Two weeks into a 2025 Maverick Lariat Hybrid - Long Owner's Review

Last updated: Feb. 12, 2025.

I’m posting this as an initial review of my new 2025 Maverick Lariat Hybrid. I’m coming from a 2014 Subaru Crosstrek that didn’t even have a video screen let alone any of the other tech found on my new truck. I didn’t post immediately, because I wanted to give at least a little time to formulate my impressions. Also, I have not yet tried any of the fancy adaptive cruise control features for two reasons. First, I don’t want to use cruise control until the vehicle has finished its 1000-mile break-in period. Second, I don’t have any suitable stretches for cruise control on my daily commute, and that has been the bulk of my driving thus far.

I’ve added some accessories and these are the major ones I would say are functional, not merely cosmetic: Mabett underbody cavity shield, RokBlokz mudflaps, TruXedo Sentry CT tonneau cover, and soft-open tailgate piston.

Things I like (in no particular order):

• It fits in my garage – This seems minor, but it was a major part of the decision to get a Maverick.
• Fuel economy – The truck says I’m averaging 39.6 and it’s going up since I routinely hit over 40 mpg on my daily commute.
• Heated seats – This is something I knew, coming into the purchase, that I couldn’t live without. My last two cars have had them and my back loves them, especially on long trips.
• Heated steering wheel – OMG, where have you been all my life. This is amazing! If you have arthritis in your knuckles and don’t have this, you need it. It’s now on the can’t live without list.
• 360 cameras – This is not something I expected to care much about either way, but OMG is it useful! I especially like it in two cases. First, when I’m parking in a parking space, the ability to see how the vehicle is aligning to the parking space on all sides is priceless. I also find the front camera super-useful for parking in the garage at night. The truck fits, but there is probably less than six inches to spare if I want to close the garage door. The camera lets me get the truck where it needs to be with precision. However, it’s not without frustration – see below.
• 17” spare tire – I haven’t gotten to *try* this yet, but it is a great piece of mind knowing I have it. So many hybrids have opted to ditch the spare altogether and go with a can of Fix-A-Flat. Fix-A-Flat just doesn’t cut it if you are sitting on the side of the road with a shredded tire at 10 PM on a Sunday in rural Georgia with no cellphone reception. This is a safety issue for me and I won’t buy a car that doesn’t at least have a mini spare.
• The keyless entry – I didn’t expect to like this as much as I do, but it is very convenient at times.
• Rear Cross-traffic Alert – I really like this. If I’m parked between a couple of elephants and am backing out, it sees oncoming traffic before I can. It’s even better combined with the 360 camera.
• Tailgate dampener – I didn’t expect to get this, but it was raining the day I picked up my truck and the rain made the tailgate slick in my hands. Result: I dropped it KA-THUNK as the cables absorbed the impact. That sold me on the dampener. Got a replacement tie-down that should let me still have one on that side. Opted for a double-screw one that sticks up over a single-screw D-ring no matter what it says it is rated at. So far, I have to say that I have appreciated the soft open several times already while not once missing the tie-down, probably because I open and close the tailgate far, far, far more often than I will ever be hauling anything that requires tying down to the tailgate.
• Sentry CT tonneau cover – not the cheapest, but I liked the idea/look of a canvas cover far more than the vinyl ones. I also wanted rolling because it seemed to me that it would be better with the Mav’s shorter bed than folding while still allowing some possible rearview. I had been waffling on a cover at all or just getting a soft rolling cover, but after a weekend running around all over town doing various errands, I realized it would have been very convenient to have more lockable space than just the back seat. I’m also hoping it helps with the fuel efficiency at highway speeds. It looks decent and was fairly easy to install.
• Color – I like Eruption Green. I’d also have liked Ruby Red, Desert Sand, and probably Velocity Blue.
• 40+ MPG City – ‘nuf said
• Tow package – I haven’t gotten to use it, but I like that it is there. Kind of wish I had the Job 2 add-ons, but also kind of think that with as little towing as I’ll likely do, that would just be a waste of money.

Things I’m not fond of:

