The 2023 Ford Bronco Raptor costs more, too

Last week, we posted on the latest round of price increases applied to the 2023 Ford Bronco. The two-door trims climbed by either $500 or $1,250, four of the four-door trims rose $750, and options or option packages got from $150 to $1,200 more expensive. The invisible hand of the market wasn't finished there, Bronco6G reporting that the Bronco Raptor MSRP jumped another $2,000 as well. When we published our Bronco Raptor First Drive last June, the price after destination and before options was $69,995, making a very favorable comparison with the Jeep Wrangler 392 that cost $76,395. Thanks to a series of price bumps over the past nine months, the 2023 Bronco Raptor now costs $78,580, and with destination having risen $200 to $1,795, the price before options comes to $80,375.

With the Wrangler 392 now asking $84,290 after destination, daylight remains between the Ford and the Jeep. It's a touch less sunlight than before, though, the previous difference of $6,400 now down to $3,915. Mind you, that's a superficial difference. Jeep includes Uconnect 4C with navigation on the Wrangler 392, Ford only offers a 90-day trial of Connected Navigation on the Bronco Raptor. To get the premium infotainment — and adaptive cruise control, another Jeep standard — means spending $3,050 on the Lux Package. And that puts the Ford $865 away from the Jeep.

Forum threads show that prices have run up so quickly that buyers who agreed to pay nominal dealer markups when they signed Bronco Raptor reservation contracts last summer paid below the new MSRP. It also leads to exchanges between forum members such as when KompressorV12 writes, "The dealer offering me raptor allocation for $10k ADM now only looks like $8k ADM lol. ... I just need to wait it out, probably mid to late next year," and mrandol replies, "To that point, they have already increased in base price by almost 8k this year. Assuming they continue to raise prices, will waiting really end up saving you any money? Braptor production will not raise to the same levels of F150 Raptors." Effectively, these are debates about whether to give the dealer more money for the ADM or to give Ford more money for the MSRP. Instead of cautioning buyers to choose wisely, it might be better to choose quickly.

Related video: