Long-Term Ford Bronco 10,000-Mile Report: Fun, Electronic Glitches and a Big Fuel Bill

• We've put more than 10,000 miles on our long-term Ford Bronco First Edition.
• We've camped, taken the top off, and dealt with some electronic gremlins.
• Through it all, the Bronco has lived up to the promise of being a fun SUV.

Ghosts in the machine

If our Bronco dreams, it's likely about error messages. While we have not gotten false flags pertaining to unbuckled seat belts, we have gotten alerts relating to the blind-spot awareness system. News manager Cameron Rogers noted a couple of error messages while driving the Bronco at night, prompting us to shuttle the SUV in for service the following day. An inspection revealed no issues, but this isn't the first time we've had problems with the Ford's electronics.

Camping in style

We took the Bronco to its natural habitat: the great outdoors. While the household outlets failed to accomplish tasks like boiling water using a small electric kettle, the Bronco proved satisfactory at SUV stuff. The trunk sits at about hip height and the floor lies nearly flat with the rear seats folded down, making it a wonderful cargo hauler. If you're traveling with two people, it's a solid getaway vehicle.

Roof optional

Taking the roof off a Bronco is a rite of passage for any would-be owner. Figuring out where to put the roof once you've removed it ... well, that's another story. The roof is heavy, particularly the rear section that covers the trunk and contains the rear glass. It's also a bit cumbersome and awkward to remove. That makes carrying it any distance unwieldy, especially if you do not have a sizable garage to store it in. With that said, driving without the roof is incredible.

Have a budget for gas

Fuel economy for our high-riding, brick-shaped Bronco is still poor, as expected. We're averaging about 16 mpg after more than 10,000 miles logged. The turbocharged V6 needs premium gasoline, so take the current national average of about $4.70 for premium and multiply it for the 608 gallons we've used and you've got $2,857 spent so far.

Edmunds says

We're midway through our Bronco journey and still have plenty we'd love to try with this boffo SUV.