Had hockey just after I got it home, so no photo dump tonight. Pic above is at the dealership when I first walked up to it.

First new car that I have ordered. It's going to be a while before steps 2, 3, and 4 are done, but I can be patient. I have signed paperwork from the dealer locking in price. The only price changing allowed is if there are available incentives or rebates that will decrease the price of the vehicle (not likely).

Base, manual Sasquatch with the heavy duty bumper and roof rack. Tis all I need until I start accessorizing on my own. I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I'm pretty darn happy.

• It looks good.

• It's fun to drive.

• It gets looks.

• I really like the color.

I'll have some better impressions after this coming weekend. Three of us will be road tripping to Moab, so we'll get to spend 5 hours each way, as well as a full day on Saturday in a Ford provided Bronco for the Bronco Offroadeo. The OffRoadeo is a "free" event Ford does for Bronco order holders/owners, where they take you out on the trails and teach you basic off-roady stuff and how to use the various tech in the Bronco (lockers, sway bar disconnect, the GOAT modes, etc).

Quick 2 door impressions: The back seat is roomy. It's big and comfy inside, overall. Climbing into the backseat, easy. Climbing out, that's rather interesting. Right now is new car honeymoon, so while I'm a fairly objective person overall, I'm not trying too hard to find faults with it at this point.

Timeline:

Ordered: Oct 22, 2021
Built: (Part 1, chiphold) April 6, 2022
Built: (Completed) June 27, 2022
Shipped: 7/17/2022
Delivered: 8/8/2022 (sat at local rail yard for 11 days)

Any questions, just ask away!

My GX finally came home today. I still have to detail myself. Could they possible slather any more tire shine on there? Probably, since most of what was on the tires is now all over the body.

Anyway, as a 4Runner replacement, it's rather familiar in most ways. The cooled seats are quite nice, though, and my son really likes the rear controls/ceiling vents. The leather could use some refreshing, but it's not torn or ripped anywhere, just typical wear spots.

Overall, I'm happy. I'm hopeful that it will be a capable and comfy family hauler for some time to come. I've always felt a tinge guilt having a project car, throwing money at that, AND making payments on another vehicle.

I happened to see my neighbor drive by in this today and shot him a text to ask him about his new toy. Ends up he’s babysitting it for a friend for the week. I asked my son if he wanted to go check it out and he barely even got his shoes on as he scrambled out the door.

Neighbor fired it up, backed it out of the garage, and let my son hop in. I’m sure he’d have taken him around the block had I asked. As soon as we got back home, my son ran upstairs to play Forza and buy a 911 in the game.

It’s a lovely car.

To recap, Bronco timeline:

• Ordered: Oct 22, 2021

• Changed order: Nov 16, 2021

• Build notification from dealer received: Jan 21, 2022 (scheduled for week of 3/21/22)

• Build notification and VIN received from Ford: 3/10/22 (rescheduled for week of 4/4/22)

• Various "backdoor" links show vehicle is built. Build date: 4/8/2022 The dealer called today and gave me an ETA of 4/24-4/30 for delivery.

I'm at 171 days since the order was placed. not nearly as long as some folks, and other people have had their's built in a shorter timeframe. I saw just my second 2 door in the wild yesterday, a Cyber Orange Black Diamond, no sasquatch package.

I've painted (poorly, don't look too closely) my little 1:24 Maisto model with Eruption Green metallic paint sourced from AutomotiveTouchup. I'm pretty pleased with it, and it sits comfortably on my desk.

I asked the dealer not to drill for the front plate mount. For the Ford mount, you have to drill into the grill/grill surround to mount the front plate. I have a no drill front plate mount. I have a few other odds and ends to get ordered and added to the stockpile.

It's getting close!

Yeah, yeah, you're tired of my ranting, too. On Saturday, my FordPass activation (linking phone to vehicle) request was denied, which meant someone got in the vehicle and started it. I took this as a positive sign that the Bronco was on the move. The build tracking sites updated yesterday, and overnight, I received the shipped email.

My ETA is what it's been for a while, now. July 22-28. I don't expect it reach CO by rail in 4 days, but 10 days falls in line with what other folks have seen for shipping to CO. It doesn't appear that Ford has addressed the windshield adhesive recall at the factory, so I'll have that wait once it arrives. So, early August appears to be a realistic timeframe to have it in the driveway.

So, remember that post I made yesterday? How's that for timing? Got a text from the dealership today that I have a March 21 build date. I'm scheduled, baby!

Assuming the date doesn't slip, I'm guessing sometime in May, it should be here. The dealer was actually pretty accurate, they told me 6-8 months from ordering.

