I have come to a conclusion....

[tRex]

I have a trouble free 2023 BS Outer Banks edition. We have under 2000 miles on it to date, and bought it 5 months ago.

Again no issues so far. I like it. So does the wife. Drives great, gets good gas mileage, looks good.

However, had I joined this forum prior to its purchase and read through the majority of threads that state issues and questionable service experiences, I most likely would have looked into other vehicles to purchase.

Don't get me wrong, we have had absolutely no issues, and no complaints with the BS. Sales person was great, dealership was good. I have not had to take it in for any service yet, so I have no positive or negative opinions on that.

It just concerns me to read through this forum and see so many issues with their BS pertaining to component failures and service getting it repaired. I've been on countless forums in my past, and never saw the amount of negative issues pertaining to component failures that I'm reading here.

What "conclusion?"

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[Bucko]

What "conclusion?"

That I most likely would not have purchased one had I known about all the potential issues with not being able to get service in a prompt manner, or getting a loaner during the down time (warranty work), or parts becoming an issue with these Bronco's. Yes, I'm aware that the BS and/or other manufacturers also have issues; I did not buy from them.

I have been a long, long time Ford owner, and have had excellent trouble free ownership with my past and present Mustangs and F150's (currently own a 2007 F150), as well as my 2023 BS.

But as an owner, reading the issues some are having with failing transmissions, failing water pumps, and batteries to name just a few, that are leaving an owner stranded without a vehicle and making payments on it, I don't fault those who are upset with having being left without a vehicle, or having their local Ford referring them to other dealers for the repair.

All these complaints have been documented to the best of the owners ability, so I take it seriously, and not as a laughing matter.

I post here a lot, and for the most part, a positive member, and a positive owner of a BS.

Just being an honest concerned customer. I would think more carefully before making another new vehicle purchase.

 

[CableXJ]

Still love my BS BB. At the dealership right now for second oil change and tire rotation (18,578 km). Getting the heating element in drivers mirror checked.

Returning to dealer on Wednesday for a new drivers side mirror.

 

[Sheepdog4119]

I'll add my two cents. We have a new 23 BS heritage edition and almost 10k miles on it. (Lots of trips to tx) recebtly had my first oil change with my JCR engine skid plate installed. No issues at all with the experience or the BS. Still great gas mileage with the twin rifle case storage containers on top. We love our BS.

 

[BS FE 21]

If you go to any forum for any product you will get the impression that said product is a problem child. People are going to report problems with a product. That's what forums are for. It's good to know what to look for if a small percentage of people have problems. If there is a real problem that is good to know too. There is also plenty of good information on most forums.

 

[Flash]

If you go to any forum for any product you will get the impression that said product is a problem child. People are going to report problems with a product. That's what forums are for. It's good to know what to look for if a small percentage of people have problems. If there is a real problem that is good to know too. There is also plenty of good information on most forums.

Absolutely true. My '21 Outer Banks has been trouble free so far, 16,000 miles at this point.

I'm also on other boards with niche market products. I've found people on boards consistently stating things that I knew weren't true simply because I knew enough about the product to know that what they described was impossible. A lot of it came down to operator error and people refused to believe and accept that.

I'm not saying that's true of everything here, but I suspect it's true of a lot of things.

 

[Dantanman]

I have a trouble free 2023 BS Outer Banks edition. We have under 2000 miles on it to date, and bought it 5 months ago.

Again no issues so far. I like it. So does the wife. Drives great, gets good gas mileage, looks good.

However, had I joined this forum prior to its purchase and read through the majority of threads that state issues and questionable service experiences, I most likely would have looked into other vehicles to purchase.

Don't get me wrong, we have had absolutely no issues, and no complaints with the BS. Sales person was great, dealership was good. I have not had to take it in for any service yet, so I have no positive or negative opinions on that.

It just concerns me to read through this forum and see so many issues with their BS pertaining to component failures and service getting it repaired. I've been on countless forums in my past, and never saw the amount of negative issues pertaining to component failures that I'm reading here.

The Lamborghini and Mercedes forums are the same. All vehicle lines have problems. On the service side, I've seen a decline in service right across the entire marketplace, not just dealerships. Not sure why, a lot of experienced long term employees retiring? Manufacturers took advantage of supply chain issues imo. Just in time inventory is more common now. Having said that, we are blessed with a huge dealer body. I found one close to me who is excellent. I don't think the bronco is better or worse than the other entries in its class. Your experience and mileage may vary ?

 

[Bucko]

The Lamborghini and Mercedes forums are the same. All vehicle lines have problems. On the service side, I've seen a decline in service right across the entire marketplace, not just dealerships. Not sure why, a lot of experienced long term employees retiring? Manufacturers took advantage of supply chain issues imo. Just in time inventory is more common now. Having said that, we are blessed with a huge dealer body. I found one close to me who is excellent. I don't think the bronco is better or worse than the other entries in its class. Your experience and mileage may vary ?

Interesting that Lamborghini and Mercedes have part supply and service tech issues too. I guess I won't have one of those anytime soon in my garage.

In times long ago, I kept my wife in a BMW...I worked out of the country, and wanted to know she or our young son would never be left stranded somewhere. if she ever had a breakdown, they would come to her (even would call another BMW dealership if she was out of town) take her a loner car, and bring hers back for service. Sure, I paid a good amount for the car, but got great perks for doing it.

I sure don't expect that with domestic cars today, but I also don't expect that parts cannot be had in a decent timeframe, or that a loner is not available when your BS (under warranty) is going to be out of commission for a long time waiting on such parts. This is acceptable today to most? Maybe I'm old, and/or living in a dream world.

Yes, I'm old.

 

[Dantanman]

Interesting that Lamborghini and Mercedes have part supply and service tech issues too. I guess I won't have one of those anytime soon in my garage.

In times long ago, I kept my wife in a BMW...I worked out of the country, and wanted to know she or our young son would never be left stranded somewhere. if she ever had a breakdown, they would come to her (even would call another BMW dealership if she was out of town) take her a loner car, and bring hers back for service. Sure, I paid a good amount for the car, but got great perks for doing it.

I sure don't expect that with domestic cars today, but I also don't expect that parts cannot be had in a decent timeframe, or that a loner is not available when your BS (under warranty) is going to be out of commission for a long time waiting on such parts. This is acceptable today to most? Maybe I'm old, and/or living in a dream world.

Yes, I'm old.

I am old too. ?. I was a Ford dealer for many years, just sold and retired. My biggest challenge was finding staff that were passionate about their jobs. We did have a great team overall though. Always had service loaners, can't imagine functioning without them. Some of the horror stories I've heard really bother me. We were in a very small fairly isolated town. It's like that song says, "Try that in a small town". We had very small customer base. I always said "treat them like you want to be treated". Naturally we weren't perfect but we thrived in a town of 5000 for 20 years.

 

[Jlcarpenter02]

I have a trouble free 2023 BS Outer Banks edition. We have under 2000 miles on it to date, and bought it 5 months ago.

Again no issues so far. I like it. So does the wife. Drives great, gets good gas mileage, looks good.

However, had I joined this forum prior to its purchase and read through the majority of threads that state issues and questionable service experiences, I most likely would have looked into other vehicles to purchase.

Don't get me wrong, we have had absolutely no issues, and no complaints with the BS. Sales person was great, dealership was good. I have not had to take it in for any service yet, so I have no positive or negative opinions on that.

It just concerns me to read through this forum and see so many issues with their BS pertaining to component failures and service getting it repaired. I've been on countless forums in my past, and never saw the amount of negative issues pertaining to component failures that I'm reading here.

I hope that the new 2023 models are not having these same problems!! Hopefully, all this feedback has caught Ford’s attention. I bought a slightly used ‘21 Outer Banks with 9K miles on it when I couldn’t find a new ‘22 model and this forum has been a blessing to me.
My BS didn’t start having problems until it hit 22K miles and then it’s had all the issues. By reading others I knew what the problem was and was able to have them resolved rather quickly. My local dealer said the mechanics had to read through all Ford’s papers to see what was causing my last problem and it could be weeks before I had it back. I suggested they look into the rear differential for the problem and it was. I wouldn’t have been so eager to have them start there if I hadn’t heard it here first. I got it back 5 days later.
I appreciate people’s honesty with the issues they’ve had. I love the vehicle and want to keep it until I buy another Bronco., but I don’t want to be clueless about ongoing problems with it either.

 

[Canuck]

That I most likely would not have purchased one had I known about all the potential issues with not being able to get service in a prompt manner, or getting a loaner during the down time (warranty work), or parts becoming an issue with these Bronco's. Yes, I'm aware that the BS and/or other manufacturers also have issues; I did not buy from them.

I have been a long, long time Ford owner, and have had excellent trouble free ownership with my past and present Mustangs and F150's (currently own a 2007 F150), as well as my 2023 BS.

But as an owner, reading the issues some are having with failing transmissions, failing water pumps, and batteries to name just a few, that are leaving an owner stranded without a vehicle and making payments on it, I don't fault those who are upset with having being left without a vehicle, or having their local Ford referring them to other dealers for the repair.

All these complaints have been documented to the best of the owners ability, so I take it seriously, and not as a laughing matter.

I post here a lot, and for the most part, a positive member, and a positive owner of a BS.

Just being an honest concerned customer. I would think more carefully before making another new vehicle purchase.

. With well over 300,000 Bronco Sports sold to date in the USA and Canada, the number of complaints on this Forum represents an extremely small percentage of total vehicles sold.
Are you one of those people who look for the one star reviews for items rated at five stars by the majority of owners?
I am one of the majority of BS owners that have been problem free and wouldn’t hesitate to purchase another one.