• What it takes to get rolling (was push-button start) – I guess this is o.k., but then again, I seem to be alone in the world in not thinking it is somehow morally offensive to need to pull out a key to start the vehicle. I still find that I’m pulling out the key fob as I approach the truck from habit. I also noticed that it takes me at least twice as long to “pre-flight” the vehicle with push-button start (though it’s not just the push-button start that’s at fault) – Climb in, buckle up, push start, push emergency break release, push ok for the seatbelt reminder, push ok for the e-brake reminder, toggle the switch to get my preferred side screen displayed in the instrument cluster, then finally dial it into gear. Oh, and if the Apple CarPlay hasn’t connected properly or isn’t showing the screens I want, fiddle with that too.
• FordPass not working – Specifically, the truck seems to occasionally not be connecting with Ford’s system. This is a spotty phenomenon that comes and goes, usually every few days and then lasts for a day or two. It’s weird complaining about this since I’ve never owned a vehicle with anything like this and it’s not like I *need* this. However, I feel like for the price I paid for the vehicle, this was an advertised feature that darn well *should* work.
• Auto-highbeams – This is a weird one and probably situational. I live somewhere that’s just rural enough that it tries to turn on the headlights on my morning commute and just urban enough that it can only keep them up for a few seconds before it has to dim them again. This results in a up-down-up-down strobing that’s really annoying. I can see this being nice if I lived further out in the country and was driving down long stretches of nighttime highway where there was no traffic. However, for now, I’ve disabled it.
• Auto-hold – I expected to love this. I don’t. I’ve found that when coming off a stop, I *want* the car to start rolling just a bit before I get into the throttle. And when I’m in a queue for a four way stop, I want to be able to lift my foot off the brake and have a controlled gentle roll until I stop again. I can’t do this with auto-hold which forces me to tap the gas which then starts the truck rolling faster than I want, forcing me to brake sooner. Maybe if I had a disability that made it difficult to hold the brake down, I would like it more, but for now, I don’t think it is much of a burden to put my foot on the brake. I haven’t gotten caught waiting for a train though, and I suspect I’ll use it then. It’s not like it’s hard to toggle on and off. Speaking of things that are harder to toggle on and off.…
• Calming the touchscreen – From the videos, I expected to find a calm screen button however, in the Lariat’s that button has been replaced with the 360 camera activation button. Not moved, replaced. So, to calm the screen, you must go through the screen’s menus which takes something like two or three touches. Those are touches where, since it’s a touch screen, I have to take my eyes off the road, and yes, Virginia, calming the screen is something I’m likely to want to do while I’m driving. There are plenty of open button positions, even in a Lariat, so I don’t understand why Ford could not have simply either put the 360 camera button in one of the open positions or put the calm screen button in one of the open positions. This is made worse by the fact that there is no way to turn the screen off entirely. Maybe there is a voice command to calm the screen – I haven’t tried that yet. Speaking of voice commands....
• The Ford UX – For those who don’t know the term UX, it means “User Experience” and it refers to how easy and intuitive tech (or even non-tech) is to operate. Ford needs to work a bit on this. I often don’t find Ford’s UX to be particularly intuitive which leads to frustration and possible distraction while driving. This is especially the case with functions I don’t use often or which are buried in menus. Example, I still haven’t found an intuitive way to switch from CarPlay to a radio preset. There’s nothing obvious in the CarPlay screen and you have ton hunt around to get the larger “what’s playing information” screen where you can finally select source and eventually get to radio which then shows the presets. It took forever to realize the command was, “O.K. Ford, turn on the radio,” and that only turns it on to the last preset you were using. I mean, from my point of view, I already had the “radio” on playing CarPlay, so I wasn’t thinking that I needed to turn the radio on. Thus, I tried things like, “switch to radio,” “switch to FM,” and “tune to Preset Three.” As far as I can tell, there is no voice command to go to a specific preset “button.” The information screen/instrument cluster is just as bad. You can use it to switch to radio, Sirius, etc., but this still takes several “O.K.s” and some flipping of the steering wheel lever. It’s also not always easy to figure out where something is or in which menu, touchscreen or instrument cluster, to find it.
• This used to be part of UX above, but I'm making it its own point since I have an UPDATE on it. It is still a comment on Ford's lousy UX though, specifically as it relates to MyView. My original comment was that I did not understand the operation of My View. I would unchecked the things I didn’t want to see, but the car kept insisting on putting them in the sequence so I had to toggle through them, plus I wished it would *remember* how I left the MyView configured and just return to that when I started the car up again. However, now, after Long McArthur Ford posted a video on the instrument cluster, I finally understand what I wasn't understanding about MyView. When you first start the vehicle, if you toggle the switch on the right side of the steering wheel, a screen pops up on the right side of the instrument cluster. That screen is one that you can toggle in MyView, and if you keep thumbing the switch, you scroll through a series of screens that are listed in the MyView list. The screens appear exactly as they do in MyView and operate exactly as they do in MyView. That is why I thought that was MyView. It is not. It is some sort of default faux-MyView. To see the screens that you selected in MyView, you first must press the “hamburger” menu button (which brings up the screen where you can access the configure MyView tool). Below that tool is a list of screens which match the ones you have checked the boxes for in MyView. If you choose one of those options, that screen will be displayed, and, here’s the kicker: Now if you thumb the switch to scroll through the screens, you will be scrolling through the list of screens you checked in MyView. In other words, this is MyView. Just thumbing the switch without pressing the hamburger button first is something that looks and operates exactly like MyView but isn’t it. The manual is not at all clear about this either – it has a very vague, one or two paragraph description of how you check and uncheck the boxes to put things in MyView without explaining what MyView really is or how it actually works. It still seems to be the case that no matter which set of screens you are in, MyView or FauxView, you’ll have to re-activate it every time you start the truck. This is really kind of dumb, especially since the 22-24 Mavericks apparently returned you to the screen you had up when you turned the truck off.
• Combining the previous two points - All of the climate controls have moved up to the big ole 13.2" Sync 4 touchscreen where they make up a row along the bottom that is always present. Below that are vents and below those is what I'm going to call the Quick Action Bar ("QAB"). I think Ford is trying to fill the QAB with shortcut buttons for things that you are likely to want to access quickly when driving. So, for example, we have the volume knob (the ONLY knob in the truck), buttons to skip forward of backwards in the music, a button to turn on the 360 cameras, the hazard lights button, and a max defrost button. In lower trims that don't have the 360 cameras, that button is instead a "calm screen" button that blacks out the touchscreen so it only displays the time. I don't have that button, so if I want to calm the screen, I have to go through like three layers of settings on the menu. The thing is the regular max defrost button is less than 8" away at the bottom of the touch screen and is also a single touch to activate just like the QAB max defrost button. There is no point in having a second max defrost button so close by, because it adds no functionality. Instead, they could, and should, have kept the calm screen button and ditched the redundant max defrost.
• There is *supposed* to be a way to favorite CarPlay (as in which phone to connect to if multiple paired phones are in the vehicle) and contacts. If there is, I can’t figure it out.
• Camera reversion – To understand this, you need to understand how I find myself using my cameras, especially when I’m parking, and especially when parking in my garage. I’m usually pulling forward, front camera on, but if I need to adjust, I have to put the truck into reverse. At that point, it automatically shifts to rear camera which is fine – that is the direction I’m moving after all. But then, when I shift it back to drive, the camera just turns off. That’s right, it doesn’t go back to front camera, it just turns off. So, I need to reach down to find and press the 360 camera button again. I strongly feel that if you were using the front/360 camera when you shifted into reverse, then when you shift back into drive, it needs to go back to the camera view you had been in rather than simply shutting off. It would also help if the 360 camera button were on the wheel somewhere, but that’s valuable real estate, and I’m not sure there’s enough call for it outside my specific scenario to warrant it.
• The rubber tray in the front part of center console (where the phone charger is) – I really, really wish they’d made this “smoked truffle” or even just the “bronze” accent color. At 53, my eyes don’t adjust from light to dark the way they did 25 years ago, and I’ve found that looking down at the deeply-shadowed, black-on-black center console bins after I’ve been looking out the window (either at night where I have oncoming headlights or during the bright sunny daytime), I have difficulty seeing things in that bin, especially things like my black Otter Box-cased phone. If that tray were a lighter color, it would be *so* much easier to see things in it. I had hoped that the Lariat’s “ambient lighting” would help, but Ford decided not to illuminate the center console bins where it actually would have been useful. Instead, I get a great view of my feet and the door handles.
• 19” rims – I was worried that I’d be “feeling the road” all too much with 19” tires, but, honestly, it hasn’t bee too bad. I still would prefer 17” rims however, simply because when it comes time to replace my tires, I’ll have a lot more options to choose from. Plus, I suspect, the ride would be slightly better. Still, the 19” rims ride just fine… on paved roads anyway.
• Grab bars – my previous car had a grab bar on the driver’s side while the Maverick does not. I find that I keep wanting to reach up and hang my arm from the grab bar only to remember it’s not there. Doesn’t seem like a huge thing, but somehow it annoys the heck out of me, especially since it seems like it would have been such an easy thing to add.
• No OEM fog lights – I just like fog lights and wish they’d have been an option. Would gladly trade dual climate control, auto hold, or auto high beams for them. That said, we had a really foggy morning today and the truck did just fine with only its normal headlights so I suspect this is purely aesthetic on my part.
• 400W inverter – not enough watts to really do anything useful except charge things. Charging things is still bloody useful, don’t get me wrong, but it would be so, so much more useful if it could do 1200-1500 watts. Imagine if it could power a chop saw, “induction burner,” or some other household outlet level task? I’m not sure how realistic that is, but if it could be done, the added utility is undeniable.
• Navy Pier Blue – It doesn’t bother me as much as I had feared, but it’s not ideal with Eruption Green. Doing the inside in all smoked truffle would have been better or any other beige-like color. Nice light seat colors for summer sun though.
• Predictive Speed Sign Recognition whatever it's called - Meh. It's nice to be able to look down and see what the current speed limit is rather than hunting for the next sign, but other than that, this hasn't impressed me much. I don't see it flash because I'm looking at the road and other traffic, not down at my instrument cluster. Same for the lane alerts. Sorry, but if all it does is flash, I'm not going to notice it. If you want me to, it either needs a soft tone or it needs to be higher up in my field of vision where the "motion" would catch my attention.
• Automatic headlights (talking about the auto on/off, not auto high beams) - They're nice, I guess. I mean I just leave them on auto and let the truck sort itself out. My Subaru didn't have automatic headlights, but when you turned off the ignition (with a key), it cut the lights and you had to tap a control arm to get them to come back on... briefly. Car before the Subaru had the automatic ones like the Mav. I don't particularly care which as long as there is something that prevents me from leaving them on when I park the car for a long time. Having to not turn them on and off while driving is nice, but it's not that big of a hassle either.

