A driver had her 2021 Ford Bronco Sport serviced at a Ford dealership before driving to Texas. She paid for an oil change and a multi-point inspection, and was told the vehicle was road ready.

But she says a free check at a tire shop once she arrived at her destination turned up a frayed serpentine belt, grease on a CV axle, low coolant and something loose underneath.

Emina (@kawaii.emina) addressed her issues in a recent video.

"Ford does not care about your vehicle anymore once it reaches a certain amount of miles," she says. "They do not care at all."

"I got an oil change done and I had a multi-point inspection done," Emina adds. "They told me that my vehicle was fine and road ready."

In Texas she stopped at Mavis "because they do free inspections." She says that the shop found a long list of problems. "The guy tells me that my serpentine belt is frayed. I have grease leaking on the CV axle of the passenger side of my car. And the bottom of my car is literally about to fall off. And the coolant is low in my vehicle."

What The Federal Record Says About Her Truck

Emina puts it down to corporate indifference, but her model has a long record of recalls. Sixteen separate recalls have covered the 2021 Bronco Sport, according to data published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), as a result of issues including front control arms, the rear subframe, the moonroof, the fuel pump module, rear brake linings, the body control module and the 12-volt battery.

One serious recall is currently live. In May, roughly three months before her dealership visit, Ford recalled certain 2021 to 2026 Bronco Sport and 2022 to 2026 Maverick vehicles because "the front lower control arm ball joints may have been incorrectly installed or incorrectly repaired at the vehicle assembly plant, allowing the control arm to disconnect from the front wheel knuckle." A detached control arm, the filing says, "can cause a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash."

NHTSA added a do-not-drive warning to that recall. "Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the remedy is completed," the remedy section reads, and it covers nearly 5,000 vehicles. Interim letters went out in June, with a further round promised once a fix exists. Affected VINs became searchable in May.

Of course, none of that establishes that her Bronco Sport is one of those recalled, but it does raise questions about the service she got from the dealer and her ongoing problems.

Motor1 contacted story subjects for comment. This article will be updated with any response.

Gallery: 2025 Ford Bronco Sport Sasquatch First Drive Review

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Source: Motor1.com

A Pattern Of Repairs Done Twice

Another trend in the recalls is that many followed earlier recall work that was botched.

In 2025, Ford told regulators that a batch of Bronco Sports were recalled but then had the fix done incorrectly. In a Part 573 report covering 15,355 of them. The fault those repairs were meant to fix was a fuel injector that "may crack," letting fuel or vapour reach "ignition sources resulting in potential under hood fire." The cause was the dealer service tool, which Ford said "did not upload the correct software to the vehicle."

The May control arm notice describes the same category of failure. Affected vehicles, Ford's filing states, "may have an improperly assembled or improperly repaired left front lower control arm ball joint and/or an improperly assembled or improperly repaired right front lower control arm ball joint," with partial engagement of the ball stud risking "separation from the knuckle."

Her complaint is that a Ford dealership inspected her vehicle and found nothing wrong. The federal record shows repairs on these vehicles logged as successfully completed when they had not been. Her complaint is that a Ford dealership inspected her vehicle and found nothing. The federal record shows Ford has repeatedly had to recall these vehicles a second time because the first repair was performed wrongly.

About That Belt

Emina has since said a service employee told her the belt "should have lasted me way longer, until about 150k miles." That is optimistic. Modern synthetic rubber belts "may last up to 100,000 miles or more before they have to be replaced," a technical guide in Tomorrow's Technician notes, "but that doesn't mean they will last forever or won't age prematurely on some vehicles under certain conditions."

Fraying in particular tends to point at something other than age. The same publication's inspection checklist puts misalignment first: "Poor alignment can also cause premature wear, belt-miss tracking or rib skipping. It can also cause belt edge wear and fraying." A frayed edge is a symptom worth chasing to its cause, which is the kind of thing an inspection is for.

"Girl it's not Ford, it's dealerships"

The comment thread on Emina’s post is small, and mostly focused on whether the manufacturer or the dealer was the target.

"Girl it's not Ford, it's dealerships," wrote sweetsouthernmess76. Emina disagreed, writing, "They are all under the same company who follows the same policies," further claiming that she has had the same experience across four different dealerships.

Two commenters offered an explanation in terms of how dealerships run. "Dealership technicians don't get paid to do multipoint inspections, so most of the time everything gets marked green," wrote jarvisparker6.

On the other hand, Vic_damone.jr described a high tech Ford dealership experience. "My Ford dealer video records the multipoint inspection and texts it to me so I can see it myself." Emina says she used to get that, "and gave me a detailed inspection report. I no longer receive those and usually only get told verbally that the vehicle is good."

Others doubted her framing. "Belt can fray at any time, CV boot can tear at any time," wrote lifting.dragracing, while drivethestripe suggested she "ran over something on your road trip."