Why do so many gear heads HATE the maverick....?

[jewc75]

which 1 of your 5 listed vehicles would that be then- or do you have multiple personalities?

Different vehicles have different purposes but can be modded to fit your personality.

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[HalfFast]

It ain't a real truck. I don't mean to bust your bubble, but it's just not. Unless it can pull a grain wagon to the co-op, and thats not even counting out of a field. Unless it can pull a skid loader into a jobsite. Untill then, it's just a useful truck shaped object. You mean, comments like that?

That's what you are dealing with when you start talking trucks with farmers, construction guys, and wannabes To them, something like a mav is something cute to buy the wife.

As for me,, I've heard it about my rangers for years. I just say it fits my needs and a big one doesnt. It's mostly a commuter to get me from the country to my job in the city, and not use too much gas. Something that will also haul sound equipment, lawnmowers, fishing gear, a big dog in a kennel, home improve, tools, and who knows what else. But of course, not all at once. Luckily, sound gear has gotten better and smaller in the last 30 years. Like pickups, maybe?

I am not sure that you can lump construction workers in that group. I've had several guys (including one of the owners of the company) ask me questions extensively about my Maverick.

In reality, most of the equipment, supplies and trailers we move and use are not going to be handled by any size pickup. Sure there are a few mini excavators, skid steers and parts/supplies that get pulled around by 1 tons, but they get good mileage compared to class B trucks and semis.

When I worked on pipelines, we were required to be able to get to where the work was, and were paid for the use of personal vehicles and typically provided fuel. Sometimes we would be able to park at the road, but mostly you drove to where your equipment was parked the night before. You might have to drive a mile or more overland on a bulldozer path with foot tall water bars in hilly and muddy conditions. There were a lot of tuned up diesels on big mud tires (mine included) because it's embarrassing to have to wait to be towed to work by a dozer.

For the past couple of years, I've been working on actual jobsites. Very few pickups. We park in gravel lots and most guys have long drives to work. Lots of small fuel efficient 4 door cars, usually older so they can get dirty inside without too much worry.

There is definitely interest in the construction community for a small truck shaped object that gets 30+ mpg, has a bed that can carry bigger waterproof boxes for tools, clothes, PPE and muddy boots, pulls a small trailer and starts in the low 20's. It has all the benefits of a small 4 door car but has a lot more utility for people who have use for an actual truck. I can do everything with my maverick that I can with my 3/4 ton diesel except tow heavy and serious off road. I have a 6 1/2 foot bed in the Dodge, but have two tool boxes hard mounted and a trifold tonneau. The Maverick actually has more usable bed space when I roll out the plastic waterproof box. I kept the diesel for the 5% of the time the maverick won't get the job done.

When Ford is able to crank these things out to the point they are sitting on dealer lots at MSRP or less they will sell a ton of these little TSOs.

 

[AUDIOZONE]

To halffast.

I agree with you, but personal experience is what provoked my reply. I have a coworker with a construction company, works at a regular job with me. He was all about how he has 30,000 pounds on trailer all the time. To tell the truth the farmers around here use 4 wheel drive tractors to keep up with the combines, since they unload while picking these days. Also, the size of the grain wagons they use these days would wear out or destroy a heavy duty pickup pretty quick.

 

[OleFordGuy]

I'm thinking of putting a decal on the rear window ( But I get 45Mpg ) open to suggestions, when it gets here. I can't imagine driving up to the pump in a daily driver that gets single digits.

Careful, their are A holes out there that would do a key job down the whole side for less than that. Smile, peace sign and let it roll off ya back. Their the D asses, maybe one day their light bulb will illuminate.

 

[MichaelG]

Michigan is roughly 9 out of 10 vehicles the big 3....I once had some hillbilly with motor, muffler, carb stickers all over his rear window flip me the bird in my electric car... Michigan, motor city...very anti electric/hybrid. oh well...

I live in SE Michigan and I will be deleting the hybrid badge. I have heard of some hate towards hybrid vehicles. Not on the same scale of hate as Tesla invokes in some people but still don't want the drama.

 

[Bobinmi]

I live in SE Michigan and I will be deleting the hybrid badge. I have heard of some hate towards hybrid vehicles. Not on the same scale of hate as Tesla invokes in some people but still don't want the drama.

yes, Michigan, especially SE Michigan is VERY ANTI electric and/or hybrid! If their not rolling coal or breathing heavy exhaust fumes...they are not happy. There are "some" sensible Michiganders regarding hybrid/ev, but if you go to any cruises, just to park and watch the cruise...the comments are pretty obvious. Just plain ASSHOLES.

 

[Woodjoints]

We have two cars in our family- an 85 VW Vanagon Westfalia and a Prius. I am used to hate.

Funny that Detroit folk are against electric when all the big names seem to be going all in or nearly all in on electric. As Howard Hughes said, "It's the way of the future.

As for the Maverick being a small truck or not a truck at all, to me this is small truck-

Piaggio Ape. FYI- "Ape" does not mean ape, as in hairy ape. In Italian it means bee as in worker bee. These are very common in the rural areas of Italy.


ps just called the local Food dealer. Ordering for 2023 has been postponed two months. Now set for an indeterminate day in October.

pps I have owned a Ford Ranger, f150, and f250. The f250, in line 6 cylinder, four on the floor, was my favorite. I'm one of those people that would never own a Chevy.