Things I’m neutral about or don’t mind:

• The shifter dial – This doesn’t bother me like I was afraid it would, but I still habitually reach for a lever when I’m shifting, especially when reversing out of a parking space and putting the truck into drive. However, when I’m first backing out of the garage in the morning, I’m now habitually turning the knob the requisite number of clicks.
• Dual climate – I still don’t understand this except to possibly alter the temperature of the air flowing directly on the driver and passenger independently. After all, it’s not like all the air doesn’t mix in the not-terribly-big cabin. This just seems like a lot of form over function when more traditional controls would work just as well or possibly better.
• Rear sliding window – I’ve tried it open, and it’s nice I guess, but honestly, I think that the windows alone, especially with some rain guards do just fine. I do think that if you are going to have a rear window, the only useful way to do it with an extended cab is to have it fully powered. Still, in balance, I’d rather have a rear defogger for when the dogs are back there steaming everything up.
• B&O sound system – I’m not an audiophile nor do I think a pickup is the vehicle for an audiophile, so I’ probably don’t care enough about this to have a strong opinion. The sound seems fine. Is it that much better than the less premium sound systems? Dunno, because I haven’t tried driving around with the less premium systems in any way that would let me compare them. Same for the acoustic windshield – no idea what it’s like without one.
• Ambient lighting – Meh. I mean really what does this even add? See comments above.
• Seatback pockets – Nice to have, but much smaller than the one in my previous car, probably because of the way the seatbacks are indented to allow for rear passenger leg room. It’s much harder to use them for useful storage in the Maverick.
• Glovebox – nice and deep. It benefits IMO from the Mabett glove box organizer. Same can be said for the center console bin – nice and big but benefits from some after-market organizing trays.
• The free Amazon subscription was a pain in the neck to get set up; not sure why. Sirius wasn’t much better when it was telling me it couldn’t complete setup even while it was playing music to me. I intend to keep neither one when the free trials end. Same for the Ford navigation or any subscription-based frill.
• Spray-in bedliner – I guess I see the point. Certainly, the textured surface is less slick to walk on when it’s wet, but it seems a bit over the top. The trucks I grew up with had naked beds and yeah, they got scratched up, but it’s a truck for heaven’s sake. If you’re afraid to just toss stuff in the bed, what’s the point. It’ll be interesting to see how my feelings about the spray-in bedliner evolve.
• Rear under seat storage – I’m not sure about this. I wish the bins were just a tad bigger, but I was able to stow some stuff in them (poncho, first-aid kit, jumper cables, and reusable grocery bags). I then discovered that getting at said stuff when you have the backseat full of groceries or pets is… problematic. As it is, I think they are all right, but combined with the smallish size of the seatback pockets, it left me wanting more which may be why I ended up getting the tonneau cover. I still may add some road flares, gloves, and maybe a length of rope if there is room. I thought about a small fire extinguisher, but if I actually need that, it’s likely to be in a hurry, and I don’t think the underseat storage is a good place for things I need in a hurry.
• In-bed storage cubby – I stuffed this with bungee cords. That kind of filled it up, but at least they aren’t rattling around in the bed. In the summer, maybe I’ll cram in some bug spray or sunscreen.
• Active-X – I think I might have preferred a good cloth, but pleather cleans up easier. True leather might have been better, but also certainly pricier. Time will tell here.

Driving impressions

This is such a subjective area that I almost didn’t put it in. I find the Maverick enjoyable to drive… mostly. Seats are comfy, headlights are nice and bright, head and leg room are good. It handles well enough (certainly doesn’t feel like it is wallowing down the road the way some trucks do), but it’s obviously not a Subaru Crosstrek either. Its higher center of gravity is noticeable on curves. It’s also not full-time symmetrical AWD which, if I’m honest, I haven’t really noticed much although it is always there in the back of my mind. One thing I’ll note is that I’ve found it impossible to find a seat tilt/height and wheel configuration that allows me to comfortably rest my arm on the door rest (or the window ledge) while driving. My elbow is always just a bit too high or too low which, as I learned with my previous car, means that after long road trips, my neck and back will be aching balls of tight muscles. The headrests could be better; my previous car’s headrests could be adjusted as to how far forward they tilted and I miss that. The start button is oddly low down and feels like I’m having to reach for it, but you only press it once per drive so it’ll do. All-in-all, I like the truck and, assuming the FordPass/modem problems get sorted out, I’ll be happy with what I got for what I paid.

@Ford Motor Company

Couple of things. There is a button to turn off...and keep off the Auto Hold. If you are talking about the start/stop feature....I believe you can turn that off also (I have an XLT so not sure). Also...NO Ford camera goes back to the front camera after going into reverse. Cool feature though....on my 250 I can drive with several views with the rear camera on. Nice to see bed contents or watch my trailers while moving.

An excellent perspective, complete and honest. Thank you for taking the time to compose this!

Kenv24 said:

Couple of things. There is a button to turn off...and keep off the Auto Hold. If you are talking about the start/stop feature....I believe you can turn that off also (I have an XLT so not sure). Also...NO Ford camera goes back to the front camera after going into reverse. Cool feature though....on my 250 I can drive with several views with the rear camera on. Nice to see bed contents or watch my trailers while moving.

Click to expand...

By auto hold, I mean the thing that stop the car from creeping forward if you take your foot off the brake. And, yes, there is a button to toggle it, but in terms of where I want it 90+% of the time, that setting is not-on. I tried toggling it on and off at need, but it always seemed to be in the "wrong place" the next time when I left it engaged.

i find the auto-hold very useful waiting in line at fast food, bank, car wash, etc. i keep it off all other times.

LibDan said:

By auto hold, I mean the thing that stop the car from creeping forward if you take your foot off the brake. And, yes, there is a button to toggle it, but in terms of where I want it 90+% of the time, that setting is not-on. I tried toggling it on and off at need, but it always seemed to be in the "wrong place" the next time when I left it engaged.

Click to expand...

Having spent 14 months in a model 3 and before that (and a Bronco) a CRV Hybrid I was excited for regenerative braking and not quite one pedal driving but close.

That has not been this case here with Fords transmission and regen braking. Honda forces you to use paddles shifters more or less EVERYTIME you brake for maximum regen the regen itself is much stronger.

My CRV’s brake hold was very smooth. My Civic’s was not and nor is my wife’s Odyssey.

I was hopeful that the large ass electric motor and eCVT could manage a smooth start when engaged but it still feels like a caliper or three are frozen when you hit the throttle

scottjl said:

i find the auto-hold very useful waiting in line at fast food, bank, car wash, etc. i keep it off all other times.

Click to expand...

This is the use.

Greetings, I'm at 260mi with my '25 XL after my '24 was held hostage by the camera.
In the end I got the Eruption Green I wanted even if not the XLT options I originally thought about. Always good to order two I guess.
My old truck was a Subaru Baja so coming from even fewer creatures comforts.
It's worth noting that my other 'truck' was a Toyota Sienna Minivan. So many trips to home Depot before that keeled over after 20 years. The Maverick is essentially identical dimensions.
We also have a '25 Subaru Forester to fulfill our AWD winter needs and have rented cars recently on various trips to see family. Subaru's adaptive cruise is just amazing. Nothing else I've rented comes close to ease of use and lane keeping without scaring me. Most cars I've rented I was worried about. I would have really thought about it but FORD had so many things I didn't want in the package. But I drive and The Maverick's version of lane keeping, MEH. Its there, but I don't think I'll ever be comfortable giving it the wheel If I needed to.
Most everything else I'm happy with. Getting used to the Hybrid. Drives nicely.
I need accessories once the weather warms up. The higher models take care of that for you.
Bed cover for sure. Don't have a liner either, lots of options. I would like to do a DIY liner to put a color down instead of black. Can't wait til the weather warms up.

scottjl said:

i find the auto-hold very useful waiting in line at fast food, bank, car wash, etc. i keep it off all other times.

