Feels like a truck until…..

[Darryl]

In 1981 I bought a 1978 F100 regular cab with an 8-ft bed and it was significantly larger than my Maverick in all dimensions. The 300 cubic inch straight 6 with the three-speed manual shifter was a good combo. I routinely got over 20 mpg on the highway and with one tank I got mid 20's on a trip. Everything was hand calculated back then.

When I think of the gas mileage I got on a car in the 80’s, I remember that the speed limit was 55-65 during that era. So I typically drove 60-70 mph. Today it’s typically 70. And I usually drive just shy of 80 . I wonder what kind of fuel economy those older vehicle would get if driven at today’s highway speeds.

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[Pete Sheppard]

55 was considered the most efficient speed. In my mid-20s, I found it to be maddeningly slow as well.
Part of it may be mellowing with age, but given the incredible mileage (and gas savings) I'm getting from my hybrid Mav, I am quite happy cruising at 65-70mph.

 

[h1k3rb]

When I think of the gas mileage I got on a car in the 80’s, I remember that the speed limit was 55-65 during that era. So I typically drove 60-70 mph. Today it’s typically 70. And I usually drive just shy of 80 . I wonder what kind of fuel economy those older vehicle would get if driven at today’s highway speeds.

Yeah, it was 55 only back then, til about 1987 when states were allowed to go to 65 on some back roads. It was a huge relief when they finally repealed that law in 1995 or so. When thinking of that era it's hard not to recall Sammy Hagar's great song about it. I'm sure that F-100 with just a basic 3-speed (no overdrive) would have got much lower mpg at 75 mph.

 

[UpACurb]

Every time I see a shiny F150 that's clearly never towed or hauled anything, I wonder what small thing it's owner is trying to compensate for.

How can you tell if a truck has never towed something?

I keep my truck extremely shiny - and it also tows things .....can only dirty trucks tow things?

 

[Pete Sheppard]

If you have the squeeze and want the juice, get it!
It’s called FREEDOM!

 

[Escapologist]

How can you tell if a truck has never towed something?

I keep my truck extremely shiny - and it also tows things .....can only dirty trucks tow things?

If the inside of the receiver still has all it's paint it's probably a virgin.

However, there's steps and racks etc that ain't strictly "towing" that will do that, so maybe a little galling on the pin hole would be the indicator that it really done did some.

 

[UpACurb]

If the inside of the receiver still has all it's paint it's probably a virgin.

However, there's steps and racks etc that ain't strictly "towing" that will do that, so maybe a little galling on the pin hole would be the indicator that it really done did some.

Could also be a 5th wheel receiver in the bed : )

 

[Traegorn]

How can you tell if a truck has never towed something?

I keep my truck extremely shiny - and it also tows things .....can only dirty trucks tow things?

You can tell by the driver. Spend enough time in suburbia with the guys who bought the truck instead of the minivan they actually need long enough, and you know the type.

 

[Kenv24]

Man a lot of these comments make the Mav owners sound as insecure as the big truck owners are accused of being. Maybe he just parked with no intention, maybe he parked thinking I'll go next to another truck. Maybe you have a neighbor that just likes his truck as much as you like yours and that is a good thing. Maybe a million other things.

Yeah...the big truck brodozer comments about little winkies is REALLY getting old. So if I drive my F-250 to pull my 20 foot utility trailer I've got a little winkie?? But I get home after work and switch to my Mav and head to Wal-Mart I'm Long Dong Silver??? LOL....doesn't work that way. Man...that cliche' is just so old and overused. Bottom line....you can't pull a Bobcat with a Mav....and your F-350 is not going to get 45 mpg at the end of the week of driving. Let's leave it at that.

 

[PlantMan]

I like my Maverick, but I love my SD. If push came to shove, I keep my SD and Maverick gets sold. My wife and daughter really like out Maverick, but daughter is becoming quite capable of handling the SD.

 

[Lone Mav]

One of the many reasons I was reluctant to shower after gym class.

 

[Cherokee]

When I think of the gas mileage I got on a car in the 80’s, I remember that the speed limit was 55-65 during that era. So I typically drove 60-70 mph. Today it’s typically 70. And I usually drive just shy of 80 . I wonder what kind of fuel economy those older vehicle would get if driven at today’s highway speeds.

About the same I’d think, maybe 5% less at 70 and 10% less at 80. Those bigger displacement engines liked highway speeds.

Had a small V-8 in my 1976 MonteCarlo and got 19 on the interstate at 70
Got 21 in my 4 banger 1974 Ranger.

In town the Ranger got 18 and the Monte Carlo got 15 mpg at best.

My Maverick would have easily outrun the 305 V-8 in the quarter mile.
But that Monte Carlo was such a sexy beast.
It floated down the road.

‘Low~Ri~Der move a little slower~



Awwww dat was nice !

 

[UpACurb]

Yeah...the big truck brodozer comments about little winkies is REALLY getting old. So if I drive my F-250 to pull my 20 foot utility trailer I've got a little winkie?? But I get home after work and switch to my Mav and head to Wal-Mart I'm Long Dong Silver??? LOL....doesn't work that way. Man...that cliche' is just so old and overused. Bottom line....you can't pull a Bobcat with a Mav....and your F-350 is not going to get 45 mpg at the end of the week of driving. Let's leave it at that.

Yep agree......as someone who also owned a SD and a Maverick - and now a SD after my poor Maverick got totaled .....

I mean it would be like someone looking at anyone driving a Maverick and assuming thats all the truck they could afford - which would be totally and completely wrong thing to do .....

I love the Maverick because it reminds of the mini trucks from back in the day- I was planning on lowering and doing wheels and tires on mine.....

If you look at any mans hobbies .......we all buy crap we dont need so I dont understand the judgement by some people here.....

 

[Jarathen]

We are all of us making choices that make the most sense for a variety of reasons. It is true that many people buy a bigger truck than they will ever need. It is true that many of us buy a Maverick as a "just in case" truck that they will ALSO rarely need as a truck. There are infinite use cases.

I think many modern vehicles are dangerously large, too wide for narrower, older streets, so high they cannot see many pedestrians near them, and they block the view of traffic around them. They back into spots until their wheels hit the curb - AN AUTOMATIC FAIL IN DRIVER'S LICENSE TESTS - and their bed and trailer hitch cover half the sidewalk. But that's just life, all of us making choices, every day, for ourselves. That's it. No more, no less. And in the absence of regulation, or making the world conform to our own preferences, all we can do is live with it. And be happy with our own choices, where we can.

 

[Escapologist]

It is true that many of us buy a Maverick as a "just in case" truck that they will ALSO rarely need as a truck. There are infinite use cases.

For 3 decades, I've been mostly happy with "Good value reliable hatchback with decent gas mileage" ... apart from that class has gone functionally extinct.... and a couple of minivans thrown in when we had more people around... and those have got fat and underimproved... far far away from ye olde T-115 magic wagon... So yeah best game in town is the Ford Atkinson/eCVT drivetrain, and if I had to still pinch pennies tight enough to leave fingernail marks, I might be in a used C-Max, but buying new, in 2025 (also having watched them since announcement/release) I decided to treat myself to a Maverick, and 90% of the time, I could have been driving a hatch still but hoping to lean into the 10% and get a camper and expand leisure activities.

A number of things add into that, like admiring 20th century mini/compact trucks... but it's super weird the car market of today has made the best alternative to a decent hatchback a small truck, even though I am pretty okay with it. I rarely ever considered a truck as a practical option, the RAM ecodiesels piqued my interest until they started having expensive problems.

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