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tl;dr: The Maverick is fairly decent hardware, with atrocious firmware and rubbish software.
Now if you're planning to read the whole thing, I advise popcorn.
Meet F-050 Super Dudey. It is a 2025 XLT Hybrid FWD, in Space White Metallic, purchased 7-1-2025. I use it to tow trailers around the country, which is my main source of income. As such, it now has 131,400 miles as of this writing. It is my second hybrid, the first being a 2017 Toyota Prius Two Eco, which was likewise used as my main source of income for nearly 6 years, before I killed the engine around 396k after letting it run out of coolant. (I've been paranoidly watching the coolant level in the Maverick as a result, which did save me)
However, the Prius set the bar a bit too high for the Maverick, so the list of gripes is going to be longer than the list of compliments. But first, here are a few of the modifications (you may be able to see the antenna base in the above picture, and on the car in the background)
A ScanGauge III, a President Washington "10 Meter Export" CB radio, and just in the crook of the steering wheel, you can see, on the light control pod, the control for the RedArc Tow-Pro Liberty brake controller. The radio might get moved back an inch, and it will definitely have a right-angle microphone extension cable added later today, as my hand brushes the cable in turns. And it blocks my view of the underside of the hood, but not the hood, and definitely not the road.
Cables! The lower relay is as yet unused, hence the hanging wire there. Props to RedArc for using standard Ethernet cables, I managed to cut my own custom-length cable.
Not pictured, as it's buried deep in the front, is a panel-mount Anderson connector for charging a "solar generator" battery pack, to run my cooler overnight. Also not pictured, I snipped the lines going to the factory AC outlets, and cabled those out to the "solar generator", as it can actually power my air compressor, unlike the factory inverter. Blue cable at bottom goes out and supplies 12V, ground and brake to the 7-pin out back.
Also hard to photograph, as it's mostly hidden by the spare tire, is a trailer junction box I use to bring those connections together, along with the custom set of relays to provide running, reverse, brake and turn signalling to the hitch, as the 4-pin trailer module is unreliable, randomly not powering the lights, even with a synthetic load added on.
(Yes, I saw the thread about the recall, but too late, and I also needed a source for the reverse, as many boat trailers, like below, lock out the brakes using this signal)
Built Ford Tough is apparently not a marketing gimmick. This trailer weighed 8,160 lbs, had around 800 lbs of tongue weight, and of course I found a bone-cruncher railroad crossing on my route. The hitch, and the unibody it attaches to are both arrow straight after that experience. Good job, Ford.
Power-wise, I have no complaints. Perhaps just a touch more than the FWD can handle, at times, as at the extremes it sometimes becomes an issue with handling. (it can get a little floaty)
Very quiet. As in 10db lower, according to my Apple Watch on the highway vs my Versa. I don't have the Lariat windshield (that I know of), but still very quiet.
It handles very much like a truck. I knew I was buying a "truck", but it being unibody, and matching the suspension of my current car, a Nissan Versa, it was a little unexpected.
Even though I opted for the FWD, I've had very little in the way of need for AWD, even with the trailers I pull. This boat, which weighs 6,300 lbs on the trailer, stopped me in SC during the winter storm in Jan/Feb of 2026. The road was completely iced, and I was proceeding along quite well at about 20-25 mph, until a local pulled out 1/4 mile in front of me, and wanted to go around 12 mph. At the next hill, because we were going too slow, I slowly lost traction and came to the gentlest of stops. I would still rather that manufacturers either stop using open differentials in FWD applications, or start adding Zexel Torsen-style differentials, as the trickery with the ABS does not work AT ALL.
As is tradition, every vehicle I have used for cross-country transport, has taken a rock to the low windshield. The Prius did too.
I caught a coolant "leak" around 30k miles, I noticed the coolant level was starting to go down. After having to refill, the "leak" stopped at around 55k. The shop could not find any cause for this, but the coolant tested as not being suitable due to debris, according to Blackstone. My working theory, since the engine is still going strong according to recent oil samples, is that the port plugs were left in the heat exchanger in the exhaust, thus it never filled at the factory, and the plug slowly melted and the exchanger eventually filled up.
