12 Month 7300 Mile Review of Bronco Sport Badlands

[69cuda340s]

Do you know if they're accessible without removing the belly pan?

I haven't looked into it yet for 2.0 Sport.

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[fastlax16]

So quick update on the leaky rear diff. Car was in for its first oil change today and they found the leak. All they told me was that the seal failed. Part is on order, mercifully it's not backordered, and should be arriving tomorrow or Friday. Dealer asked if I needed the car back while we waited and said it was safe to drive based on the (lack of) size of the leak.

 

[bronco_Banks]

You’re a golf guy. This is a Ford forum. Not everyone is going to be happy with the vehicle, but if you found these issues going in, why buy the vehicle? Why not just tell your wife VW is what you’ll be staying with for the sake of the kiddo?

 

[fastlax16]

You’re a golf guy. This is a Ford forum. Not everyone is going to be happy with the vehicle, but if you found these issues going in, why buy the vehicle? Why not just tell your wife VW is what you’ll be staying with for the sake of the kiddo?

Mostly minor complaints or issues I just need to have the service department deal with, with the exception of the transmission and child seat fitment.

I said they were mostly minor complaints and everyone loses their damn minds. Never said I wasn’t happy and why do you think I knew of these going in? There were not many local for us to test drive when we purchased so I didn’t have 12 months of seat time prior to buying it. MSRP increase not withstanding we’d likely still buy one today, because most of the issues are minor. I think the only reason we possibly wouldn’t would be the child seat fitment but we’re making it work.

As for the vw suvs, the Tiguan is a very tight fit in our garage (it’s 16x16), the Atlas literally won’t fit and the Taos wasn’t out yet but I wouldn’t have considered it at the time since there was no plan to get rid of the Golf and it’s essentially a lifted golf. Variety is nice. I wouldn’t consider a Taos today because it doesn’t have enough power, same reason I didnt/wouldn’t consider a 3 cylinder sport.

 

[69cuda340s]

So did dealer fix leak in the diff?

 

[fastlax16]

So did dealer fix leak in the diff?

yup. The seal failed and needed to be replaced. Warranty handled everything and luckily it wasnt backordered. What’s disappointing is that it looks like it was leaking before it even left the factory and instead of replacing it they just applied additional sealant to the outside, which obviously didn’t work. The dealer that sold it to me could have applied the extra sealant as well I guess although I think that is unlikely based on my experience with dealers pre-delivery inspections. (I say this as a simple observation and it is not intended to be an indictment of the Bronco Sport, it’s owners, the Denver Broncos or actual broncos.)

 

[Mark S.]

What’s disappointing is that it looks like it was leaking before it even left the factory and instead of replacing it they just applied additional sealant to the outside, which obviously didn’t work.

These are the kind of claims that get you clapback. How do you know the extra sealant wasn't simply squeeze out from production? I don't know one way or the other if Ford uses sealant in the production of the rear diffs on these cars, but I sure as hell would find out before making a claim like this.

 

[fastlax16]

These are the kind of claims that get you clapback. How do you know the extra sealant wasn't simply squeeze out from production? I don't know one way or the other if Ford uses sealant in the production of the rear diffs on these cars, but I sure as hell would find out before making a claim like this.

And it’s responses like these that make me roll my eyes at a number of the posters on here.

Initially my personal opinion after throwing it on a lift and looking at it was that there was an excessive amount of sealant smeared at the leak site that appeared to have been applied externally vs oozing out. Referencing this against photos I’ve seen online and looking under a coworkers badlands, it was not present on any other diffs I’ve seen. This was reaffirmed by service advisor who asked if I’d tried to seal it myself before bringing it in when I picked it up. Not everything is all that complicated.

TLDR: You could fucking see it.

I’m sure the clap back on the cheap plastics observation was due to not removing a panel and sending it to BASF for confirmation before commenting on it myself…

 

[69cuda340s]

TLDR: You could fucking see it.

Couple weeks back I was doing second oil change on my lift. I looked over rear diff closely on mine for leaks. I didn't see any sealant on anything and bone dry.

 

[fastlax16]

Couple weeks back I was doing second oil change on my lift. I looked over rear diff closely on mine for leaks. I didn't see any sealant on anything and bone dry.

 

[Mark S.]

So, I just crawled under my Badlands and took a photo of the rear diff. Imagine what I saw...

That is sealant squeeze out, which is exactly what you want to see when using a sealant that cures post production. If that bead of squeeze out had been accidentally touched by something prior to curing it would get smeared, and it would look just like someone had applied something externally.

