Ford Bronco vs Toyota 4Runner: which is more reliable?
The Toyota 4Runner is clearly ahead of the Ford Bronco on the federal record: 78/100 against 66/100 across every model year we score.
The record, side by side
Ford Bronco
- 5 model years scored
- 886 owner complaints on record
- about 49 complaints per year on the road
- 60 recall campaigns, 15 safety-critical
- best year 2024 (76/100) · worst 2022 (51/100)
Toyota 4Runner
- 14 model years scored
- 817 owner complaints on record
- about 11 complaints per year on the road
- 62 recall campaigns, 23 safety-critical
- best year 2024 (90/100) · worst 2025 (44/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Bronco against 4Runner
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Ford Bronco
- Visibility/Wiper — 154 complaints
- Engine — 144 complaints
- Electrical System — 108 complaints
Toyota 4Runner
- Air Bags — 238 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 122 complaints
- Electrical System — 79 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Bronco's complaints concentrate in Visibility/Wiper, the 4Runner's in Air Bags. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Ford Bronco: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2021, 2024, 2025.
Toyota 4Runner — avoid: 2025.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Ford Bronco prices at about $40,800 and a Toyota 4Runner at about $40,800 — they price within $1 of each other, which at this level is the same money, and they return 20.0 against 22.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Ford Bronco or the Toyota 4Runner more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Toyota 4Runner scores 78/100 against the Ford Bronco's 66/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The Toyota 4Runner carries about 11 complaints per year on the road against 49 for the Ford Bronco.
Which Ford Bronco and Toyota 4Runner years should I avoid?
Ford Bronco: no year scores below 45. Toyota 4Runner: 2025. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Ford Bronco and the Toyota 4Runner?
The largest complaint group on the Ford Bronco is Visibility/Wiper (154 complaints); on the Toyota 4Runner it is Air Bags (238).
Is the Ford Bronco or the Toyota 4Runner cheaper to own?
A recent used Ford Bronco prices at about $40,800 and a Toyota 4Runner at about $40,800, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.