Observations From A New Maverick And First-Time Hybrid Owner

[MLA62563]

Great review, thanks!
Regarding the poor trade in: whatever amount you got under the dealer trade-in value you see in online calculators (plus considering the great market for used cars which should bump that up if they haven't made adjustments lately) that is the amount to add to the sale price to see what they actually got for it.

What would have been interesting is if you told them you got an offer on your car and thus will sell it that way, using the take from the sale toward your purchase at the price they've offered. In theory the price they offered should not depend on trade in. If you had a written offer that should (I think?) lock them into the sale price they offered regardless of the trade in. In this scenario, the objective is that they offer you the "convenience" of just doing it all right then and there, and thus offer you more for the trade in.

When I but I always tell them I'm unsure about trading in (I used to only sell privately, which is a hassle and complicated to coordinate with the new purchase) and work on a price presuming a loan. But alas, that's all water under the Maverick now... Congrats!

It's getting pretty clear I should have brought up the matter here before going into the lion's den. These are all things I'd learned years ago, but after a twenty something year dry spell between new cars, the lessons had left me. Plus, though I'd like to blame my wife for pushing me to just get the deal done, so she could drive her new truck home....truth is I kind of felt the same way.

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[MLA62563]

Jeez, I hate to hear of ANYBODY getting "low-balled" by a dealership on a trade-in. So, I have to pass this along, and you can take it or leave it. My last two cars I sold just after keeping them only a little over a year. On my first one, on a friend's recommendation, I tried CARVANA. I was SHOCKED at what they offered me - ALMOST WHAT I PAID FOR THE CAR!! The same thing happened on my second one (this one), and I am anxiously awaiting my Maverick so that I can accept Carvana's offer.

In a nutshell, there are three prices applicable to used cars:
1. Trade-in. This is always an insultingly low price, bordering on the criminal.
2. Sell-to-a-Friend. What you would hope you could get for the car.
3. Retail. Pie-in-the-sky price that the buyer would hope to resell the car for.

Well, as my cars were less than 2 years old, with less than 2,000 miles on them, I had hoped to get somewhere around the sell-to-a-friend price when I contacted Carvana. In both cases, they offered me NEARLY WHAT I HAD PAID FOR THE CARS.

As this advice is free, you can take it or leave it, as it is no sweat off my back. But, I would urge anyone thinking of selling his/her car, or trading it in, to give Carvana a call. In fact, it isn't even a phone call. Go online, carvana.com, answer 3 questions, and they will give you, almost immediately, an offer on your car, which you have 2 weeks to accept or reject.

Good luck.

Carvana. Why the heck didn't I think of Carvana!

 

[MLA62563]

Fantastic review! Thanks for sharing your thoughts completely. I should be receiving my Maverick Lariat Hybrid tomorrow! Coming form a number of VW TDI’s and 2 stellar Toyota Prius and Prius Prime, I am excited to see how this little pickup compares! Enjoy!

Thanks, and hope your experience is as good as mine has been. I fully expect it will be!

 

[MLA62563]

I want to thank you for that great review!

I've been driving a used 2014 Chevy Volt for the last four years and have been completely sold on the "hybrid experience". I also liked the Ridgeline very much, even the ugly "Flying Buttress" original. When the came out with the latest model I was sold but wanted to wait for a hybrid. So I waited...and waited...

The Maverick is the hybrid Ridgeline I always wanted, but better! It's domestic! I commute 40 miles each way so the Volt goes all the way on just the batteries from March till October. Then when it's cold the lithium batteries lose efficiency. I've been spoiled. I don't but gas for six months. Ford was famous for over estimating the MPG for the CMax so your report of 31 - 58 is great news. I don't have any stop-and-go, but all of mine is in the mountains so I'm hoping to be about mid-point.

Finally- I understand about dealing with a dealer. The Ford dealer hasn't been bad and I told them up front I would not be trading in my 2007 Tacoma (they were sad). I did learn to hate the Chevy dealer who sold me the volt. I am very eager to take delivery of my Maverick. I'm 65 and this is my first new vehicle. I hope my experience is as good as yours!

Thanks!

Got a friend with one of those new Ridgelines. SO glad they got rid of that buttress business. Seems like a great vehicle, and I would have considered it, but I just couldn't justify the cost. The Maverick came along at just the right time for me. Seemed very much like fate, since my first car was a 72 Maverick.
Best of luck to you!

 

[MLA62563]

I have had my XL hybrid for 3 weeks after waiting 7 months to get it and I agree with you. I could not be happier. I don't understand the belly aching that I read from others. I drove to the mountains this weekend and it was very comfortable and drove beautifully both up and down the mountain. My wife said she felt safer in the Maverick coming down the mountain than in her Hylander. I replaced a Sport Trac which I loved and this is a wonderful choice and well worth waiting 7 months to get.