 

[Bobinmi]

We have two cars in our family- an 85 VW Vanagon Westfalia and a Prius. I am used to hate.

Funny that Detroit folk are against electric when all the big names seem to be going all in or nearly all in on electric. As Howard Hughes said, "It's the way of the future.

As for the Maverick being a small truck or not a truck at all, to me this is small truck-

Piaggio Ape. FYI- "Ape" does not mean ape, as in hairy ape. In Italian it means bee as in worker bee. These are very common in the rural areas of Italy.


ps just called the local Food dealer. Ordering for 2023 has been postponed two months. Now set for an indeterminate day in October.

pps I have owned a Ford Ranger, f150, and f250. The f250, in line 6 cylinder, four on the floor, was my favorite. I'm one of those people that would never own a Chevy.

Yes, I would suspect you've seen your share of hate owning a prius AND a VW westfalia...yes, the big 3 is pushing EV...but the die hard gear heads will have no part of it... friday night, I was out looking at the classic cars, my GF stayed in the maverick, some guy came up and said "how do you like that Ranger"? She said it was a "maverick and we love it"...he said "I'll never trust those electric cars"...she said it was a "hybrid"...he said "those either".... I should have asked her how many teeth he had...

 

[rlhdweman]

Yes, I would suspect you've seen your share of hate owning a prius AND a VW westfalia...yes, the big 3 is pushing EV...but the die hard gear heads will have no part of it... friday night, I was out looking at the classic cars, my GF stayed in the maverick, some guy came up and said "how do you like that Ranger"? She said it was a "maverick and we love it"...he said "I'll never trust those electric cars"...she said it was a "hybrid"...he said "those either".... I should have asked her how many teeth he had...

Most of those guys have a tooth missing slightly off to the side, so they can clamp a Marlboro in it & keep flapping their gums! Most of those gearheads are also stuck in the1960's.

 

[garnermike]

Have been to several cruise-ins with my hybrid Hot Pepper Red Mav. Of course, those kinds of events attract lots of "Detroit Iron," i.e., wholly internal combustion, V8, American-made cars. But have never experienced any sort of badmouthing or belittling of the truck. I have gotten a lot of "Wow, never saw one before!", and "Really nice color!" and they appreciate my little vehicle tour. But when I show them the dash indicator at 47 mpg, they get real interested with lots of questions. I sense they know that auto technology is facing a sea change, and that their vehicles are modern-day horse-and-wagons.

It's possible that because I can talk fluently about my past muscle cars (and the 'Vette that's home in the garage), it keeps them from saying anything too negative.

 

[Timothyd]

Most of those guys have a tooth missing slightly off to the side, so they can clamp a Marlboro in it & keep flapping their gums! Most of those gearheads are also stuck in the1960's.

While I embrace tech I understand them. They are used to cars and equipment they can get into, fix and diagnose themselves and not be at the mercy of the manufacturer (sound familiar?). Vehicles used to be more honest with less mystery and software gremlins lurking around. It breaks, you fix it and not go whining to the dealer. You want to go faster you modify the engine.
When it comes to high performance I think efficiency is key, that's one of the reasons I like the Mav.

 

[Scott Asheville]

I date back to the middle of the last century. I used to set the timing on my VW bus with a flashlight bulb to which I'd soldered two wires. I've owned it all. I've done a lot of wrenching, but I was never a true gearhead. A true gearhead can walk a classic car show and talk you through every feature on that car. A gearhead can spend hours debating which 50 year old engine was better and throw out reams of data to justify their argument.

I'm just a car guy. As a car guy I appreciate that I don't see abandoned cars at the side of an interstate the way I did back in the sixties. I don't see people changing tires at the side of the road. I don't have to open up the hood and spray something in the carburetor to get it started. I step into the frigging vehicle, it starts every time, goes without breaking (unless maybe it's a Maverick hybrid), and lasts way past 100,000 miles. The tires rarely explode.

When BEVs really arrive for the masses (in 5 years?) - I won't need gasoline. I won't need to replace mufflers. I won't need oil changes. I won't need air filters, or a hundred other parts that fail or wear out. It won't even need to start because starting is not a thing it does. It'll last a half million miles. It'll be (already is) faster. It'll be (already is) cheaper to run and by then cheaper to buy. I'll never have to visit a gas station unless I want a snack. I won't have a manual transmission or an automatic or cvt transmission because there is no transmission.

So as a car guy but not a gear head, I welcome modern cars, and I look forward to the BEV future. But a little part of me will always miss winding out the little engine of my three Miatas or my RX7-R1 as I shifted my old manual gearbox the way I saw fit. That'll be a memory new generations will never have.

The Maverick's place in the story of the automobile? It's nothing special. Absolutely not special in any way. The concept has been implemented several times by several makers, across several continents (see: Ute). It might be that "small" trucks (except the Maverick is a bloated porker compared to early small trucks) have come back. Maybe we can all zip our know-it-all lips for now and check the market in 5 years to see how it all went down. Might be the Maverick is the next VW Beetle. Might be it's a niche car with an early sales surge that kind of faded over time. May we all live long enough to see the answer.

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