MM Write-Up/Test-Drive: 2023 Ford Maverick XLT FX4 AWD

https://www.ford.com/trucks/maverick...der-trucks-vhp

IN A NUTSHELL: Arguably the perfect small truck for those who don’t need a lot of towing or hauling capacity.

CLOSEST AMERICAN-MARKET COMPETITORS: Among crossovers, Hyundai Santa Cruz and Honda Ridgeline.

Nissan Frontier, Toyota Tacoma, Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon, and Ford's own Ranger also compete to an extent, but are of a different body-on frame design.






























^^^^^Exposed bed and bed-liner, without tonneau cover)




It is no secret that, like the Bronco and Bronco Sport, the compact crossover Maverick truck has been quite difficult to get, and the assembly plants that produce them are pretty much sold out now for a matter of months…..Ford even has a disclaimer on their website telling potential buyers that Mavericks can no longer be ordered for the current model year. And that is no surprise or co-incidence. Ford really one-upped (or, in this case, THREE-upped) GM with these three vehicles….GM simply has nothing that can directly compete with them. Nissan’s small Frontier truck does not sell in very large numbers in the U.S., Honda’s Ridgeline is very competent, comfortable, and flexible, but is somewhat larger than the Maverick, GM’s mid-size Colorado/Canyon twins, like Ford’s own Ranger and Toyota’s Tacoma, are body-on-frame, more work-oriented, and ride more harshly and uncomfortably. Hyundai’s compact crossover Santa Cruz, while competent and well-built, is smaller than the Maverick, and its pint-sized bed can’t carry much….and its cabin is compromised by the body-styling. As a result, Ford has been flooded with Maverick customers, and the factory quickly sold out.

Today, however, as I was on the way to the grocery after morning Mass, going by a local Ford dealership not far from my house, I noticed a bright-blue Maverick parked in the lot outside the showroom, with no plates on it, which appeared to be unsold (something you don’t see very often with Mavericks). So, I got out to investigate. It was a mid-line XLT model, AWD (All-Wheel-Drive), Super-Crew (4 full doors), with the FX-4 off-road package (which the big colored decal on the back clearly announces). It had a base price of $24,855, about 4-5K worth of options, and, with options and Destination/Freight, listed for $31,280…reasonable for something in this class, assuming the dealership doesn’t mark it up too much, although I noticed that it did not include a rear-window defogger. The doors were open and unlocked, so I looked it over inside and out. A very nice and attractive saleslady (who had previously sold Nissans and was new to Ford) came out and, when I asked, told me that particular truck had been special-ordered, shipped to the dealership, prepared for a customer, and then the deal went sour for undisclosed reasons (it was probably none of my buisness why, although one guess is that today’s rising interest rates are making some vehicle-loans more difficult to quality for). So, it was just sitting there, ready for a new sale or test-drive. I jumped, of course, at the chance to test-drive a Maverick, something I had been waiting months for, and she went in and got the key…an old-school ignition key, not the keyless push-button starting.

I’ve always liked the way that the Maverick is styled…..unlike its arch-competitor Santa Cruz, the Maverick has traditional Three-Box truck styling that not only (IMO) looks handsome, but is noticeably more space-efficient than the Hyundai’s cabin and bed, which is more compromised due to attempts to make it look sleeker. That is apparently one reason for the Maverick’s high demand…its truck-looks and space efficiency, yet preserving the relatively nice docile road manners of a crossover, which I’ll get to later.

Mavericks come in three basic trim levels…XL, XLT, and Lariat, although there are a number of different trim and content-packages within these trim levels. Base XL versions start at a low $22,595. All three trim levels give you the choice of a 2.5L four cylinder Hybrid/CVT-transmission FWD or a 2.0L four cylinder turbo gas FWD/AWD with 8-speed automatic. As with most trucks, a large number of factory-accessories are available. Some nice colors are available, too……my test truck was a bright electric (Atlas) Blue with a Navy-Blue-Gray fabric cloth interior, orange inserts on the console and door-grabs, and light-gray (almost cement-colored) interior trim-accent color-bands on the dash and door panels.

Outside, I’ve already stated how handsome (IMO) the Maverick looks. Its sheet metal is reasonably solid, and the doors close with a reasonably precise-sounding thunk, although not as solid-sounding as what, say, the Hyundai and Kia doors were like in the 2010-2020 time frame. As with GM and Toyota, Ford likes to use bright-colored decals/badges on the outside-beds of their trucks to announce to the world what trim package/option you have. The hood feels lighter than usual…..it is apparently aluminum, has a manual prop-rod, and lacks an underhood insulation-pad, although the 2.0T engine is basically quiet enough that the pad isn’t really missed….more on that later. Underhood, I was very pleased at the lack of any kind of plastic engine-cover….all of the top-engine components, the battery terminals, and much of the other hardware was very easily reached, although it was tight down the front side of the engine-block. The dipsticks, filler-caps, and fluid-reservoirs were easily accessible. In back, the bed came with a nice, thick, and durable-feeling sprayed-on bed cover, and had a tonneau cover-package, although the tailgate was not counter-balanced like in GM’s Colorado/Canyon mid-size pickups. A real traditional spare tire is available as an option…something that, IMO, should have never been removed from modern vehicles.

Inside, the interior has good headroom and decent space-efficiency due to the high roof and squared-off body styling, although the legroom in back is not quite as good as in full-size four-door Crew-cab trucks. The seats have a nice-looking/feeling medium-to-dark blue/gray fabric surface, orange stitching on the seats, and are decently comfortable…..more-so up front than in back. Orange inserts in the console-pockets and door-grab recesses really stand out. Ford obviously cost-cut a lot of the hardware and controls/stalks inside…..much of which felt and looked cheap, flimsy, or loose…something that IMO the designers should address in the next second-generation Maverick. Perhaps that is one reason why base models start at such a low 22-23K price. Also, the lack of a rear-window defogger/defroster is unusual today in a vehicle at any price. The video-screen housing above the center of the dash has the typical cheap/loosely-tacked-on look and feel of this in a number of Ford products…GM usually spends the extra money to nicely-integrate it into the dash. A nice flip-down holder for your sunglasses is provided, though, in the ceiling.. The sun visors were hard, thick plastic, but, at least, did not feel flimsy. So, the interior gets a mixed grade….nice seats and steering wheel, some nice trim-colors, but unimpressive hardware, controls, and stalks.

It’s on the road, though, where the Maverick is noticeably more pleasant than traditional body-on-frame pickups, which, except for recent versions of the (Dodge) Ram 1500, which have a luxury-car-like ride and noise-isolation. Most BOF trucks have a stiff, uncomfortable bouncy ride….although less-so in recent versions. Not so with the Maverick….it drives much more like a car/crossover because, of course, it IS a unibody crossover. This makes the ride noticeably more comfortable over bumps, gives it more responsive steering/handling, and, IMO, simply makes it more pleasant to drive, although I was admittedly driving with a light load and did not have the bed or cabin completely filled up. Fully-loaded, the road-manners may have been different….I can’t say. Even so, the designers admit that this is not a purposely-intended heavy-duty work-truck, so it is not for those who regularly need to tow or haul significant or heavy loads. If you DO need something heavier-duty, walk down to the other end of the showroom, and Ford will be happy to sell you a Ranger or F-series with their body-on-frame construction. The Maverick’s 2.0T gas drivetrain is not a powerhouse but has adequate power for most everyday driving, the engine is reasonably refined, the 8-speed automatic shifts smoothly, the wind-noise is well-controlled, and the tires are noticeably more quiet than what I expected from this class of pickup. The only thing I really didn’t like about actually driving it was the (IMO) awkward-feeling rotary-shifter for the transmission…Ford, like Chrysler, insists on using rotary-shifters in many of its models.