After being bumped out 2 weeks from my last scheduled build week, I received the manufacturer window sticker yesterday. No more bumps for me. If it stays on track, I should have it by the end of April/first week of May.

The base MSRP on the sticker reflects the 2022.5 model year pricing. Since I ordered, and didn't make any changes, prior to March 7, I'm locked in to 2022 pricing, which is exactly $2k less.

I'm scheduled to attend the Bronco Off-Roadeo in Moab the first weekend in June. Overall, I'm an off road novice, especially when it comes to western rocky terrain. I grew up mostly getting through muddy forest areas. I know my family's limitations (long stretches of shelf roads are a no go when they're in the vehicle), so we will mostly be sticking to blue level trails when we all go exploring. Anyway, I'm excited to go to Moab and get some instruction.

It's been 159 days since I've ordered. It's getting close!

Sometimes I get overwhelmed at what I want to get done. That can be true whether it's work, home projects, and car projects. Since this is (mostly) a car blog, I'll focus there.

In May of 2020 I found and bought the Mustang. The previous owner stated he wouldn't drive it anywhere, but that it did at least start. His biggest concern was the transmission and that it didn't shift well or easily. Given that information, I rented the Uhaul trailer and towed it home.

The list of things to get it on the road wasn't terribly long, but it did need to get done. Brakes rebuilt (i put fluid in the master cylinder and it proceeded to spit fluid out of many different orifices), dry rotted tires replaced, transmission rebuild.

The transmission rebuild was user error (although it does leak, and I still haven't poked around to see if it's something as simple as the coolant lines). He didn't know how to operate the B&M shifter. The brake system, I completely replaced everything. New tires and wheels, and for good measure, rebuilt the steering system when the old steering box went kablooie. Throw in the title woes from an out of state title signed in the wrong spot, and the previous owner moving to another state, and the start of Mustang ownership was a bit frustrating.

Anyway, I know everyone has heard the above before. When I look at the Mustang at times and think of the work still to come, I easily overlook what has already been accomplished. It wasn't until the middle of October 2020 that I was able to title and register the Mustang. I haven't even been on the road a year! No, I didn't go all Overhaulin' and have the car done in a week, but I have managed to get a lot done in a year. A previously undrivable vehicle is now drivable. That's pretty cool.

That's my self affirmation pep talk for today. Now I can go back to searching for parts for the Mustang and GX.

@CarsOfFortLangley I guess we need our own regional OppoExpo shows!

@i86hotdogs The 2 door is a 4 seater. The 4 door seats 5.

@davesaddiction Yes. In fact, it has to come off to take the roof off, and that will be happening shortly. I really did order the rack knowing I didn't necessarily need it now, but would have a need for it eventually. I also know factory is always cheaper than ordering as an accessory down the road. When I placed my order, actually, it wasn't even an option to order as a dealer accessory, but was rumored to be available sometime in '22.

@adamftw We ran the Dome Plateau area during our Off-Roadeo on Saturday. One of the trail guides posted video from yesterday. Same trail was flooded, they diverted to Top of the World. Not a bad trail to divert to.

@davesaddiction There is a fair bit of coasting, though the normal coasting on the east side of the tunnel was non-existent, as it was stop and go from the tunnel until the Morrison exit. It's better than other vehicles I've had, as for as a trip to western CO goes (Tacoma/4Runner/GX). Once I get a few more tanks through it, I'll consider the mileage a little more accurate.

@EssExTee Not an Aerio, but I remember getting a Suzuki SX4 as a rental in San Diego. It was a funky ride. I have to imagine it was similarly inexpensive.

Way back in April, I had scheduled a trip to Moab for Ford's Bronco Off-Roadeo. My original attendance date was June 4th, but as the date approached, it became apparent my Bronco would not arrive prior to my scheduled date. A Bronco is not required to attend (but a verifiable valid order is), but I had hoped to road trip in my Bronco to the event. When I rescheduled for hot and toasty August 13th, little did I know I'd be cutting it close yet again for delivery of the Bronco. Alas, it arrived, so 4 days after delivery, we set off to Utah.

The very first impression? The roof rack is loud. Without having a comparison to a slick top Bronco, I didn't know if the level of noise was attributable to being a hardtop convertible, or to the roof rack. After driving a non roof rack equipped Bronco, I can safely say, it's the roof rack. It didn't bother the family on the trip, just something to point out. The roof rack was a $395 factory option. Ordered as an accessory after delivery bumps that price to $895. It's currently backordered, so if you want one after your delivery, you're outta luck for the time being. I should go look at the crossbar placement and see if it's in the ideal location.