Click to expand...

While waiting in line, I just shift to park to take a bit of load off the transmission, then I don't need to worry about the auto-hold coming off, or needing to focus on driving while I'm just sitting, waiting for the line to move. This also prevents the accelerator pedal tap needed to disengage the auto-hold, possibly lurching forward farther than desired.

Lane Keep Assist is not lane centering and doesn’t operate like Subaru.

Ford separates "Lane assist" and "Lane Centering" into two distinct things. Lane keeping assist is the alert and slight wheel assist. Lane Centering is the full control mode that keeps you in the center as a psuedo self-driving effect. The later has an on/off toggle on the left side of the wheel by the volume adjustment. Maybe that's all you need.

LibDan said:

I’m posting this as an initial review of my new 2025 Maverick Lariat Hybrid. I’m coming from a 2014 Subaru Crosstrek that didn’t even have a video screen let alone any of the other tech found on my new truck. I didn’t post immediately, because I wanted to give at least a little time to formulate my impressions. Also, I have not yet tried any of the fancy adaptive cruise control features for two reasons. First, I don’t want to use cruise control until the vehicle has finished its 1000-mile break-in period. Second, I don’t have any suitable stretches for cruise control on my daily commute, and that has been the bulk of my driving thus far.

I’ve added some accessories and these are the major ones I would say are functional, not merely cosmetic: Mabett underbody cavity shield, RokBlokz mudflaps, TruXedo Sentry CT tonneau cover, and soft-open tailgate piston.

Things I like (in no particular order):

• It fits in my garage – This seems minor, but it was a major part of the decision to get a Maverick.
• Fuel economy – The truck says I’m averaging 39.6 and it’s going up since I routinely hit over 40 mpg on my daily commute.
• Heated seats – This is something I knew, coming into the purchase, that I couldn’t live without. My last two cars have had them and my back loves them, especially on long trips.
• Heated steering wheel – OMG, where have you been all my life. This is amazing! If you have arthritis in your knuckles and don’t have this, you need it. It’s now on the can’t live without list.
• 360 cameras – This is not something I expected to care much about either way, but OMG is it useful! I especially like it in two cases. First, when I’m parking in a parking space, the ability to see how the vehicle is aligning to the parking space on all sides is priceless. I also find the front camera super-useful for parking in the garage at night. The truck fits, but there is probably less than six inches to spare if I want to close the garage door. The camera lets me get the truck where it needs to be with precision. However, it’s not without frustration – see below.
• 17” spare tire – I haven’t gotten to *try* this yet, but it is a great piece of mind knowing I have it. So many hybrids have opted to ditch the spare altogether and go with a can of Fix-A-Flat. Fix-A-Flat just doesn’t cut it if you are sitting on the side of the road with a shredded tire at 10 PM on a Sunday in rural Georgia with no cellphone reception. This is a safety issue for me and I won’t buy a car that doesn’t at least have a mini spare.
• The keyless entry – I didn’t expect to like this as much as I do, but it is very convenient at times.
• Rear Cross-traffic Alert – I really like this. If I’m parked between a couple of elephants and am backing out, it sees oncoming traffic before I can. It’s even better combined with the 360 camera.
• Tailgate dampener – I didn’t expect to get this, but it was raining the day I picked up my truck and the rain made the tailgate slick in my hands. Result: I dropped it KA-THUNK as the cables absorbed the impact. That sold me on the dampener. Got a replacement tie-down that should let me still have one on that side. Opted for a double-screw one that sticks up over a single-screw D-ring no matter what it says it is rated at. So far, I have to say that I have appreciated the soft open several times already while not once missing the tie-down, probably because I open and close the tailgate far, far, far more often than I will ever be hauling anything that requires tying down to the tailgate.
• Sentry CT tonneau cover – not the cheapest, but I liked the idea/look of a canvas cover far more than the vinyl ones. I also wanted rolling because it seemed to me that it would be better with the Mav’s shorter bed than folding while still allowing some possible rearview. I had been waffling on a cover at all or just getting a soft rolling cover, but after a weekend running around all over town doing various errands, I realized it would have been very convenient to have more lockable space than just the back seat. I’m also hoping it helps with the fuel efficiency at highway speeds. It looks decent and was fairly easy to install.
• Color – I like Eruption Green. I’d also have liked Ruby Red, Desert Sand, and probably Velocity Blue.
• 40+ MPG City – ‘nuf said
• Tow package – I haven’t gotten to use it, but I like that it is there. Kind of wish I had the Job 2 add-ons, but also kind of think that with as little towing as I’ll likely do, that would just be a waste of money.

Things I’m not fond of:

