Bronco Nightmare

dmcc

Feb 06, 2026

I bought a 2025 Bad SAS in December currently 679 miles and I got a check engine light over the weekend, January 31st due to an engine misfire.

I took it into the dealership to figure out the issue and it’s turned into a nightmare where the engine was torn down to find the problem.

I got confirmation today it was a lifter and it’s being sent to ford to decide how to proceed with the fix.
Replace lifter and reassembly or an entirely new engine.

I’m extremely stressed about this and frustrated because I feel like everything points to a lemon but in Texas I can’t file unless there are 3 or more repairs related to the same issue. But seriously a whole new engine on a 6 week old vehicle shows there was a severe issue with the original one.

I’m looking for advice from others here on what the can do.
I don’t really feel comfortable wanting to keep this bronco after all this, one because it’s going to impact trade in value so I’m loosing more money.

I might be open to a replacement but so far no one either at ford or the dealership are even offering to do anything other than the fixes.

Attachments

IMG_6120.jpeg 1170 x 1880 · 220.25 KB

IMG_6118.png 1170 x 2532 · 49.36 KB

JoergH, MWNew

Sort by date

Reaction Score

Thu at 9:01 pm

Ugh. This is unbelievable. I too wouldn’t feel comfortable keeping that B. Sorry.

Please keep us posted on how this all goes.

Thu at 9:41 pm

I needed up having a full engine replacement done. A lot of people have told me that it should be fine now, but I’m still concerned about more issues arising from all the additional work done to support the engine replacement.

The entire cab was removed from the chassis to do the engine swap out and I already ran into one issue from that after I got the vehicle back that I had to return the bronco to the dealership to fix.

I don’t really trust things long term with the bronco, especially enough to want to take it into remote places or long trips and run the risk of being stranded or broken down.

I’m thinking of just trying to pursue a buy back from ford at this point or see what other options they can offer me.

MWNew

Thu at 9:54 pm

dmcc
I needed up having a full engine replacement done. A lot of people have told me that it should be fine now, but I’m still concerned about more issues arising from all the additional work done to support the engine replacement.

The entire cab was removed from the chassis to do the engine swap out and I already ran into one issue from that after I got the vehicle back that I had to return the bronco to the dealership to fix.

I don’t really trust things long term with the bronco, especially enough to want to take it into remote places or long trips and run the risk of being stranded or broken down.

I’m thinking of just trying to pursue a buy back from ford at this point or see what other options they can offer me.

What was the other issue that came up after the engine replacement? Regarding the engine I wouldn’t have any issues with the new one. (Easy for me to say) I would make sure to be gentle during the break in period though. I would think that whatever the secondary issue was is directly related to the dealership missing something during the re-installation. Completely understand your reluctance on this though.

SAVEUP

Thu at 10:01 pm

TK1215
What was the other issue that came up after the engine replacement? Regarding the engine I wouldn’t have any issues with the new one. (Easy for me to say) I would make sure to be gentle during the break in period though. I would think that whatever the secondary issue was is directly related to the dealership missing something during the re-installation. Completely understand your reluctance on this though.

It was caused by some of the bump stops not being seated properly when the body was attached back to the chassis.

Everytime I went over a bump or turned left you could hear a noise from where it wasn’t seated.

They put it back on the lift and adjusted everything and it seems to be fixed, but again I’m just worried there might be more issues from that whole process.

MWNew

Thu at 10:09 pm

dmcc
It was caused by some of the bump stops not being seated properly when the body was attached back to the chassis.

Everytime I went over a bump or turned left you could hear a noise from where it wasn’t seated.

They put it back on the lift and adjusted everything and it seems to be fixed, but again I’m just worried there might be more issues from that whole process.

Makes complete sense. My guess would be it was body mounts. Honestly I would roll with the new engine. At this point I doubt they would do a buy back and no lemon law at this point.

Thu at 10:18 pm

TK1215
Makes complete sense. My guess would be it was body mounts. Honestly I would roll with the new engine. At this point I doubt they would do a buy back and no lemon law at this point.

I’m one fix away from lemon law, not sure how it would work since I got a new engine though. I’m guessing if I had anything go wrong with the engine that would be considered an issue with the 2nd attempt fix? But not really sure though.

I do like the vehicle a lot still I shopped for 3 months to find the specific one I wanted and got a great year end close out deal on it so it would be a shame to loose it, just gives me a lot of anxiety about the longevity but that might be cause this is all still so fresh.

TK1215

Thu at 10:21 pm

dmcc
I needed up having a full engine replacement done. A lot of people have told me that it should be fine now, but I’m still concerned about more issues arising from all the additional work done to support the engine replacement.

The entire cab was removed from the chassis to do the engine swap out and I already ran into one issue from that after I got the vehicle back that I had to return the bronco to the dealership to fix.

I don’t really trust things long term with the bronco, especially enough to want to take it into remote places or long trips and run the risk of being stranded or broken down.

I’m thinking of just trying to pursue a buy back from ford at this point or see what other options they can offer me.

Wait, they removed the entire "cab", not just the front fenders, etc? That's a surprise...

They just ordered a new engine for mine, so that's an interesting twist I didn't know about.

OnX Expert Trail Guide and Tread Lightly Member.
4 Door BadSquatch | Soft-top | Velocity Blue | 2.7 Auto

Thu at 10:26 pm

JoergH
Wait, they removed the entire "cab", not just the front fenders, etc? That's a surprise...

