Sold My Bronco...Back To a Wrangler.

[ChaseW]

Well the title says it.

I am going back to a Wrangler after spending ~8k miles with a Bronco First Edition 4-door. I was fortunate enough to get a Bronco as early as I did given the ongoing fiasco with how Ford allocated them and the constant supply chain issues. I traded my 392 for it, and to the 392, I had an ‘18 JLUR 2.0, both of which I loved! After spending some months and considerable driving time with the Bronco, I never liked it as much. My goal with this post is to provide some real world observations after having both, for anyone else comparing the two. The First Edition came with pretty much every option you could get, so it gave me a chance to really check out all of the features available. I'm going to omit talking about the power, simply because I do not think its fair to compare this against my 392. Let me start with the things I liked about the Bronco (I know I will overlook some things):

• It does drive straighter, thanks to the independent front suspension. No denying that. I honestly do not think the Wrangler is bad as many make it out to be, especially my 392, but I would be lying if I said the Bronco did not track better than the Wrangler.
• To me, the doors are much easier to take on and off. Two easy locate bolts, one wiring quick disconnect, no window frames. The way the doors go on also make it harder to scratch the body when trying to locate hanging the doors back on. The Bronco doors have these conical shaped hinges that for me, make the doors much easier to hang.
• 1-touch automatic windows, up and down on all 4 windows. Don’t ask me why I like these so much, I just do haha.
• Rear gate opens much wider than Wrangler and has a hydraulic to hold it open on inclines, which is great.
• 4 roof panels instead of 3. What makes this cool for me personally is that you can take off the roof panels over all of the passengers, while leaving the rear “box” on. This is great if you have an excitable dog (which we do) and being able to contain the dog but have the roof and doors off if you choose. Again, this is cool for me, but may be of no value to you.
• The Bronco has dramatically more headroom than the Jeep. Not sure where it comes from exactly, but it’s wayyy more than the Wrangler. The driver seat seems to go down much lower than the Wrangler does. and the shape of the roof panels seem to help.
• I took it off-roading twice at Uwharrie on the easy and several moderate trails and I was impressed. It did great and I have nothing to complain about.
• The factory Swaybar Disconnect being available in 4HI up to 20mph is fantastic. I had a Tazer in my JL to allow me to do this, which has a bit of a cumbersome process, so the fact that the Bronco offered this was quite nice and I hope Jeep follows suit.
• The area for the wireless charging in front of the shift lever offers some great storage, totally absent on the Wrangler.

Things I dislike (Again, I know I will overlook some things):

• The overall build and materials quality of the interior is borderline laughable. The Wrangler is hands down nicer across the board. The grab handles, use of hard shitty plastics, poorly fitting trim pieces, plastic burrs from lazy cuts around the gauge cluster and infotainment screen, all not even close to the Wrangler.
• The Bang and Olufsen surround premium audio sucks. And it shouldn't. There is nothing premium about it and trying to equalize the music I like is impossible. The Alpine stereo in the Jeep isn’t that of a high end luxury car by any means, but it equalized significantly better than this B&O.
• The 12” infotainment screen is unnecessarily large. The quality of it is nice, it's just overkill to me.
• The Wireless Charging and Wireless CarPlay is pure trash. The wireless charging only heats up my phone and the wireless CarPlay drops out constantly and confuses itself with the Bluetooth and I hate it. God forbid I want to take a private call or switch hold my iPhone up to my ear, it is nightmare. The wireless charging problem is not unique to the Bronco, as I have the same challenges with wireless charging in other cars, but it still sucks. I think both features are overrated in cars in general, as the whole point of CarPlay is to not use your iPhone while driving. So why does it need to be wireless? The wireless CarPlay drops out constantly and interferes with Bluetooth. I could go on and on.
• There is not a charging port, USB, or any sort of power outlet inside the center console. In my Jeep, I would tuck my phone out of the way in there or keep a spare battery charging or something, but not so in the Bronco. It does have a USB power outlet on top of the dash where you can mount a GoPro, iPad, GPS, etc, but honestly I do not think I would ever use that.
• The quality of the hardtop, as many publications have commented on, is a joke and needs significantly better quality control. There are exposed burrs, uneven cuts, the creak like crazy, and do not pack well at all into their bags due to their shape.
• The glass in the frameless doors isn’t particularly secure and they rattle like crazy with the windows up. They also get caught frequently on the roof panels because the do not roll down quickly enough to clear the roof panels when you open the doors.
• The 10-Speed Transmission is too many gears. It constantly tried to figure out what gear to be in, was incredibly clunky, and nowhere near as smooth as the 8-speed in either Jeep I had.
• It does not ride as good as my 392, I don't care what anyone says about the independent front suspension.

