Complaint volume
211 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
211 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Ford Bronco, grouped by component category.
Buyer interpretation
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
211 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
The most common categories are engine, suspension, unknown or other. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Enriched records include 5 crash reports, 3 fire reports, 6 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage is available on 39 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 25,774 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
211 total complaints on record
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | Four hours into a drive today, going down a fairly steep hill @ ~30mph into a 4 point intersection my Bronco lost all power, brakes and steering. I mean it had nothing. We barely made it thru the intersection because the cars coming directly at us slammed brakes. I had no control and went off the road into someone’s yard, barely missing their fence. It was the scariest thing we’ve ever encountered. My son in the back screaming STOP at the top of his lungs is burned in my brain. What makes all of this worse is that Ford just had it in the shop for 3 days because the week before when they had my Bronco in the shop for yearly inspection/oil change and under their care it had the first symptoms of this issue. I received an app notice of a battery failure AND at their request because of this new issue they wanted my car for a “longer look” the following week. Today was first time driving it since they handed it back to me (I use the valet service that picks up and drops it back to me). Ford could come back and say they will give us a new car and there’s no way I can ever convince my wife to get back in this car. She was absolutely freaked out as the cars coming towards us would have drilled her door. It took Ford 4 hours to come 17 miles to tow us (probably a contractor) to the local Ford dealer that was closed by the time it arrived. We had to Uber to Enterprise and then drive the rental home four hours. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2021 Ford Bronco. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V069000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the dealer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | BACK OVER PREVENTION | The contact owns a 2021 Ford Bronco. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V598000 (Back Over Prevention) however the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | ENGINE | The contact owns a 2021 Ford Bronco. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and the accelerator pedal became inoperable. The contact pulled over to the side of the roadway. The contact was not able to restart the vehicle. There were several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the failure was due to a faulty fuel pump inside the fuel tank and a faulty fuel module. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and determined that the vehicle was not under recall. The contact was advised to call the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 16,900. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 16,900 |
| Oct 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | The contact owns a 2021 Ford Bronco. The contact stated that while her son was driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed but failed to stop the vehicle immediately. The brake pedal was extremely stiff while depressed. The brake warning light was illuminated. The vehicle struck a speed sign, causing the front driver's side mirror to shatter, and glass shards flew inside the vehicle, cutting the contact's son's left hand and arm. Medical attention was not received. The air bags did not deploy. No police report was filed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was determined that the brake vacuum hoses, front driver's side mirror, and quarter panel needed to be replaced. Only the brake vacuum hoses were replaced by the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that prior to the accident, the vehicle was taken to the dealer for the same issue; however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was 20,553. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 | 20,553 |
| Oct 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | The wiper will work for about 20 minutes. the slow to a very slow intermittent wipe no matter the rain amount. Once this has started you can adjust the speed of the wiper and it will work for about 30 seconds the fall back into the slow intermittent wipe. I took it to the dealer, and they said the wipers were working normally, even though I have a video of the issue happening. There are no indications of a malfunction on the dashboard. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | I was out offroading in remote desert of Oregon for hours. I stopped with the engine on to hook up my air compressor to refill the air in them before returning to pavement. Truck idled until timeout time and started back up without problem. Drove less than a mile and bronco started sputtering while attempted in move forward. Completed my turn onto the highway and realized there was a problem. Had barely enough time to get to the shoulder where the vehicle wouldn't start again. Pulled negative battery cable to reset, no help. It was very clear there was fuel delivery issue. Tank was full when I started my adventure and was still over half full when the fuel pump/module died. Luckily I just got back into cellular range and was able to call for a tow. I was on a blind corner as well. There really wasn't much time to get the vehcile to safety thus this complaint. Ford replaced the fuel pump and module, with the same part numers. There has since been a part modification. There are others who have had thier fuel pumps fail. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | ENGINE | good day! Bronco 2021 (VIN [XXX] ) - my engine suddenly broken while driving - i heard some unusual clicks-knocks from the engine side, check engine lamp apperared. i stopped vehicle, look under the hood and saw puddle of oil under the engine (car mileage about 7000 miles). service man said that i should buy a new engine - old one broken with no chance of repair... how can you help me? thanks INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | STRUCTURE | The contact owns a 2021 Ford Bronco. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the rear window clips fractured, causing the window to detach and fall onto the roadway in traffic. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle had been diagnosed by the dealer and determined that the failure was the depillar clip. The vehicle had not been repaired by the dealer because the part was not available. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and determined that the part was not yet available. The failure mileage was approximately 19,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 19,000 |
