Sport owner, big Bronco curious

MoFoCo

Hey folks,
I've owned a Bronco Sport Badlands for 2 years and 32,000 miles. It has been a great daily driver and family car, and has handled every challenge with zero drama (well, maybe a bit of scraping on the undercarriage). But I'll admit I'm a bit envious of its bigger sibling. I test drove a Bronco with the 7-speed manual and wow it was cool.

If I traded a perfectly sensible Sport for a less sensible but more fun Bronco, here are my questions about it:

1. I've read about some issues with the 7MT, lots of bad syncros apparently. Has this been sorted out by Ford or would I be expecting a transmission replacement after 2000 miles?

2. How is life with the soft top? I've had convertibles in the past, I live in California and if the weather is decent, the top is down.

3. Is there any way to carry a kayak or rooftop cargo box with the soft top?

4. Any other common warranty issues I should be aware of? The nearest Ford service department that I trust is 30 minutes away and it's a hassle to drop a car there.

I'll answer what I can.

1. No clue. I gave up driving manuals years ago and don't desire one enough to follow the stories going around.

2. Soft top is just fine. Seems to be hit or miss who has issues with it. Mine, some of the glue leaking out towards the front, but it's held up fine otherwise.

3. I believe someone did come out with racks for the soft top. I don't know anything about them, I'd assume you can't have rack installed and still pop the top.

4. I swear these things are hit or miss. You'll find a lot of stupid annoyances still floating around, but for the majority of people the Bronco seems to be a pretty well built vehicle. Hell I've been reading more issues that are due to the factory being sloppy then I am any real problems.

I'll also take a stab (my perspective is coming from that of a 53 yr old in Northern CA with a 4 door badlands sasquatch with soft top, 2.7, Lux):
1. I've read about some issues with the 7MT, lots of bad syncros apparently. Has this been sorted out by Ford or would I be expecting a transmission replacement after 2000 miles? - Unsure - I have done my time with manual transmissions, and in a sports car, or something being taken to the race track (not a drag strip - auto is better there) often, absolutely agree that a manual is the way to go.. but the Bronco is my daily driver, and I'm usually on the highway for about 45 minutes each way (20 miles) every day, and stop and go with a manual is something I'm OVER. I love the auto.
2. How is life with the soft top? I've had convertibles in the past, I live in California and if the weather is decent, the top is down. I love my soft top - I'm in Sacramento - I love how easy the soft top is to flip back at a stop light.. no need to store big bulky panels or components to go open-air. I've taken it up to the snow in brutal storms and had no issues with it, and it did great in all the crazy rain we had this winter.
3. Is there any way to carry a kayak or rooftop cargo box with the soft top? There is a company out there that makes a rack for the soft top - but I believe there are options for adding a roof rack when the top is in the 'down' position as well.. I haven't researched.
4. Any other common warranty issues I should be aware of? The nearest Ford service department that I trust is 30 minutes away and it's a hassle to drop a car there. Earlier versions of the 2.7 had issues with valves breaking, but they figured that out and that has been resolved. I've got 11k miles on mine in 7 months, and the only thing that's given me a problem is how much I enjoy driving it, causing me to rack up miles too quickly!

1. 7 speed manual transmission owner here. It is a major issue that impacts a large chunk of manual transmission owners—myself included. To be clear, there have been no reported issues of transmission failures due to this issue, really it's just a noise that is really concerning and could impact the long-term reliability of the transmission. Ford added new parts to the system back in March and they are just now starting to make their way through the supply chain and into people's Broncos. A handful of people have gotten the new transmissions, and early reports are good, but we probably won't really know until winter hits. (The issue is much more pronounced in cold weather.)

2. Soft top is awesome in my opinion. It is not a trouble-free experience, but if you've owned a soft top vehicle or a convertible before, then it won't be anything unexpected.

3. There are some aftermarket companies that are building roof racks for the soft top. The most promising one, in my opinion, is this one by DV8 off-road.

4. It is quite simply the best vehicle I've ever owned. Keep in mind that people who have issues with their Bronco are much more likely to complain about it online. Those that are happy are probably too busy driving it than talking about it online. That said, it is a relatively new vehicle, and not all of the kinks have been ironed out yet. The Bronco Sport is based roughly on the Ford Escape and the Ford Kuga, which has been in production for over a decade at this point. The Bronco is only on its second full year of production. So there are the typical new vehicle issues that Ford hasn't had a chance to fully iron out yet. BUT... it is still the best vehicle I've ever owned.

MoFoCo

If I traded a perfectly sensible Sport for a less sensible but more fun Bronco,

Sensible is over rated. Have some fun.😂
Depending on what you are doing the Bronco is a very sensible vehicle.
As awesome as the sport is( it is truly impressive) there are just some things it can’t do. I have the Auto w 2.3 so not much help but I am with @RagnarKon this is one of the best vehicles I’ve ever owned.

Thanks for the feedback! I watched Ford's video on how to open the top, because of the way it swings it doesn't seem possible to have a rack and open the top. We often carry a kayak and/or canoe, so we'd have to find a way to do that. We also have a Thule cargo box that we use for longer trips.

Maybe I'll wait another year until Ford works out the bugs. I have spent enough time in Ford service lobbies over the last 8 years since I bought my Transit; it had a bad torque converter but the real issue was with a lousy dealer, once I found a good service dept. it was taken care of quickly. The Sport has been trouble free save for a couple minor QC problems.

Truth be told, I really shouldn't drive a manual given the traffic around here. But I was impressed with how the 7MT worked, the shifter was smooth and the clutch was easy. I love that connection to the vehicle that you don't get with an auto.

MoFoCo

Thanks for the feedback! I watched Ford's video on how to open the top, because of the way it swings it doesn't seem possible to have a rack and open the top. We often carry a kayak and/or canoe, so we'd have to find a way to do that. We also have a Thule cargo box that we use for longer trips.

Maybe I'll wait another year until Ford works out the bugs. I have spent enough time in Ford service lobbies over the last 8 years since I bought my Transit; it had a bad torque converter but the real issue was with a lousy dealer, once I found a good service dept. it was taken care of quickly. The Sport has been trouble free save for a couple minor QC problems.

Truth be told, I really shouldn't drive a manual given the traffic around here. But I was impressed with how the 7MT worked, the shifter was smooth and the clutch was easy. I love that connection to the vehicle that you don't get with an auto.

My original order was for a manual but when I switched to the Everglades I lost that. From the videos I have seen of it, it really is a simple manual to drive. I drive an old manual Chevy daily. So I was looking forward towards it.
As far as the kayak goes you might be able to use the front bumper and the rear trailer hitch to make some sort of rack to hold it and still allow you to open the roof.

I have a 2-door Black Diamond manual trans. 40+ year dedicated manual transmission driver. I think if you are questioning the manual in the Bronco for daily use in traffic then you should go with the 10 speed auto. If you go auto, then upgrade to the 2.7 Ecoboost.

I find the gearing with the manual mismatched to the 2.3L power curve. I'm sure the transmission gear ratios for 1 thru 3 are tuned with off roading in mind; I find them too short for street use. 4th thru 6th are okay for street driving.

I live in a low population area with no real traffic, so the manual transmission is okay for my use case. I'm not sure if I'd like it as a daily for big city traffic. I've done a good 600,000+ thousand miles in a manual in big city traffic in my years, but in street cars, not ORVs that need different gear ratio requirements. BUT, the Bronco crawl gear may work great in heavy traffic; I've not yet tried that scenario.

My transmission/clutch broke in perfectly, are smooth as silk and the trans is completely silent. How anyone hears transmission scraping sounds at cold start with all the racket the 2.3L makes warming up is beyond me.

It has been a great daily driver and family car

I will just add this, depending on your definition of "Family car", You might want to stick to the 4DR. The 2DR lacks space and if you have youngin's that require car seats forget it. I have 2.7 Auto, 15K in less then 11 months, no real issues...

Also as mentioned above "this is one of the best vehicles I’ve ever owned"

I also have the 7 sp manual. I wasn't having any issues at all, but shop wanted to do the transmission service due to the service bulletin. I wish I told them no. The clutch is tricky now I'm assuming due to air in the line. I stIll love my Bronco. Best vehicle I've owned in years!!

Sdakotabronco

I also have the 7 sp manual. I wasn't having any issues at all, but shop wanted to do the transmission service due to the service bulletin. I wish I told them no. The clutch is tricky now I'm assuming due to air in the line. I stIll love my Bronco. Best vehicle I've owned in years!!

Glad to hear you're enjoying your Bronco. Thank you for being part of the Ford Family!

rayhil67

It has been a great daily driver and family car

I will just add this, depending on your definition of "Family car", You might want to stick to the 4DR. The 2DR lacks space and if you have youngin's that require car seats forget it. I have 2.7 Auto, 15K in less then 11 months, no real issues...

Also as mentioned above "this is one of the best vehicles I’ve ever owned"

Absolutely no way I'd consider the 2-door, even though it looks better IMO and has advantages off-road. 2 kids and a 55-lb dog would be a hassle without 4 doors. Also non-Sasquatch for a bit better road manners, I got my sheetmetal-bashing rock-crawling days out of my system in my 20's.

Good to know everyone is stoked on their Broncs. I've been very happy with the Sport, but for whatever reason, every 2 years like clockwork I start looking for a new car. My wife loves that about me 😉

Jakob1972

Sensible is over rated. Have some fun.😂
Depending on what you are doing the Bronco is a very sensible vehicle.
As awesome as the sport is( it is truly impressive) there are just some things it can’t do. I have the Auto w 2.3 so not much help but I am with @RagnarKon this is one of the best vehicles I’ve ever owned.

Reading posts like this makes me want a new Bronco more every day!
This is a fine looking Bronco you have there!

So I have a soft top. On the whole, I am very happy with it. I Initially wanted the Mod top, but when that wasnt an option, I made the call to go with the softee, and Im glad I did.

My dislikes: Yes, the softee is loud north of 80MPH. I dont really like mucking about with the rear and side windows so its less of a true Flip the top back and go vehicle than like a mustang convertible (you need to plan ahead about the side and back windows). I also think with the top up, it looks like the canvas on a Conestoga Wagon- lots of peaks and valleys (the Best top looks much better to my eyes than the factory top, but thats just one dude's opinion). The pop-up with the rear loading gate is also little weird (the IAG lift struts make this a hundred times better, but I think I would have preferred a zip and roll window in the back) and I dont like having the bar across the opening when I am trying to load stuff in the back. Lastly, when it is folded back, its hard to see out of the center mirror.

However- it has been great to open up the top and go. I generally run in Safari mode (side and rear windows in the garage) and the ability to flip it back and enjoy the open air is great. I took delivery in January and had no issues with the softee being too cold in the winter. Now that we are in spring/summer it is great. All the above gripes pale in comparison to open top driving. I just love a convertible and always have. If I had ordered a hard top, I know that I would not have anywhere near as much time with it off. Its just too much to fiddle about with to take it on and off all the time. The Softee solves that problem.

There are applications that the softee is not going to work for- If you do a load of long distance high-speed driving, It would not be the best, nor if you had super concerns about weather (like it rains or snows every day where you are at) then I would think about a hard top just for the hardshell on the rear. But for me, and how I use the truck, it's great.

The Bronco on the whole is a great vehicle and a lot of fun. Sure there are more practical vehicles out there that make more sense for daily life. I guess I have never heard anyone say "I wish I never sold my civic" and talk about it with any kind of fondness. I have heard plenty of folks say that about an old convertible, or a Bronco or even a jeep. Life is short and unpredictable. Enjoy the time you have. Get the softee.

Here in "sunny" California (we're in the "June Gloom" already) I'd get some good mileage out of a soft top. It is a bummer though that it can't be completely rolled back without removing the windows etc. I loved my NA Miatas for that, I could flip it open or closed with one hand at a stoplight. On cooler days I'd drive with the top down and the heater on full blast.