A pair of 2021 Ford Bronco models on a hilltop.With a starting price of $41,990, the least expensive 2026 Ford Bronco isn't in everyone's budget. Going for a higher trim or checking the option boxes puts this Ford off-roader further out of reach. Searching for a more affordable alternative means turning to the used Bronco market. Shopping for the 2021 edition is one option and it should be much easier to get your hands on. 2021 is the earliest model year you can get of the Ford Bronco the current generation. Consumer Reports gives it an average reliability rating, though its depreciation isn't quite so average. A glance at published depreciation rates from CarEdge shows an estimated drop in value of up to 57.5% after five years, potentially opening the door to a cheaper Bronco. But don't get your hopes up based solely on depreciation; marketplace realities probably have more to do with inflation than plunging values.For a more complete look at depreciation for the 2021 Ford Bronco, we'll compare projections from CarEdge and iSeeCars. Real-world pricing from secondhand listings and rising MSRPs also come into play. (Spoiler: the base two-door 2021 Bronco was almost $12,000 less expensive than today.) Of course, no Bronco discussion is complete without the Jeep Wrangler. Keep in mind that all MSRPs mentioned below include destination charges. Depreciation for the Ford BroncoA red 2021 Ford Bronco driving up rocks and a hill.Outfits like CarEdge and iSeeCars generally do a decent job estimating used vehicle values, such as with depreciation for the 2021 Hyundai Ioniq Electric. Other times they miss the mark, which is what's going on with the 2021 Ford Bronco. CarEdge estimates it depreciated by 57.5% over half a decade, while iSeeCars is more conservative with a devaluation forecast of 42.6% over the same period. A review of Autotrader listings shows this just isn't the case.Let's use the four-door version of the 2021 Bronco Big Bend, an almost base trim. When new, it was listed for $37,375. By iSeeCars' math, there should be examples for sale (assuming good condition and average or better mileage) for about $21,500. Except for a few oddballs, Autotrader prices for this used SUV start at around $30,000. Some back-of-the-envelope number crunching converts that into about a 20% depreciation rate.It's anyone's guess as to the reason behind the discrepancy, but one could argue that rising Bronco costs are a contributing factor. Higher new car prices tend to keep used values elevated. That four-door Bronco Big Bend starts at $42,840 today, about a 15% jump from 2021. The difference is even more extreme with the base Bronco. In 2021, its window sticker showed $29,995. In 2026, the MSRP begins at $41,990, an eye-popping 40% increase. Ford Bronco vs. Jeep Wrangler: Real-world depreciation checkA silver 2021 Ford Bronco on a roadway.Using the Jeep Wrangler as a benchmark helps show how differently the 2021 Ford Bronco is behaving in the used market. After five years, CarEdge estimates Jeep's devaluation at 29.3%, while iSeeCars says the value loss is 32%. These figures align more closely than with the Bronco. And yet, secondhand listings show the Jeep's real-world depreciation often being higher than estimates. Perhaps this is because the Wrangler doesn't do well in Consumer Reports' ratings for Jeep reliability.For example, a base Wrangler Unlimited Sport from 2021 cost $38,510. The more direct comparison is with the four-door 2021 Ford Bronco Big Bend discussed earlier, which started at just $1,135 less than the Wrangler Unlimited Sport. Using iSeeCars' 32% depreciation rate, the used versions should sell for about $26,000. But Autotrader shows that this estimate might actually be a bit too high, with several used examples set at thousands less. These are all models with average or better odometer readings and no adverse history. By contrast, the Bronco Big Bend examples reviewed earlier are closer to $30,000, pointing to a smaller real-world drop in value.The same holds for the higher-end Rubicon trim, which had a 2021 MSRP of $48,960. That same 32% depreciation rate should translate into used models costing about $33,000. Once again, though, that isn't the case; there are dozens of listings with much lower asking prices, including many below $30,000. The fact that these models were estimated to retain much more of their original cost over five years shows just how strong Bronco resale values have been in comparison. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox, and add us as a preferred search source on Google.
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