| Aug 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | The wipers are slowing during use. Seems like a intermittent weak motor. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | These vehicles have a warning to keep hands on wheels and when on straights it goes off when hands are on the wheel and is annoying you have to rock the wheel back amd forth causing the vehicle to swerve alot of people are saying they have to do the same thing on forums. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,BACK OVER PREVENTION | In late March 2023, the touchscreen on my Bronco went dead, along with the USB ports in the console below. With the dead screen, I have no back up camera, which is a huge safety concern. Also, all other features managed by the touch screen are gone (no radio, no navigation, no hands free phone usage, etc.). I have been to the dealer twice, and they said we just have to wait for Ford engineers to send a patch to the SYNC system, because they think it has interfered with the APIM module. This may or may not be related to the open recall 22c27, because that is not the same issue as mine. But Ford just is telling me to wait for that recall to be completed, but for four months and counting they have not provided a patch for the 8-inch screen model that I have. I have been given no other options except potential buy back of the vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | While sitting in the Bronco talking on the phone in a parking lot, it shuddered and then stopped. It could not be restarted. Had to have it towed to the dealership. Current diagnosis is that there is a faulty fuel pump. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | BACK OVER PREVENTION | The contact owns a 2021 Ford Bronco. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V825000 (Back Over Prevention) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but stated that the VIN was not included in the recall as per the information in their system. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2021 Ford Bronco. The contact stated that with the vehicle in park and the engine running, the vehicle inadvertently shifted into drive and accelerated up a slight incline. Upon inspection, the contact observed that the gear selector was still in park(P). No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V070000 (Power Train) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 12,500. | Crash: No Fire: No | 12,500 |
| Jun 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | The contact owns a 2021 Ford Bronco. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds with the front windshield wipers at the low or high position, the windshield wipers slowed down and almost stopped. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who informed him that the windshield wipers were working as designed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted on several occasions and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 18,822. | Crash: No Fire: No | 18,822 |
| Jun 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Windshield wipers are very slow when set to high speed. On the highest setting they are going the same speed as other vehicles low speed setting. During heavier rain visibility is near zero in the Bronco when it wouldn’t be in other vehicles. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | ENGINE | Driving on the highway, the check engine light came on. I felt a loss of power in the vehicle, and couldn't accelerate. I was able to pull over put the car in park and turn it off. When I tried to turn it on, there was no power. Had to get it towed to the dealership to replace the engine. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | NHTSA is showing that there is an open recall on this vehicle. I have spoken to FORD Corporate and also taken the vehicle to 2 different dealers who have all communicated the same thing: There is no recall, nor has there ever been a recall for this vehicle. I have asked the dealer to report this to NHTSA and they said that they cannot due to there is no recall to report and they've never reported a recall. I have called Ford twice, NHTSA twice and gone to 2 dealers. No one at NHTSA has been willing to help get the information corrected. I have asked if someone can simply verify the information with FORD online OR if we can place a 3 way call with FORD-the response I'm getting is "NO" but I'm stuck in the middle of FORD and NHTSA and no one seems to even be willing to help me at either place. If I have paperwork from FORD insisting there has never been a recall and you can clearly pull the records online that there is no recall I need NHTSA to update their records. This is costing me $ as I purchased this vehicle to TURO and cannot do so until you update your records to match FORD showing that there is no recall. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | POWER TRAIN | The Axle Tubes are held to the center differential with 3 x Plug Welds per side. The plug welds on our axle are weeping oil and do NOT appear to be properly welded. Upon online comparisons this is a known issue and is resulting in catastrophic failures. Ford claims that "weeps" are NOT covered under warranty. A weep in this location/situation means that the welding process was sub-standard and compromised. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | BACK OVER PREVENTION | The contact owns a 2021 Ford Bronco. The contact stated that he received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V165000 (Back Over Prevention) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. The VIN tool showed no recall associated with the VIN. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER,BACK OVER PREVENTION | Sync 4 system has a critical issue that Ford has not fixed and is a known issue in many sync 4 systems. This causes the system to reboot at random times and reload. This includes being black and not working for many minutes so the rear camera and cross traffic do not function at all. This is a safety issue as with most SUVs the rear is a huge blind spot. Ford has not been able to update my system with a recall issued for safety concerning a different issue and the rear view camera. Ford will not replace the unit until they have sent out an update that is unknown release date. I have spoke to Ford reps and two dealerships and all refuse to fix the radio to allow for normal function. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | The wipers shut off on their own during heavy rains. Need to be turned on and off to get to activate. I took it to dealer and they said Ford said it is normal. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | When driving in light, moderate, and heavy rain, the wipers fail to operate properly causing a loss in visibility and significant risk of accident. Specifically, when the wipers are on the fast intermittent, slow constant on, or fast constant on, they operate as expected for 45-80 seconds after which the wipers begin to slow down and stop. The wipers must be physically turned off and back on the make them work again, only to have the issue continue to occur after another 45-80 seconds. While driving at freeway speeds in moderate rain, this issue has caused numerous dangerous situations where my visibility has been reduced significantly. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | When my vehicle was warming up I noticed two plumes of smoke coming from the muffler area. One plume was the tailpipe and the other was shooting straight down from underneath the vehicle. Upon inspection I found a whole in the bottom of the muffler. There is no denting or impact damage near the hole. There is exhaust stains on the muffler ranging from the hole towards the rear of the vehicle. The exhaust stains show evidence that the whole and the exhaust leaking out has been taking place for quite some time. It is obvious the muffler rotted. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |