Headed by ODI general engineer Joseph Teitelman, preliminary evaluation PE24-002 was opened after the NHTSA received no fewer than 31 vehicle owner questionnaires alleging the sudden loss of motive power accompanied by complete electrical system failure while driving or stopped at a traffic light. If this investigation morphs into a recall, the Ford Motor Company would be required to remedy an estimated 95,305 examples of the Bronco Sport.
According to the Office of Defects Investigation, only the 2021 model year Ford Bronco Sport is under investigation because all of the aforementioned complaints were filed by 2021 owners. Attached below, preliminary evaluation PE24-002 reads that certain owners had their 12-volt batteries replaced to remedy both conditions.
This, in turn, likely indicates that the battery going flat may have wreaked havoc with the car's engine control unit and other electronic brains. Per vehicle owner questionnaire 11538770, the owner of a 2021 Ford Bronco Sport experienced a sudden loss of motive power and complete electrical system failure. Following a visit to the nearest dealer, which couldn't find any problem with said crossover, it happened again to the owner while he was driving.
11504039 states that, even after replacing the 12-volt battery and alternator, the vehicle continued to show "too many warnings to count. We have taken it to the dealership for repair, but nothing has fixed it. Even the Ford engineers do not understand why it fails." For the final example, complaint number 11514767 reads that the dealer had the battery replaced and the control module reprogrammed.
Losing motive power at speed is bad enough. Losing all exterior lighting and the ability to shift into neutral in order to move the vehicle is also bad, hence the NHTSA's preliminary evaluation of the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport. Unfortunately, it will be a while until the NHTSA publishes its findings.
Photo: Ford
In the meantime, it's worth remembering that a Bronco Sport is completely different from a Bronco. Manufactured in Mexico rather than the United States, the Bronco Sport is a unibody with Escape underpinnings. By comparison, the body-on-frame Bronco is twinned with the Ranger pickup truck.
Produced at the facility that also makes the Maverick, the Bronco Sport rolled out in 2020 for the 2021 model year with standard all-wheel drive. Only the Badlands off-road trim level gets a twin-clutch rear drive unit, which is designed to simulate a locking differential and to shuffle up to 100 percent of the available torque to either wheel.
The Bronco Sport comes with either a 1.5 three-cylinder or a 2.0 four-cylinder, the latter being exclusive to the Badlands. A bit weird considering that the 2.0-liter EcoBoost is standard in the far more affordable Maverick, but then again, the Ford Motor Company works in mysterious ways.
Excluding destination charge, the Maverick XL with the 2.0-liter turbo carries a starting price of $23,815 for the 2024 model year. The Bronco Sport levels up to $31,230 for the Big Bend, which offers more standard kit than the Maverick XL. Similar to the body-on-frame Bronco, the Bronco Sport has also dropped the Base trim level for MY2024.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News