Hey everyone!

[Hoosierman28]

So I created this account because of all the new vehicles made over the last 15+ years, the Bronco is the first that has made me willingly admit that I would buy new. I'm a simple guy, I have a use for both an SUV and a truck at the same time, and I don't need too many bells and whistles- my DD pretty much confirms this.

I don't have a Bronco currently, however, it is my hope that within the next year, possibly 18 months, I'll take the plunge. So hopefully I can learn much from this forum and get to know some folks. So a little bit about me:

My Daily currently is a 1993 Grand Cherokee 4.0 that I pulled from a field, and have spent countless hours fixing up. I also have a 2003 Land Rover Discover Series III that I've been working on a little bit, a 1988 Ranger Custom 5-speed with the 2.9 V6 that's a joy to drive (I love old trucks), and my long term project is a 1989 Jeep Comanche Pioneer 4.0 that took me 11 years to find and is currently waiting for me to weld new floors into.

I recently sold my 2015 Escape, realized I could sell it and use the money to finish paying off my student loan! So why not drive like a humble man for a while if it means I'm no longer in debt to the credit union...

So I'm somewhat of a gearhead, reasonably mechanical. I do my own oil changes and tuneups, and I only farm out work I don't like doing or just don't have the time for.

That being said, perhaps I can learn a thing or two about the Bronco Sport (Spronco) as well, because back in November, my mother purchased a new cyber orange Sport Badlands 2.0.

Sponsored

 

[TheShark]

You sound like a bonafide gearhead Welcome to the group, you can glean a lot of information from this group...in between the snarky comments. If you are after Bronco Sport information try our sister forum https://www.broncosportforum.com/

 

[Hoosierman28]

Appreciate it!

My biggest concern is that I often don't do much work on newer vehicles (the warranty isn't the point), because oftentimes they are not very servicer-friendly. I've owned several Fords in the past: F-150, Mustang, etc. And they've always been at least challenging to work with, giving my reason to question why Ford did this or did that. My 2015 Escape was the LEAST servicer friendly vehicle I've ever owned and I mean that.

How does the Bronco compare?

When I went to the Bronco event my local dealer hosted back when they were showing it off to the public, the first thing I noticed was how roomy the engine bay was compared to a lot of vehicles I've seen recently. Are they simpler machines? I realize that term may be subjective, but just remember, I'm restoring an old truck, so simple can be a broad concept for me.

 

[Brian_B]

Bronco isn't too bad for self-service. A lot of things you can still wrench on fairly reasonably.

There is a fair amount of computer crap that needs hookup - but it isn't a complete show stopper like it is on some cars.

There is a very wide difference between the Bronco Sport and the Bronco. Almost like they are two entirely different vehicles (that's a bad joke, btw). My wife has a Sport - it's a nice little compact SUV, but it's not even close to the same league as the big Bronco. About the only thing they share, apart from the word Bronco, is a built-in bottle opener.

Bronco Sport is based on the Escape frame - it's going to be very similar to your 2015 Escape. The big Bronco - totally different. It shares a lot with the new Ranger line, but not everything.

I haven't done a lot under the hood on the engine, but I've had my hands just about everywhere else. It's not bad at all to work on -- EXCEPT all the damn plastic panel clips that break. A lot of those on the interior and exterior of the thing. One of my biggest pet peeves about working on the Bronco are just those stupid plastic panel clips.

The 2.3 4 Cyl has a lot of room under the hood, it's very easy to work on. The twin turbo V6 - much less so, I don't have direct experience with it, but from what I've heard it's not bad to work on, but does limit some accessory mounting and stuff a bit (tucked winches, underhood compressors, etc).

 

[HoosierDaddy]

How does the Bronco compare?

Welcome aboard.

Well, we are far from the days of MILES of vacuum tubing encasing the motors.
Instead, today we have sensors everywhere , controlling everything. ......EVERYTHING!
They've gotten better at wire management, which makes the engine bays look cleaner.

