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Hey all. When this happened to me, I searched everywhere and couldn't find anyone who had gone through the exact same thing. Posting this so the next person has something to reference and hopefully help them out if they find themselves in a similar situation.
What happened
In November 2025, my 6 month old Bronco Raptor with about 4k miles caught fire while my wife, our dog, and I were driving. The fire originated near the passenger side engine bay. By the time first responders arrived, the damage was extensive and the truck was a total loss. The official cause was undetermined.
Fortunately, we all got out safely.
The process, and how long it took for us
Start to finish, this took 4.5 months.
Initially, I opened a claim with my insurance company and reached out to Ford via social media. Ford's initial response was to go through insurance, but their legal team eventually reached out with a different message: if I wanted Ford to potentially cover the vehicle loss, I needed to pause my insurance claim so they could inspect the vehicle first. The reason is they don't want you "double-dipping" with insurance and their RAV process. If your insurer pays out the claim before Ford gets a look at it, you'll likely lose any chance of Ford covering the loss.
The process was stressful and frustrating. Between the inspection timeline, back-and-forth communication, and just not knowing what the outcome would be, it weighed on us for months. That said, Ford made us truly whole. They provided a loaner for the entire 4.5 months so we were never without a vehicle, covered our mods, and ultimately got us into a 2026 Bronco Raptor.
From what I understand, Ford typically handles these situations one of two ways: a buyback or a replacement. A buyback is a cash settlement based on what you paid for the vehicle, mods included. A replacement puts you in a new truck at a set price, also with mods covered. In my opinion, both options are significantly better than a depreciated insurance payout, but with the tradeoff that going through Ford takes considerably longer. We went with the replacement, since it was a much better deal and we knew we wanted another Bronco Raptor. We worked with our local dealership to facilitate the process for the replacement, and that part went relatively smoothly.
It's worth noting: coverage is ultimately at Ford's discretion. If they inspect the vehicle and decide not to cover the loss, you've paused your insurance claim for nothing and added significant time to an already painful process. Just something to keep in mind, and it is a risk.
Mods & Tune
We didn't have many mods & most were cosmetic (wheels & tires, tint, PPF, tailgate table, grab handles, etc).
However, we did have a Ford Performance tune installed by the dealer, not by me. I don't know what caused the fire (and Ford said they were unable to find the cause), but having a dealer-installed tune meant there were zero questions about it during the inspection. If I had installed it myself, that could have been a point of concern regardless of whether it had anything to do with the fire, so in my opinion, it's worth the $112 that they charge to install it at the dealer for peace of mind.
On the new 2026
Since we ended up in a new Bronco, figured I'd share some quick impressions for anyone curious about the upgrade.
The B&O audio upgrade is much better than our 2024. The new grab handles are a great addition, and I use them every time I get in and have never hit my head on them (6ft). I don't think they are distracting at all either. The rear view mirror camera takes some getting used to but it helps a ton with seeing out the back with the 37" tire blocking the window, and the rear AC vents work pretty well.
I think it's interesting that Ford made announcements about quality control improvements for 2025, but the panel alignment on our 2026 is noticeably worse than our 2024 was, primarily on the tailgate. I was able to align it (pics attached), but kind of annoying that it was that bad to begin with, and I noticed that most of the other 2026's on the lot were the same way. There have been a few other smaller quality control issues as well.
Color-wise, we still prefer Cactus Gray over Avalanche, but the black top is really nice and we don't have to worry about the MIC top cracking issues. Feels great to be back in the Raptor though, it has been one of my favorite vehicles I have owned.
Why I'm posting
Not here to scare anyone or point fingers. I just couldn't find anyone who had documented this experience in detail and wanted that resource to exist. If you're going through it right now, feel free to reach out, and I can do my best to answer questions.
What happened
In November 2025, my 6 month old Bronco Raptor with about 4k miles caught fire while my wife, our dog, and I were driving. The fire originated near the passenger side engine bay. By the time first responders arrived, the damage was extensive and the truck was a total loss. The official cause was undetermined.
Fortunately, we all got out safely.
The process, and how long it took for us
Start to finish, this took 4.5 months.
Initially, I opened a claim with my insurance company and reached out to Ford via social media. Ford's initial response was to go through insurance, but their legal team eventually reached out with a different message: if I wanted Ford to potentially cover the vehicle loss, I needed to pause my insurance claim so they could inspect the vehicle first. The reason is they don't want you "double-dipping" with insurance and their RAV process. If your insurer pays out the claim before Ford gets a look at it, you'll likely lose any chance of Ford covering the loss.
The process was stressful and frustrating. Between the inspection timeline, back-and-forth communication, and just not knowing what the outcome would be, it weighed on us for months. That said, Ford made us truly whole. They provided a loaner for the entire 4.5 months so we were never without a vehicle, covered our mods, and ultimately got us into a 2026 Bronco Raptor.
From what I understand, Ford typically handles these situations one of two ways: a buyback or a replacement. A buyback is a cash settlement based on what you paid for the vehicle, mods included. A replacement puts you in a new truck at a set price, also with mods covered. In my opinion, both options are significantly better than a depreciated insurance payout, but with the tradeoff that going through Ford takes considerably longer. We went with the replacement, since it was a much better deal and we knew we wanted another Bronco Raptor. We worked with our local dealership to facilitate the process for the replacement, and that part went relatively smoothly.
It's worth noting: coverage is ultimately at Ford's discretion. If they inspect the vehicle and decide not to cover the loss, you've paused your insurance claim for nothing and added significant time to an already painful process. Just something to keep in mind, and it is a risk.
Mods & Tune
We didn't have many mods & most were cosmetic (wheels & tires, tint, PPF, tailgate table, grab handles, etc).
However, we did have a Ford Performance tune installed by the dealer, not by me. I don't know what caused the fire (and Ford said they were unable to find the cause), but having a dealer-installed tune meant there were zero questions about it during the inspection. If I had installed it myself, that could have been a point of concern regardless of whether it had anything to do with the fire, so in my opinion, it's worth the $112 that they charge to install it at the dealer for peace of mind.
On the new 2026
Since we ended up in a new Bronco, figured I'd share some quick impressions for anyone curious about the upgrade.
The B&O audio upgrade is much better than our 2024. The new grab handles are a great addition, and I use them every time I get in and have never hit my head on them (6ft). I don't think they are distracting at all either. The rear view mirror camera takes some getting used to but it helps a ton with seeing out the back with the 37" tire blocking the window, and the rear AC vents work pretty well.
I think it's interesting that Ford made announcements about quality control improvements for 2025, but the panel alignment on our 2026 is noticeably worse than our 2024 was, primarily on the tailgate. I was able to align it (pics attached), but kind of annoying that it was that bad to begin with, and I noticed that most of the other 2026's on the lot were the same way. There have been a few other smaller quality control issues as well.
Color-wise, we still prefer Cactus Gray over Avalanche, but the black top is really nice and we don't have to worry about the MIC top cracking issues. Feels great to be back in the Raptor though, it has been one of my favorite vehicles I have owned.
Why I'm posting
Not here to scare anyone or point fingers. I just couldn't find anyone who had documented this experience in detail and wanted that resource to exist. If you're going through it right now, feel free to reach out, and I can do my best to answer questions.
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