1 year and 17,000 miles later

[JonP_Maine]

and the little blue pill would match the blue Ford logo.

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[Cancunbadlands]

Got home from work yesterday and realized that it had been exactly 1 year to the day and exactly 17,000 miles since I got my Maverick. What better way to celebrate than share my thoughts on the good, bad, and other.

The good:
- Gas mileage. I've been averaging around 43 mpg/575 mile range per tank of gas. While I know some folks around here are getting even more impressive numbers out of their hybrids, I'm still happy to be only filling up around once a month considering that I have a 30 mile round trip commute to work with speeds ranging from 30-60 mph.
- Power to spare. Even at highway speeds of 60-70 mph, if I needed to get around someone quick I've always found plenty of power available, regardless of what drive mode I'm in. Just step on the gas and go.
- Truck size. Being over here in the UK, the roads are just a bit (read: significantly) smaller than those in the US. Even on the extremely sketchy single lane two-way roads I have no issues being able to get over enough to allow oncoming traffic to pass.
- Towing capacity. I've got the 2k tow package and have found that it's just what I need. So far I've just trailered my bike, and moved an antique upright piano.
- Bed size is perfect. I've moved more furniture in the past year with my Maverick than I have in the previous 5 years I've been out here, and it's been perfect for hauling excess yard debris up to the local recycling center as well.
- The built-in 400w inverter has gotten more use than I would have expected when I first got the truck.
- Hidden gems - the heated seats and heated steering wheel.
- The vehicle weight, surprisingly enough. The extra weight of the HV battery really helps to smooth out the ride and get down into the corners.

The meh:
- That little piece of gloss plastic at the bottom of the steering wheel center. When the sun hits that right, bam, straight to the eyeballs with no real way to avoid it.
- Brakes are a bit touchy in normal drive mode.
- The seat belt screen popping up and staying on until you clear it. At least this one I was able to mod away while still keeping the seatbelt warnings. Look, I'm all for safety, but it doesn't need to be that in your face.
- It would be nice if the headlights had an icon on the IPC (either a dedicated LED or something on the LCD). I find it a little annoying that my parking lights and not-auto headlights only provide the same parking light indication that my lights are on.

The bad:
- The recalls. Maybe it's just that my experience here is a bit soured from having to deal with a third party garage instead of an actual Ford dealer, but trying to coordinate time to get the required work done has been extremely annoying.
- The limp mode issue. Driving along and having the truck suddenly freak out, put itself into neutral, then slow down and slam on the parking brake before it comes to a complete stop is just a bit unnerving. And then the automatic acceleration up to over 30 mph with no regard to the gas pedal input is, again, just a bit unnerving. At least I think I know what the culprit is, so some minor adjustments of my driving habits have kept this little problem at bay for now, although I would still like to see a complete fix at some point.
- The sound system has needed far too many forced resets for my taste, and likes to crash when I'm using Android Auto or otherwise just drop connection to the phone. At least once a week I'll have a drive where the phone will just randomly drop and the only fix is unplugging it and plugging it back in again.

Bottom line - I'd totally buy another Hybrid Maverick if I had to (Lighting F-150 is interesting, but Hybrid is where it's at for range until the national charging network is more developed). I missed out on some features that I wanted since my XLT Hybrid was dealer stock (no CP360 or Adaptive Cruise Control), but overall I like this truck.

Are you driving in the UK?
steering wheel on the right side?

 

[RadioDoc]

Are you driving in the UK?
steering wheel on the right side?

It's a US-spec purchased through Military Auto Sales. So LH drive, interesting on UK roads, but not unheard of. I moved back to the US a year and and half ago and brought the truck back with me.

 

[Cancunbadlands]

It's a US-spec purchased through Military Auto Sales. So LH drive, interesting on UK roads, but not unheard of. I moved back to the US a year and and half ago and brought the truck back with me.

Roger that

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