The seats are very comfortable, and after reading numerous debates of swap ass, attributable to the dark MGV (marine grade vinyl) seats, for me, I had no issues. In the two door Bronco, power adjustable seats are not available. The manual adjustments are fine and unlike other vehicles ('15 Tacoma, I'm looking at you), I didn't find myself fiddling with the seat during the trip if/when I got uncomfortable. Adjustments are fore/aft, seatback angle, height adjustment, and lumbar. Steering wheel adjustment is also manual, typical adjustments for reach and up/down for the wheel.

All controls are within easy reach, and easy to use. Carplay worked great, the A/C is powerful, and I like the manual controls for both stereo and the climate control. I am still getting used to the mirror/window controls being on the center console. That's one of the compromises for having removable doors.

My son didn't complain at all, and after sitting in the backseat, I can say it's not a bad place to be. No seat adjustments, but they are comfortable and there is a lot of knee/leg/head room. I believe the difference between leg room in the 2D vs the 4D is around 0.1". And hey, the 2 door comes with cupholders. The 4 door has no stock rear seat cupholders.

I was impressed with how the 2.3l hustles. This thing scoots, which is great for a tall, heavy vehicle on 35" tires. Climbing up some of the mountain passes requires a downshift to 4th. If the revs drop below 2500 on the climbs, it'll lose speed quite quickly. I never felt that the vehicle felt top heavy. It's not a Lotus, but it cornered flatly, wasn't overly bouncy, and was a little stiffer than I expected a tall off roader to be. I mean that in a good way.

People make fun of the hill start assist in modern manual transmission vehicles, but it was quite beneficial when Eisenhower Tunnel was backed up (as usual) for Sunday evening mountain traffic. I was also able to crawl along quite easily for the several miles of 4-8MPH traffic.

The biggest surprise of the trip? Fuel mileage. Round trip to Moab, plus a few in town miles, was just over 700 miles (717). I used 34.97 gallons of gas, for an average mileage of 20.5. The may not be an impressive number to some, but that mileage, over mountain passes, with speeds routinely between 75-84MPH (thanks for the 80MPH speed limit, Utah!) is impressive to me. I do wish the Bronco had a larger tank. The 2 door tank is 16.9 gallons.

Lastly, I'll save the Bronco Off-Roadeo experience for another post (GOAT modes! Lockers! Fun! HOT!!). However, doing the OffRoadeo solidified my choice in the 2 door, which is the opposite of what I expected. The doors on the 2 door Bronco are 6" longer than the 4 door. That means a lot more window, and a lot more room for me. The 4 door, windows down, my arm placement on the sill is not comfortable, canted forward at my elbow. No such issue on the 2 door. We also had plenty of cargo capacity for our weekend trip. An extra 3-4" in the cargo bay would be awesome, but it works for us.

We're already looking forward to hitting the trails, and I'm curious to compare manual to automatic off road. It was a bit telling at the Off-Roadeo, during some radio banter back and forth, I asked if anyone else in the group happened to own a manual. I guess my phrasing may have been poor, but 2 people in our 5 vehicle convoy asked "Do you mean an owner's manual?", "Or a repair manual?"....the trail guide finally cut in and said "I think he meant a manual transmission".

About 2 hours into the return trip, my wife commented "I really like this. I like it a lot more than the Lexus." Spousal seal of approval obtained! I'm really impressed with the Bronco.

@dejock A tumbler/rambler fits. Any water bottle larger than the 18 oz one does not. I have a 26 oz and it does not. I assume the 18 does because that’s what they give you at the Offroadeo event. It definitely needs to be a tapered bottle to fit anything that’s a decent size.

The seats fold flat, but not level with the floor. There’s about a 3” lip. Goose Gear makes some seat delete kits that give you a flat floor. They have a setup to retain one seat, or delete both.

https://www.goose-gear.com/collections/ford-bronco-2021-present-6th-gen-2-door/products/stealth-sleep-package-ford-bronco-2021-present-6th-gen-2-door

@XJDano Boat rentals on Granby are plentiful, fun, and not too expensive. On your way up, grab some mountain pie (pizza) at BeauJos in Idaho Springs. Jones Pass is an easy off road trail up to about 12k. Some fun shelf roads, but cars can make it up the road. Or at least they could last time I was there. Rollins Pass, Chinns Lake (little rougher), St Mary's Glacier is a short hike (under 2 miles)

Don't let the forecast get you down. Monsoon season means they just predict thunderstorms every day. They happen or they don't, but the clouds always roll in mid afternoon, and roll back out pretty quickly. No "all day" events here when it comes to rain.

@davesaddiction Looks great! I just don't see any of these driving around, and not because I wouldn't notice them.

Also, where are the G8 GT pics?