So, in a nutshell, unless one needs a purposely-designed or heavier-duty truck to carry or tow things, the Maverick is an excellent , good-looking, fuel-saving, and more-comfortable-driving alternative. Ford may have scrounged or cheapened-out on on some interior features (or lack of features, but that still does not take away from the basic desirability of this vehicle. Just ask all of the people who waited in line to get one and sold-out the factory.

And, as Always, Happy Truck-Shopping.

MM

 

As you all know, I think very highly of Alex Dykes and his reviews. Here's his take on the Maverick....he loves it.

 

Nice write up; but a truck is not really for me.

I'm incredibly jealous that dealers are open and you can take a test drive on a Sunday. Not the case here in PA; and I've never understood it. If they want a day off, why not just close on, say, a Tuesday? I would think there would be many more customers on Sundays.

 

I took the test drive on a Saturday, not a Sunday....spent some time on Sunday doing the write-up. Dealerships typically open up at 9 or 10 AM on Saturday. Perhaps you thought it was a Sunday because I mentioned Mass...i usually attend Mass almost every day.

In PA, I may be wrong, but I don't think the State regulates the days or hours dealerships can be open or not. That is (usually) a private management/owner-decision, based on the needs of the dealership and its employees. At one time, decades ago in many jurisdictions, there were "Blue Laws" that mandated that many non-emergency buisnesses and institutions close on Sunday, but those laws went the way of the dinosaurs as society became more secularized.


Thanks, but these write-ups I do today are nowhere near the length or detail I used to do in MM-Full-Reviews. I'm older now, in weaker health, and just don't have as much time or energy for them. And a lot of new vehicles are simply in short supply and not available.

Quote:

but a truck is not really for me.

As far as a "truck" not being for you, remember that this is not a traditional body-on-frame truck, but simply a crossover with a bed and a very mild off-road package...something along the lines of the old Subaru Baja, Hyundai Santa Cruz, and First-Generation Honda Ridgeline. The Second-Generation Ridgeline is a little more of a real truck, but still somewhat crossover-influenced.

 

looks like a winner. thanks for the review mmarshall, and way to go ford.

 

window sticker not available... maybe already sold.

 

The deal went south because the dealer tried to force the person who had ordered it to pay a huge ADM for his own truck he special ordered. I guarantee it.

Excellent review!

 

Some are open here and some are not. It’s a private decision. I’d rather have all retail closed on Sundays.

 

That's gross if true. Smh.

Ford needs to hurry up and meet the demand for these vehicles. I read a few months back that they will be able to boost production on these soon. I'd gladly have a base model Maverick hybrid as my city beater car, but not willing to pay the absolutely INSANE markup most are asking for. They are so cheap at MSRP and hybrid is very fuel efficient, plus lots of cargo room with the bed.

 

I've seen it happen to people first hand. They do an order, are told it will be MSRP, car comes in and they want a huge ADM or they won't go through with the deal...

With a markup these things are $50k+ which is just crazy

 

Yup! Ridiculous what how much they are being marked up. I just can't see how people are justifying paying so much for this vehicle. Pure nonsense.
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Thanks.....but I don't really have the time or energy anymore to do the old lengthy MM Full-Reviews.

Perhaps so. I won't disagree with that, but it is also worth noting that ever-rising interest rates today are making loans more difficult to get approved for.

 

OK....sorry about that. It posted fine on the day I did the write-up. .

 

Not really...if you have halfway decent credit, approval for a car loan is a foregone conclusion

 

Another great review by mmarshall.

Ok, I had a Ford Maverick back in the day and it was not a Pickup Truck. lol
Us older members remember the original Maverick and Um, not sure how they got here to this model from that. haha

PS- good looking vehicle in and out and put some leather seats in it with deluxe trim and man you got something nice.