ADV Production Modular Hardtop!

[Kjbeggs]

All I can think of is, while they were waiting around for months on the rubber, they started to notice their tops were delaminating. And that threw a wrench in the whole process. They won’t give any specifics on their QC issue though, so who knows.

This is why I'd like to see some recent (honest) reviews/updates from the "trusted experts" they gave early tops...

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[Ninjak]

I do agree with the "while they were waiting" theory.

 

[adcam]

Exactly 11 months ago (Nov 2022) someone from the other Bronco forum posted pics from a site visit to John at ADV. They installed a hardtop on a customers Bronco. I was so hopeful that the tops would be shipping soon after, but the rest is history. I’m not sure if I can post a direct link to the post, but here are the pics. You will notice there is no headliner.

 

[CTwaterfowler]

that is interesting that the wiper is mounted on the top left not center.
its great for me because the view on the right side is then unobstructed when i back into my driveway with the infamous telephone pole in the way .

 

[Kjbeggs]

Headliner = Bigfoot

 

[userdude]

I've got two observations:

- Whoever is running the ADV on this site is, to me, obviously not paying attention or doesn't understand how to manage expectations in a social media environment. To wit: Their rep here is not the company. ADV needs to figure this out, since the record of this thread is embarrassing to them and a potential for reputation risk. I would suggest do better by being more accessible here and letting your 6g customers know what's up regularly, if not being a total open book.

- For those complaining/threatening, if you haven't/aren't contacting them directly, only registering increasingly angry responses here is at best not very nice, at worst, potentially removing a hardtop manufacturer where any are sorely needed. If you have a complaint outside of "I'm tired of waiting but I don't want a refund", take it to the company. If you're really that upset, get a refund.

I suppose this is potentially the sign of a company in distress going radio silent because of business concerns. I'd also say it's maybe just a thread on a forum they don't handhold?

C'mon. This stuff is hard, bootstrapping the process is difficult, it is approaching potentially a long term concern, but if so, pull your investment and move on.

 

[SubmarineNuke]

I do not believe they will ever ship a single unit. They took everyones money upfront and gave a delivery of q4 2022 and kept dragging it out faster and farther saying they were waiting for one thing each time. I ended up cancelling my order and going with Anderson Composites because they have a superior part and are actually shipping product. I almost think adv fiberglass needs to be reported to the BBB @ADV Fiberglass

no offense...but where are you seeing Anderson as shipping? Short of a few that came out very early, everyone has been getting pushed back and pushed back. Anderson has not been much better at this point. September, then October, latest news is "November"...based on March through May orders.

 

[Kjbeggs]

no offense...but where are you seeing Anderson as shipping? Short of a few that came out very early, everyone has been getting pushed back and pushed back. Anderson has not been much better at this point. September, then October, latest news is "November"...based on March through May orders.

And I don't know how the Anderson top is "better" (other than actually existing)?
Maybe if you prefer the removeable mid-section, or their very nice looking (again with actual proof) headliner.
I prefer ADV's exterior finish, slight slant, and foam core (again, allegedly...) though.

 

[PhilCharnas]

no offense...but where are you seeing Anderson as shipping? Short of a few that came out very early, everyone has been getting pushed back and pushed back. Anderson has not been much better at this point. September, then October, latest news is "November"...based on March through May orders.

Anderson continues to ship regularly, albeit in small quantities. I recently spoke with one of their many dealers (BMC) who told me that BMC alone is regularly shipping a couple per month.

 

[Chritaka]

My money is on the sandwich panel construction as the main sticking point. A quick browse through ADV products, indicates single wall body panels. The Bronco double wall foam core hardtop panels seem an outlier.

The hardtop has got to last years/decades into the future, without outer walls and inner core materials losing adhesion or otherwise being compromised. Even a multinational company such as Webasto, which openly lauded their expertise in honeycomb core panel construction, has had issues with the sandwich manufacturing.

My bet is ADV found foam core construction more difficult than expected, and understandably they don't want to put out a product that might later have some failure, hence delay in availability to customers.

I think you hit the nail on the head..! You would’t have the current state of things, post the rubber and assembly comments , if they didn’t uncover some catastrophic issue…

 

[broncobase1]

My money is on the sandwich panel construction as the main sticking point. A quick browse through ADV products, indicates single wall body panels. The Bronco double wall foam core hardtop panels seem an outlier.

The hardtop has got to last years/decades into the future, without outer walls and inner core materials losing adhesion or otherwise being compromised. Even a multinational company such as Webasto, which openly lauded their expertise in honeycomb core panel construction, has had issues with the sandwich manufacturing.

My bet is ADV found foam core construction more difficult than expected, and understandably they don't want to put out a product that might later have some failure, hence delay in availability to customers.

There is no question it is a daunting project for any manufacture to take on.

 

[broncobase1]

Umm, ExCuSe Me. I've built plenty of LEGO sets in my day, thank you very much.

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I know this was intended to be sarcastic, but seriously show me a 5 - 10 year old who is good with Legos and you are looking at someone with a promising future. It takes a lot of creativity and imagination to build from scratch (not talking about the kits).

 

[Kjbeggs]

Reached out this morning, and got the expected "not shipping in October" reply..."

"We do not have any more supply chain or quality control issues which took up a huge amount of production time. We are in final production, but at a slower rate than we EVER expected, with a lot of backlog to catch up on. We expect your hardtop to ship in November. Once we have a more precise date in November, we will let you know (mid to end is what it's looking like right now).
We never had any intentions of taking this long to develop and produce the hardtops. However, between supply chain delays (out of our control) and our dedication to perfection (Fixing QC issues) that has caused many, many delays.
Again, we deeply apologize for these very frustrating delays. We feel very confident in this ship date as there are no more problems that are out of our hands!"

 

[CTwaterfowler]

Reached out this morning, and got the expected "not shipping in October" reply..."

"We do not have any more supply chain or quality control issues which took up a huge amount of production time. We are in final production, but at a slower rate than we EVER expected, with a lot of backlog to catch up on. We expect your hardtop to ship in November. Once we have a more precise date in November, we will let you know (mid to end is what it's looking like right now).
We never had any intentions of taking this long to develop and produce the hardtops. However, between supply chain delays (out of our control) and our dedication to perfection (Fixing QC issues) that has caused many, many delays.
Again, we deeply apologize for these very frustrating delays. We feel very confident in this ship date as there are no more problems that are out of our hands!"

So it's mid to late November for the 1st hour orders.
That's as of now I suspect, glad you are keeping after the situation.
I'm in the same time frame as you so keep up the good work.
They had told me last month, that when they finally start shipping. They will be shipping in batches.
However. The same question that has been raised numerous times is . This means not one single top is completed and ready to ship?
I also would hope that they would start finishing old orders rather than try and catch up with ALL orders.
Beyond my control, but if in 3 weeks you find out it's been pushed back again, then I believe 2024 delivery. Another waterfowl season with the soft top

 

[smoot618]

Reached out this morning, and got the expected "not shipping in October" reply..."

"We do not have any more supply chain or quality control issues which took up a huge amount of production time. We are in final production, but at a slower rate than we EVER expected, with a lot of backlog to catch up on. We expect your hardtop to ship in November. Once we have a more precise date in November, we will let you know (mid to end is what it's looking like right now).
We never had any intentions of taking this long to develop and produce the hardtops. However, between supply chain delays (out of our control) and our dedication to perfection (Fixing QC issues) that has caused many, many delays.
Again, we deeply apologize for these very frustrating delays. We feel very confident in this ship date as there are no more problems that are out of our hands!"

I wish at my job, I could just email the same response to hundreds of people haha

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