Ford's production facility in Hermosillo was recognized as its best assembly facility in North America. It seems far-fetched to me that a facility with people who would smear sealant on a leak to get a vehicle out the door could pass muster at the best facility on the continent.

You're right that things are not always complicated. Nor is it always about Ford trying to screw people over.

TL;DR: There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for what might appear to be an externally applied sealant that is not, in fact, an externally applied sealant.

 

[fastlax16]

So, I just crawled under my Badlands and took a photo of the rear diff. Imagine what I saw...

That is sealant squeeze out, which is exactly what you want to see when using a sealant that cures post production. If that bead of squeeze out had been accidentally touched by something prior to curing it would get smeared, and it would look just like someone had applied something externally.

Ford's production facility in Hermosillo was recognized as its best assembly facility in North America. It seems far-fetched to me that a facility with people who would smear sealant on a leak to get a vehicle out the door could pass muster at the best facility on the continent.

You're right that things are not always complicated. Nor is it always about Ford trying to screw people over.

TL;DR: There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for what might appear to be an externally applied sealant that is not, in fact, an externally applied sealant.

that’s not the seal that was leaking or replaced.

tldr: wrong seal

 

[Ramseyi]

We hit the one year mark with the car today so thought I'd get some thoughts out after 12 months of ownership. We picked up a Cactus Gray Badlands last April and were torn between grabbing this car (250 miles away) a few months earlier than necessary or placing an order that our local dealer assured us would be in by June. So glad we went with this one given everything I read about delays as the year went on. Using x-plan pricing we actually got it for under msrp. Purchase price was 36.5 and sticker was 38.3.

We originally purchased it to replace my wife's 2001 Ford Escape in advance of our first child (born last september) but ultimately it became our only vehicle as the used car market "forced" me into selling my car in November when carmax offered me over msrp for my VW and I couldn't justify keeping it given how little we drive.

We live in downtown Chicago, so mostly city driving mixed with 3 longer road trips (Chicago to Delaware 1x (1700 Miles) and Chicago to Kansas City 2x (1100 miles)). So of the 7300 miles we've put on it, 4150 are from 4 road trips including the trip driving it home. We got the badlands solely for the 2.0 and it will never be taken offroad. I didn't enjoy the NVH from the 3 cylinder on test drives and in my opinion it doesn't have enough power.

The only "mods" are the factory thule roof rack and a thule box. Was planning on a JB4 but with gas prices where they are, the requirement for premium once installed, and some concerns with the tranny I've held off.

The good:

The 2.0 is plenty powerful around town and doesn't feel overmatched on the highway until you get into speeds you shouldn't really be trying to pass people at anyway. I've had it cruising at 95-100 for long stretches no issues other than watching the gas gauge decrease in real time

Sport mode is legitimately sporty.

Awesome in the snow, even with the stock all seasons. Garages in Chicago are typically detached behind the house and the entrance is off the alley. Chicago doesn't plow them so things can get dicey in the winter. Even without putting it into "Slippery" we never had an issue getting in and out and we got a lot of snow this winter (including yesterday...). We've had neighbors get stuck what feels like weekly.

Still love the looks and that it's different than all of the generic crossovers. Get a ton of compliments on it.

The 360+ features are really nice on long road trips (minus the steering wheel vibrating as a lane departure alert)

A couple of features we like from the badlands that are great for city living:

The front facing camera. We have a really tight garage and the front facing camera has let my wife basically kiss the front wall when she pulls in, ditto for parallel parking tight spots.

Love having the 17s over the 18s from the OB. My wife would have curbed the sh*t out of the 18s by now between parallel parking and pot holes and the extra sidewall is nice on shitty broken pavement and potholes. I'd be worried about cracking the 18s.

Having no interior carpet is really nice. Being able to wipe everything down is great. We've had some bottle spills that would have been nasty with carpet that are no big deal.


The Bad:

Mostly minor complaints or issues I just need to have the service department deal with, with the exception of the transmission and child seat fitment.

The trans (or the transmission tune) is not very good. It doesn't shift smoothly around town/has trouble deciding when to shift. It will either hold gears too long, or shift way too soon and you end up lugging the engine with no real logic that I can figure out tied throttle input. It often feels like someone learning to drive a stick shift when we're at lower speeds. Sport mode is great if you're driving it with a little more aggression but it holds gears too long for real city driving. It does take care of the early shifts in normal mode. Given Ford's track record with recent transmission recalls this is the one area that has me considering extending the warranty, and so far has kept me from modifying the engine. I've had some flashbacks to the transmissions in a bunch of my coworkers fiesta company cars that basically fell apart.

