If you’re someone who wanted a Ford Bronco badly enough to hold a reservation this long, more power to you. The SUV has been delayed, had production stopped multiple times, and more, over just a few years. Some people have been waiting so long they’ve forgotten they even reserved the off-road model. Now, Ford Bronco reservation holders will have to keep on waiting. Instead of filling your order, Ford gives more Broncos to dealers that offer them for price markups to the highest bidder.

Early Ford Bronco reservation holders are not prioritized

According to Jalopnik, people who reserved a Bronco two years ago, when reservations first opened, are losing their place in line. This is because Ford is adjusting the order of its deliveries of the desired model. Instead of early reservation holders getting their Bronco, Ford sends them to dealers in larger cities or other locations that sell more cars. These dealers are marking up Broncos to make as much money as possible, and reservation holders are skipped over time and time again.

While it makes sense that Ford would give Broncos to more popular areas, we’d think it would be locations that can fill reservations. Instead, they’re giving them to dealers to make new sales, far above MSRP. Buying a Bronco for MSRP at this point is a pipe dream. Even if you preordered the SUV when it went on sale in 2020, you still aren’t guaranteed to get one.

How to get a Ford Bronco in 2022

If you’re looking to get a Bronco any way possible, the answer is to pay dealer markups. There are no rules at this point, as reservations don’t even count. You’ll have no choice but to pay the massive overpricing Ford dealers are asking for the SUV. Even if you could get your hands on an early reservation, it seems to be meaningless to the automaker.

This quote from Seinfeld in 1991 sums it up nicely, “You know how to take the reservation, you just don’t know how to hold the reservation. And that’s really the most important part of the reservation: the holding. Anybody can just take them.”

Ford offered to take reservations months in advance, and loyal customers came through. However, the reservations line has not been first-come, first-served at all. Customers who live in rural locations are out of luck, as cities and larger dealers take priority over their smaller sites.

Ford says its dealers’ markups are fine

Stores call the markups a “market adjustment,” claiming that it’s OK due to the current automotive market. Ford has acknowledged that these stores are doing this, and it isn’t stopping. Ford is perfectly fine with the unfair dealer markups, and why wouldn’t they be? The automaker continues to make as much money as possible from the coveted SUV.

According to Bloomberg, Ford claimed it would punish dealers that sell for prices over MSRP by not allocating stock to them. However, the numbers show that four out of every 10 Broncos are up for grabs. In other words, dealers sell them to the highest bidder instead of a reservation holder.

“At first, the company required that 80% of new Broncos be matched to a name on the digital order list, according to several dealers; today, that’s just 60%. So four out of 10 new Broncos can go to a walk-in customer or the highest bidder,” Bloomberg reported.

Will reservation holders ever get a Ford Bronco?

Holding a reservation is a lottery entry at this point. Will your local dealership be a lucky location to receive a Bronco? Only Ford knows. If the store gets one, they should fill your reservation for MSRP. If not, you’re looking at paying a massive markup, or waiting much, much longer.