It was driven on and off the carrier, and OP said they sat in it ... I can't imagine what could have been so wrong they would send it back unless it was incorrectly configured or missing some major component, but I would expect it to be throwing codes like mad if that was the case.
Most complicated production facilities work that way. Letting millions of dollars worth of equipment and man-hours sit idle is a huge economic loss.
Am I happy I had to wait 618 days, no. Do I think Ford made a bunch of mistakes, yes. Do I think they should have shut down production to wait...
Some people find value in words, including names. By applying that word to very different things the value associated with the word is diluted. It is hardly a concept unique to "Bronco".
Ford knows this and did it on purpose to add value to the Sport.
I live on the prairie where it's windy AF all the time with a lux badsquatch and the wind noise is better than I expected. 20y old vehicles of all kinds are much worse. No gadgets on the roof.
The temerity of Ford to not install a force field that repels all precipitation from the general vicinity of the vehicle is unbelievable. How am I going to watch TikTok if I have to spend all my time judging distances for myself and monitoring road conditions?!
Ordered, which time? Is a reservation in July of 20, converting it in January, then being forced to resubmit their order again in October really the same as someone walking into a dealer and placing their order for the first time in December 21?
I don't get how this is classed as a "stubby" bumper, it's as wide as the entire body, and overlaps half the tire.
In Wranglers where that concept originates it means the bumper is only as wide as the grille (which is significantly narrower than the cabin), and not overlapping the tires at all.
Guess what? You answered your own question about why people don't ask their dealer for information.
Who would have imagined that the average car dealer was an unreliable source of information?
Broadly speaking an off road tuned suspension will be significantly softer, not harder, than the standard setup for that vehicle. This will mean it is a "smoother" ride in general, but may be more prone to things like body roll that make it harder to control under adverse high speed conditions...