Car Care Nut (mechanic) review of 6G Bronco

[STuff1]

I test drove one and wind noise was atrocious. Worst than a jeep. Such a shame cuz the bronco is such a capable good looking suv.

Mine has way less wind noise than any of the dozen Jeep wranglers I have owned and I have even owned a 2025 Wrangler. They are awful now. But my Bronco, the Stroppe, is very quiet inside with minimal wind noise. My last Bronco was super noisy so not sure how the one is so quiet. But Jeeps are worse in almost every way. Almost. Way less comfy, smaller, horrible driving on road, electrical issues up teh wazoo (my last one was a lemon) ... So yea wind noise is luck of the draw it seems, or they vastly improved it since 2024 and earlier models.

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[GPPBronco]

Toyota is the last brand... or one of the last brands you want to look up when it comes to interior quality. I haven't been into any high tier Lexus products, but their lesser expensive products are not great either. The Bronco interior plastic quality and fit and finish is terrible. May be compared to a Toyota they are OK, but by any modern standards and considering it's pricing... it is terrible. Now I got mine for $38k and I'm not complaining, but there was no way I'm paying more than $40k for that much of a crappy interior let alone $70k.
Unfinished sharp molding ends. Misaligned speaker covers. Misaligned pillar covers. Loose trim. covers.

The interior of my ‘23 Bronco isn’t even in the same ballpark as my wife’s ‘23 4Runner. For that matter, neither is my mom’s Lincoln.

I’ve heard the 6th gen (2025+) 4Runner interiors feel cheaper. But our 5th gen feels very solid, durable, and well designed. The Bronco interior is trash. I’m not talking about leather seats vs fabric. I’m talking about the plastic bits that don’t change as you move up the trim levels. I’m talking about the stuff in my base trim that I know is the same as an $85K Raptor. Man, I’d be pissed or feel like a sucker for paying that kind of dough for this crap. Fits together like a Tamiya plastic model. Almost.

 

[bobogto]

The interior of my ‘23 Bronco isn’t even in the same ballpark as my wife’s ‘23 4Runner. For that matter, neither is my mom’s Lincoln.

I’ve heard the 6th gen (2025+) 4Runner interiors feel cheaper. But our 5th gen feels very solid, durable, and well designed. The Bronco interior is trash. I’m not talking about leather seats vs fabric. I’m talking about the plastic bits that don’t change as you move up the trim levels. I’m talking about the stuff in my base trim that I know is the same as an $85K Raptor. Man, I’d be pissed or feel like a sucker for paying that kind of dough for this crap. Fits together like a Tamiya plastic model. Almost.

We agree on the Ford. Toyotus... To me they are the same as Ford. We were looking for a Sienna or an Odyssey for the wife. Don't get me wrong, the Hondu is nothing to brag about, but the Sienna was terrible. Creeks, again sharp unfinished moldings, cheap plastics... And way overpriced compared to Odyssey.
Maybe it's me, but my 2001 BMW and my 2006 Mercedes are still solid gorgeous interiors that still come apart and back together the day they were new. The Bronco is already falling apart. Don't get me wrong... still an awesome vehicle for what I bought it. Cheap, decent for everyday going to work and most importantly fun with a manual and offroad. Now when you start adding gimmicks to the stupid level... And inflate the price to $50-$70k and buying it with an automatic and never using it offroad... That's when I don't understand people. Just get an X5 for that money. Considerably better vehicle. Build in South Carolina on top of that.

 

[murphtron]

Was thinking about the Lack of ventilated seats several reviews and Owners have commented. For street ventilation works, otherwise it’s a pass for me. Lacking ventilation is probably a good design decision based on the ability to hose out or simply top off dusty conditions.

My Jeep had ventilated seats and noticed after several years the musty dirt smell. I’d clean carpet and still had a little dirt smell.

Due to all the ventilation holes, eventually the leather seats ripped with the holes when 7+ years old. I replaced seat covers, heater pads and ventilation fan. I routinely clean my vehicles; but Wow, the amount of dirt, sand and moisture that gets down & drawn through the ventilation holes and into the seat’s interior foam and pads is more than you realize.

The Heated seats in Bronco are amazing… 5F temp outside and within a few minutes I’m turning it down. Super strong heated seats compared to Jeep and GMC.

The seats are so dang hot! When in the cold I appreciate it. But they get turned off after 5 min. Ha.

 

[dougcjohn]

We agree on the Ford. Toyotus... To me they are the same as Ford. We were looking for a Sienna or an Odyssey for the wife. Don't get me wrong, the Hondu is nothing to brag about, but the Sienna was terrible. Creeks, again sharp unfinished moldings, cheap plastics... And way overpriced compared to Odyssey.
Maybe it's me, but my 2001 BMW and my 2006 Mercedes are still solid gorgeous interiors that still come apart and back together the day they were new. The Bronco is already falling apart. Don't get me wrong... still an awesome vehicle for what I bought it. Cheap, decent for everyday going to work and most importantly fun with a manual and offroad. Now when you start adding gimmicks to the stupid level... And inflate the price to $50-$70k and buying it with an automatic and never using it offroad... That's when I don't understand people. Just get an X5 for that money. Considerably better vehicle. Build in South Carolina on top of that.

