latest Ford Bronco? Need reviews.

[5030]

One thing to ALWAYS keep in mind and that is, all the expensive aftermarket accessories wont add one dime to the eventual resale price, never does unless you happen to find a buyer who wants that stuff and is willing to pay extra (and not the actual price you paid for it stuff). Trade in vehicles values are based totally on wear, depreciation and the MSRP price and none of the 'Gee-Gaw' stuff means squat and eventually. all vehicles get traded in unless they are wrecked and even then any insurance settlement is based on age, condition prior to the wreck and other factors but not in the crap owners install to make that ride look cool.

 

[ArlyA]

Anyone who has test driven either of the new Bronco's, please post your thoughts.

 

[oliver1555]

Anyone who has test driven either of the new Bronco's, please post your thoughts.

My wife and I test drove the first Bronco Sport that came to the dealership. That was either late 2020 or early 2021. She loved it! Our intent was to replace her 2008 F-150 SuperCrew. We have another SuperCrew, plus my Dodge CTD, so buying a small car for her to run around in was okay with me. She ordered one just the way she wanted and took delivery in May of 2021. I'm over 6' tall and there is plenty of room for me. She's 5' nothing. It fits us both well. We have taken several trips in it and we are very happy with the room, ride, etc. Probably too much technology for me, but she's kind of into all that stuff. As far as being an off-road vehicle, I couldn't say because it's been strictly a highway vehicle. We have a paved road that goes by our farm and it gets plowed. That just leaves about 200 yards of road for me to plow. It has the three cylinder eco boost engine and I was a little skeptical, at first. It has plenty of power and gets mid thirties for fuel mileage. My mother in law has an Escape and the Bronco is based off of it, but the Bronco is much roomier and better laid out, in my opinion. Overall, I'm pretty impressed with it for the purpose we bought it for. It has over 50,000 miles, so it gets used a lot. It had a recall for a brake issue, but that was taken care of. Fortunately, we live in a small town and have a good rapport with the dealer. I do all of my own service work since we have a well equipped shop with a lift. I would definitely buy it again, for our use. If I needed a vehicle for off road use, it may not be what I'd use, since I have two full size 4X4 pickups.

Bronco Sport, not Bronco II

 

[5030]

I did because the wife was interested and test drove both actually and I rendered my thoughts in my comment. The only downside to the full sized one is the 10 speed slush box and my BIL was the head designer on it and he told me to avoid it for the first couple production years. It has bugs to get worked out. Already having teething issues in the 150 pickup trucks I'm told. Fords QC as well as pre production testing has gotten terrible lately.

Fords has adopted the philosophy that let the end user 'test' the vehicles and then fix them under warranty, which un my opinion is bad philosophy.

They are having a huge amount of new vehicle recalls lately. If I was you I'd wait a few years before buying one and I suspect the now severely inflated prices will come down as well. The present new vehicle market is not sustainable. Prices and or substantial cash back offers are coming.

 

[jyoutz]

Keep in mind that the Bronco II or whatever it's called is nothing more than a Ford Escape or a Ford mid sized passenger vehicle with different sheet metal on the no frame unibody chassis and they come with the same powertrains too.

The full sized Bronco has it's own unique chassis, a full frame and much better underpinnings more suited to off roading and casual off road driving but rides harder and has way more ground clearance and much better components than the wannabe Bronco II ever hopes to have but that all comes with a price of course and my personal observation is, the Bronco II is fugly whereas the full sized Bronco is marginally not fugly. If you want a II, just buy a AWD Escape or a AWD mid sized Fords. I don't really like any of the new vehicles no matter who builds them today. They all look similar to me except the Jeeps and the full sized Bronco, but the Jeep vehicles seem to have a poor reliability rating that I agree with as at one time I owned a Jeep CJ7 and it was a turd. Drove terrible and spent more time at the dealer than in my garage. Dumped that turd like a hot potato.