I did have to have the HVB replaced under warranty, (just barely, the warranty on the hybrid components is 100K, and I arrived at 99,180 miles), but I won't count this against the Maverick, as sometimes things happen. I am disappointed that I wasn't able to confirm my suspicions, that it was actually the contactor that failed, and not the battery, but oh well. If I haven't mentioned that before, I was experiencing weird issues with the regen suddenly and abruptly cutting off, which would feel like something breaking in the powertrain when it happened, as well as almost no window to use electric on acceleration, even without a trailer attached. It still drove, and I put on close to 8k miles in that state, before it threw the code. I suppose if it happens again, I can tear into the battery and test the contactor myself, but I don't relish the idea of removing the battery from underneath. The Prius had it's battery under the rear seat, so yeah, much easier to service.
Oh, and guess what's teasing again as I write this? I have a feeling I might be the one to trigger a recall from Ford over the contactors. Or at least get them to fix the problem so I can buy a replacement contactor that will last.
That does lead me to another point, though, poor battery management. Not that I am saying it will damage the battery, but it targets a poor usage of the battery when towing, even in Tow/Haul mode. Above around 3,000 RPM sustained demand (which equates to, maybe 40-45% on the power meter?) it basically empties the battery. (the battery consistently stays around the 32-33% lower cutoff, with only excursions to 27% when running ragged up a hill) Contrast to the Prius, which didn't have a Tow mode at all, (just Eco, Normal and Sport), which would keep the battery in a reasonable state, around 65% while at steady state, which left regen capacity (peak was 85%), but also would smartly use what was built up going up a hill. I doubt it had any sensors to tell it when it might need to use the battery, but it did seem to get it right an astounding amount of the time.
Can you believe the gall of modern auto makers, that they leave no room in which to install a CB radio? The nerve. At least they had already drilled a hole at the optimum place in the roof for the antenna, that's a plus I guess. But holy hell headliners just suck. As a matter of fact, all modern cars are just too cramped. For those younglings reading, go sit down in a 1990's Buick LeSabre, or any other GM H-Body. Or a 1980's B-Body. Being able to play footsies with your passenger is a feature, and it seems like EVERY manufacturer has dropped this feature for one that nobody asked for, and I hope you will read all of the derision dripping from my voice: safety
As an aside, donut air filters need to make a comeback. I don't mind the square/rectangular ones they have nowadays, but the replacing of them is ATROCIOUS. I don't need to be fighting with the hose to get the cap off. (a common problem amongst most modern vehicles)
The ABS is rubbish. I have not yet been in a position for it to actually activate when it needs to do it's job, but nearly every time I am doing fine brake work, below the regen point in stop and go traffic, it has to just grind for no reason. No this is not an issue with the brakes themselves, just the ABS deciding to micro-pulse giving the pedal a gravelly feeling.
Temperature-based climate control sucks, and touch-screen based sucks worse. It's bad, it changes from heat to cooling wtihout my say-so, the touchscreen controls require way too much eyes off the road time, and they're LAGGY. If you have the 13" screen, you should know what I mean, the first time on startup after tapping the direction control, it can be several seconds before the menu appears. Though, one helpful feature of this is you can select the oft unselectable combination of defroster and face vents, for those hot summers when you don't want a roil of heat coming off the dashboard.
Whoever thought that the tailpipe should exit on the driver side of the vehicle should be
Now let's talk about disrespecting preferences. This is EVIL. Oh, the vehicle doesn't REMEMBER my preferences, fine. You could get away with that, once upon a time when vehicles didn't have some form of storage. But remembering what I was doing, like driving in Eco mode, then asking me the next time if I want to return to that mode from the Normal mode it switched to, defaulting to no so that I have to navigate up to select yes, and THEN! THEN POPPING UP SOME BS ABOUT THE HEADLIGHTS, OR ANY MYRIAD NONSENSE?! THE CODER AT FORD NEEDS A
And the same goes for the cruise control, that doesn't respond to the physical control half the time, jumps if I am trying to adjust the set point away from the actual vehicle speed.
Conclusion? Ford should fire their vibe coders, but keep their mechanical engineers.
ETA: The dial shifter still sucks, and Ford and Nissan both seem not to know how to properly design a door tensioner.
