Thoughts on 4th gen from a 3rd gen/Bronco owner

Just went out and test drove a manual OR today to see how I liked it so figured I’d share. Much better experience than my ‘17 OR as far as seating position and powertrain goes. Was surprised that the stick shift actually felt much better to operate than the 3rd gen - smoother and a bit shorter throws. 4th gen looks much better in person, IMO - front end styling so much better than 3rd gen. Coil-sprung suspension big improvement in the backend too.

In comparison, my ‘22 Bronco 2.3 with manual (what I would be potentially trading in) still feels like it is much peppier and the transmission has shorter throws/feels much more car-like than the Taco. No rev hang either. The iMT in Bronco seems to work much better too. Seating/position in Taco also not quite as comfortable as Bronco and overall Bronco does feel a bit roomier inside (especially in rear seat).

I do miss having the truck bed sometimes, but don’t think I can justify any other aspect of selling Bronco to get another Taco at this point. Ford interior plastics, layout, & build quality even look/feel superior between the two now which is sad on Toyota's part. Backseat functionality/storage in Taco also feels like a glaring downgrade from 3rd to 4th gen, and that jiggly glovebox door… I mean c’mon.

Overall, Toyota did a pretty good job for the most part with this gen. I think I’d actually opt for the SR manual this time around since dealers around me have been listing them for like $36,500 every now and then. To me, I don’t think the coil suspension and random bells/whistles are worth the steep jump in $$$ for the higher trims unless maybe u plan to regularly off road or ‘money ain’t a thing’ of course.

 

Hmmmn...

 

Really! I thought pretty much all modern, large volume manual transmission backed engines had rev hang. Whenever I read about anything with a manual, they bring it up and then say something like “…but everything does it now because of emissions so we just have to deal with it.” Between that and the fact that shifting any more briskly than “leisurely” isn’t the first thing that occurs to me when I think “Bronco,” I’m plain surprised!

 

lol I guess it might be an exaggeration to say “no rev hang” at all in the Bronco but there sure isn’t much… much less noticeable than in the Taco. That being said, I don’t think the Taco’s is all that bad either. Like you said, not driving it like a sports car anyways.

 

There is considerably more storage under the rear seat in the 2024 over the previous generation. Probably double. I also think there is slightly more sitting room than my 2016.

 

I don’t think that’s true at all. Those storage bins were much deeper and longer in the 3rd gen. I was mostly referring to how the 3rd gen seats folded down with a hard, protected, flat-backed surface much more functional for hauling gear or dogs in the cab. The 4th gen basically requires seats surface to be used for those applications which isn’t as handy. The seating room is virtually the same which was worst in class last gen let alone this gen vs all other mid size trucks.

 

36,500 for a manual SR? No thanks

 

I mean yeah prices are redic but you’re upwards of $43k minimum for a Sport or OR. Just my .02 but there are a lot of things in life I’d rather spend $7k+ on than a set of rear coils and other random fluff features. The essentials are there on the SR manual at least for me.

 

Agreed - the SR 6MT is a good value all things considered. You don't give up any power and the exterior is less busy. I'm hoping there are deals to be had as we get into MY2025.

 

I've been debating the same:

Current Vehicle: '23 Bronco 2 door: Honestly there's nothing wrong with it, it's paid off, it's good looking, and it does everything I need it to do and then some. The downsides are: no truck bed, and I don't know how much to trust it for the long road. I usually keep my vehicles for awhile (last vehicle '07 JKU, 190k miles, 15 years). I'm removed the back seats for extra storage, and I have a hitch bike rack for my mtb. A lot of it's life is spent at the beach and with beach gear (surfboards, kiteboards, wetsuits, etc.) hence the truck.

The SR with manual option is intriguing I looked at that when I first started looking. I think the cheapest TRD OR I've found OTD with a manual is around $43k.

I'm probably going to stick with the Bronco awhile, the issue is that I'm putting more miles on it then I generally do because I've been travelling to mtb quite a bit, so it's 18 months in and got 24k miles.

 

So you guys with Broncos, they actually work? Because it sounds like Ford is recalling them every other week.

 

My cousin had one. He said it was in the shop for one thing or another about that often. Replaced it a few months ago with something else.

Kind of sounds like they don't work, no. My brother has a four year old Ranger with the same powertrain that hasn't been in the shop for anything but maintenance, though. Point is, anecdotes aren't particularly useful besides for telling stories.

 

I've got a 2.3 Manual, so.....most of the engine recalls have been 2.7. The manual has a TSB for a scraping noise with the syncs, but.....I haven't had that issue. Here's my list of issues over 18 months, they are pretty small to be honest:

-Driver's Seat Belt motor is basically dead, doesn't retract, not a huge deal
-Moisture/condensation in the rear underfloor cargo hold. The dealer will fix this, but when I took it to them the first time they said the doors and top had to be on it.
-Carplay is intermittent, that seems to be a recurring thing with most new vehicles.

None of these are huge deals at all, it hasn't given me any issues so far, but I will say the shifting is a bit rougher than when I first got it. So......it's mainly just the fear that issues will start to arise especially beyond warranty. I've been changing oil every 5k miles, etc.

It's the 2.3L Ecoboost that concerns me, the interior and transmission really don't bother me too much so far.

 

The seatbelt not retracting and water ingress are definitely not small things, especially not on a car that new. Seems you're a hack of a lot more laid back than I am.

CarPlay not working right seems to be par for the course in my experience and in everybody's who I've ever asked about it. It goes sideways quite often. I think I've experienced some sort of CarPlay glitch in every car I've used it in. In fact, I'm having an issue I think I've narrowed down to an as yet unfixed issue in iOS 18 right now. You just get to be miserable with the rest of us, I guess.

I myself am right there with you in being skeptical about the EcoBoost given all the crap I've read about timing chain tensioners and cam phasors. Supposedly, they've corrected most of that by now but...well, ya know. My brother's is fine but for whining noise it makes I haven't been given the opportunity to track down. I mostly wanted to go the Toyota route due to the port injection that nobody else seems to want to be bothered with. I'm not keen on having to pull the intake off and walnut blast the intake valves every three years.