I hear you all on Bronco's interior being cheap, low quality. Although I don't agree overall that it's as poor as described, I find the Interior in an upper acceptable category. I'm not seeing gaps in trim, pieces not fitting flush, mismatch in color, alignment with other trim. Agree, it's not a luxury interior... I'd enjoy having memory seats, and little more leather but that's not currently an option.
It's not wood trimmed, nor leather wrapped, insulated and designed with those intentions.

Plastics aren't as thick and finished as well as they could be... that apparently bothers and gets attention a lot more from Others than me. It really doesn't bother me, visually looks great from the divers seat... and I haven't had a creek or rattle, which frustrates me a lot more than plastic interior trim.

I've owned a lot over the years as I approach 70, and my first test of any new vehicle is my ability to comfortably sit and drive the vehicle. At 6'8", that's a challenge from German Beauties to Asian brands... BMW, Mercedes, Honda, Toyota, Nissan to name a few all are complete crap in fitting a taller person for most of their models. Even the nice visual interior in Ram Trucks aren't comfortable for my height. Something in knees, size 15 boot can't be placed comfortably, head & leg room.

I can step into a Super Duty and sit very comfortably: Height, Width, etc and pleasantly surprised that the Bronco's Interior room was extremely good in comparison to other off-road rigs for knees, head, leg, shoulder, etc. The only issue I had was the height of the side step on the BRaptor just didn't coordinate with my height... a change in boards corrected that one too.

Price... that's relative to what one wants, justifies and within means. Purchased a '25 BRaptor probably on the pricy side; was less than my '24 F450 Limited. After taking it 3x the speed of my Jeep across frozen rough Ag fields, snow and through cattle pastures & steep banked creeks, then jump on highway at 80mph... every thing performed great, drove smooth and in control. I'm impressed and love it. Plus nothing approaches my visual attention more than a BRaptor... Beautiful.

I'd take another BRaptor over a BMW, Mercedes, Toyota, Nissan any day.

 

[dougcjohn]

The seats are so dang hot! When in the cold I appreciate it. But they get turned off after 5 min. Ha.

laughing with ya... My Wife sits there and soaks up #3 Heat setting. I can take #3 for about 5 minutes and moving it down to #1 or off. Haven't done it yet, but I understand you can set Heated Steering wheel temp in ForScan... I plan on raising it, not warm enough. It be nice, although I realize it's not available if you could set the Seat Temps lower.

 

[bobogto]

I hear you all on Bronco's interior being cheap, low quality. Although I don't agree overall that it's as poor as described, I find the Interior in an upper acceptable category. I'm not seeing gaps in trim, pieces not fitting flush, mismatch in color, alignment with other trim. Agree, it's not a luxury interior... I'd enjoy having memory seats, and little more leather but that's not currently an option.
It's not wood trimmed, nor leather wrapped, insulated and designed with those intentions.

Plastics aren't as thick and finished as well as they could be... that apparently bothers and gets attention a lot more from Others than me. It really doesn't bother me, visually looks great from the divers seat... and I haven't had a creek or rattle, which frustrates me a lot more than plastic interior trim.

I've owned a lot over the years as I approach 70, and my first test of any new vehicle is my ability to comfortably sit and drive the vehicle. At 6'8", that's a challenge from German Beauties to Asian brands... BMW, Mercedes, Honda, Toyota, Nissan to name a few all are complete crap in fitting a taller person for most of their models. Even the nice visual interior in Ram Trucks aren't comfortable for my height. Something in knees, size 15 boot can't be placed comfortably, head & leg room.

I can step into a Super Duty and sit very comfortably: Height, Width, etc and pleasantly surprised that the Bronco's Interior room was extremely good in comparison to other off-road rigs for knees, head, leg, shoulder, etc. The only issue I had was the height of the side step on the BRaptor just didn't coordinate with my height... a change in boards corrected that one too.

Price... that's relative to what one wants, justifies and within means. Purchased a '25 BRaptor probably on the pricy side; was less than my '24 F450 Limited. After taking it 3x the speed of my Jeep across frozen rough Ag fields, snow and through cattle pastures & steep banked creeks, then jump on highway at 80mph... every thing performed great, drove smooth and in control. I'm impressed and love it. Plus nothing approaches my visual attention more than a BRaptor... Beautiful.

I'd take another BRaptor over a BMW, Mercedes, Toyota, Nissan any day.