Now if you're planning to read the whole thing, I advise popcorn.
Meet F-050 Super Dudey. It is a 2025 XLT Hybrid FWD, in Space White Metallic, purchased 7-1-2025. I use it to tow trailers around the country, which is my main source of income. As such, it now has 131,400 miles as of this writing. It is my second hybrid, the first being a 2017 Toyota Prius Two Eco, which was likewise used as my main source of income for nearly 6 years, before I killed the engine around 396k after letting it run out of coolant. (I've been paranoidly watching the coolant level in the Maverick as a result, which did save me)
However, the Prius set the bar a bit too high for the Maverick, so the list of gripes is going to be longer than the list of compliments. But first, here are a few of the modifications (you may be able to see the antenna base in the above picture, and on the car in the background)
A ScanGauge III, a President Washington "10 Meter Export" CB radio, and just in the crook of the steering wheel, you can see, on the light control pod, the control for the RedArc Tow-Pro Liberty brake controller. The radio might get moved back an inch, and it will definitely have a right-angle microphone extension cable added later today, as my hand brushes the cable in turns. And it blocks my view of the underside of the hood, but not the hood, and definitely not the road.
Cables! The lower relay is as yet unused, hence the hanging wire there. Props to RedArc for using standard Ethernet cables, I managed to cut my own custom-length cable.
Not pictured, as it's buried deep in the front, is a panel-mount Anderson connector for charging a "solar generator" battery pack, to run my cooler overnight. Also not pictured, I snipped the lines going to the factory AC outlets, and cabled those out to the "solar generator", as it can actually power my air compressor, unlike the factory inverter. Blue cable at bottom goes out and supplies 12V, ground and brake to the 7-pin out back.Also hard to photograph, as it's mostly hidden by the spare tire, is a trailer junction box I use to bring those connections together, along with the custom set of relays to provide running, reverse, brake and turn signalling to the hitch, as the 4-pin trailer module is unreliable, randomly not powering the lights, even with a synthetic load added on.
(Yes, I saw the thread about the recall, but too late, and I also needed a source for the reverse, as many boat trailers, like below, lock out the brakes using this signal)
Built Ford Tough is apparently not a marketing gimmick. This trailer weighed 8,160 lbs, had around 800 lbs of tongue weight, and of course I found a bone-cruncher railroad crossing on my route. The hitch, and the unibody it attaches to are both arrow straight after that experience. Good job, Ford.
Power-wise, I have no complaints. Perhaps just a touch more than the FWD can handle, at times, as at the extremes it sometimes becomes an issue with handling. (it can get a little floaty)
Very quiet. As in 10db lower, according to my Apple Watch on the highway vs my Versa. I don't have the Lariat windshield (that I know of), but still very quiet.
It handles very much like a truck. I knew I was buying a "truck", but it being unibody, and matching the suspension of my current car, a Nissan Versa, it was a little unexpected.
Even though I opted for the FWD, I've had very little in the way of need for AWD, even with the trailers I pull. This boat, which weighs 6,300 lbs on the trailer, stopped me in SC during the winter storm in Jan/Feb of 2026. The road was completely iced, and I was proceeding along quite well at about 20-25 mph, until a local pulled out 1/4 mile in front of me, and wanted to go around 12 mph. At the next hill, because we were going too slow, I slowly lost traction and came to the gentlest of stops. I would still rather that manufacturers either stop using open differentials in FWD applications, or start adding Zexel Torsen-style differentials, as the trickery with the ABS does not work AT ALL.
As is tradition, every vehicle I have used for cross-country transport, has taken a rock to the low windshield. The Prius did too.
I caught a coolant "leak" around 30k miles, I noticed the coolant level was starting to go down. After having to refill, the "leak" stopped at around 55k. The shop could not find any cause for this, but the coolant tested as not being suitable due to debris, according to Blackstone. My working theory, since the engine is still going strong according to recent oil samples, is that the port plugs were left in the heat exchanger in the exhaust, thus it never filled at the factory, and the plug slowly melted and the exchanger eventually filled up.