All in all, I was glad to give the Bronco an honest go, despite all the things I did not like about it. I think the Bronco does a good job in addressing, or attempting to address, some shortcomings with the Wrangler, but is has a long way to go and hopefully it will drive some cool innovations and updates to the Wrangler. We'll see what the Bronco Raptor is like when it arrives later this year, but for me, I the Wrangler still comes out on top by a long shot for me. My 392 Xtreme Recon will be here in a few weeks and I can't wait to be back in a Jeep.

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[Hpc3]

Thanks for the feedback. I could never own a Ford anything (old Mopar salty dog) but its an interesting SUV. I LOVE my 392... its damn near as good as my Trailhawk for daily use as well.

One thing on the CarPlay comments - don't pair your phone with the head unit if you're using CarPlay, wired or wireless. Apple has intermittent issues if the head units see both interfaces active on the same phone. This is not just a Jeep or Ford thing, happens in all my cars/trucks as well. Only use the CarPlay feature/functions.

 

[crudesolo]

Welcome back! Best thing I ever did was cancel my Bronco reservation and pulled the trigger on a 2 door Rubi.

 

[jeepingib]

Nice to read a true owners opinion instead of someone who is trying to prove something.

 

[Killed by Death]

A lot of people seem to feel the same way. My Jeep dealer has more pre-owned Broncos than Wranglers.

 

[zrickety]

Well the title says it.

I am going back to a Wrangler after spending ~8k miles with a Bronco First Edition 4-door. I was fortunate enough to get a Bronco as early as I did given the ongoing fiasco with how Ford allocated them and the constant supply chain issues. I traded my 392 for it, and to the 392, I had an ‘18 JLUR 2.0, both of which I loved! After spending some months and considerable driving time with the Bronco, I never liked it as much. My goal with this post is to provide some real world observations after having both, for anyone else comparing the two. The First Edition came with pretty much every option you could get, so it gave me a chance to really check out all of the features available. I'm going to omit talking about the power, simply because I do not think its fair to compare this against my 392. Let me start with the things I liked about the Bronco (I know I will overlook some things):

• It does drive straighter, thanks to the independent front suspension. No denying that. I honestly do not think the Wrangler is bad as many make it out to be, especially my 392, but I would be lying if I said the Bronco did not track better than the Wrangler.
• To me, the doors are much easier to take on and off. Two easy locate bolts, one wiring quick disconnect, no window frames. The way the doors go on also make it harder to scratch the body when trying to locate hanging the doors back on. The Bronco doors have these conical shaped hinges that for me, make the doors much easier to hang.
• 1-touch automatic windows, up and down on all 4 windows. Don’t ask me why I like these so much, I just do haha.
• Rear gate opens much wider than Wrangler and has a hydraulic to hold it open on inclines, which is great.
• 4 roof panels instead of 3. What makes this cool for me personally is that you can take off the roof panels over all of the passengers, while leaving the rear “box” on. This is great if you have an excitable dog (which we do) and being able to contain the dog but have the roof and doors off if you choose. Again, this is cool for me, but may be of no value to you.
• The Bronco has dramatically more headroom than the Jeep. Not sure where it comes from exactly, but it’s wayyy more than the Wrangler. The driver seat seems to go down much lower than the Wrangler does. and the shape of the roof panels seem to help.
• I took it off-roading twice at Uwharrie on the easy and several moderate trails and I was impressed. It did great and I have nothing to complain about.
• The factory Swaybar Disconnect being available in 4HI up to 20mph is fantastic. I had a Tazer in my JL to allow me to do this, which has a bit of a cumbersome process, so the fact that the Bronco offered this was quite nice and I hope Jeep follows suit.
• The area for the wireless charging in front of the shift lever offers some great storage, totally absent on the Wrangler.