Very much looking forward to my own first trip to the mountains! There's stretch of I-26 near Saluda Gap in particular that I'm looking forward to. Up and down, it should be VERY enlightening.

 

[MLA62563]

Same here, Love my xlt hybrid Ford Maverick.. I do not miss have a sliding window.. The back window is small enough.. If I had more window frame the rearview mirror would be useless.
The drawbacks: The radio has setting to prevent adjusting while driving. That is annoying. The A-frame has major blind spots. The loss of 25% mileage was predictable but still above 33 mpg in Michigan under 30 degrees. The Hybrid loves temperatures above 30 degrees and speed under 70 mph. I am predicting 45mpg from March to December.. I do not care for the hard headrest either.

My wife and I prefer the Maverick to drive to church or future travel. I would like to add, the truck drives well in the snow. I currently have over 2k on the truck..

Good point about the rear view mirror. I don't have the sliding window (all they ever seem to accomplish for me is to suck dirt onto the cab..), but I imagine it might block enough visibility to account for the complaints. And yes, though overall visibility is good, the frame does get in the way a little bit here and there...particularly in parking situations, for me anyway. I tended to miss the lines pretty badly for the first day or two.

 

[Bret Maverick]

Yeah, as I recall the '61 Falcon had a smaller screen.

Yeah, but it did have "three on the Tree," window cranks and no bothersome chime for the seat belts.

 

[Larrythelunatic]

I agree with you but if the car is a mile away behind me or ahead of me or if there's nobody else on the road but you, then not signaling is acceptable to me.

Especially when one considers that there should be an attempt to conserve electricity. The truck wants to drive in electric mode. Using that juice to signal to no one, is a waste.
Does a tree that falls in the woods, when there is no one around,
make a sound?

 

[Espeer]

Well said, an I agree! We have a '20 Ranger XLT FX4 truck we absolutely love an its been impeccable.. thus we bought our Lariat FX4 2.0 Ecoboost Maverick. It is a very well made truck ..every review said so. Your 100% correct in your assessment. There are alot of trolls sadly that have agendas an lie . Ford gave ppl what they've been begging for ..a good quality price minded small truck. Imagine how much better it will get w/ every model yr. Be sure to do your break in oil change sooner. We did @1800mis. Some say 2000mis. It makes a difference in these tight tolerance new vehicles. Your dealer may say dont waste ur time blah blah..yea they are wrong! Put in a good brand full synthetic oil (of proper viscosity rating) an change every 5k mis on dot . Ford builds great engines ..hence why they are king of trucks. Enjoy! We love ours as well. Its a sports car truck w/turbo motor!!

On a hybrid that doesn't even run all the time? 15k changes is my plan for my hybrid. 185k on my 2012 focus with 15k oil changes. I drive it pretty hard (the 2.0 DI is an underappreciated engine). It has perfect compression, oil analysis shows in tolerance at 18k (I got lazy last year) and it burns about 0.5oz every 1000 miles.

Maybe the turbo versions are more fragile?

 

[Darnon]

Especially when one considers that there should be an attempt to conserve electricity. The truck wants to drive in electric mode. Using that juice to signal to no one, is a waste.

Not signalling for want of saving a few miniscule watts might be some of the most tortured logic I've heard.

 

[MLA62563]

Not signalling for want of saving a few miniscule watts might be some of the most tortured logic I've heard.

Milliwatts, is more like it. But keep in mind, we're dealing with a lunatic here.
Please don't take that the wrong way, Larry. I just couldn't resist.

 

[Larrythelunatic]

Milliwatts, is more like it. But keep in mind, we're dealing with a lunatic here.
Please don't take that the wrong way, Larry. I just couldn't resist.

Darnon…….
Stand by……..there’s plenty more where that came from!
Mike………
No problem! …….See above.

 

[Larrythelunatic]

Darnon…….
Stand by……..there’s plenty more where that came from!
Mike………
No problem! …….See above.

Also…….
Nothing posted invalidates my post.

 

[Cisco]

Great observations. I also could not be happier with my Maverick. Minor issue with the dealer installed Hood Deflector, but they were great about a replacement.
The only complaint comes from my Water Spaniel that does not like the height of the storage between the front seats where he used to lay his head while riding. Small price to pay for a great ride. Lol!

 

[Dad]

I've had my new hybrid Maverick XLT for just over a week now. And I thought some might appreciate my thoughts as a first time hybrid owner. Actually, this is the first time I've ever driven a hybrid or even rode in one for that matter. Buying one was essentially a leap of faith for that reason, so I spent a great deal of time during the wait scouring this and other forums for other owners takes on the subject. So it is with great pleasure that I am now able to provide my own take, as well as address some specific complaints and issues others have described.

