(2021 Fully Loaded)— Bronco-Badlands vs. Jeep-Rubicon - Pros / Cons

[Gpscharron]

First, I would like to state that I plan to get a Badlands and I am NOT a jeep hater. I honestly love the competition.

For those of you how might own Jeeps already and plan to / or not buy a Bronco.. Why or why not?
What are some pros and cons to getting a Bronco vs. a Jeep?
I really hope that Jeep and Bronco owners becomes a friendly rivalry.. At the end of the day.. we all want a fun, open air and capable vehicle!
IMO: I do not see other vehicles being in the same class. If the doors, windows do not come off.. I do not care for it.

What is your thoughts on this? Thanks and Happy New Year!!

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[Gpscharron]

Nice article comparing the two:
https://www.fordmotorcity.com/2021-ford-bronco-badlands-vs-jeep-wrangler-rubicon.htm

 

[grimmjeeper]

I've been a Jeep guy for a couple of decades now. I've had a CJ7, a JK, two XJ Cherokees, 6 different full size Wagoneer/Cherokee/J10 Jeeps, 2 Comanche pickups, and I'm probably forgetting something.

Right now, I'm down to 2. A 2001 Cherokee and a 1987 Comanche.

The Comanche is being built to replace the JK Wrangler I sold a year ago. That one is being built to tackle the trails up on the "oh hell no" end of the scale. It'll be on one ton axles and 40"+ tires.

My Cherokee is lifted 3.5" and is running 32" tires. It's my mild off road trail rig that makes moderate trails more challenging (i.e. fun) than driving an uber-built rig. But it's 20 years old. It's starting to have some issues like a knock in the bottom end of the engine, along with a host of other issues that come with a 20 year old vehicle.

I also have a Subaru Crosstrek as a daily driver. It's good basic transportation but owning and maintaining two separate vehicles does have its drawbacks.

My intention is to replace the Cherokee and Crosstrek with a vehicle that can pull double duty as a daily driver and moderate off road vehicle.

I have been looking at the latest Wrangler as I'm intrigued by the diesel option and have been looking forward to that since the rumors started many years back.

But once the rumors of the Bronco finally came true, I decided to hold off for a little while. Once it was revealed, I got very interested. Sure, I'm a Jeep guy but I'm not a blind loyalist. I'm willing to give the Bronco a solid look. Mostly because Jeep is a bit complacent while Ford is just getting back into the market so they most likely pulled out a bunch of stops for their entry.

The 4 door Wrangler and Bronco to me check off most of the boxes I need checked. Room for me and my stuff, off road capable off the showroom floor, "easy" to modify, removable top, and a few others.

On the one hand, the diesel in the Wrangler is a big draw. It finally puts enough torque in the Wrangler to make it interesting to drive. The 3.6 V6 is a fair engine but it just doesn't have enough usable torque for the weight.

While the Bronco doesn't have a diesel (yet?) the 2.7 Ecoboost should be plenty of engine to push the Bronco around. And the turbo makes a huge difference when I'm going over the mountain passes.

Sure, the solid axle in the Jeep is good for the rock crawling I do. However, I have a dedicated rig for the trails where that really is a make-or-break issue. The trails I take my daily driver on will be fine with either.

But as a daily driver, I expect that the Bronco will win in the ride comfort battle. Sure, the Wrangler's coil suspension is evolved and pretty comfortable, it's hard to beat IFS on the road for comfort. They're both big boxes on wheels so windy days will push either one around on the road pretty well so that's a wash.

In the end, it's going to come down to which one I can get equipped the way I want for a price that's reasonable. The Jeep's base price is not bad but the options (that I don't consider optional) add up pretty fast and I'm over $50K without batting an eye. So far, I think the Bronco is winning that battle as well.

But I never buy a first year release model after being burned twice. So I'll wait for 2022 to settle on a choice.

 

[ramblinwreck]

Personally, I have no problem buying a loaded JLU Rubicon instead of a Badlands. Ultimately, the JLU will have a higher MSRP, but due to dealer discounts will be significantly cheaper to buy. It will really depend on how much trouble it is for me to actually get the Bronco I want.

 

[wjfawb0 [hacked account]]

I have a 2015 JK Rubicon (2 door). I don't think I'll look at Broncos any time soon, because I don't want all the electronic gadgets. I really like my manual windows (light doors to take off), manual transfer case (hate rotary dials), and the fact that I can change the stereo head unit easily. Also, my jeep was $30K brand new and has been paid for for a long time. It has the alpine stereo upgrade which is the best factory stereo I've had. The sub in the rear is I think a 6x8, but it's four voice coil with over 400W. Today you can't buy a Rubicon or a wrangler without the more integrated stereo crap. I bought my Rubicon specifically for offroad.

I daily drove the Rubicon for a few years, but it's now a weekend driver since I bought a Subaru STI for a daily. The Rubicon is simple and easy to work on. I've owned lots of Fords, and most of the new ones have had electronic and drivetrain issues that weren't much fun to deal with. The one valvetrain issue I had with my Rubicon (collapsed valve lash adjusters) was dealt with quickly and under warranty by Jeep. I had to fight ford on low mile failed explorer transfer cases and failed mustang intake manifolds.

