What I hate about my Bronco, you? (edit) Or maybe I should have called it "What would you want if you were designing it"

[NEBronco25]

Is it the newer hard top with the white plastic interior and smaller sound deadening panels? I’m curious to hear how quiet it is.

well, sort of. it's the black painted hard top with the sound deadening
panels. I have to tell ya.. it's nearly more quiet than my 22' F150!!!
I don't hear even a whisp of air, even at highway speeds! And in traffic,
no road noise. Makes me enjoy the stock stereo big time.

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[Astronaut]

The auto stop button is my #1 complaint. It needs to stay off until I push the button again. Not reset every time I start the car

Needs 100 more horsepower to overcome the weight

I got one of these and it works!

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[Astronaut]

I have 13,000 miles on it now and absolutely love my Bronco. I go off road on a regular basis exploring the desert and mountains, and just completed a 3,000 mile road trip.

But there is one thing I hate: The Cheap Plastic Interior! Your fingernail will easily permanently scratch it. The plastic interior of my old 2012 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon was better than the Bronco. Apparently Ford could use better plastic.

 

[FormerRotor]

We have absolutely 0 complaints. Love the heck out of this vehicle and find ourselves regularly favoring it over our other cars.

If we had a wishlist: we would gladly pay for an upgrade to the leather/alcantara Raptor Seats in our 2-door, and we'd probably enjoy the added benefits of a modular hardtop (but there are other ways to accomplish these things).

 

[Brian_B]

But when I hit the gas, I expect a nice smooth curve to my power, not a dead horse waiting for some turbo to spool.

I'm with Killer to be honest.

I think the 2.3 that I have is a fine engine, but yeah, there is no substitute for that smoother power curve on the Coyote. The 2.3 is a dog under 2.5k RPM, even with a tune.

Sure, get it up over 3k and it's fine - as good or better than the Coyote even. But you gotta get it there. 2.7 probably isn't that pronounced, but still not nearly linear like a large displacement NA engine is.

 

[Carnutdallas]

I have not caught up on this thread in awhile, but I have two HATES - absolutely an engineering fail and safety issue and one is just a design element and laziness and cheapness by Ford: 1) Tail gate should open from Right side of truck. If I must have a swing gate, then let me do it from the safety of the curb, especially when I only need to get in quickly and not open all the way. And when you back in somewhere and need to load and unload, you must go all the way around the huge a$$ gate! Dumb. I complain every time I must open the gate. 2) white soft top for HE vehicles. Nothing dumber than white heritage hardtop and trim to then swap on a dumb black top and ruin the entire aesthetic.

I can’t for the life of me understand how that happens

 

[Jdyount]

The two features I most wish for:

Memory seat, to avoid fights between my wife and I when she Fs up my seat position.

AC seat would be REAL nice. Swap-ass is real in KS when the heat index has been 105-110 for the last 2+ weeks. We finally get some dry weather but it's a blast furnace out there so doors and top have to stay on.

 

[Marc L]

I'm just getting used to my 7sp. I've been driving manuals for most of my life and I'm used to going from 1st to 2nd with a downward and leftward motion and some light pressure. I have plenty of miles on my clutches and trannies with no issues - I know how to drive a stick! But this one gets hung up on the way down to 2nd with the slightest leftward pressure, likely due to the gate to get to Reverse/Crawler. I also have a bit of trouble going from 3rd to 2nd. Ugh! I thought there was something wrong at first, but now getting used to it by just going down, or even having a tiny pressure to the right on the way down. I kind of hate it - not sure if that's too strong of a word, but it's the thing I dislike the most at this point.
Next on the list would be the lack of memory seats. I'll mostly be the only driver so not a huge deal, but it will be a bit annoying when my wife sets it her way and I'm not able to 'fix it' with the touch of a button!

What kind of manuals have you been driving? We came from almost 100% Japanese Isuzu-Nissan on the SUV side and Honda-Nissan-VW(yaargh) on the car side for 1M miles between us. Both of us had a super easy transition to this stick and I haven't heard anything from my wife concerning the stick. Neither us have ANY American stick miles prior to this Bronco.
I despise the parking brake entirely and neither of us roll down the correct windows(front/back) the first time as the switches are reversed in our opinion. The tailgate open order is confusing and I have to remember tire first.