First off, I just have to say that I am completely, totally satisfied with my new truck. If you are looking for criticism, you won't get any from me. The Maverick has exceeded my expectations in every way. Ride and handling, fit and finish, comfort and performance, appearance and ergonomics....10's across the board. The only negative at any point was my buying experience at the dealer. No markups thankfully, and they surprisingly didn't even attempt to sell me any "protection" packages, or extended warranties...but they made up for that by totally fleecing me on my trade-in. They low balled me at the get go, and wouldn't budge a nickel. When we began "negotiating", it immediately dawned on me that I had zero bargaining power in the matter. I couldn't threaten to walk away....we both knew they could just turn around and sell it off the lot for a five grand markup in about two seconds. Oh well, live and learn. Don't trade...sell it yourself!

At any rate, I am now completely sold on the hybrid system. Well this one, anyway. I just can't get over how silky smooth everything is. The transitions are totally seamless, and performance is impressive. This truck is quick! I have driven a coworker's Eco boost, and the difference is negligible between the two in day-to-day driving. Yes, the eco feels a bit peppier off the line, but I can't imagine giving up such a huge fuel economy advantage for that. (I drive almost entirely in the city...) And though the eight speed transmission is unquestionably smooth and I like it, it doesn't lay a glove on the hybrid in that department.

I wondered if I might miss the "feel" of a traditional transmission, but I find it crazy cool how the ECVT functions in coordination with the ICE. I love how the engine ramps right up to its "sweet spot" and locks it there, while the truck accelerates quickly and evenly all the way up the line. Man, that's gotta be a big advantage for engine life. I doubt you could even approach the engine's red line unless you take it to maximum speed. I'm just really impressed how the thing gets up and goes so willingly at such a moderate RPM. No wonder they don't bother with a tachometer. Hybrids rock!

I'll have to wait to give my take on fuel economy. The display has indicated anywhere between 31 and 58 MPG on various trips, but I've heard the onboard systems take a while to calibrate, so I'll check it manually at the first fill up, and then I can say for sure. But it is certainly going a LONG way on one tank. I'll say that much.

People have remarked on the "spongy" brake pedal supposedly inherent with hybrids, but I gotta say I don't feel it. Maybe it's because my old car was indeed an "old car", and had a mushy pedal for other reasons....but these brakes feel just like any other to me. No "getting used to" period at all.

I've heard people complain the rear-view mirror is too small, or even "useless"...but as with the brakes, it seems like any other to me. No problems with visibility noted.

The rear-view camera works just fine, even at night. It's possible if I had experience with a better one, I might feel differently...but this is my first.

The base speakers sound just fine. But then, I don't get in the car for a concert experience.

Android Auto operates as advertised. I haven't experienced any freezes or hiccups at all...but then it's early days.

The remote start function has so far worked perfectly. I've used it every morning even if it isn't that cold just to check. No strange behaviors or unpleasant odors noted.

No fit and finish problems at all. There was one minor scuff on the front bumper from shipping. The dealership itself pointed this out and will correct.

The interior is really nice as far as I'm concerned. People gripe about the "cheap" hard plastics, but it looks great to me. Visually appealing and looks like it should be easy to clean. Easy to scratch? Could be, but as I don't typically carry a bunch of screaming kids or toss bricks around in there, I seriously doubt it'll be a problem. Seats are very comfortable with good support and nice looking and feeling fabric.

Lastly, I've heard it said that ride quality is harsh in the hybrid. But then I've also heard some say they love the hybrid's ride and wonder what its "secret sauce" might be. Unless there actually are huge differences between vehicles that are supposed to be the same, I put that down to individual preference or bias. In my case I find the ride and handling perfectly smooth and enjoyable. Takes bumps like a champ and navigates rough roads with ease. But then I drive a Super Duty on a daily basis at work, so take that as you will. "Numb" steering? What's that? It goes where I point it and turns with ease, and that's all I ask.

Well, that's all that comes to mind. I honestly don't have a single complaint at this point. The Maverick is everything I had hoped it would be and more. In fact, I can say that so far it is the most satisfying new vehicle I have ever purchased....and there have been quite a few over the years. Could my estimation change? Sure....but so far, so good. So VERY good!

Great review and I agree with everything you reported .... except the extended warranties. With the price of labor and parts these days, one visit to a dealer for even a small repair would almost make up for the extended warranty price and even surpass it. Especially with a new line of vehicle one would expect some hiccups in performance to appear.
Regarding the trade-in, the dealer is going to take advantage of the demand for used vehicles and make a big profit on yours. Important thing is that you're happy with your truck, I paid about $5k in ADM, but I knew how difficult it was to find the Maverick I wanted, so I took the bruise.

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