 

[sajohnson]

. With well over 300,000 Bronco Sports sold to date in the USA and Canada, the number of complaints on this Forum represents an extremely small percentage of total vehicles sold.
Are you one of those people who look for the one star reviews for items rated at five stars by the majority of owners?
I am one of the majority of BS owners that have been problem free and wouldn’t hesitate to purchase another one.

Since you brought it up...

I agree that the BS seems to have at least average or better reliability.

That aside, and just talking about reviews of products in general (not vehicles) I am 'one of those people who look for the one star reviews for items rated at five stars by the majority of owners.'

The reasons are:

* There's no point in even reading the 4/5-star reviews if there is a significant percentage of legit 1/2-star reviews.

* 5-star reviews are often fake.

* 5-star reviews are typically written very shortly after the buyer received the product. In many cases they have not used it yet.

* Many people give a 5-star review because the product arrived on time and/or was as described.

* 1-star reviews not only describe problems with the product, they often mention issues with "customer service" -- not responding to emails and phone calls; refusing to honor the warranty; requiring the buyer to jump through hoops for a refund or warranty service.

I've been reading a bit about product failure rates. One stat I came across is that at the component level, auto mfrs strive for a 1 in 1,000,000 failure rate. Of course the failure rate (during the warranty period) may be closer to 1 in 1,000 vehicles because there are (say) 1,000 components that may fail. If that's the case, that seems pretty good.

One thing's for sure -- we cannot get that info from reading vehicle forum posts -- or, in the case of other products, looking at customer reviews. But a car is very complex, and is operated in a wide range of environments. If approx. 1 in 1,000 have warranty issues, then a simple product like a toilet seat or a box fan should have an even lower failure rate. Maybe 1 in 10,000. In that case -- even though people are more prone to complain -- we would expect the percentage of 1/2-star reviews to be exceedingly low. Maybe not 0.01% (1 in 10,000), but <1%.

There seems to be a race to the bottom with must products. There has always been cheap, disposable junk, but up until recently a buyer could spend more and get a better value. That's going away. It's all about price.

 

[Hot Rod Mike]

. With well over 300,000 Bronco Sports sold to date in the USA and Canada, the number of complaints on this Forum represents an extremely small percentage of total vehicles sold.
Are you one of those people who look for the one star reviews for items rated at five stars by the majority of owners?
I am one of the majority of BS owners that have been problem free and wouldn’t hesitate to purchase another one.

Totally agree with you. Love my trouble free Bronco BB

 

[Bucko]

. With well over 300,000 Bronco Sports sold to date in the USA and Canada, the number of complaints on this Forum represents an extremely small percentage of total vehicles sold.
Are you one of those people who look for the one star reviews for items rated at five stars by the majority of owners?
I am one of the majority of BS owners that have been problem free and wouldn’t hesitate to purchase another one.

I too am problem free. I don't look for the negative, but rather am very positive, hence the choice I made when I first bought my BS.

However, I am sympathetic with those who have bought and reported the issues they are having with their BS's.

As I stated, I have had very good luck with my past Fords. I'm an Admin on a popular Mustang forum, and have not seen the amount of rising issues there that I have seen here for the BS. Almost any complaint on a new Mustang purchase was related to a performance (aftermarket) addition that caused engine or drivetrain failure; not a fault of Ford.

It is this reason that I came to a conclusion that I did. I bought a BS, but may not have had I read through what I see here. Yes, a small amount compared to the majority, but I'm not a gambler. My confidence level is not as high with the BS as it is with my 2007 Ford F-150, or the 2011 Mustang which have been problem free since their purchases.

 

[Canuck]

I too am problem free. I don't look for the negative, but rather am very positive, hence the choice I made when I first bought my BS.

However, I am sympathetic with those who have bought and reported the issues they are having with their BS's.

As I stated, I have had very good luck with my past Fords. I'm an Admin on a popular Mustang forum, and have not seen the amount of rising issues there that I have seen here for the BS. Almost any complaint on a new Mustang purchase was related to a performance (aftermarket) addition that caused engine or drivetrain failure; not a fault of Ford.

It is this reason that I came to a conclusion that I did. I bought a BS, but may not have had I read through what I see here. Yes, a small amount compared to the majority, but I'm not a gambler. My confidence level is not as high with the BS as it is with my 2007 Ford F-150, which has been problem free since its purchase.

JD Power reaches a different conclusion:
Bronco Sport Reliability
Is the 2023 Ford Bronco Sport Reliable?
The 2023 Ford Bronco Sport has a predicted reliability score of 87 out of 100. A J.D. Power predicted reliability score of 91-100 is considered the Best, 81-90 is Great, 70-80 is Average, and 0-69 is Fair and considered below average.

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