2021 FORD BRONCO SPORT Complaints

I am submitting this letter to report a potentially widespread safety defect in the 2021 Ford Bronco related to the rear differential assembly. Many owners, including myself, have experienced or are concerned about premature failure of the rear differential under normal driving conditions. This issue can lead to loss of vehicle control and represents a significant safety risk on public roads. Ford Motor Company appears aware of the recurring nature of this defect but has not, to date, issued a recall or extended coverage for affected vehicles. I am requesting that NHTSA investigate this issue as a possible design or manufacturing defect that warrants a formal recall or technical action from Ford. Description of Issue: Premature rear differential failure / widespread owner reports Problem has been reported to Ford Motor Company as well as Sutton Ford Dealership. They did the inspection and diagnosed it. I took my vehicle to that dealership numerous times and told them about the noise I was experiencing and it came back no problems found. This truck has had several recalls and problems since it rolled off the assembly line.

Vehicle is experiencing issues with shuttering from the rear differential and a 4wd fault code with vehicle just out of warranty. Rear differential speed sensor has failed and possibly need entire rear differential unit relaxed I’m told. Also water pump on engine has failed prematurely with ford avoiding responsibility

On 7/22/2025 Luther Ford, When asked to drive the vehicle into the service area, the car would not go in to drive. It would not move at all. The service advisor stated we need to have the transmission taken out and taken apart to see what the issue is. He said that the transmission was needing to be replaced, and with the transmission, it is mostly because of an issue with the motor as well, but this cannot be diagnosed until the transmission issue is corrected. The vehicle is still at Luther Ford in Fargo waiting on repair. Ford offered limited financial assistance for this. With myself still owing $5758.38. There have been multiple times that I have requested the dealership drive the vehicle because of the vehicle shifting hard or cutting out when stepping on the gas. On 3/3/2023 20,991 miles I had taken the vehicle in to RM Stoudt in Jamestown, ND because the car was shifting hard, and was cutting out while in low gear/speeds. I do have documentation of this. Nothing was done at this time by the dealership. 10/3/2024 46,277 miles I had the bronco into Devils Lake Cars for an issue with the CV Shaft and warranty work. I also asked them to drive the vehicle because it is STILL not driving correctly and is not shifting correctly and wanted it to be corrected before warranty was up. Nothing was done at the dealership. Before 60,000 I called Devils Lake Cars. I stated that the vehicle is still having issues. I was not going to be able to get to the dealership as I live in a remote area, until after it goes over the 5/27/25 62,354 miles I finally got an appointment and the vehicle in at Devils Lake Cars, they documented thatthey drove the vehicle and there were NO issues. I requested the next time that we are in, that we ride with the service agent so we can prove the issues we are constantly having. 7/22/25 2500 miles later, the car is no longer able to even be put into drive and this brings us to the current situation and the transmission is needing to be replaced

I took my vehicle into my local ford dealership to get three active recalls remedied. Within 24 hours, my check engine light reappeared as well as "service engine soon" on my way into work. Upon leaving work, the dash lights were gone. They would come and go periodically. After about a week, it would pop up "service engine soon" and within ten minutes, regardless of speed, the RPMs would fly all the way up and the vehicle would act as if I took my foot off of the gas, almost immediately stopping on the highway. I would have to almost immediately pull off of the road and my vehicle would stall, flashing "shift system failure" as well as failing to let me put the vehicle into park or any other gear. Taking it into the shop, they told me that was due to a software bug WHICH THEY JUST "FIXED" with a recall update. They also proceeded to tell me there is metal debris in my oil and I need my transmission rebuilt, quoting me $13,000.