 

[UncleBrad]

The parking brake is the thing I dislike the most (I really don’t “hate” anything about it other than Ford NOT calling the 4-door something like the Bronco Max, the 2-dr should be The Bronco). I don’t like the location of the parking brake switch nor that it’s electric. It should be next to the shifter. It appears that Ford prioritized the cupholders over the parking brake.

The other thing I would have done differently is that I would put the wiper switch on a lever on the right side of the steering column, I’m not a fan of the twisty/push-button on the turn-signal column thing.

Otherwise, other than poor interior material choices, I REALLY enjoy my Bronco!!!

I agree - the goofy parking brake selector location is the single worst characteristic of the Bronco. The headlight/fog light rotary switch is next: it is impossible to actually SEE. The location of these controls is going to cause some usability problems under critical conditions (if it hasn't already). If need be, let's be willing to give up some of that precious cupholder and celphone cubby stuff in favor of these two more important things. And don't even THINK about putting it all on the infotainment thingy. Interior lighting is the third worst thing: one has to fumble to find something to press and/or turn to get some lights overhead (and when you get them on, they are about as strong as a AA penlight from Western Auto).

 

[Medicin3man]

Before I start, I love my '23 Raptor. WILL NEVER GET RID OF IT haha, but there are some things I wish we could improve or change (I will not going into things that can possibly be changed in FORSCAN. I havent found anyone in Central Florida who can help me with this yet).

1. PLastic is very very frail. Have a small frantic dog is a nightmare in it

2. Having to reset the rear driver door every 3-4 weeks gets quite annoying, especially when it takes multiple attempts

3. Only issue I have with CarPLay is that sometimes no sound is coming from carplay, so I have to turn off and restart the Bronco for it to work. Maybe about once every 2 weeks or so.

4. I know its an offroad adventure vehicle (and it does it so well), all the rattles in the back can get annoying when im trying to have a peaceful drive. The worst offender is the plastic cover that covers the rear windshield wiper

I think thats about it. I dont think there is much I can do about these except for #4.

 

[bronkster]

I have a 2023 Ford Wildtrak. 1. A biggie: I wish the WT included the sway bar disconnect. It should have been included. 2. I hate that auto start thing when you stop, I disconnected it. 3. Ford should do a better design for cabin organization. If you fill up the tiny tub organizer, you bury the USB. I added cheap OEM holders to my visors to find glasses. The cabin gets pretty messy as options are small or limited. 3. The spare tire plastic light looks and feels cheap.

 

[Reiningrl]

I'm sure others have experienced this. But I hate the attention it attracts. Living in a beach community and one that prides themself on their physical fitness, I expected more girls to be attracted to my Bronco. Instead, mostly old dudes want to admire the Bronco.

Im a widow and this is the BEST feature!

 

[Reiningrl]

I’d like a/c in the cargo area for my dogs, and cup holders for the back seats.

 

[Jack667]

What kind of manuals have you been driving?

I'm coming from two 911s, a 2006 that I drove from 2010-April 2025, and a 1990 that I had from 1999-2010. I put 100k miles on each during my ownership. My 2 sons each have stick shifts (BRZ and GR86 but I've been mainly driving the 2024 Civic - also stick - while I waited for my Bronco order to come in. I've had a ton of manuals in the past (early 90s Celica, 2 CRXs, '83 Civic S, '77 camaro with a 350, and a '69 bug).
I think there might be something wrong with my Bronco - seriously. Someone else suggested that earlier. I'm taking it in soon to get the tow package installed, and I'll have them check it out at that time.
I just decided to make a video, comparing the GR86 shifter to the Bronco so people can see what I'm talking about.

 

[Marc L]

I think there might be something wrong with my Bronco - seriously. Someone else suggested that earlier. I'm taking it in soon to get the tow package installed, and I'll have them check it out at that time.

You are probably right that there is something wrong with it. We've driven similar with my first manual being a 1993 Honda Civic which was absolutely the best vehicle I've ever owned. Having driven so many manual miles the stick either feels right or WRONG. It does sound like you have less SUV stick miles and they do feel very different. Switching back and frot between a Z car and a XTerra both Nissans I have to sync my mind to the stick, clutch, and when to shift.

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