Things I dislike (Again, I know I will overlook some things):

• The overall build and materials quality of the interior is borderline laughable. The Wrangler is hands down nicer across the board. The grab handles, use of hard shitty plastics, poorly fitting trim pieces, plastic burrs from lazy cuts around the gauge cluster and infotainment screen, all not even close to the Wrangler.
• The Bang and Olufsen surround premium audio sucks. And it shouldn't. There is nothing premium about it and trying to equalize the music I like is impossible. The Alpine stereo in the Jeep isn’t that of a high end luxury car by any means, but it equalized significantly better than this B&O.
• The 12” infotainment screen is unnecessarily large. The quality of it is nice, it's just overkill to me.
• The Wireless Charging and Wireless CarPlay is pure trash. The wireless charging only heats up my phone and the wireless CarPlay drops out constantly and confuses itself with the Bluetooth and I hate it. God forbid I want to take a private call or switch hold my iPhone up to my ear, it is nightmare. The wireless charging problem is not unique to the Bronco, as I have the same challenges with wireless charging in other cars, but it still sucks. I think both features are overrated in cars in general, as the whole point of CarPlay is to not use your iPhone while driving. So why does it need to be wireless? The wireless CarPlay drops out constantly and interferes with Bluetooth. I could go on and on.
• There is not a charging port, USB, or any sort of power outlet inside the center console. In my Jeep, I would tuck my phone out of the way in there or keep a spare battery charging or something, but not so in the Bronco. It does have a USB power outlet on top of the dash where you can mount a GoPro, iPad, GPS, etc, but honestly I do not think I would ever use that.
• The quality of the hardtop, as many publications have commented on, is a joke and needs significantly better quality control. There are exposed burrs, uneven cuts, the creak like crazy, and do not pack well at all into their bags due to their shape.
• The glass in the frameless doors isn’t particularly secure and they rattle like crazy with the windows up. They also get caught frequently on the roof panels because the do not roll down quickly enough to clear the roof panels when you open the doors.
• The 10-Speed Transmission is too many gears. It constantly tried to figure out what gear to be in, was incredibly clunky, and nowhere near as smooth as the 8-speed in either Jeep I had.
• It does not ride as good as my 392, I don't care what anyone says about the independent front suspension.

All in all, I was glad to give the Bronco an honest go, despite all the things I did not like about it. I think the Bronco does a good job in addressing, or attempting to address, some shortcomings with the Wrangler, but is has a long way to go and hopefully it will drive some cool innovations and updates to the Wrangler. We'll see what the Bronco Raptor is like when it arrives later this year, but for me, I the Wrangler still comes out on top by a long shot for me. My 392 Xtreme Recon will be here in a few weeks and I can't wait to be back in a Jeep.

Thanks for this, some good observations.

 

[EMpunker]

Thanks for the review. I would like to add a Bronco, but I don't think I could give up the Jeep for one.

 

[Megawatt]

I had a 2021 Ranger FX4 lariat for 9 months. Sexy looking truck for sure but when Ford bought it back in December it was a very happy day. It has the same 10 speed trans as the Bronco. Every 6 mph the trans would shift so I know what your talking about. Too many gears, at 42 mph it wants to be in 10 gear lugging the engine. Touch the throttle and trans will drop 2, 3, or 4 gears depending how much throttle you ask for. Take your foot off pedal and back to 10th gear in most cases.

Many other things I grew to not care for like and unprotected oil pan that is made of plastic on an off road truck I had issues with. Ok if there was a skid plate but naked? Not good, IMO.

Ford has parts issues while Jeep has been making over 600 wranglers a day 6 days a week. I had a defective drivers rear axle and the truck stayed in shop for 72 days waiting on an axle and seal.

I had a 2013 JKU for 8 years and 87,000 miles before the Ranger. I am glad to be back in a 2022 JLUR.

 

[Cypher]

I threw my hat into the Bronco Raptor lottery since I have an unfilled reservation still. I may love it, I may hate it. either way I doubt I would have any issues selling it if needed to go back to a Wrangler. I really like my latest JLUR-D, but have always wanted a Ranger Raptor. Since the Ranger Raptor is not an option here yet, Bronco Raptor will have to do.

I have not decided if ill Sell my 2021 JLUR-D or not yet, I still may trade it for a Purple Rubicon XR if they offer that color soon, or may just keep it until the Ranger Raptor is out. I love all the choices we have right now as its no longer a 1 model show. As more trucks join the high performance market I would love to see Ram make a Dakota in a TRX form with the upcoming Turbo I-6. I would also jump on that in a heartbeat.

 

[ChaseW]

Thanks for the feedback. I could never own a Ford anything (old Mopar salty dog) but its an interesting SUV. I LOVE my 392... its damn near as good as my Trailhawk for daily use as well.