I never understood the Jeep attraction, never will and living and farming just north of Toledo. Jeep's are the cult thing there and I bet 95% of them never leave the pavement. It's a wannabe show thing, a status symbol and an expensive thing to boot. Oversized tires, lift kits and gaudy vinyl graphics are the norm. You purchase an inflated priced wannabe Jeep and add thousands of basically useless accessories and never drive it off road or even on gravel.. I don't get it but then it's not my money or my payment book.

All I will say is the new Jeep Wranglers are a huge improvement over the old CJs. And I’m on my third Jeep, the prior 2 sold with close to 300k miles and only routine maintenance and minimal repairs. My current Jeep Liberty only has 140K miles, so barely broken in.

 

[ArlyA]

My wife and I test drove the first Bronco II that came to the dealership. That was either late 2020 or early 2021. She loved it! Our intent was to replace her 2008 F-150 SuperCrew. We have another SuperCrew, plus my Dodge CTD, so buying a small car for her to run around in was okay with me. She ordered one just the way she wanted and took delivery in May of 2021. I'm over 6' tall and there is plenty of room for me. She's 5' nothing. It fits us both well. We have taken several trips in it and we are very happy with the room, ride, etc. Probably too much technology for me, but she's kind of into all that stuff. As far as being an off-road vehicle, I couldn't say because it's been strictly a highway vehicle. We have a paved road that goes by our farm and it gets plowed. That just leaves about 200 yards of road for me to plow. It has the three cylinder eco boost engine and I was a little skeptical, at first. It has plenty of power and gets mid thirties for fuel mileage. My mother in law has an Escape and the Bronco is based off of it, but the Bronco is much roomier and better laid out, in my opinion. Overall, I'm pretty impressed with it for the purpose we bought it for. It has over 50,000 miles, so it gets used a lot. It had a recall for a brake issue, but that was taken care of. Fortunately, we live in a small town and have a good rapport with the dealer. I do all of my own service work since we have a well equipped shop with a lift. I would definitely buy it again, for our use. If I needed a vehicle for off road use, it may not be what I'd use, since I have two full size 4X4 pickups.

We don't really take any of our vehicles off road. Thanks for your good post. We do drive in snow and tow trailer with them.

 

[5030]

One thing that irks me about Fords products in general is the not user friendly at all placement of need to be serviced by a home wrench that can do it. My Focus ST is a good example. the engine bay is packed to the point where routine service is a PITA where as my wife's extremely loaded Suburban LTZ is not. I can actually sit on the fender and put my feet in the engine bay and routinely serviced items are easily accessible and it has a big V8 under the hood as well as not one but 2 ac compressors and dual batteries as well. Mileage isn't all that stellar but she don't care. It's a bus with a full ladder frame and very crash worthy. Was it cheap, hell no but today nothing is cheap and I prefer the GM 4wd system as well, on demand with traction control or you can lock it in 4wd direct or low range and the tranny is proven and no bugs either. Nothing IMO beats the sound of a big V8 when getting on the e-way either. She always keeps a vehicle until it rusts out which is always a distinct possibility up here in rust belt Michigan where instead if using sand on icy and snow covered roads, they use salt or brine which promotes corrosion. The burb with it's air suspension, rides like a luxury car and the GM warranty is better as well and the interior seating as well as all the appointments are better than any Fords and we are a Fords family. Her burb seats 8 comfortable and still has 6 feet of cargo room in the back and over 8 feet with the flat fold 3rd row seating folded down. No brainer choice for her and I happen to know a GM engineer at their Mound Road tech center and he told us the Suburban's have very little issues and that is what he drives as well. Not an econo bus at all. It gets maybe 20 on the highway in cruise on a good day with a tailwind. 18 maybe in suburban driving, maybe.

If they are good enough for the President and politicians to get toted around in, that tells me they are a good vehicle. You won't ever see any politician or a President riding in an explorer or even an Expedition. Always a burb and always triple black with heavy tint on the windows which is actually illegal here in Michigan and can net you a ticket.

