2026 Ford Bronco Sport problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Wheels (1) · Service Brakes (1) · Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control (1)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Ford Bronco Sport model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (6)
Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:hard Parts Internal/Mechanical 2026-08-25 · campaign 26V548000 · 10,001 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2026 Explorer, Bronco, Bronco Sport, Mustang, and Ranger vehicles. The engine piston domes may have been manufactured incorrectly, which can result in piston dome failure and lead to a loss of drive power.
Risk: An unexpected loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the engine pistons and replace the engine long block, if necessary, free of charge. Interim letters, notifying owners of the safety risk, were mailed September 3, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the remedy is available, anticipated in December 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S61. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on August 28, 2026.
Structure:body 2026-08-25 · campaign 26V550000 · 23 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2026 Maverick, F-150, and Bronco Sport vehicles. Certain vehicle joints may be improperly tightened. This can lead to detached parts, unsecured cargo, degraded crash protection, electrical system failure, or a loss of vehicle stability.
Risk: Improperly tightened vehicle joints may lead to a loss of vehicle control, electrical failure, or detached parts, increasing the risk of a crash or fire.
Fix: Dealers will inspect and tighten the vehicle joints or repair and replace the joint retention mechanisms as necessary, free of charge. Owner notifications letters were mailed October 19, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S60. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on August 26, 2026.
Suspension:front:control Arm:lower Ball Joint 2026-05-27 · campaign 26V340000 · 4,653 vehicles ⚠ DO NOT DRIVE
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2021-2026 Bronco Sport and 2022-2026 Maverick vehicles. The front lower control arm ball joints may have been incorrectly installed or incorrectly repaired at the vehicle assembly plant, allowing the control arm to disconnect from the front wheel knuckle.
Risk: A detached control arm can cause a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the remedy is completed. Dealers will inspect and repair the front lower control arm ball joints as necessary, free of charge.Owner notification letters were mailed September 2, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S36. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on May 29, 2026.
Electrical System 2026-04-14 · campaign 26V239000 · 55 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2025 Maverick and 2026 Bronco Sport vehicles equipped with a 1.5L or 2.0L MPC engine and an engine block heater. The engine block heater may overheat when the vehicle is parked with the block heater plugged in.
Risk: An overheated engine block heater can increase the risk of a fire.
Fix: Owners are advised not to plug in their block heater until the vehicle is remedied. Dealers will replace the block heater, and inspect and replace the electrical cord if necessary, free of charge. Owners will also have an alternative option to replace the engine block heater element with a threaded plug, and remove the block heater electrical cord. Owner notification letters were mailed June 10, 2026. This recall expands previous NHTSA recall number 25V343. Owners may contact Ford customer servi
Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification:front Passenger 2026-03-31 · campaign 26V201000 · 3,170 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2025-2026 Bronco Sport and Maverick vehicles. The Occupant Classification Sensor (OCS) unit may fail to correctly detect the presence of an adult or child in the front passenger seat. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
Risk: Failure to correctly detect a passenger may result in the air bag not deploying as intended, increasing the risk of injury during a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the passenger seat occupant classification sensor, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 25, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26C19. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on April 2, 2026.
Electrical System: Instrument Cluster/Panel 2025-11-14 · campaign 25V788000 · 229,609 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2025-2026 Bronco and Bronco Sport vehicles. The Instrument Panel Cluster (IPC) may fail at startup.
Risk: An instrument panel display that does not show critical information, such as warning lights or vehicle speed, increases the risk of a crash.
Fix: The instrument panel cluster software will be updated by a dealer or through an over-the-air (OTA) update, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 4, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25SC3.