• What it takes to get rolling (was push-button start) – I guess this is o.k., but then again, I seem to be alone in the world in not thinking it is somehow morally offensive to need to pull out a key to start the vehicle. I still find that I’m pulling out the key fob as I approach the truck from habit. I also noticed that it takes me at least twice as long to “pre-flight” the vehicle with push-button start (though it’s not just the push-button start that’s at fault) – Climb in, buckle up, push start, push emergency break release, push ok for the seatbelt reminder, push ok for the e-brake reminder, toggle the switch to get my preferred side screen displayed in the instrument cluster, then finally dial it into gear. Oh, and if the Apple CarPlay hasn’t connected properly or isn’t showing the screens I want, fiddle with that too.
• FordPass not working – Specifically, the truck seems to occasionally not be connecting with Ford’s system. This is a spotty phenomenon that comes and goes, usually every few days and then lasts for a day or two. It’s weird complaining about this since I’ve never owned a vehicle with anything like this and it’s not like I *need* this. However, I feel like for the price I paid for the vehicle, this was an advertised feature that darn well *should* work.
• Auto-highbeams – This is a weird one and probably situational. I live somewhere that’s just rural enough that it tries to turn on the headlights on my morning commute and just urban enough that it can only keep them up for a few seconds before it has to dim them again. This results in a up-down-up-down strobing that’s really annoying. I can see this being nice if I lived further out in the country and was driving down long stretches of nighttime highway where there was no traffic. However, for now, I’ve disabled it.
• Auto-hold – I expected to love this. I don’t. I’ve found that when coming off a stop, I *want* the car to start rolling just a bit before I get into the throttle. And when I’m in a queue for a four way stop, I want to be able to lift my foot off the brake and have a controlled gentle roll until I stop again. I can’t do this with auto-hold which forces me to tap the gas which then starts the truck rolling faster than I want, forcing me to brake sooner. Maybe if I had a disability that made it difficult to hold the brake down, I would like it more, but for now, I don’t think it is much of a burden to put my foot on the brake. I haven’t gotten caught waiting for a train though, and I suspect I’ll use it then. It’s not like it’s hard to toggle on and off. Speaking of things that are harder to toggle on and off.…
• Calming the touchscreen – From the videos, I expected to find a calm screen button however, in the Lariat’s that button has been replaced with the 360 camera activation button. Not moved, replaced. So, to calm the screen, you must go through the screen’s menus which takes something like two or three touches. Those are touches where, since it’s a touch screen, I have to take my eyes off the road, and yes, Virginia, calming the screen is something I’m likely to want to do while I’m driving. There are plenty of open button positions, even in a Lariat, so I don’t understand why Ford could not have simply either put the 360 camera button in one of the open positions or put the calm screen button in one of the open positions. This is made worse by the fact that there is no way to turn the screen off entirely. Maybe there is a voice command to calm the screen – I haven’t tried that yet. Speaking of voice commands....
• The Ford UX – For those who don’t know the term UX, it means “User Experience” and it refers to how easy and intuitive tech (or even non-tech) is to operate. Ford needs to work a bit on this. I often don’t find Ford’s UX to be particularly intuitive which leads to frustration and possible distraction while driving. This is especially the case with functions I don’t use often or which are buried in menus. Example, I still haven’t found an intuitive way to switch from CarPlay to a radio preset. There’s nothing obvious in the CarPlay screen and you have ton hunt around to get the larger “what’s playing information” screen where you can finally select source and eventually get to radio which then shows the presets. It took forever to realize the command was, “O.K. Ford, turn on the radio,” and that only turns it on to the last preset you were using. I mean, from my point of view, I already had the “radio” on playing CarPlay, so I wasn’t thinking that I needed to turn the radio on. Thus, I tried things like, “switch to radio,” “switch to FM,” and “tune to Preset Three.” As far as I can tell, there is no voice command to go to a specific preset “button.” The information screen/instrument cluster is just as bad. You can use it to switch to radio, Sirius, etc., but this still takes several “O.K.s” and some flipping of the steering wheel lever. It’s also not always easy to figure out where something is or in which menu, touchscreen or instrument cluster, to find it. And I do not understand the operation of My View. I have unchecked the things I don’t want to see, but the car keeps insisting on putting them in the sequence I have to toggle through, plus why doesn’t it *remember* how I left the instrument cluster configured and just return to that when I start the car up again?
• There is *supposed* to be a way to favorite CarPlay (as in which phone to connect to if multiple paired phones are in the vehicle) and contacts. If there is, I can’t figure it out.
• Camera reversion – To understand this, you need to understand how I find myself using my cameras, especially when I’m parking, and especially when parking in my garage. I’m usually pulling forward, front camera on, but if I need to adjust, I have to put the truck into reverse. At that point, it automatically shifts to rear camera which is fine – that is the direction I’m moving after all. But then, when I shift it back to drive, the camera just turns off. That’s right, it doesn’t go back to front camera, it just turns off. So, I need to reach down to find and press the 360 camera button again. I strongly feel that if you were using the front/360 camera when you shifted into reverse, then when you shift back into drive, it needs to go back to the camera view you had been in rather than simply shutting off. It would also help if the 360 camera button were on the wheel somewhere, but that’s valuable real estate, and I’m not sure there’s enough call for it outside my specific scenario to warrant it.
• Lane Keeping – In previous models and possibly in some 2025’s, the on-off toggle for the Lank Keeping Assist was on the end of the left control arm. No longer. As far as I can tell, I have to go through the setting menus on the touchscreen to turn it on or off. Again, more times my eyes have to leave the road to f-around with the touch screen. And again, this is something I may well need to do while the vehicle is in motion. Maybe it’s still safe enough this way, but it is also certainly less safe than and easy-to-reach button on a control arm.
• The rubber tray in the front part of center console (where the phone charger is) – I really, really wish they’d made this “smoked truffle” or even just the “bronze” accent color. At 53, my eyes don’t adjust from light to dark the way they did 25 years ago, and I’ve found that looking down at the deeply-shadowed, black-on-black center console bins after I’ve been looking out the window (either at night where I have oncoming headlights or during the bright sunny daytime), I have difficulty seeing things in that bin, especially things like my black Otter Box-cased phone. If that tray were a lighter color, it would be *so* much easier to see things in it. I had hoped that the Lariat’s “ambient lighting” would help, but Ford decided not to illuminate the center console bins where it actually would have been useful. Instead, I get a great view of my feet and the door handles.
• 19” rims – I was worried that I’d be “feeling the road” all too much with 19” tires, but, honestly, it hasn’t bee too bad. I still would prefer 17” rims however, simply because when it comes time to replace my tires, I’ll have a lot more options to choose from. Plus, I suspect, the ride would be slightly better. Still, the 19” rims ride just fine… on paved roads anyway.
• Grab bars – my previous car had a grab bar on the driver’s side while the Maverick does not. I find that I keep wanting to reach up and hang my arm from the grab bar only to remember it’s not there. Doesn’t seem like a huge thing, but somehow it annoys the heck out of me, especially since it seems like it would have been such an easy thing to add.
• No OEM fog lights – I just like fog lights and wish they’d have been an option. Would gladly trade dual climate control, auto hold, or auto high beams for them. That said, we had a really foggy morning today and the truck did just fine with only its normal headlights so I suspect this is purely aesthetic on my part.
• 400W inverter – not enough watts to really do anything useful except charge things. Charging things is still bloody useful, don’t get me wrong, but it would be so, so much more useful if it could do 1200-1500 watts. Imagine if it could power a chop saw, “induction burner,” or some other household outlet level task? I’m not sure how realistic that is, but if it could be done, the added utility is undeniable.
• Navy Pier Blue – It doesn’t bother me as much as I had feared, but it’s not ideal with Eruption Green. Doing the inside in all smoked truffle would have been better or any other beige-like color. Nice light seat colors for summer sun though.
• Predictive Speed Sign Recognition whatever it's called - Meh. It's nice to be able to look down and see what the current speed limit is rather than hunting for the next sign, but other than that, this hasn't impressed me much. I don't see it flash because I'm looking at the road and other traffic, not down at my instrument cluster. Same for the lane alerts. Sorry, but if all it does is flash, I'm not going to notice it. If you want me to, it either needs a soft tone or it needs to be higher up in my field of vision where the "motion" would catch my attention.

Things I’m neutral about or don’t mind:

• The shifter dial – This doesn’t bother me like I was afraid it would, but I still habitually reach for a lever when I’m shifting, especially when reversing out of a parking space and putting the truck into drive. However, when I’m first backing out of the garage in the morning, I’m now habitually turning the knob the requisite number of clicks.
• Dual climate – I still don’t understand this except to possibly alter the temperature of the air flowing directly on the driver and passenger independently. After all, it’s not like all the air doesn’t mix in the not-terribly-big cabin. This just seems like a lot of form over function when more traditional controls would work just as well or possibly better.
• Rear sliding window – I’ve tried it open, and it’s nice I guess, but honestly, I think that the windows alone, especially with some rain guards do just fine. I do think that if you are going to have a rear window, the only useful way to do it with an extended cab is to have it fully powered. Still, in balance, I’d rather have a rear defogger for when the dogs are back there steaming everything up.
• B&O sound system – I’m not an audiophile nor do I think a pickup is the vehicle for an audiophile, so I’ probably don’t care enough about this to have a strong opinion. The sound seems fine. Is it that much better than the less premium sound systems? Dunno, because I haven’t tried driving around with the less premium systems in any way that would let me compare them. Same for the acoustic windshield – no idea what it’s like without one.
• Ambient lighting – Meh. I mean really what does this even add? See comments above.
• Seatback pockets – Nice to have, but much smaller than the one in my previous car, probably because of the way the seatbacks are indented to allow for rear passenger leg room. It’s much harder to use them for useful storage in the Maverick.
• Glovebox – nice and deep. It benefits IMO from the Mabett glove box organizer. Same can be said for the center console bin – nice and big but benefits from some after-market organizing trays.
• The free Amazon subscription was a pain in the neck to get set up; not sure why. Sirius wasn’t much better when it was telling me it couldn’t complete setup even while it was playing music to me. I intend to keep neither one when the free trials end. Same for the Ford navigation or any subscription-based frill.
• Spray-in bedliner – I guess I see the point. Certainly, the textured surface is less slick to walk on when it’s wet, but it seems a bit over the top. The trucks I grew up with had naked beds and yeah, they got scratched up, but it’s a truck for heaven’s sake. If you’re afraid to just toss stuff in the bed, what’s the point. It’ll be interesting to see how my feelings about the spray-in bedliner evolve.
• Rear under seat storage – I’m not sure about this. I wish the bins were just a tad bigger, but I was able to stow some stuff in them (poncho, first-aid kit, jumper cables, and reusable grocery bags). I then discovered that getting at said stuff when you have the backseat full of groceries or pets is… problematic. As it is, I think they are all right, but combined with the smallish size of the seatback pockets, it left me wanting more which may be why I ended up getting the tonneau cover. I still may add some road flares, gloves, and maybe a length of rope if there is room. I thought about a small fire extinguisher, but if I actually need that, it’s likely to be in a hurry, and I don’t think the underseat storage is a good place for things I need in a hurry.
• In-bed storage cubby – I stuffed this with bungee cords. That kind of filled it up, but at least they aren’t rattling around in the bed. In the summer, maybe I’ll cram in some bug spray or sunscreen.
• Active-X – I think I might have preferred a good cloth, but pleather cleans up easier. True leather might have been better, but also certainly pricier. Time will tell here.

Driving impressions

This is such a subjective area that I almost didn’t put it in. I find the Maverick enjoyable to drive… mostly. Seats are comfy, headlights are nice and bright, head and leg room are good. It handles well enough (certainly doesn’t feel like it is wallowing down the road the way some trucks do), but it’s obviously not a Subaru Crosstrek either. Its higher center of gravity is noticeable on curves. It’s also not full-time symmetrical AWD which, if I’m honest, I haven’t really noticed much although it is always there in the back of my mind. One thing I’ll note is that I’ve found it impossible to find a seat tilt/height and wheel configuration that allows me to comfortably rest my arm on the door rest (or the window ledge) while driving. My elbow is always just a bit too high or too low which, as I learned with my previous car, means that after long road trips, my neck and back will be aching balls of tight muscles. The headrests could be better; my previous car’s headrests could be adjusted as to how far forward they tilted and I miss that. The start button is oddly low down and feels like I’m having to reach for it, but you only press it once per drive so it’ll do. All-in-all, I like the truck and, assuming the FordPass/modem problems get sorted out, I’ll be happy with what I got for what I paid.

@Ford Motor Company

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Thanks for the thorough review. Mine is being built now, I’ll review your notes again when I get delivery.

I'm noticing the larger cars get and the higher beltlines get, the more that camera systems get very very useful, along with radar sensors. You just can't see the borders of a car the way you used to be able to. I haven't been able to live without rear cross-traffic either since I got my first car with it.

I actually like the auto high-beams. Usually when I would drive, I would turn the high beams off as soon as I saw someone else's headlight beams coming around a corner. Well, sometimes they would figure I didn't and start flashing at me or leave theirs on. The automatic system waits until their actual bulbs can be seen and THEN turns them off. So other drivers see that the highs are turned off.

And I'd rather have the camera button. I never "calm" my screen. Ever. And it's not like you can tun the screen off because the climate controls are there. It might actually be against regs to turn the screen off and not have access to the climate controls.

Regarding the Lane Keeping, have you tried the button on the left of the steering wheel? I haven't yet, but it's supposed to disable the lane-keeping system. I haven't tried it with adaptive cruise running though, which is actually a Lane Centering system, though the two are related.

Dual climate is very handy when the significant other is in the other seat. Trust me, I speak from long experience on that one, heh.

The spray-in bedliner is mostly to prevent rust from seeping into the dings and scratches that happen on bare paint, and when water gets in-between a drop-in bedliner and a bare bed. I can see not worrying about it on a standard BOF truck, because you can actually remove and replace the bed if you really want to. But not on the Maverick, so we got spray-in on both of ours, to avoid any future body-work.

LibDan said:

I’m posting this as an initial review of my new 2025 Maverick Lariat Hybrid. I’m coming from a 2014 Subaru Crosstrek that didn’t even have a video screen let alone any of the other tech found on my new truck. I didn’t post immediately, because I wanted to give at least a little time to formulate my impressions. Also, I have not yet tried any of the fancy adaptive cruise control features for two reasons. First, I don’t want to use cruise control until the vehicle has finished its 1000-mile break-in period. Second, I don’t have any suitable stretches for cruise control on my daily commute, and that has been the bulk of my driving thus far.

I’ve added some accessories and these are the major ones I would say are functional, not merely cosmetic: Mabett underbody cavity shield, RokBlokz mudflaps, TruXedo Sentry CT tonneau cover, and soft-open tailgate piston.

Things I like (in no particular order):

• It fits in my garage – This seems minor, but it was a major part of the decision to get a Maverick.
• Fuel economy – The truck says I’m averaging 39.6 and it’s going up since I routinely hit over 40 mpg on my daily commute.
• Heated seats – This is something I knew, coming into the purchase, that I couldn’t live without. My last two cars have had them and my back loves them, especially on long trips.
• Heated steering wheel – OMG, where have you been all my life. This is amazing! If you have arthritis in your knuckles and don’t have this, you need it. It’s now on the can’t live without list.
• 360 cameras – This is not something I expected to care much about either way, but OMG is it useful! I especially like it in two cases. First, when I’m parking in a parking space, the ability to see how the vehicle is aligning to the parking space on all sides is priceless. I also find the front camera super-useful for parking in the garage at night. The truck fits, but there is probably less than six inches to spare if I want to close the garage door. The camera lets me get the truck where it needs to be with precision. However, it’s not without frustration – see below.
• 17” spare tire – I haven’t gotten to *try* this yet, but it is a great piece of mind knowing I have it. So many hybrids have opted to ditch the spare altogether and go with a can of Fix-A-Flat. Fix-A-Flat just doesn’t cut it if you are sitting on the side of the road with a shredded tire at 10 PM on a Sunday in rural Georgia with no cellphone reception. This is a safety issue for me and I won’t buy a car that doesn’t at least have a mini spare.
• The keyless entry – I didn’t expect to like this as much as I do, but it is very convenient at times.
• Rear Cross-traffic Alert – I really like this. If I’m parked between a couple of elephants and am backing out, it sees oncoming traffic before I can. It’s even better combined with the 360 camera.
• Tailgate dampener – I didn’t expect to get this, but it was raining the day I picked up my truck and the rain made the tailgate slick in my hands. Result: I dropped it KA-THUNK as the cables absorbed the impact. That sold me on the dampener. Got a replacement tie-down that should let me still have one on that side. Opted for a double-screw one that sticks up over a single-screw D-ring no matter what it says it is rated at. So far, I have to say that I have appreciated the soft open several times already while not once missing the tie-down, probably because I open and close the tailgate far, far, far more often than I will ever be hauling anything that requires tying down to the tailgate.
• Sentry CT tonneau cover – not the cheapest, but I liked the idea/look of a canvas cover far more than the vinyl ones. I also wanted rolling because it seemed to me that it would be better with the Mav’s shorter bed than folding while still allowing some possible rearview. I had been waffling on a cover at all or just getting a soft rolling cover, but after a weekend running around all over town doing various errands, I realized it would have been very convenient to have more lockable space than just the back seat. I’m also hoping it helps with the fuel efficiency at highway speeds. It looks decent and was fairly easy to install.
• Color – I like Eruption Green. I’d also have liked Ruby Red, Desert Sand, and probably Velocity Blue.
• 40+ MPG City – ‘nuf said
• Tow package – I haven’t gotten to use it, but I like that it is there. Kind of wish I had the Job 2 add-ons, but also kind of think that with as little towing as I’ll likely do, that would just be a waste of money.