She usually drives and I ride in the leather passenger seat which is heated and cooled too and has so many adjustments it's insane. That applies to the second and 3rd row seating as well but the 3rd row isn't heated or cooled but are leather anyway. It came with tow haul mode and a Class 5 receiver out back and integrated brake controller but will never pull anything, anyway. The 460LE trans is well proven as well so long as you change the fluid (not flush) and the filter at 100K miles. Even has a second row entertainment center with a TV and a CD player and of course the power moon roof my wife never opens. Nice, overly appointed and well proven vehicle with a huge retail price tag that isn't negotiable., but then a new full sized Bronco decked out is just as much if not more.

 

[5030]

Fords 'better idea' is changing the alternator which hangs under the engine in the right side and sits in road splash (not a good spot) you have to drop the steering rack and the inner fender well to get to it. same with an oil change, the RS has a full underpan that has to be removed prior to changing the oil and/or the filter and absolitely zero room under the hood to service anything. I admit it goes like a scared rabbit with over 350 ponies in a roller skate but when it comes to any service, it's a nightmare. I can literally suck the paint off a Mustang V8 GT. Too bad Fords quit making it. It's a genuine super car sleeper in econo box clothing and I still average 40mpg because I drive conservatively, I'm an old fart. You get it up on the turbo and look out... The engine is bigger than the base engine in the Bronco II as well and has an extra cylinder too. It's a 2.0 turbo charged, after cooled motor btw with dual exhausts (from the motor back) not some single pipe with 2 muffs. Best part is it insures as a 'compact station wagon' so it's cheap to insure up here in insurance poor, no fault, Michigan.

 

[ArlyA]

Anyone who has test driven either of the new Bronco's, please post your thoughts. Do not care to hear about your politics or other makes and models.

 

[deserteagle71]

Anyone who has test driven either of the new Bronco's, please post your thoughts. Do not care to hear about your politics or other makes and models.

Do you ever watch Matt's Off-Road Recovery videos? Guy on there has a new Bronco that's used in recoveries. Some of the videos compare it to their other, specialized, recovery vehicles. A lot of good information there that's not a paid-for ad or someone trying to sell you on the machine. Here's the latest with the Bronco:

 

[Hay Dude]

Built Ford Proud!

 

[ArlyA]

Looks like Saturday am we'll be testing both versions and I'll try get some photos. Check engine light came back on in our Element. Does that on a regular bases.

 

[Sprinkler Fitter]

Check engine light came back on in our Element. Does that on a regular bases.

Black electrical tape will cover that.

 

[5030]

Looks like Saturday am we'll be testing both versions and I'll try get some photos. Check engine light came back on in our Element. Does that on a regular bases.

Time to purchase a quality scan tool and diagnose the issue and extinguish it and not with a chunk of black electrical tape either because that 'idiot' light didn't illuminate for no reason.

Putting tape over ANY illuminated idiot light makes that owner a bigger idiot than the light will ever be.

Even HF sells pretty good scan tools in their stores, I say pretty good, not excellent like a professional quality scan tool (OBD accessible and interface able).

Myself, I have an Autel scan tool and it's the size of a tablet and it not only diagnoses fault codes, it pinpoints the failed component and will extinguish any idiot light, reset and reprogram your TPMS sensors and many other things as well. Not a cheap date by a long shot (the HF scan tools are mostly). My Autel set me back almost a grand but it's constantly updated by Autel for the latest vehicles via USB cable and your laptop or desktop computer. Actually same thing applies to the Harbor Freight scan tools but the Autel scan tool doagnoses 10 times the stuff the HF scan tools can, but then you also get to pay for it. I do believe the Snap-On scan tool is made by Autel and rebranded Snap-On.

 

[deserteagle71]

Time to purchase a quality scan tool and diagnose the issue and extinguish it and not with a chunk of black electrical tape either because that 'idiot' light didn't illuminate for no reason.

Putting tape over ANY illuminated idiot light makes that owner a bigger idiot than the light will ever be.

I wish you'd come talk to the guys at our County shop. Our Search and Rescue unit is assigned 4 County-owned vehicles - a Tahoe, a Suburban, and 2 - 3/4 ton GMC pickups. Check engine lights have been illuminated on all of them for years. Guys at the shop tell us to not worry about them.

 

[swines]

I've owned a 1971, 1985, 1992, and a 2023 Bronco. I custom ordered a 2023 WildTrak with the Lux Package in late April 2023 and it was delivered in early September 2023. I paid MSRP.

The 2023 is far better than the original 1971 Bronco and the other Broncos I've owned in many ways, including going off-road. The most luxurious version I've had was the 1992 Eddie Bauer edition, however, the 2023 is faster, more nimble, and better off-road. For reference, the 1992 had a 351 V8 (5.8 liter). It was 200 HP and 300 lb-ft of torque. The 2023 Bronco has a 2.7 liter V6. It is 330 HP and 410 lb-ft of torque. Ford makes a Performance Tuner for it (which I've had installed) that increases the horsepower to 355 and the torque to 433 - and the motor and drivetrain still carry the full factory warranty because it's a Ford Performance product installed by a Ford dealer.

I chose the WildTrak version because, other than the Raptor, it had the best suspension and 35-inch tires. But, it does not have a sway bar disconnect. You can get around that in several different ways. I chose to add Boss 4x4 "Walker Link" sway bar links that give about 1.5 inches of additional travel. For reference, the sway bar disconnect gives a little over 2 inches of additional travel.

Pros: It's fast, handles well, and goes off-road better than any other Bronco I've owned. It's comfortable and you can ride in it all day. I have the hardtop and have had no problems with the hardtop, although some owners of early versions did have some cracking problems.

Cons: It is noisier than the 1992 Eddie Bauer Bronco, but it is quieter than the 1971 (by a lot) and quieter than the 1985. The noise is wind noise from the frameless windows. You can get rid of most of the wind noise by adjusting the windows (there are access points under the doors to make window track adjustments) and resetting the up/down position which is done by lowering the window and holding the switch in the "down" position for 5 seconds, and then raising the window and holding the switch in the "up" position for 5 seconds.

So far, it's been a great vehicle. It can be easily modified as it has numerous places to add additional lights and has upfitter switches, has interior accessory attachment points including on the dashboard, and there is a large upfitter market for all kinds of accessories. Another bonus is if you understand the use of FORScan, you can make additional changes through programming.

On the road, the IFS makes it comfortable going over bumps and aids in steering as the truck does not wander like a solid front axle 4x4.

If I can answer any specific questions, please ask.

Would I buy it again? Yes - without hesitation. I like it, my wife likes it, and the dog likes it...

 

[deserteagle71]

On the road, the IFS makes it comfortable going over bumps and aids in steering as the truck does not wander like a solid front axle 4x4.

You forgot the most important part...you'll never have to worry about "death wobble". Something I read an awful lot about on the Jeep Wrangler forums...and something I've experienced in my own Wrangler. Not fun.

 

[swines]

You forgot the most important part...you'll never have to worry about "death wobble". Something I read an awful lot about on the Jeep Wrangler forums...and something I've experienced in my own Wrangler. Not fun.

Yes, I've had eight solid front axle 4x4s. Two of them had "death wobble" problems. It's not difficult to fix, but if you're going expressway speeds when it happens the first time - it certainly is an exciting ride until you slow down the vehicle.

 

[Hay Dude]

I wish you'd come talk to the guys at our County shop. Our Search and Rescue unit is assigned 4 County-owned vehicles - a Tahoe, a Suburban, and 2 - 3/4 ton GMC pickups. Check engine lights have been illuminated on all of them for years. Guys at the shop tell us to not worry about them.

It’s usually just a sensor.

 

[Joel/ak]

Never test drove one but at the local sand dunes here in Western MI, commonly called silver lake, Ford had their raptor bronco or their other offroad bronco out. They driver was doing tunes. Damn thing was impressive off road. The lightning not so impressive.

Ford had their 1 ton chase truck to assist and let's just say they didn't worry about the bronco, just the ev truck.