The Two Convertibles Keep Climbing Past Each Other

They remain the only two SUVs you can take the roof and doors off, which is most of why people cross-shop them at all. On price the Jeep starts lower, around $36,000 against roughly $40,500 for the Bronco, and stays lower the whole way up the ladder. At the top the Bronco Raptor asks about $80,000 while the most expensive Wranglers, the Moab and Willys 392, sit near $70,000.

The catch on the Jeep's entry price is doors. Lower Wrangler trims come as two-doors and four doors cost extra; every Bronco has four. Reviewers generally hand the Bronco the on-road manners and the Wrangler the value, and both give up a lot of fuel economy for the privilege of the shape: high teens to low twenties for the Bronco's four-cylinder, worse for the 2.7 and worse again for the Raptor.

If you are buying for capability rather than badge, the useful middle of the Bronco range is the Big Bend, which brings heated seats and navigation, carries a full-size spare, and can take the Sasquatch off-road package. A full-size spare matters more than most option boxes the first time you tear a sidewall a long way from pavement.

One number worth checking against your trailer: the Bronco tows 3,500 pounds, 4,500 in the Raptor, well short of what the Wrangler and 4Runner will pull. Ford has also announced a 2027 Bronco done with Filson, the latest in a line of heritage collaborations, which will be a styling and trim exercise rather than a capability one.