And before you ask, the original engine already bit the dust.
The sixth-gen Ford Bronco has been around since 2021, which either feels like forever ago or just yesterday, depending on who you ask. Regardless, three years isn’t that much time to rack up the mileage. One fun-having Bronco owner did just drive their 4×4 past the 100,000-mile mark, and it’s lived a hard life. It’s holding up pretty well, but as you’d expect, there have been some… hiccups.
The Bronco’s owner Ethan Bryant told me all about it over the phone, making it clear that he’s never been easy on the thing. “It’s certainly not a pavement princess, I’ll say that,” Bryant laughed. “I take it mudding. One of my favorite things to do with it is jump dunes at a local beach.”
Ethan Bryant
He says he’s the second owner, scooping it up with just 4,000 miles or so on the odometer. It’s a two-door Black Diamond trim with the Sasquatch Package, so it has 35-inch tires, lower gearing, and more off-road goodies. It’s a pretty slick spec and it’s powered by a 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder.
The thing is, the original engine went out around 92,000 miles. That’s been the biggest problem by far, and as Bryant explains, it was on its last leg for a while before. You can blame that on newfangled tech like a turbo-four in an off-roader or you can point fingers at the guy behind the wheel, but either way, the result was the same.
“I was on a drive to Midland, Texas,” Bryant explained. “I was already having issues with a misfire. I had found a sweet spot for it where it wouldn’t misfire, somewhere between 65 and 70 mph (on the highway). As soon as I hit Waco, you could just hear it; it wasn’t happy.
“It sounded like a two-stroke, basically.”
A local Ford dealer tech supposedly told Bryant that the spark plugs broke off in cylinders two and four, slamming so hard against the piston heads that it caused irreversible damage. It was in the shop for roughly five months getting a new engine, and in the time since, everything has gone fairly smoothly. Bryant recounted a coolant hose clamp that came undone soon after getting it back from the shop but that’s been it.
Ethan Bryant
Moving on to less significant (but still annoying) issues, the frameless driver-side window likes to come unsealed above 60 miles per hour. From what I’m told, the truck spends a lot of time going faster than that, so I bet it’s more than a little bothersome. Bryant assures me that he’s learned to “tune it out,” which is good, at least.
Also, the passenger-side headlight went out around 45,000 miles. He replaced it, but the daytime running light only works sporadically. It’s the little things.
A photo of the Bronco’s digital gauge cluster verifies the 100,000-mile claim, but an earlier shot also tells us something else: It’s only getting 11.9 miles per gallon. The EPA rates two-door Bronco Sasquatch models with the automatic transmission and 2.3-liter EcoBoost at 18 mpg combined, so Bryant’s lead foot seems to be making a difference here. He tells me he drives it “like a lifted-up Mini Cooper” and it’s “surprisingly good for doing donuts,” so do with that information what you will.
All in all, Bryant is super happy with his Ford. He plans to keep chasing that long white line in hopes of being the highest-mileage Bronco out there. As long as he keeps fixing whatever he breaks, it sounds like it’ll get him there no worse for wear.
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