The roomy engine bay with a 2.3 4cyl is NOT a simple motor. No newer motors are, even the push rod 7.3L Godzilla motor in the Super Duty has a mind warping amount of tech.

They can be pretty reliable, but when something fails, it can be a major pain to diagnose.

Oil changes are still oil changes. Brake pads are still brake pads, but light bulbs are , well , possibly no longer light bulbs. They might be LED's!!!

 

[604Bronco]

which makes the engine bays look cleaner.

Have you ever looked under your hood?! Looks like spaghetti compared to other vehicles

 

[Hoosierman28]

I found that my 2015 Escape wasn't always receptive to having its halogen bulbs replaced with LEDs, and I friend's Explorer was exactly the same way. And when it comes to wires, while I'm not electrical whizz, in fact that's probably my weakness, I've seen some of the worst Jaguar V12s that have burnt to the ground because of electrical fires (The Prince of Darkness Strikes!!).

The bottom line is, I may not be crazy about all the new tech and certainly not the price tags- but I can possibly justify this purchase because I have test driven a few and I certainly can see myself owning one for a LONG time. Why not? I plan to drive the ZJ into the ground and at the rate I take care of maintenance, it may out live me too. :/

Because of all of the annoying quirks of the Escape, I did acquire a Forscan connector for the computer. I do have that going for me if ever I needed something done with it.

 

[Brian_B]

I found that my 2015 Escape wasn't always receptive to having its halogen bulbs replaced with LEDs, and I friend's Explorer was exactly the same way.

This is common, I have to say. The good news, I guess, is there are only like 6 halogen bulbs on ~some~ trim lines on the Bronco (the Halogen taillights).

But even those - it isn't a direct replacement if you want to go LED, you can't just screw an LED into the socket and have it just work every time, or direct swap the LED taillight module in from a higher trim package - there's usually an adapter or conversion module that is needed to make a Halogen to LED swap work. The Halogen Broncos have different wiring that goes back there than the LED ones.

The bad news -- all those other lights, you can't just replace the LED bulb either - it's integrated into the package. The front headlights, for instance, you have to swap out the entire headlamp module.

But good news again -- being LED they last like 100 times longer than the old Halogens did.

Side note: If you are already familiar with Forscan, that does the vast majority of anything you'd want to do computer-wise on these things. There are a few things FDRS is good for (that's the dealer software, requires a different dongle than Forscan) - but that's not commonly needed.

 

[Hoosierman28]

Back then I was gungho about replacing halogen with LED, nowadays I'm not so quick to do that. It has been my experience that aftermarket LED bulbs don't always last longer, one needs to diligent in their choice. I can't always find them in natural warm colors either, and my eyes prefer it.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

So I created this account because of all the new vehicles made over the last 15+ years, the Bronco is the first that has made me willingly admit that I would buy new. I'm a simple guy, I have a use for both an SUV and a truck at the same time, and I don't need too many bells and whistles- my DD pretty much confirms this.

I don't have a Bronco currently, however, it is my hope that within the next year, possibly 18 months, I'll take the plunge. So hopefully I can learn much from this forum and get to know some folks. So a little bit about me:

My Daily currently is a 1993 Grand Cherokee 4.0 that I pulled from a field, and have spent countless hours fixing up. I also have a 2003 Land Rover Discover Series III that I've been working on a little bit, a 1988 Ranger Custom 5-speed with the 2.9 V6 that's a joy to drive (I love old trucks), and my long term project is a 1989 Jeep Comanche Pioneer 4.0 that took me 11 years to find and is currently waiting for me to weld new floors into.

I recently sold my 2015 Escape, realized I could sell it and use the money to finish paying off my student loan! So why not drive like a humble man for a while if it means I'm no longer in debt to the credit union...

So I'm somewhat of a gearhead, reasonably mechanical. I do my own oil changes and tuneups, and I only farm out work I don't like doing or just don't have the time for.

That being said, perhaps I can learn a thing or two about the Bronco Sport (Spronco) as well, because back in November, my mother purchased a new cyber orange Sport Badlands 2.0.

Hey Aaron, welcome to the forum!

Sponsored