Things I’m not fond of:

• What it takes to get rolling (was push-button start) – I guess this is o.k., but then again, I seem to be alone in the world in not thinking it is somehow morally offensive to need to pull out a key to start the vehicle. I still find that I’m pulling out the key fob as I approach the truck from habit. I also noticed that it takes me at least twice as long to “pre-flight” the vehicle with push-button start (though it’s not just the push-button start that’s at fault) – Climb in, buckle up, push start, push emergency break release, push ok for the seatbelt reminder, push ok for the e-brake reminder, toggle the switch to get my preferred side screen displayed in the instrument cluster, then finally dial it into gear. Oh, and if the Apple CarPlay hasn’t connected properly or isn’t showing the screens I want, fiddle with that too.
• FordPass not working – Specifically, the truck seems to occasionally not be connecting with Ford’s system. This is a spotty phenomenon that comes and goes, usually every few days and then lasts for a day or two. It’s weird complaining about this since I’ve never owned a vehicle with anything like this and it’s not like I *need* this. However, I feel like for the price I paid for the vehicle, this was an advertised feature that darn well *should* work.
• Auto-highbeams – This is a weird one and probably situational. I live somewhere that’s just rural enough that it tries to turn on the headlights on my morning commute and just urban enough that it can only keep them up for a few seconds before it has to dim them again. This results in a up-down-up-down strobing that’s really annoying. I can see this being nice if I lived further out in the country and was driving down long stretches of nighttime highway where there was no traffic. However, for now, I’ve disabled it.
• Auto-hold – I expected to love this. I don’t. I’ve found that when coming off a stop, I *want* the car to start rolling just a bit before I get into the throttle. And when I’m in a queue for a four way stop, I want to be able to lift my foot off the brake and have a controlled gentle roll until I stop again. I can’t do this with auto-hold which forces me to tap the gas which then starts the truck rolling faster than I want, forcing me to brake sooner. Maybe if I had a disability that made it difficult to hold the brake down, I would like it more, but for now, I don’t think it is much of a burden to put my foot on the brake. I haven’t gotten caught waiting for a train though, and I suspect I’ll use it then. It’s not like it’s hard to toggle on and off. Speaking of things that are harder to toggle on and off.…
• Calming the touchscreen – From the videos, I expected to find a calm screen button however, in the Lariat’s that button has been replaced with the 360 camera activation button. Not moved, replaced. So, to calm the screen, you must go through the screen’s menus which takes something like two or three touches. Those are touches where, since it’s a touch screen, I have to take my eyes off the road, and yes, Virginia, calming the screen is something I’m likely to want to do while I’m driving. There are plenty of open button positions, even in a Lariat, so I don’t understand why Ford could not have simply either put the 360 camera button in one of the open positions or put the calm screen button in one of the open positions. This is made worse by the fact that there is no way to turn the screen off entirely. Maybe there is a voice command to calm the screen – I haven’t tried that yet. Speaking of voice commands....
• The Ford UX – For those who don’t know the term UX, it means “User Experience” and it refers to how easy and intuitive tech (or even non-tech) is to operate. Ford needs to work a bit on this. I often don’t find Ford’s UX to be particularly intuitive which leads to frustration and possible distraction while driving. This is especially the case with functions I don’t use often or which are buried in menus. Example, I still haven’t found an intuitive way to switch from CarPlay to a radio preset. There’s nothing obvious in the CarPlay screen and you have ton hunt around to get the larger “what’s playing information” screen where you can finally select source and eventually get to radio which then shows the presets. It took forever to realize the command was, “O.K. Ford, turn on the radio,” and that only turns it on to the last preset you were using. I mean, from my point of view, I already had the “radio” on playing CarPlay, so I wasn’t thinking that I needed to turn the radio on. Thus, I tried things like, “switch to radio,” “switch to FM,” and “tune to Preset Three.” As far as I can tell, there is no voice command to go to a specific preset “button.” The information screen/instrument cluster is just as bad. You can use it to switch to radio, Sirius, etc., but this still takes several “O.K.s” and some flipping of the steering wheel lever. It’s also not always easy to figure out where something is or in which menu, touchscreen or instrument cluster, to find it. And I do not understand the operation of My View. I have unchecked the things I don’t want to see, but the car keeps insisting on putting them in the sequence I have to toggle through, plus why doesn’t it *remember* how I left the instrument cluster configured and just return to that when I start the car up again?
• There is *supposed* to be a way to favorite CarPlay (as in which phone to connect to if multiple paired phones are in the vehicle) and contacts. If there is, I can’t figure it out.
• Camera reversion – To understand this, you need to understand how I find myself using my cameras, especially when I’m parking, and especially when parking in my garage. I’m usually pulling forward, front camera on, but if I need to adjust, I have to put the truck into reverse. At that point, it automatically shifts to rear camera which is fine – that is the direction I’m moving after all. But then, when I shift it back to drive, the camera just turns off. That’s right, it doesn’t go back to front camera, it just turns off. So, I need to reach down to find and press the 360 camera button again. I strongly feel that if you were using the front/360 camera when you shifted into reverse, then when you shift back into drive, it needs to go back to the camera view you had been in rather than simply shutting off. It would also help if the 360 camera button were on the wheel somewhere, but that’s valuable real estate, and I’m not sure there’s enough call for it outside my specific scenario to warrant it.
• Lane Keeping – In previous models and possibly in some 2025’s, the on-off toggle for the Lank Keeping Assist was on the end of the left control arm. No longer. As far as I can tell, I have to go through the setting menus on the touchscreen to turn it on or off. Again, more times my eyes have to leave the road to f-around with the touch screen. And again, this is something I may well need to do while the vehicle is in motion. Maybe it’s still safe enough this way, but it is also certainly less safe than and easy-to-reach button on a control arm.
• The rubber tray in the front part of center console (where the phone charger is) – I really, really wish they’d made this “smoked truffle” or even just the “bronze” accent color. At 53, my eyes don’t adjust from light to dark the way they did 25 years ago, and I’ve found that looking down at the deeply-shadowed, black-on-black center console bins after I’ve been looking out the window (either at night where I have oncoming headlights or during the bright sunny daytime), I have difficulty seeing things in that bin, especially things like my black Otter Box-cased phone. If that tray were a lighter color, it would be *so* much easier to see things in it. I had hoped that the Lariat’s “ambient lighting” would help, but Ford decided not to illuminate the center console bins where it actually would have been useful. Instead, I get a great view of my feet and the door handles.
• 19” rims – I was worried that I’d be “feeling the road” all too much with 19” tires, but, honestly, it hasn’t bee too bad. I still would prefer 17” rims however, simply because when it comes time to replace my tires, I’ll have a lot more options to choose from. Plus, I suspect, the ride would be slightly better. Still, the 19” rims ride just fine… on paved roads anyway.
• Grab bars – my previous car had a grab bar on the driver’s side while the Maverick does not. I find that I keep wanting to reach up and hang my arm from the grab bar only to remember it’s not there. Doesn’t seem like a huge thing, but somehow it annoys the heck out of me, especially since it seems like it would have been such an easy thing to add.
• No OEM fog lights – I just like fog lights and wish they’d have been an option. Would gladly trade dual climate control, auto hold, or auto high beams for them. That said, we had a really foggy morning today and the truck did just fine with only its normal headlights so I suspect this is purely aesthetic on my part.
• 400W inverter – not enough watts to really do anything useful except charge things. Charging things is still bloody useful, don’t get me wrong, but it would be so, so much more useful if it could do 1200-1500 watts. Imagine if it could power a chop saw, “induction burner,” or some other household outlet level task? I’m not sure how realistic that is, but if it could be done, the added utility is undeniable.
• Navy Pier Blue – It doesn’t bother me as much as I had feared, but it’s not ideal with Eruption Green. Doing the inside in all smoked truffle would have been better or any other beige-like color. Nice light seat colors for summer sun though.
• Predictive Speed Sign Recognition whatever it's called - Meh. It's nice to be able to look down and see what the current speed limit is rather than hunting for the next sign, but other than that, this hasn't impressed me much. I don't see it flash because I'm looking at the road and other traffic, not down at my instrument cluster. Same for the lane alerts. Sorry, but if all it does is flash, I'm not going to notice it. If you want me to, it either needs a soft tone or it needs to be higher up in my field of vision where the "motion" would catch my attention.