I did have to have the HVB replaced under warranty, (just barely, the warranty on the hybrid components is 100K, and I arrived at 99,180 miles), but I won't count this against the Maverick, as sometimes things happen. I am disappointed that I wasn't able to confirm my suspicions, that it was actually the contactor that failed, and not the battery, but oh well. If I haven't mentioned that before, I was experiencing weird issues with the regen suddenly and abruptly cutting off, which would feel like something breaking in the powertrain when it happened, as well as almost no window to use electric on acceleration, even without a trailer attached. It still drove, and I put on close to 8k miles in that state, before it threw the code. I suppose if it happens again, I can tear into the battery and test the contactor myself, but I don't relish the idea of removing the battery from underneath. The Prius had it's battery under the rear seat, so yeah, much easier to service.
Oh, and guess what's teasing again as I write this?
I have a feeling I might be the one to trigger a recall from Ford over the contactors. Or at least get them to fix the problem so I can buy a replacement contactor that will last.That does lead me to another point, though, poor battery management. Not that I am saying it will damage the battery, but it targets a poor usage of the battery when towing, even in Tow/Haul mode. Above around 3,000 RPM sustained demand (which equates to, maybe 40-45% on the power meter?) it basically empties the battery. (the battery consistently stays around the 32-33% lower cutoff, with only excursions to 27% when running ragged up a hill) Contrast to the Prius, which didn't have a Tow mode at all, (just Eco, Normal and Sport), which would keep the battery in a reasonable state, around 65% while at steady state, which left regen capacity (peak was 85%), but also would smartly use what was built up going up a hill. I doubt it had any sensors to tell it when it might need to use the battery, but it did seem to get it right an astounding amount of the time.
Can you believe the gall of modern auto makers, that they leave no room in which to install a CB radio? The nerve. At least they had already drilled a hole at the optimum place in the roof for the antenna, that's a plus I guess. But holy hell headliners just suck. As a matter of fact, all modern cars are just too cramped. For those younglings reading, go sit down in a 1990's Buick LeSabre, or any other GM H-Body. Or a 1980's B-Body. Being able to play footsies with your passenger is a feature, and it seems like EVERY manufacturer has dropped this feature for one that nobody asked for, and I hope you will read all of the derision dripping from my voice: safety
As an aside, donut air filters need to make a comeback. I don't mind the square/rectangular ones they have nowadays, but the replacing of them is ATROCIOUS. I don't need to be fighting with the hose to get the cap off. (a common problem amongst most modern vehicles)
The ABS is rubbish. I have not yet been in a position for it to actually activate when it needs to do it's job, but nearly every time I am doing fine brake work, below the regen point in stop and go traffic, it has to just grind for no reason. No this is not an issue with the brakes themselves, just the ABS deciding to micro-pulse giving the pedal a gravelly feeling.
Temperature-based climate control sucks, and touch-screen based sucks worse. It's bad, it changes from heat to cooling wtihout my say-so, the touchscreen controls require way too much eyes off the road time, and they're LAGGY. If you have the 13" screen, you should know what I mean, the first time on startup after tapping the direction control, it can be several seconds before the menu appears. Though, one helpful feature of this is you can select the oft unselectable combination of defroster and face vents, for those hot summers when you don't want a roil of heat coming off the dashboard.
Whoever thought that the tailpipe should exit on the driver side of the vehicle should be
Now let's talk about disrespecting preferences. This is EVIL. Oh, the vehicle doesn't REMEMBER my preferences, fine. You could get away with that, once upon a time when vehicles didn't have some form of storage. But remembering what I was doing, like driving in Eco mode, then asking me the next time if I want to return to that mode from the Normal mode it switched to, defaulting to no so that I have to navigate up to select yes, and THEN! THEN POPPING UP SOME BS ABOUT THE HEADLIGHTS, OR ANY MYRIAD NONSENSE?! THE CODER AT FORD NEEDS A
And the same goes for the cruise control, that doesn't respond to the physical control half the time, jumps if I am trying to adjust the set point away from the actual vehicle speed.
Conclusion? Ford should fire their vibe coders, but keep their mechanical engineers.
ETA: The dial shifter still sucks, and Ford and Nissan both seem not to know how to properly design a door tensioner.
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