Child seat fitment. Putting in a rear facing child seat renders the front passenger seat basically unusable. Obviously not an issue for everyone but we're pretty disappointed in this considering they fit into the back of a Taos without a problem. It fit better in the back of my Golf as well. Would never get one behind the drivers seat in a million years. if we have a second kid before this one graduates to a front facing seat we will probably have sell the car.

Short wheel base can follow grooves on the highway and it feels less stable in high winds than I'd like.

Rear dif leaks oil.

Rear hatch keeps failing to detect the key and wont open if the car is locked (glass works fine).

Not sure if there is a software update but there are times where the screen just goes black and the only way to get it back on is to restart the car.

Sporadically it becomes impossible to fill the tank without the shutoff valve triggering multiple times.

Rear brakes squeak like a mother f*er backing up.

The big flat hood reflects sunlight if you're going the wrong way at the wrong time.


The personal annoyances:

The engine doesn't feel all that refined. Makes some weird noises when you start moving from a stop. I've got a lot of experience with turbo 4 cylinders and this one just makes some flat out strange noises when you step on the gas. Loud injectors are part of the problem but there are some others I can't quite pin down.

Not being able to adjust the angle of the seat bottoms even with the power seats sucks. The seat bottoms are too flat and on longer drives it becomes uncomfortable with the lack of thigh support. On a car with a sticker of almost 40k (now over 40k based on the latest price hike) you should be able to adjust pitch of the seat bottoms

Cheap plastics. There are some reaaaaaaally cheap interior plastics. The plastic surrounding the cluster feels like its the same material as a coke bottle

Light colored headliner. They inevitably just get dirty over time. Black is the way to go, wish it had been an option, or standard. We've got black smudges in the back from the sealant that is inside the rubber seals around the hatch.

Watching the hood flex at highway speeds can be a little unnerving.

The under-seat storage in the back is under the passenger side, which is where you have to put a child seat, making accessing it impossible without removing the seat and the base.

My Ford dealer has no Saturday hours for service and with a baby I've had no free time to get it to them m-f to have some of the above problems looked at.

The stock tires are reaaaally skinny. They look ridiculous from the front or behind.

Not an annoyance just an observation. It doesn't like it above about ~105-110 (to be expected) and its not a fun place to be at those speeds.

What's next:

Tinting the front windows either 35 or 50%
JB4 once gas prices go down or I can finally get the car into the shop to have some of the issues sorted. Then obligatory trip to the dragstrip.
Make a second baby, sell bronco sport, profit, buy rs6 avant (or a Taos) for dual baby seat space.



And since words aren't fun without pics. (We all know what a stock bronco sport looks like so I'll keep it light.)

Where's the beef? Never considered the Golf's tires particularly wide but they sure look it by comparison.

definitely agree with this "The engine doesn't feel all that refined. Makes some weird noises when you start moving from a stop. I've got a lot of experience with turbo 4 cylinders and this one just makes some flat out strange noises when you step on the gas. Loud injectors are part of the problem but there are some others I can't quite pin down. " whenever I press gas and accelerate above 50 to 60 mph , I could here sound that its hard to define.

 

[69cuda340s]

definitely agree with this "The engine doesn't feel all that refined. Makes some weird noises when you start moving from a stop. I've got a lot of experience with turbo 4 cylinders and this one just makes some flat out strange noises when you step on the gas. Loud injectors are part of the problem but there are some others I can't quite pin down. " whenever I press gas and accelerate above 50 to 60 mph , I could here sound that its hard to define.

A lot of them the Park Release Cable rattles and can make other strange noises.

 

[Mark S.]

that’s not the seal that was leaking or replaced.

Fair enough. Do you have a photo of the place where it was leaking? The fact remains they use a sealant in production of these components that can accidentally get places it was not intended to go.

In my mind, it would be idiotic for anyone with a mechanical background--which one would hope those working an automotive production line would have--to apply a sealant externally. Even your dealership technician knows this (that was irony, BTW). The record-keeping on modern production lines would make it readily apparent who did it, placing their job in jeopardy. Nor does it make sense that an inspector would do it; they get paid to FIND issues, so why would they try to HIDE one?

I stand by my original statement. If there were no other explanation for the appearance of sealant on the outside of your rear diff it would be very suspicious. But I try to live by the axiom that absent evidence, one should never attribute to malice what is more easily explained by the human penchant for error.

All that said, I'm glad you got your diff fixed.

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