 

[da_jokker]

In light of all the unanswered riddles, I actually had just built out a Rubicon to compare. There are some differences for sure, but a WT-ish version of the Rubi would actually be CHEAPER and have more features (like Adaptive Cruise, Prem Audio, Disconnect Sway)

Ironically, I was reading up on the engine choices and sounds like the turbo 4 cyl is a better choice than the NA 6 cyl. I never even second guessed my choice for my WT and the 2.7 but comparing a turbo 4 to a NA 6, sounds like the 4 wins AND saves you money.

So yeah... I'm really thinking about it. I WAS going to basically post what you did, just asking about Jeep gotchas.

Right now there are only a few things keeping me in the Bronco camp...

1) Answers (some) are coming when we can finally convert to orders.

2) seems lime all Rubicons have a Red Dash? WTF is with that?

3) I think Ford will get better MPG than the Jeep

 

[ronstar]

I've had 3 jeep Grand Cherokees, a Wrangler and 2 F-150's since 1995. None of my Jeeps or trucks caused me problems to the point where I prefer one brand over the other.

My intent a few years ago was to buy a project Wrangler and keep my truck. Something to ride around in summer with the top off. But after looking at several beat up wranglers, I started to consider something new.

Started to look at new 2 door Wranglers a couple of years ago, but the wife doesn't like the 2 door. I didn't like the 4 door. So we waited.

After the Bronco was introduced, we both like the looks of the new Bronco 2 door far more than the Wrangler (or any other vehicle for that matter.)

So I'm getting a 2 door Bronco unless they are delayed past this time a year from now. If I don't have the Bronco by say Feb 2022, I'll get a Wrangler.

 

[AcesandEights]

A Rubicon is less money than my Badlands build, and the Rubicon is a better off road design. I want a Bronco, so I'm in until I'm out. I don't know what point that is yet, but I'm close to ordering a Rubicon.

If I didn't hate my local jeep dealer so much I'd probably already be driving one.

 

[2Jeeps&PatriotX1]

3.6 gasser is a joke so take that out of the equation. I'd only consider the eco diesel 3.0. I know when I built a 21 JLU Rubicon (based on my wife's needs/wants) I was around $63k but knew I could get 7% below invoice. Her 4dr BL, 2.7, lux, hardtop comes in just a tick below $60k.

I rented a JLU Sahara 2 weeks ago, had 21k miles on it and it was a rattle can like hell and felt very cheap inside.

My wife has a '18 GC trailhawk and the fit and finish is significantly better but that's also because the top isn't made to come off. But the 3.6 is awful and the 2.7 is huge jump in power.

I'm currently doing everything I can to hold the wife off from buying the JLU Rubicon diesel because Ford continues to botch this release and their lack of communication and has pissed her off so much.

This coming from a diehard jeep guy (well before they turned into FCA) who owns one of the last real jeeps ('05 LJ)

 

[Moparguy]

I don't care about the off-road capabilities, I like both for the looks but I liked the Bronco more to where I decided to pull the trigger and get it. Both cars can get pricy, ironically I saw the Wrangler 4xe here on this forum, I did my own research and found plenty of Dealers below invoice, delivery time is short and I was able to score 10%-11% below MSRP, my Rubicon 4xe build is $56K so that's $5600+ $7500 federal credit discount, I won't get any of that on the Bronco, so basically the price of my Rubicon will be cheaper than the price of my Big Bend build, highly considering it, the child inside me still wanting the Bronco but will see how else Ford will screw me before they get their $h*t together.

 

[XirallicBolts]

For giggles, my wife and I compared a Wrangler to the Bronco to see what you get for your money.

Besides the fact half the trims are 4-door only, we noticed a comparably-priced (51k) Wrangler did not have any unique features of its own, but lacked a number of Bronco features - 12" screen, 360 camera, trail turn, V6...

It's possible we missed details. Jeep's site is pretty terrible and wouldn't make it easy to find what drivetrain a given trim has.

 

[da_jokker]

I recently sold my Cherokee XJ because I wanted to take that (and any addition money I was going to put into it) and invest it between now and the Bronco.

Now I have no off road vehicles, so the fuse is short. I'm trying my hardest to hold off until either some additional crazy delay or unless I find out my WT won't be built until way down the road.

So basically I expect in the next 6 months to make my final choice because either Ford is going to provide enough details that I'm satisfied, or continue to be vague and mysterious enough that I'm out.

 

[BLTN]

See my Vehicle List to the left...2 Jeeps already, so I'm set there...not selling either one.
Main reason for the Bronco is to replace the Camry - Dead-reliable, comfortable daily driver, great mileage (Hybrid!)...but boring as hell and now sporting about $6,000 in hail damage...KBB resale is now a negative number.
Why not another Jeep? See above, plus Jeep pissed me off. They had a golden opportunity to build this:

but instead they built the Gladiator...would have replaced my XJ with the Wrangler Africa, but not a Glad...so, yeah, Jeep pissed me off - It's Bronco time.

 

[sleepovr]

The Rubicon I picked up yesterday came with a real manual, so there's that.

 

[PartyMarty]

The Rubicon is simple and easy to work on.

Until you have to change the spark plugs. Holy crap that was a lot of work and hard to get to for a procedure that’s so simple on most other vehicles.

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