One thing on the CarPlay comments - don't pair your phone with the head unit if you're using CarPlay, wired or wireless. Apple has intermittent issues if the head units see both interfaces active on the same phone. This is not just a Jeep or Ford thing, happens in all my cars/trucks as well. Only use the CarPlay feature/functions.

For sure! I have never been a Ford fan and this one was my first, and will be my last for a good while. I'll check out the Raptor when it comes out, but Ford just doesn't do it for me with anything they have. I LOVED my 392 and cannot wait to have one back.

On the CarPlay, thanks for the tip. In both Jeeps, I had CarPlay and Bluetooth active and practically never had an issue. I am on the phone a LOT, and while I like CarPlay, sometimes I just need to hold the phone up to my ear and talk on it. In my previous Wranglers, I could just rip the phone off the cord and it just switched from CarPlay to Bluetooth almost instantly. It was great. Then if I wanted CarPlay back, I would just plug the phone back in. I've had the issue you are describing in my 392, but it was so rare that it's almost not even worth mentioning. In the Bronco, if I was connected to wireless CarPlay, if I went on my phone to switch to a Private Call, the entire head unit would freeze, the Bluetooth would die, the wireless network would fail, and the call would ultimately fail. I would have to turn off the Wifi and Bluetooth off on my phone, and call the person back. Total shitshow.

 

[ChaseW]

I threw my hat into the Bronco Raptor lottery since I have an unfilled reservation still. I may love it, I may hate it. either way I doubt I would have any issues selling it if needed to go back to a Wrangler.

Same boat as you. I ordered two Bronco's the night they offered them in July 2020. The First Edition literally showed up at the dealer with no prior notice in October, and my second one remains unscheduled, so I threw my hat in on the Raptor. It looks badass from all the press stuff, but the 392 is a f***king hot rod and is just so damn fun and rowdy to drive.

 

[Blanco Willys]

It’s not that it struggles to find the gears the 10R60 is a garbage transmission. My wife has it in her 2020 Explorer and it has been replaced twice in the 11600 she has on it. Both times the clutches burn up and cause some other issues internally and mess it up. I know it’s not just mine because my mother bought an explorer a month after us and had hers replaced at 7500 miles she’s only at 9300. And the fact they use a transmission with a plastic pan is laughable .

 

[JLUandCJ-7]

Well the title says it.

I am going back to a Wrangler after spending ~8k miles with a Bronco First Edition 4-door. I was fortunate enough to get a Bronco as early as I did given the ongoing fiasco with how Ford allocated them and the constant supply chain issues. I traded my 392 for it, and to the 392, I had an ‘18 JLUR 2.0, both of which I loved! After spending some months and considerable driving time with the Bronco, I never liked it as much. My goal with this post is to provide some real world observations after having both, for anyone else comparing the two. The First Edition came with pretty much every option you could get, so it gave me a chance to really check out all of the features available. I'm going to omit talking about the power, simply because I do not think its fair to compare this against my 392. Let me start with the things I liked about the Bronco (I know I will overlook some things):

• It does drive straighter, thanks to the independent front suspension. No denying that. I honestly do not think the Wrangler is bad as many make it out to be, especially my 392, but I would be lying if I said the Bronco did not track better than the Wrangler.
• To me, the doors are much easier to take on and off. Two easy locate bolts, one wiring quick disconnect, no window frames. The way the doors go on also make it harder to scratch the body when trying to locate hanging the doors back on. The Bronco doors have these conical shaped hinges that for me, make the doors much easier to hang.
• 1-touch automatic windows, up and down on all 4 windows. Don’t ask me why I like these so much, I just do haha.
• Rear gate opens much wider than Wrangler and has a hydraulic to hold it open on inclines, which is great.
• 4 roof panels instead of 3. What makes this cool for me personally is that you can take off the roof panels over all of the passengers, while leaving the rear “box” on. This is great if you have an excitable dog (which we do) and being able to contain the dog but have the roof and doors off if you choose. Again, this is cool for me, but may be of no value to you.
• The Bronco has dramatically more headroom than the Jeep. Not sure where it comes from exactly, but it’s wayyy more than the Wrangler. The driver seat seems to go down much lower than the Wrangler does. and the shape of the roof panels seem to help.
• I took it off-roading twice at Uwharrie on the easy and several moderate trails and I was impressed. It did great and I have nothing to complain about.
• The factory Swaybar Disconnect being available in 4HI up to 20mph is fantastic. I had a Tazer in my JL to allow me to do this, which has a bit of a cumbersome process, so the fact that the Bronco offered this was quite nice and I hope Jeep follows suit.
• The area for the wireless charging in front of the shift lever offers some great storage, totally absent on the Wrangler.

Things I dislike (Again, I know I will overlook some things):

• The overall build and materials quality of the interior is borderline laughable. The Wrangler is hands down nicer across the board. The grab handles, use of hard shitty plastics, poorly fitting trim pieces, plastic burrs from lazy cuts around the gauge cluster and infotainment screen, all not even close to the Wrangler.
• The Bang and Olufsen surround premium audio sucks. And it shouldn't. There is nothing premium about it and trying to equalize the music I like is impossible. The Alpine stereo in the Jeep isn’t that of a high end luxury car by any means, but it equalized significantly better than this B&O.
• The 12” infotainment screen is unnecessarily large. The quality of it is nice, it's just overkill to me.
• The Wireless Charging and Wireless CarPlay is pure trash. The wireless charging only heats up my phone and the wireless CarPlay drops out constantly and confuses itself with the Bluetooth and I hate it. God forbid I want to take a private call or switch hold my iPhone up to my ear, it is nightmare. The wireless charging problem is not unique to the Bronco, as I have the same challenges with wireless charging in other cars, but it still sucks. I think both features are overrated in cars in general, as the whole point of CarPlay is to not use your iPhone while driving. So why does it need to be wireless? The wireless CarPlay drops out constantly and interferes with Bluetooth. I could go on and on.
• There is not a charging port, USB, or any sort of power outlet inside the center console. In my Jeep, I would tuck my phone out of the way in there or keep a spare battery charging or something, but not so in the Bronco. It does have a USB power outlet on top of the dash where you can mount a GoPro, iPad, GPS, etc, but honestly I do not think I would ever use that.
• The quality of the hardtop, as many publications have commented on, is a joke and needs significantly better quality control. There are exposed burrs, uneven cuts, the creak like crazy, and do not pack well at all into their bags due to their shape.
• The glass in the frameless doors isn’t particularly secure and they rattle like crazy with the windows up. They also get caught frequently on the roof panels because the do not roll down quickly enough to clear the roof panels when you open the doors.
• The 10-Speed Transmission is too many gears. It constantly tried to figure out what gear to be in, was incredibly clunky, and nowhere near as smooth as the 8-speed in either Jeep I had.
• It does not ride as good as my 392, I don't care what anyone says about the independent front suspension.

All in all, I was glad to give the Bronco an honest go, despite all the things I did not like about it. I think the Bronco does a good job in addressing, or attempting to address, some shortcomings with the Wrangler, but is has a long way to go and hopefully it will drive some cool innovations and updates to the Wrangler. We'll see what the Bronco Raptor is like when it arrives later this year, but for me, I the Wrangler still comes out on top by a long shot for me. My 392 Xtreme Recon will be here in a few weeks and I can't wait to be back in a Jeep.

Just out of curiosity, how much did you make on selling your FE?

 

[Heimkehr]

Many other things I grew to not care for like and unprotected oil pan that is made of plastic on an off road truck I had issues with.

Now plastic oil sumps are making an appearance? Ugh.

To date, I've funded two not-inexpensive replacements of radiators in separate vehicles, both Hondas. Hairline cracks in the upper plastic tanks caused by totally foreseeable age-related fatigue due to normal heat cycling. I learned what to look for from a neighbor, who's identical vehicle failed not very long before mine did.

Economical repair wasn't really possible in either case, nor were replacement radiators available sans any plastic construction. I hated knowing that I was only buying time, where I could already see the end date.

Sometimes the chase for ever-increasing (if incremental) improvements in fuel economy has to take second place to concerns regarding the ability of the component(s) to provide a reasonable service life. Said differently: some things won't bear changes to legacy manufacturing methods absent adverse outcomes.

 

[GrayHawk20]

I had originally planned to order a Badlands but there were so many red flags I ended up telling the dealer that I wanted to cancel it. Fast forward to the 392 being produced and delivered to people. I saw @ShockerRacing video when they took delivery of it and I was sold and knew I had to have it...since then I've loved my 392, I ordered...from dealership experience to the driving experience wouldn't have it any other way.

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