Service bulletins (25)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Unknown Or Other 2026-10-06 · SSM 55221 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
for 2022 2026 vehicles equipped with a 8f35 transmission, a revision to the road testing vehicle procedure has been made in the wsm, section 307-01 > diagnosis and testing. this updated procedure improves the diagnosis of customer reported transmission concerns and aids in locating the proper root c
Unknown Or Other 2026-10-02 · SSM 55211 · Over The Air
2023-2026 escape and 2025-2026 bronco sport vehicles equipped with a 1.5l ecoboost engine may require removal of the turbocharger wastegate control actuator linkage for various reasons. the workshop manual (wsm), section 303-04 fuel charging and controls - turbocharger - 1.5l ecoboost > removal and
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-22 · TSB 26-2092 V2 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this article supersedes tsb 25-2466 to add bronco sport, escape, maverick and corsair, as well as removing expedition and navigator. one time use parts for corsair and bronco sport were also added to the parts list. some of the vehicles listed in the model statement above may exhibit a headliner rat
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-16 · SSM 55177 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2025-2026 maverick and 2026 bronco sport vehicles equipped with an 8-inch instrument panel cluster (ipc) display may exhibit a condition where the fuel gauge displays one mark below the full fuel level when the fuel tank is full. this may be due to the software in the ipc. to correct the condit
Unknown Or Other 2026-08-22 · SSM 55100 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
for various ford and lincoln vehicles, if diagnostics lead to the replacement of the front seat cushion cover j-clips, lower-level service parts are now available. use service part w709919-s901 if the j-clip is completely detached from the seat cover and w715386-s424 if the clip is still partially a
Unknown Or Other 2026-07-23 · SSM 55031 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2021-2026 ford/lincoln vehicles may exhibit various symptoms including but not limited to the auto start/stop system not operating as intended with a "check charging system" message in the instrument panel cluster (ipc) while the charging system is operating properly with no charging related di
Showing the 6 most recent of 25 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-15 · Service Brakes · 💥 crash“issue: unintended acceleration/loss of park function & airbag non-deployment: date of incident: [xxx] rental company: budget car rental vehicle: ford bronco sport 2026 vin [xxx] at the [xxx], i slowly entered a parking space and once positioned in the spot, i fully stepped on the brakes and rotated the electronic shifter dial into park. immedia…”
2026-09-15 · Unknown Or Other“we were driving our 2026 ford bronco sport (badlands edition) on [xxx] in the [xxx] area of [xxx]. the location was in town and the speed was 45 mph. the day was friday, xxx, at 5:10pm, when the closed moonroof glass suddently, without any warning, completley exploded. the moonroof exploded upward and pieces of glass flew as it shattered completely…”
2026-09-08 · Engine And Engine Cooling“the contact owns a 2026 ford bronco sport. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 26v548000 (engine and engine cooling); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. the contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the contact had not experienced a fail…”
2026-09-06 · Wheels“i was stranded on the side of the road due to a routine tire puncture on the morning of sept. 5, 2026. i immediately called aaa for emergency roadside assistance. aaa explicitly informed me that their safety policy prevents them from plugging tires on the roadside, however they offered to change the flat out for my spare tire. when i went to the…”
2026-08-31 · Unknown Or Other“2026 bronco sport badlands sasquatch edition with less than three-thousand miles that we purchased brand new had a major transmission failure and was rendered inoperable. the bronco sport transmission pan cracked and the gasket failed upon driving home from a routine, ten minute trip to the grocery store resulting in sudden loss of transmission flu…”
2026-08-02 · Unknown Or Other“information panel warning lights on dash or wiring system short i was driving at a slow speed and without warning my hood flies up and shatters the windshield and truck flies open dropping all my luggage out…”
2026-06-12 · Unknown Or Other“2026 bronco sportdescription your vehicle may display a blank instrument panel cluster ipc screen upon startup. this may occur when the vehicle is restarted within a specific time interval after turning the vehicle off. safety risk a blank ipc screen will prevent the driver from seeing critical vehicle information such as the speedometer, warnin…”
2026-05-19 · Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control“adaptive +predictive cruise control malfunction causing 1) sudden vehicle acceleration and 2) cruise on but disengaged suddenly engaged and set a higher speed than originally set. merged into light traffic on 4 lane interstate, no other vehicles within 200yds or so. turned on, then set cruise control at 70mph, about 10 seconds later i felt the car …”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.