Buy lower trim and modify to upper trim?

[ejpaul1]

So, I bought my 25 badlands in July and of course love it. I have spent most of my life buying the cheapest of anything and driving it till its dead as thats what I could afford.

I see the most common threads online about how to make your base model a raptor and the second most popular would be how to put bigger tires on it. Thats fine but I did research and found that it doesnt pay to buy a lower trim and build up to black diamond, badlands or raptor. Its just cheaper in the first two instances to just buy what you want out of the gate.

Im not going for a look, I was wanting iffroad capability and the biggest things I wanted were front/rear lockers. Trying to swap out axles on a base model is insane cost to get this on your own, I researched and frankly the black diamond is a STEAL at 5k uncharge for what you get.

I kinda went all out and got lux, leather etc making the sticker barely shy of 70 but, I wasn't interested in making a failed attempt at what I wanted.

In retrospect, a big bend black diamond would have sufficed as most of its running time is getting me to the office and back

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[Iceman62]

Yep...you do you & if it's in the budget then - go for it. For me, as a former MN farm boy, I love turning wrenches so part of my purchase assessment includes personalized upgrades.

Enjoy that sweet '25 & keep rolling those memorable miles.

 

[SierraBronco]

You’d have to be an idiot to think swapping to stronger axles was a good idea.

 

[VirginiaHeritage]

Unless you’re financially strapped, I doubt you’ll ever regret having more lux and capability than you might need. It’s the people who get less that often have regrets and try to make up for it later.

 

[ejpaul1]

Oh yeah, I think the base model wrangler are a better option for that approach

 

[ejpaul1]

Yep...you do you & if it's in the budget then - go for it. For me, as a former MN farm boy, I love turning wrenches so part of my purchase assessment includes personalized upgrades.

Enjoy that sweet '25 & keep rolling those memorable miles.

No doubt, do what you like im making no judgements but having had a wrangler before, the base model is waaaay easier to build up than a bronco and frankly cheaper. I was actually looking forward to wrench turning myself but it wasn't in the cards

 

[Brian_B]

You can make a good case going either way on this honestly - and most of it ends up being situational so may not apply to everyone.

 

[KillerPenz]

Back when I spec'd out my Bronco I was looking at 3 options:
1. BaseSquatch, 2.7l ($42k)
2. Big Bend (Sasquatch), 2.7l (around $49k I believe)
3. Wildtrak (Around $51k at the time)

I don't care for any of that fancy pants Lux trim shit, nor do I need it. I knew my Bronco was going to be a daily, probably never see any off road adventures. But I also use it for pulling my quads on a 12 ft. trailer, getting firewood. Use the winch for pulling out stumps or pulling down trees. What it boiled down to was, I wanted Race Red (not available in Base that year), and if I went with that color I'd have a tough call of do I just go for the Wildtrak which probably had the mid-package I think, but who want's a little light in their mirror anyways.

Now that I've bored you to death, I love Rapid Red, and I'm happy with what I paid for my Base. Different options mean different things to everyone. I didn't need the extra crap I could get with a higher trim. Sadly you can no longer get the V6 is the lower trims.

 

[MNBigfoot]

Back when I spec'd out my Bronco I was looking at 3 options:
1. BaseSquatch, 2.7l ($42k)
2. Big Bend (Sasquatch), 2.7l (around $49k I believe)
3. Wildtrak (Around $51k at the time)

I don't care for any of that fancy pants Lux trim shit, nor do I need it. I knew my Bronco was going to be a daily, probably never see any off road adventures. But I also use it for pulling my quads on a 12 ft. trailer, getting firewood. Use the winch for pulling out stumps or pulling down trees. What it boiled down to was, I wanted Race Red (not available in Base that year), and if I went with that color I'd have a tough call of do I just go for the Wildtrak which probably had the mid-package I think, but who want's a little light in their mirror anyways.

Now that I've bored you to death, I love Rapid Red, and I'm happy with what I paid for my Base. Different options mean different things to everyone. I didn't need the extra crap I could get with a higher trim. Sadly you can no longer get the V6 is the lower trims.

Same here, MY22 Base Sas 2.7 Hardtop for $42k, it had all the off-road performance as the Wildtrak. How does this not payoff? I added the OEM skid plate kit for $650, with my $7k in savings, and dropped another $50 on take-off rock rails.

 

[MNBigfoot]

Just tried the Price and Build with a MY 26 Base Sas with an auto, $51,400 compared to a Badlands auto $53,800 (you can add disconnect for $1300). If all you want is off-road ability and could careless for the girly stuff, the OP's theory doesn't hold water. With that said, no 2.7 any longer with a Base, and that's a deal breaker.

 

[Nc211]

Every now and then, a car manufacturer captures the lightening in the bottle with a car. Doesn't matter if it's Nissan (1992 Nissan Sentra SE-R) or Mercedes Benz (SL's). When they achieve that rarity, you jump on it while you can and you get exactly what you want while you can, and enjoy it, because you know you probably won't see something like it again for a very long time. I felt this exact way with the Bronco, only my second America car and first Ford ever (52 years old). I took one look at it and knew instantly there was a small window of time to get one before they started to "evolve" away from the moment. I pulled no punches when I ordered mine, from the upgraded carpet flooring to the aftermarket fleecing of upgrades. I built it just as I wanted it to be, and have 0% regrets about any of it! Sure, I'm probably $15k in the hole now if I were to sell it, but that's a day that won't come. I'll park in the yard as "yard art" before I sell it, because I know from past experience on the rarity of that lightening in a bottle when it all comes together just right. They can say all they want that it was the engineers and designers all along, but in truth, it's just pure dumb luck for most of it!

 

[HoosierDaddy]

The lightning in a bottle comment is excellent. The first couple of years had crazy optional build paths. Stuff you could get excited about.

I went to the B&P just last night and eventually closed it out due to disgust.
There really are no kickass build paths to go down right now.... and the available colors suck ass.

Want the heavier duty driveline, or just a rear locker for that matter?
In the end, you always end up just a few hundred from a Badlands.

The original Black Diamond ... I would love to drive one of the v6 versions with 4.46 gears and 32" tires. Probably a snappy little rig.

These new ones are just not worth the ask.
Not to me.
But I already have one, so my opinion is probably skewed. I'd rather have a Super Duty for the equivalent $$$$.


My daughter just now pointed out ... "would you rather have a 60th Anniversary package Bronco ... or a new Sting Ray Corvette?"

Do I get to keep my 2021 2dr in AMB? LOL?

 

[SierraBronco]

The lightning in a bottle comment is excellent. The first couple of years had crazy optional build paths. Stuff you could get excited about.

I went to the B&P just last night and eventually closed it out due to disgust.
There really are no kickass build paths to go down right now.... and the available colors suck ass.

Want the heavier duty driveline, or just a rear locker for that matter?
In the end, you always end up just a few hundred from a Badlands.

The original Black Diamond ... I would love to drive one of the v6 versions with 4.46 gears and 32" tires. Probably a snappy little rig.

These new ones are just not worth the ask.
Not to me.
But I already have one, so my opinion is probably skewed. I'd rather have a Super Duty for the equivalent $$$$.


My daughter just now pointed out ... "would you rather have a 60th Anniversary package Bronco ... or a new Sting Ray Corvette?"

Do I get to keep my 2021 2dr in AMB? LOL?

Excuse me Sa’ar, but did you miss the Stroppe edition?

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Excuse me Sa’ar, but did you miss the Stroppe edition?

That monstrosity makes me almost cry. Only clicked on the details button to see that it does not have the Raptor 3.0 , then I moved on.

I always try to move along with "progress" , but some of these Bronco decisions are tough pills to swallow.
....and soo freaking expensive!
You can build some cool F250's though still !
XL with the XL Offroad Package can be pretty close to a Tremor, but considerably less $$$.

 

[SierraBronco]

I don’t have a real Bronco, but it’s incredibly disappointing that you can only get the V6 with a two door if you go with atrocity package. Not cool Ford. Not cool.

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