2022 FORD BRONCO SPORT — Complaint #2163030
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about STEERING:STEERING WHEEL /HANDLE BAR:HAND HEATER/COOLER filed January 5, 2026
NHTSA complaint #2163030 (ODI reference 11708784) concerns a 2022 FORD BRONCO SPORT and was filed on January 5, 2026. The owner reports the failure occurred on January 3, 2026. The vehicle had 80,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Nebraska based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as steering:steering wheel /handle bar:hand heater/cooler, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: yes, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. A complaint that flags a crash, fire, or fatality is escalated on NHTSA's internal review queue and factors more heavily into any Preliminary Evaluation decision on this make and model. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same FORD BRONCO SPORT cohort independently describe similar steering:steering wheel /handle bar:hand heater/cooler failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2022 FORD BRONCO SPORT shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact owns a 2022 Ford Bronco Sport. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact turned on the heated steering wheel feature, and 30 seconds later, the steering wheel cover began to catch on fire with a blue flame; the contact discovered smoke coming from the steering wheel cover. The contact disengaged the heated steering wheel feature, where the flame self-extinguished. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact discontinued the usage of the heated steering wheel feature in order to avoid a large fire. A fire department report was not filed. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer; however, a dealer was contacted and made aware of the failure and informed that the vehicle caught on fire to resolve the failure with the vehicle's insurance. The vehicle was not repaired, but the contact was advised to buy a new steering wheel. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2163030 |
| ODI Number | 11708784 |
| Date Filed | January 5, 2026 |
| Failure Date | January 3, 2026 |
| VIN | 1FMDE5CP3NL |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.