After Ford completed Recall 25S76 on my 2021 Ford Bronco Sport (VIN [XXX] ), which involves replacing high-pressure fuel injectors due to the risk of cracking and fuel leaks, the check engine light returned immediately after the road test. The Ford dealer’s diagnostic confirmed: “After installing high-pressure fuel injectors, cleared codes, road tested and check engine light came back on, performed further P/P test, found high-pressure fuel pump with internal fault which caused a back-pressure concern and took out low-side fuel pump.” The high-pressure fuel pump and low-side fuel pump both failed immediately following the recall injector replacement, which appears to indicate a related fuel-system failure. Ford has stated these are not related issues and has only offered partial goodwill assistance, leaving a significant cost for the customer. Component/system that failed: Fuel system – high-pressure fuel pump and low-side fuel pump (available for inspection). Safety risk: A fuel-system failure can cause stalling or loss of power while driving, increasing the risk of an accident. Confirmed by dealer: Yes – documented in the Ford dealer’s diagnostic notes. Inspected by manufacturer: Yes – Ford dealer completed the diagnostic under Ford’s guidance. Warning lamps or symptoms: Check engine light returned immediately after recall work. No prior symptoms before recall repair. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

car is shuddering below 35 mph. The RPM gauge is bouncing. Had the transmission fluid drained and filled. Took it to our local repair shop and there are metal shavings in the transmission fluid.

The car would "skip" while driving. If paused at a light/stop sign, I would hit the gas and the RPMs would increase, but the car would not drive, then it would jerk and go. When driving, my foot would be at a consistent pressure on the gas, but the car would slow down as if I lifted by foot. Then the car would jerk and increase in speed again. There were no warning lights or messages at any of those moments. Due to concerning safety, I was driving to the shop to have it evaluated when I broke down at a stop light. 5 minutes before breaking down, the first light came on with a message in the Ford app stating "powertrain malfunction". When at a light, the automatic break kicked on and would not let me drive. When evaluated at the local dealership they said "there are multiple DTCs for internal transmission issues: DTC P0751/P2700 for a clutch mechanical fault, and P07E4 indicating the vehicle is unable to engage park. The A clutch is dragging, causing it to intermittently creep forward in neutral. The transmission will need to be replaced to correct the issue." The cost to replace it is $10,000+.

My wife's 2021 Ford Bronco Sport has had a complete transmission failure and the vehicle has less than 75,000 miles on it. We're told by Ford that the Powertrain warranty ends after 60,000 miles. This has been a disaster for us as we're paying a note on a vehicle that we cannot drive because it will cost $10-11K to repair. I've never owned a vehicle that has had so many problems in my life.

The contact owns a 2021 Ford Bronco Sport. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V467000 (Fuel System, Gasoline); 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 dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that there was no part available for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.

I was driving home from work one day on a Monday and my vehicle had a bunch of warning notifications pop up such as pre collision assist not available, blind spot assist not available, etc as well as a wrench icon popped up and stayed on stating to service 4wd. I stopped driving my vehicle until I could get it serviced. I then took my vehicle to ford to get it diagnosed on Friday of the same week ford stated they would be able to diagnose it for $150 then repair and labor costs would come after. Well they never looked at my vehicle Friday so they told me to bring it back the next Monday I brought it back they said they would diagnose it a few hours later I received a call stating they “think” it’s my AWD module located under the passenger seat but they would not know if that was the problem until they got under the seat and that would cost me an extra $500 for them to inspect it. From research I have been doing they should have been able to tell me if it was exactly that module or not by plugging a J2534 into the main module and using the FDRS application that all ford dealers use. From more research I have been doing this is a very common problem with 2021 ford broncos concerning the AWD module. The faulty AWD module could be caused from a faulty battery which was a recall on my specific vehicle they stated they tested my battery that day but I’m not sure if they actually did because I tested it at home and it was reading low and I just had that battery replaced by ford in March of 2025. As well a faulty AWD module in a 2021 Bronco Sport could be related to a recall, especially the recall for the powertrain control module (NHTSA Campaign 25S26) which can cause AWD system faults. Additionally, there was a separate, earlier recall (Customer Satisfaction Program 21B19) specifically addressing a faulty transistor in the AWD module itself. My car is was not a candidate for this recall but I believe it is apart of it as well as others who are experiencing this problem.