There are 10 owner-reported brakes complaints for the 2023 Ford Broncoin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
A couple of times on as well as off pavement when traveling on a decline I depress the brake pedal and it only very softly applied the brakes. I have to press very hard to come to a stop. Much harder than normal. Once (off pavement) they did not work until the third time I pressed them. The pedal just went to the bottom. Normally the steep decline seems to be associated to the issue.
I have a 2.7l V6 Bronco with an automatic transmission. There is a steep downhill road (22% grade) a couple blocks from my house that ends at a stop sign for a major cross street. I apply the brake pedal to slow down for the stop sign and the Bronco behaves normally and comes to a full stop, but then with no change in brake pedal pressure by me nor any pedal feedback, i notice the Bronco starts creeping forward a few feet, then abruptly stops again. When the Bronco starts creeping downhill and then abruptly stops again, there is no brake pedal feedback or movement, and the engine does not change RPM. The only sound I hear is something that sounds like service brakes releasing pressure then suddenly reapplying full pressure. I compensate by stopping early, so I don’t drift into the intersection, or a vehicle in front of me, or pedestrian. It can startle any pedestrian that starts to cross in front of my “stopped” Bronco and it suddenly starts creeping down on them. I have noticed this for months but have not taken it to a dealer for resolution yet. The problem appears to not happen after I have been driving for a few minutes. Because this is a problem that occurs on hills in the first few minutes of driving, it likely will be hard to demonstrate to a dealership for diagnosis because there are no hills near my local Ford dealership. The incident occurrence date entered below ([XXX]) is just today’s date - this problem has been present for many months, if not since new. Other uses have reported this same issue in online forums: [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
There are reports of Ford Broncos rolling forward under braking, after a full stop. This occurs most often on a hill. To be clear, the brakes are already fully depressed, the vehicle is stopped, and THEN the vehicle suddenly rolls forward while the brakes are depressed, endangering pedestrians and others. This is NOT caused by driver error. Here are some vehicle owner complaints about this issue: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
“Check brake system” notification came up on dash screen. Called dealer and scheduled appt. On the way to the dealer at 70mph the brake pedal locked, pedal was incredibly hard to press and I had to kick the brake pedal to engage the brakes. Brake pedal then felt normal, but has been squishy and hard since that point. Car has 40k miles
A little over 10000 miles, the "Check Brake System" and "Parking" Brake Lights came on after starting the vehicle. Both Ford and the dealership were contacted and was advised that the coding through the system showed brake fluid level low with possible indication of brake fluid leaking. I asked if the vehicle was safe to drive and neither Ford or the dealership would say either way. The vehicle was taken to the dealership. For the first visit, the vehicle was at the dealership for an entire day and was told by the service advisor there wasn't anything wrong and to take it home. After leaving the dealership, the lights came on again. I took my vehicle to the dealership a second time and it sat there for another two days. Upon picking up my vehicle on the 2nd visit, I was told that the brake fluid level switch needed to be replaced and was resolved. The next day, the light comes on once again while driving. I called the dealership to talk to a service manager and was advised she would have an experienced technician dedicate their time to try and resolve the issue. The vehicle was at dealership for two days and upon pickup of the vehicle was told that the issue was due to an air bubble in the brake line and issue was resolved. I requested that the vehicle be test driven before pickup. Upon five minutes into my drive home, the lights come on once again. I've taken my vehicle to the dealership 3 times now and the dealership has had it for about 6 days during that time without resolution. I've contacted Ford customer service and the representative advised the issue would be documented, but there were currently no recalls for this issue. I've communicated with several other owners of the same vehicle experiencing the same issue without resolution. The lights are accompanied by a loud beeping noise and come on and off constantly making it a distraction when driving, and I am unable to tell if the parking brake is actually on or off since the light is constantly lit.
Was driving on the highway, when the vehicle popped up the message and it caused either the emergency brake or the automatic collision detection brake to engage. It turned of when I applied gas. The brake issues remain, when I restarted the vehicle after 15 minutes of being off, no brake error was detected evening after pumping the brakes.
See attached document for complaint.
Parking Brake Fault Service Now came on. Took to dealer and no codes stored. Looked on google and multiple people are having same issue. Ford needs to look into this as it may not be safe to drive.
Two different times, my brakes have lost power. Both times were at slower speeds while coasting. The first time a car pulled out in front of me (about 50 feet ahead) and even though I was only going about 15 miles per hour I was barely able to stop in time. When I hit the brake pedal it felt rock hard (like when you pump the brakes with the engine off). The pedal did not go to the floor or anything like that. It stayed high in the stroke. No ABS sensation or warning lights. The next time I hit the brakes they worked normally. I couldn't reproduce the problem until about 2 months later I was leaving work and was pulling up the street at about 5 miles per hour when it did the same thing. It was almost flat ground and It was all I could do to press the brake pedal hard enough to stop in time. The symptoms were the same as the first time. The moment I hit the brake pedal again, all was normal. The weather was warm both times. The dealer cannot reproduce the problem
I have owned my Bronco for a little over a year now, the Check Brake System light has been coming on the whole time. I have taken it to Ford 4 times now with no result of it being repaired. The dealership has no idea how to fix this issue. From reading other posts, I'm not the only owner experiencing this issue. Being its the brakes that are affected it is a serious issue.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026