consideration would be greatly appreciated".
(Ford):
Let me escalate this to your dealer. If the vehicle is not at a dealer please go see your dealer so the vehicle can be diagnosed/viewed.
(After review)
Mr. customer, Ford has agreed to pay 60%, 70, 80% of the top, you cover the rest, your dealer will participate at warranty rates and this will give you a 2 year/unlimited warranty on the top going forward. Thank you for being a loyal Ford customer".

Vinegar:
"I have a Bronco with one of those POS tops that y'all build. It's total BS that me as an owner after paying $XXXXXX dollars that this is happening, everyone knows it's a problem. I expect this to be covered outside of warranty or I am going to social media to tell you how bad you suck"!
(Ford):
Here is the number to OGC, have a nice day!

 

[joeman]

Cover for life? Yeah, that won't happen even if you owned and paid for a Bugatti. That is not logical thinking IMO, that a "you owe me" line of thinking, Ford doesn't owe any of us anything other than honoring the warranty period 3/36 - 5/60. Now, offering a program that extends the warranty coverage for "1 time replacement" for X years or X miles outside of 3/36 I could see which they do on other model lines.

What's the honey? Don't be an a$$ when asking for something when talking to Ford. I have seen assistance lost when those asking for it don't want to play ball or think they are king.

Those are good points, but I do respectfully disagree with the logic of covering the top as long as the original owner has the vehicle (or at least an extension of time/miles). There are problems with some of these tops right from the get-go. Off the assembly line. Sitting on dealer lots. In my garage with less than 6000 miles.

As stated before, I do have empathy for my service department. They get caught in the middle fixing these defects and catch a lot of sh!it from owners. They didn't manufacture the thing...they are just trying to make it right.

To be clear, this effort is to the manufacturer...Ford Motor Company. Not the dealers.

Lastly, I'm a loyal Ford owner and have purchased 5 Fords in my life (including this Bronco). That amounts to about $250,000 in total Ford purchases. Doing what's right means I buy more Fords.

 

[HOSSMAN]

The oldest top is 5 years old? 2.0 2 years? This has only started. A poor design is a poor design, and you are talking about painted problems making assumptions. Mic is a known flaw. And everyone who owns one would benefit from sticking together. The problems with mic are very hard to see, but they are there. Just look at a cross section picture. Looks like recycling day trash. Why would anyone fight against people protecting themselves about this? Why would anyone fight for cardboard roofs? Everything on these cars will probably need a website soon, if people don’t stick together as customers. Are there more pressing issues? Maybe? These new cars are like smartphones that made babies with powerwheels, raised by cartoon CEO villains. How is it a person can roll a 60s car out of the woods and rebuild them but a new car can become unusable after ten years? Stuff like this mic website is atleast an attempt to slow down a lease-only future. They are not asking for imagined problems with mic, they are trying to gather all those with obvious problems together in one place. I guess we well see what happens in five years. If this design is refined or dropped then that will say who is correct. That still leaves the people that bought in that enjoy the Bronco left either alone or together.

I think Ford should pay fiber roof maker to open a factory and pump out those roofs. And switch current manufacturers to those too. But opinions are like buttholes, everyone’s got one.

I am not going to split hairs over "a couple years" 2.0...2, maybe 3, what day is it anyway? There are gen 1 tops and gen 2 tops. They haven't been replacing tops for 5 years, you and I know that, hell they couldn't even build them all when they were ordered.

Do I applaud what the OP is doing, heck yes! But asking Ford to step in and open their checkbook to lifetime warranties etc. is a bit optimistic, JMO. Like I said, most comments are those that have issues, let's see the hands that don't...crickets, except me, mine has been fine (so far) as others have said.

My assumption on painted tops, yep it is an assumption, 25 years on this side of the desk, I will bet my time in the hole...tell me I'm not right in another year...or look back and tell me told you so, doesn't matter to me.

Old 60's cars that are rebuilt one-off by professionals restoring vehicles is a hell of a lot different than a modern day assembly line, you know that. Go look at a factory in the 60's and see what rolled off with issues, QC wasn't great back then either with zero technology. a 63 split window Vette was what, $3500-4K bucks back then, a 69 Daytona or Superbird hemi or 440 car the sameish.... Now at the auctions they are what....150K +++ million bucks come on, not the same to compare to.

Look, I am not here to argue with you or the OP or anyone. We can go tit for tat all day I am sure. Like I said and will say again, I applaud the OP for doing what he is doing, hopefully something will eventually be done. Usually it'll be an ambulance chaser trying to get everyone together hoping for a big payout. I am only stating where Ford's focus is and it isn't reading or monitoring this thread or website daily. JMO and we all know that opinions are like a$$holes, everyone has one.

 

[PowerBronco]

How about just including the top as part of the extended warranty options. I would buy an extended warranty in a second if they included the hard top as part of the coverage.

 

[Imaginary Friend]

Old 60's cars that are rebuilt one-off by professionals restoring vehicles is a hell of a lot different than a modern day assembly line, you know that. Go look at a factory in the 60's and see what rolled off with issues, QC wasn't great back then either with zero technology. a 63 split window Vette was what, $3500-4K bucks back then, a 69 Daytona or Superbird hemi or 440 car the sameish.... Now at the auctions they are what....150K +++ million bucks come on, not the same to compare to.

I think what he was getting at there was the ridiculous amount of tech/electronics present in new vehicles, and the durability thereof.

I have a 58 year old Mercury that still functions fully as it did when it was new. I have concerns that the '15 Mustang that sits next to it won't have near the longevity, not that I'll be around long enough to know.

 

[Bruzer22]

It's a shame this has devolved into the typical MIC thread.

• Ford is perfect.
• I work at a dealer and I've never replaced a top.
• Quit being so picky, you snowflake!
• My top is fine, so you're top is fine, too.
• I hate Ford.

For the most part, people that this has impacted are frustrated. A hard top should not be a consumable wear and tear item. The types of failures are common enough that it isn't an end user issue. It's enough of a problem that there's the GSB for it. There aren't GSBs out there for cracking fenders or doors. As much as it is annoying for those that overreact, stomp and spit at Ford and say "THIS IS MY LAST FORD EVER!!!", it's also annoying when the standard reply is "IT"S NOT AN ISSUE, SHUT UP!"

It's not like companies don't have the track record of it being easier/cheaper to warranty a flawed product than to improve it. Again, I don't go inspect my hard top every day, hoping to find a flaw. I can see it quite clearly, the honeycomb pattern (documented as warrantable) has been there from day 1, but I had no cracks or leaks. I figured I was probably safe and would just live with it. Then, the cracks started.

Now, do I expect Ford to do anything about the tops. No. Maybe that will be addressed on the 7g.

Resolution options? I don't think lifetime is reasonable. Make it 10yr, unlimited mileage. Heck, extend it to 5 years, like rust perforation. Add it as a coverable item in the Ford extended warranties. Offer a cost replacement option (painted top). Quite honestly, just fix the damn top!

 

[cyberfalco]

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