Point of view I guess plus use case. Then you size is also a different thing and we are not discussing that. My comment was more towards whoever will spend the Raptor money on a regular use vehicle and then they complain about the cheap interior and crappy ride/handling on road. There were plenty of people complaining about that when dealers were marking these up to the sky and somehow they couldn't comprehend that just because they payed $70k for it doesn't mean it's a $70k vehicle. The R&D money was not spent on that.

 

[dougcjohn]

Point of view I guess plus use case. Then you size is also a different thing and we are not discussing that. My comment was more towards whoever will spend the Raptor money on a regular use vehicle and then they complain about the cheap interior and crappy ride/handling on road. There were plenty of people complaining about that when dealers were marking these up to the sky and somehow they couldn't comprehend that just because they payed $70k for it doesn't mean it's a $70k vehicle. The R&D money was not spent on that.

Totally agree with ya there!
My biggest WTF reaction is to City / Mall drivers complaining about wind noise from a modular roof system as if road test before buy didn’t reveal? It’s not a Luxury Car, it’s money is in the off-road.

 

[JediMcMuffin]

I think he is wrong. The core engine, transmission, driveline, frame, body are of decent quality and have the potential to last. If you got the 2.3 and if you got the manual.
The rest is just good maintenance. Otherwise if you got it simple, with less gimmicks and failure prone electronics that will not age well... you will be good.
I follow this guy and his thing is also... "cheap" plastics... In reality there is no way for him to know. He is susceptible to the general opinion... I've seen his Honda reviews... All great quality plastics. BS. You simply don't know. Talking about mechanical parts, not interior.

I can't remember which channel it was, but early on there was an engineer who did a great breakdown of the 2.7L Nano and why he was so excited to get it. In short, lots of great improvement from the first generation. It was very thorough.

 

[Desmolicious]

The interior of my ‘23 Bronco isn’t even in the same ballpark as my wife’s ‘23 4Runner. For that matter, neither is my mom’s Lincoln.

I’ve heard the 6th gen (2025+) 4Runner interiors feel cheaper. But our 5th gen feels very solid, durable, and well designed. The Bronco interior is trash. I’m not talking about leather seats vs fabric. I’m talking about the plastic bits that don’t change as you move up the trim levels. I’m talking about the stuff in my base trim that I know is the same as an $85K Raptor. Man, I’d be pissed or feel like a sucker for paying that kind of dough for this crap. Fits together like a Tamiya plastic model. Almost.

5th Gen 4Runners are so much better built than the 6Gen. Check out a 6Gen - even the glove boxes have a ton of play/wobble with the lid closed!

I have no issues w the interior of my 25 Heritage. Everything lines up and fits properly, no rough edges, no squeaks or rattles. And it even has soft padding on the top of the door - the 6Gen Toyota is hard plastic everywhere unless you pay for a high spec Ltd/Pro/Trailhunter version.

 

[rkan]

Mine has way less wind noise than any of the dozen Jeep wranglers I have owned and I have even owned a 2025 Wrangler. They are awful now. But my Bronco, the Stroppe, is very quiet inside with minimal wind noise. My last Bronco was super noisy so not sure how the one is so quiet. But Jeeps are worse in almost every way. Almost. Way less comfy, smaller, horrible driving on road, electrical issues up teh wazoo (my last one was a lemon) ... So yea wind noise is luck of the draw it seems, or they vastly improved it since 2024 and earlier models.

I have seen a revised "freedom panel" to rear clamshell gasket starting with 2025. For one you can see that the huge gap on the side behind the b pillar is now closed by this revised gasket. Don't know what other changes are made to sealing. I am going to look at a new one on the lot to compare it to my 2 door '24, to see the feasibility of retrofitting the new quieter seal.

 

[rkan]

Reddit thread. Guy at 250K on a 2.7 shows a wet belt condition. My opinion, not bad for 250k. Don't know if he used the right Ford compatible oil or not.

 

[Ducati1098]

Reddit thread. Guy at 250K on a 2.7 shows a wet belt condition.

Perfect example showing it’s a non-issue.
Looks completely normal.

And before someone says “BuT lOoK aT aLl ThE cRaCkS”
Go look at a belt with 10k miles, they’ll look the exact same.

 

[DALOLA]

Reddit thread. Guy at 250K on a 2.7 shows a wet belt condition. My opinion, not bad for 250k. Don't know if he used the right Ford compatible oil or not.

A guy over on the F150 forum put 425K on a 2.7 with no major repairs. The 2.7 is a very robust design, to say the least...

 

[bobogto]

Perfect example showing it’s a non-issue.
Looks completely normal.

And before someone says “BuT lOoK aT aLl ThE cRaCkS”
Go look at a belt with 10k miles, they’ll look the exact same.

My issue is that it's a belt. It's still a maintenance item with far less expected lifespan and in theory it should be replaced at whatever interval it's supposed to be replaced. I would argue a chain is also a wear item, but again... far greater expected lifespan. It will drive me nuts to go 200000 miles on a belt that's supposed to be changed at 100000 even if every single one out there has lasted 300000.

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