Things I’m neutral about or don’t mind:

• The shifter dial – This doesn’t bother me like I was afraid it would, but I still habitually reach for a lever when I’m shifting, especially when reversing out of a parking space and putting the truck into drive. However, when I’m first backing out of the garage in the morning, I’m now habitually turning the knob the requisite number of clicks.
• Dual climate – I still don’t understand this except to possibly alter the temperature of the air flowing directly on the driver and passenger independently. After all, it’s not like all the air doesn’t mix in the not-terribly-big cabin. This just seems like a lot of form over function when more traditional controls would work just as well or possibly better.
• Rear sliding window – I’ve tried it open, and it’s nice I guess, but honestly, I think that the windows alone, especially with some rain guards do just fine. I do think that if you are going to have a rear window, the only useful way to do it with an extended cab is to have it fully powered. Still, in balance, I’d rather have a rear defogger for when the dogs are back there steaming everything up.
• B&O sound system – I’m not an audiophile nor do I think a pickup is the vehicle for an audiophile, so I’ probably don’t care enough about this to have a strong opinion. The sound seems fine. Is it that much better than the less premium sound systems? Dunno, because I haven’t tried driving around with the less premium systems in any way that would let me compare them. Same for the acoustic windshield – no idea what it’s like without one.
• Ambient lighting – Meh. I mean really what does this even add? See comments above.
• Seatback pockets – Nice to have, but much smaller than the one in my previous car, probably because of the way the seatbacks are indented to allow for rear passenger leg room. It’s much harder to use them for useful storage in the Maverick.
• Glovebox – nice and deep. It benefits IMO from the Mabett glove box organizer. Same can be said for the center console bin – nice and big but benefits from some after-market organizing trays.
• The free Amazon subscription was a pain in the neck to get set up; not sure why. Sirius wasn’t much better when it was telling me it couldn’t complete setup even while it was playing music to me. I intend to keep neither one when the free trials end. Same for the Ford navigation or any subscription-based frill.
• Spray-in bedliner – I guess I see the point. Certainly, the textured surface is less slick to walk on when it’s wet, but it seems a bit over the top. The trucks I grew up with had naked beds and yeah, they got scratched up, but it’s a truck for heaven’s sake. If you’re afraid to just toss stuff in the bed, what’s the point. It’ll be interesting to see how my feelings about the spray-in bedliner evolve.
• Rear under seat storage – I’m not sure about this. I wish the bins were just a tad bigger, but I was able to stow some stuff in them (poncho, first-aid kit, jumper cables, and reusable grocery bags). I then discovered that getting at said stuff when you have the backseat full of groceries or pets is… problematic. As it is, I think they are all right, but combined with the smallish size of the seatback pockets, it left me wanting more which may be why I ended up getting the tonneau cover. I still may add some road flares, gloves, and maybe a length of rope if there is room. I thought about a small fire extinguisher, but if I actually need that, it’s likely to be in a hurry, and I don’t think the underseat storage is a good place for things I need in a hurry.
• In-bed storage cubby – I stuffed this with bungee cords. That kind of filled it up, but at least they aren’t rattling around in the bed. In the summer, maybe I’ll cram in some bug spray or sunscreen.
• Active-X – I think I might have preferred a good cloth, but pleather cleans up easier. True leather might have been better, but also certainly pricier. Time will tell here.

Driving impressions

This is such a subjective area that I almost didn’t put it in. I find the Maverick enjoyable to drive… mostly. Seats are comfy, headlights are nice and bright, head and leg room are good. It handles well enough (certainly doesn’t feel like it is wallowing down the road the way some trucks do), but it’s obviously not a Subaru Crosstrek either. Its higher center of gravity is noticeable on curves. It’s also not full-time symmetrical AWD which, if I’m honest, I haven’t really noticed much although it is always there in the back of my mind. One thing I’ll note is that I’ve found it impossible to find a seat tilt/height and wheel configuration that allows me to comfortably rest my arm on the door rest (or the window ledge) while driving. My elbow is always just a bit too high or too low which, as I learned with my previous car, means that after long road trips, my neck and back will be aching balls of tight muscles. The headrests could be better; my previous car’s headrests could be adjusted as to how far forward they tilted and I miss that. The start button is oddly low down and feels like I’m having to reach for it, but you only press it once per drive so it’ll do. All-in-all, I like the truck and, assuming the FordPass/modem problems get sorted out, I’ll be happy with what I got for what I paid.

@Ford Motor Company

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Does this post come in a hardcover version too?enjoy the new truck.

npaladin2000 said:

I'm noticing the larger cars get and the higher beltlines get, the more that camera systems get very very useful, along with radar sensors. You just can't see the borders of a car the way you used to be able to. I haven't been able to live without rear cross-traffic either since I got my first car with it.

I actually like the auto high-beams. Usually when I would drive, I would turn the high beams off as soon as I saw someone else's headlight beams coming around a corner. Well, sometimes they would figure I didn't and start flashing at me or leave theirs on. The automatic system waits until their actual bulbs can be seen and THEN turns them off. So other drivers see that the highs are turned off.

And I'd rather have the camera button. I never "calm" my screen. Ever. And it's not like you can tun the screen off because the climate controls are there. It might actually be against regs to turn the screen off and not have access to the climate controls.

Regarding the Lane Keeping, have you tried the button on the left of the steering wheel? I haven't yet, but it's supposed to disable the lane-keeping system. I haven't tried it with adaptive cruise running though, which is actually a Lane Centering system, though the two are related.

Dual climate is very handy when the significant other is in the other seat. Trust me, I speak from long experience on that one, heh.

The spray-in bedliner is mostly to prevent rust from seeping into the dings and scratches that happen on bare paint, and when water gets in-between a drop-in bedliner and a bare bed. I can see not worrying about it on a standard BOF truck, because you can actually remove and replace the bed if you really want to. But not on the Maverick, so we got spray-in on both of ours, to avoid any future body-work.

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RE: Adaptive cruise I like that the three blink pass signal will initiate resume speed increase prior to turning steering to pass although if you do not turn steering within a second or two it will cancel the resume.