You may all recall the sticker that says, "It's not a jeep! It's a Land Rover" Well, I need one that says it's not a Bronco. For the 4th time in the past 2 weeks. When I have gotten out of my Defender, someone has come up to me and said, "How do you like the Bronco?" Today, the guy asked me while I was getting gas. I was polite and explained that it is a Defender. He then said, Wow, Bronco designed it similar to the Defender.

He thought the Bronco was out because about ten bronco sports are running around in my neighborhood. I just need a sticker for my back window; anybody makes stickers?

 

Play it up -- sell it to him. You'll probably get more if they think it's a Bronco!

True story -- my brother goes back and forth between Corvettes and 911s. After a 99 Corvette C5 he had a 911 Cabriolet and when he went to sell it in 2009, during the recession, not many people were interested in expensive toys. Finally, his wife's manicurist, a Vietnamese lady, saw it when Jen drove it to the salon, as she often does with whatever sportscar Jim owns at the time. She said her husband always wanted one of those. Jen said it was for sale, they arranged for husband to see it, he drove it, liked it, a deal was reached, title and car traded for cashiers check.

A couple weeks later Jen was back again and asked the lady how her husband liked his new car.

"He very disappointed (she is not a native English speaker.)"

"Oh dear, why is that?"

"He looked at papers and saw car is Porsche."

Puzzled, Jen said, "Well, yes, that's good, right?"

"Car he wanted is Corvette."

 

I think it's pretty clear Ford was trying like heck to release a comparable vehicle, everything from re-releasing a once discontinued model within the same general time frame to putting Bronco lettering on the passenger's side dash. I mean it's a knock-off, and I've spent enough time in Fords to know it's a cheap american interior that will be hard to spend much time in unless one has a massive plastic fetish. Not to mention I never owned a Ford that didn't leak oil and break down every three months. These two vehicles are light years apart IMO. But so is the cost, so I guess there's that.

 

Many of us that owned an LR3 experienced the vehicle lowering down, going into low speed limp mode and nearly every warning light coming on. (Christmas Tree of Death) The cause...a failed $40 brake pedal switch stamped with FoMoCo on the side of it. Then we all carried a spare brake switch with us, prepared for when this would happen again.

Then there is the Ford engine in the LR4 with the plastic rear coolant manifold and plastic front crossover pipe. When these get brittle and let go, you have seconds to shut off the engine or you will be buying a new engine. Now we know to change these out every 75K miles or so to prevent a disaster.

Just a couple of examples of low quality Ford parts leftover from when Ford owned Land Rover.

 

I think you might be grasping at straws here. Ford isn’t the first or only company to reach back into bag to pull the nostalgia strings. In fact, you’re going to see a lot more of it in the near term. You could say the same about the Hummer, couldn’t you? Putting the branding on the passenger side dash isn’t new or novel. As for the reliability argument of a Ford vs. a Land Rover I would simply caution against it…. Though I do agree that the interior quality of the Defender is far better in the Defender than any Ford I’ve ever seen/owned. Just my two cents.

 

^^ Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. In fact, as a Jeep owner I’ve always loved Land Rovers because if it wasn’t for them, Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep would be at the bottom of JD Power Reliability rankings.

Reading anything negative about another brand’s reliability reputation on a JLR board is like going on the Pontiac Aztek board and seeing people bash another brand for being ugly.

 

Ford was copying Jeep, not LR. Removable doors and roof, 2 door 4 seater instead of 5, didn't put power seats on the 2 door, but did on the 4; just like jeep, the list goes on. It's laughable really.

 

Though I agree, there are some definite similarities in the overall shape/design of the Defender and the Bronco.

As a matter of fact my BIL texted me last week saying how his wife had asked if the Bronco Sport that had just passed them was a Defender.

They have a similar shape and lines.

 

You make the call.

 

Pontiac Aztek is my dream ride!