Back in November 2022, the Ford Bronco Sport lost its coveted Consumer Reports “recommended” status after one year following owner reports pertaining to issues with their crossover’s braking system, head gaskets, and fit and finish. Just this past December, the Ford Bronco Sport regained its recommended status, however, as the refreshed-for-2025 model managed to improve in these areas, all while raising its predicted reliability scores in recent years. Regardless, the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport, specifically, has now been highlighted as a used vehicle to avoid.
In its most recent list of used vehicles to avoid, Consumer Reports highlighted 67 different models – a list that’s based on data collected from its Annual Ownership Surveys. There, CR can determine an average problem rate for a variety of vehicles from particular model years, after which it highlights the ones that have a reputation for lower-than-average reliability based on actual owner data. When that data was calculated, the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport wound up making the cut in what is a truly undesirable list to be on.
Back when it debuted for the 2021 model year, the Ford Bronco Sport only had a reliability score of just one out of five possible points, which improved to two for the 2022 and 2023 model years, followed by three for the 2024 and refreshed 2025 model years, which was the driving force behind CR‘s decision to restore the crossover’s recommended status.
As Ford Authority previously reported, The Blue Oval delayed the launch of the 2025 Ford Bronco Sport as it worked to sort out any potential problems before deliveries began, a common practice implemented by the automaker over the past couple of years with all of its refreshed or redesigned models. Additionally, the Bronco Sport topped the small SUV segment in J.D. Power’s 2024 U.S. Initial Quality Study (IQS). As for Ford itself, the brand didn’t perform too well in Consumer Reports‘ 2024 reliability study, however, coming in at 13th out of 22 brands with a score of 44 points.
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My brother just took his ’21 Bronco Sport in for a water pump replacement at 51k miles. He is also waiting on the battery recall. The only other problem I am aware of is the chrome plating pealing off of the side window switches.