They just ordered a new engine for mine, so that's an interesting twist I didn't know about.

yeah, they put the cab on the lift disconnect it from the chassis and do the engine swap that way vs pulling off the fenders and hood.

I was surprised as well when they told me that’s how they performed the swap.

Yesterday at 12:04 am

dmcc
yeah, they put the cab on the lift disconnect it from the chassis and do the engine swap that way vs pulling off the fenders and hood.

I was surprised as well when they told me that’s how they performed the swap.

That's going to be interesting with the lights, etc. I have mounted , they are going to have to disconnect a bit of wiring, etc. Looks like it's going to take some time to do. I'm curious, once they got the new engine, how long it they take to do the actual swap?

OnX Expert Trail Guide and Tread Lightly Member.
4 Door BadSquatch | Soft-top | Velocity Blue | 2.7 Auto

Yesterday at 12:16 am

#10

JoergH
That's going to be interesting with the lights, etc. I have mounted , they are going to have to disconnect a bit of wiring, etc. Looks like it's going to take some time to do. I'm curious, once they got the new engine, how long it they take to do the actual swap?

once the engine was delivered, it was about 5 days for them to swap it out and put the body back on.

They started Saturday and it was done Thursday. Add an extra day for the body stops issue but I didn’t count that in the original timeframe.

I didn’t have any extra electrical setup on mine though, it’s pretty much stock still so maybe some extra time for yours then.

Yesterday at 1:31 pm

#11

dmcc
I needed up having a full engine replacement done. A lot of people have told me that it should be fine now, but I’m still concerned about more issues arising from all the additional work done to support the engine replacement.

The entire cab was removed from the chassis to do the engine swap out and I already ran into one issue from that after I got the vehicle back that I had to return the bronco to the dealership to fix.

I don’t really trust things long term with the bronco, especially enough to want to take it into remote places or long trips and run the risk of being stranded or broken down.

I’m thinking of just trying to pursue a buy back from ford at this point or see what other options they can offer me.

Good morning. Will you send us a private message? I can look into things on my end.

Yesterday at 2:11 pm

#12

Is the warranty covering rental car reimbursement?

Member # 5650 / 2025 Bronco Badlands Sasquatch

Yesterday at 5:46 pm

#13

ChuckO
Is the warranty covering rental car reimbursement?

I was given a loaner for the time my bronco was with the dealership for the repair.

JoergH

Yesterday at 6:25 pm

#14

dmcc
I was given a loaner for the time my bronco was with the dealership for the repair.

I think it's up to the dealership.

Today at 12:19 am

#15

dmcc
I was given a loaner for the time my bronco was with the dealership for the repair.

Me too ... but I had to beg for it ...

OnX Expert Trail Guide and Tread Lightly Member.
4 Door BadSquatch | Soft-top | Velocity Blue | 2.7 Auto

Today at 12:26 am

#16

JoergH
Me too ... but I had to beg for it ...

I got the loaner vehicle after a week ish and the dealership had the bronco for about a month and a half.

Not sure if that had anything to do with it.

I actually got 2 loaners, the first was sold site unseen so they had to swap me out for another one.

Today at 1:06 am

#17

dmcc
I got the loaner vehicle after a week ish and the dealership had the bronco for about a month and a half.

Not sure if that had anything to do with it.

I actually got 2 loaners, the first was sold site unseen so they had to swap me out for another one.

That's about how long it took before they got me the loaner as well. You got your's done quick compared to me. Mine engine failed on Jan. 18th, 2026 and I had it to the dealer the same day. We JUST got to the point where Ford said they would send the long block under warrantee. So that's 2 months, and they haven't even started the repair yet. Figure a couple of weeks to ship the engine to the dealer, and then a week to do the install. So we are looking at the middle to the end of April before I get the Bronco back. So I'm guessing about 90 days in total and that assumes nothing goes wrong in the meantime. *ouch*

OnX Expert Trail Guide and Tread Lightly Member.
4 Door BadSquatch | Soft-top | Velocity Blue | 2.7 Auto

Today at 1:27 am

#18

JoergH
That's about how long it took before they got me the loaner as well. You got your's done quick compared to me. Mine engine failed on Jan. 18th, 2026 and I had it to the dealer the same day. We JUST got to the point where Ford said they would send the long block under warrantee. So that's 2 months, and they haven't even started the repair yet. Figure a couple of weeks to ship the engine to the dealer, and then a week to do the install. So we are looking at the middle to the end of April before I get the Bronco back. So I'm guessing about 90 days in total and that assumes nothing goes wrong in the meantime. *ouch*

Yikes yeah that is a long time. I guess I was lucky with the replacement timeline.

I dropped it off February 3rd and they tore the engine apart first to figure out the issue, they thought it was a rocker arm originally but ended up being the lifter.

After that it was another week before I got the decision back from Ford to replace the engine vs a repair.

After that it was waiting for the engine to come in and then get installed.
I picked up the bronco March 13th

TK1215

Today at 11:49 am

#19

Honestly, I would just keep it and go with the new engine. To me, the bump stop issue is a rather small issue. I would assume your warranty after this has not been affected. Is that correct?

~~2023 EG 4-door Badlands SAS, 2.7, High Package w/ soft top~~
2025 SB 4 door Badlands SAS, 2.7, MIC top

You must log in or register to post here.