Ford Bronco Sport reliability by year
32 recall campaigns and 1,352 owner complaints across 6 model years. Best year to buy: 2024. Year to avoid: 2021.
Worst model years to avoid → — the single year to avoid for every model line we track, ranked side by side.
Years to avoid — and why 3 flagged on the NHTSA record
Cleaner on the data: 2024 . Still verify the specific vehicle.
At-a-glance: every year color-coded
Each cell shows the last two digits of the model year and its 0–10 reliability score from NHTSA data. Click any year to see the full record. ★ best year · ✕ year to avoid.
Year-by-year reliability 6 model years · newest first
Per-year recall counts add up to 66, more than the 32 campaigns above, because a single NHTSA campaign often covers several model years and is counted once in each.
Common trouble spots across the Bronco Sport aggregated across 6 model years
Common questions
What's the best year to buy a Ford Bronco Sport?
Based on NHTSA complaint volume and severity weighting, the 2024 Ford Bronco Sport scores 6.2/10 — the strongest in the 2021–2026 range. 113 complaints on file, 8 active recalls. Reliability scores reflect the federal complaint record, not subjective owner reviews.
Which Ford Bronco Sport year should I avoid?
The 2021 Ford Bronco Sport scores 3.6/10 — the weakest in the lineup. 709 owner complaints with NHTSA, 16 active recalls. That doesn't mean every 2021 is a problem — it means failure rates run higher than peer model years on the same platform.
Which years of the Ford Bronco Sport should I avoid?
On the NHTSA complaint and recall record, the model years to be most careful with are 2021 (avoid — the electrical system — 6 fire-related complaints and 4 crash-related complaints on the electrical system); 2023 (high-risk ownership — fuel system: 31 complaints, classified severe, failures cluster 24,500–50,000 mi); 2022 (high-risk ownership — electrical system: 54 complaints, classified severe, failures cluster 27,000–48,000 mi). The cleaner years on the data are 2024. This is our read of the federal data, not a substitute for a pre-purchase inspection of the specific vehicle.
How many years of the Ford Bronco Sport are tracked?
6 model years (2021 through 2026) with NHTSA records on file. Total across the lineup: 32 distinct recall campaigns and 1,352 owner complaints. Those campaigns land on 66 model-year entries in total, because one campaign often covers several years at once — which is why per-year recall counts add up to more than the campaign count.
What's the most-reported problem on the Ford Bronco Sport?
powertrain is the most-reported category — 275 complaints across 4 model years. Average shop repair runs about $2,500.