What do you like LEAST about the Maverick?

[PapaDave]

Actually, I wish there was a color option for green. Ford just announced new colors for the F-150. I wished they were also offered on the Maverick.

New color called “Guard”

I probably would have gotten this color if available on Maverick.

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[clavicus]

I would've liked a slightly longer bed. Maybe 5 or 5.5 feet. As one person said, hauling a washer and drier together is a pretty common task for a light pickup truck.

Also, I would've liked for them to put roof rails on the cab of it to accommodate longer things like canoes over the cab and bed.

But overall, it'll meet my needs.

With the tailgate down, isn't the Maverick bed around 6 feet (72 inches)? Wouldn't that allow two 34" max depth washer/dryers back to back?

 

[Wire4money]

With the tailgate down, isn't the Maverick bed around 6 feet (72 inches)? Wouldn't that allow two 34" max depth washer/dryers back to back?

A standard washer or dryer is 27” wide. Would be a tight fit, but might work with tailgate up.

 

[DavidS]

With the tailgate down, isn't the Maverick bed around 6 feet (72 inches)? Wouldn't that allow two 34" max depth washer/dryers back to back?

With the tailgate down, yes.

 

[motoretro]

Had that been an option, I would be in line to order one. But I don't need a new vehicle immediately, so I'm going to wait two or three years.



People will always find something to complain about, even if it's very superficial.



That's what turned me off the Ranger, and another reason why I currently have a Nissan Frontier. Not a whole lot of other vehicles I can think of have a 100/0 seat, except some sedans.

My '00 F-250 had a 100/0 seat, but Ford switched it to a 60/40 seat in '01 with the interior update.



As a lifelong Ford person and former dealership mechanic (not for Ford), my personal rule is to not buy a Ford before at least the first MMC (Minor Model Change; AKA mid-cycle refresh).

My '99 F-150 got the updated exterior and interior and PI heads.
My '00 F-250 got the PI heads (bumping HP from 285 to 310 on the ole V10).
My '16 Edge got the updated exterior and interior, and a lot of foam to fix the rattles.

Wish I waited until '00 to buy the F-150 so I could've gotten a crew cab.
Wish I waited until '01 to buy the F-250 so I could've gotten the 60/40 rear seat.

The list goes on...



Both my F-250s had MSOS (Manual-Shift-On-Stop) even though ESOF (Electronic Shift On the Fly) was an option. Hardest part was pulling the shifter into 4-low when the dog clutches were just slightly off. I would let the truck roll at 1mph in neutral, then applied just a bit of pressure on the shift lever until it'd key in.



Yup. Life is all about compromise. Pick what is important to you and move on.



Outside of crash test ratings, I think they may have strategically chosen a 4.5' bed for market segmentation. Sort of like how:

• Crew cab Ranger comes with a 5' bed, and a "long" bed if they offered it would likely be 6'.
• Crew cab short bed F-150 comes with a 5.5' bed, optional 6.5' bed.
• Crew cab short bed F-250 comes with a 6.75' bed, optional 8' bed.

Yes, the regular and extended cab F-150 can come with a 8' bed, and the old Ranger regular cab had an optional 7' bed, but I'm specifically talking about crew cabs, since that's what the Maverick ships as.



Tacoma and Frontier guys use unistrut, commonly found at hardware stores. On past trucks, I used aviation L-track screwed to the sides of the bed rails and the floor of the bed. I preferred it over unistrut since the L-track is aluminum and thus doesn't rust.

The Maverick makes this even easier for XL folks because there's already a nice recess in each bed tub wall.

As for the additional tie down points, something tells me the weldnuts for them will be on every truck, so it might be as simple as just buying the parts and bolting them in.



In my experience, OEM fog lights are just there for looks. I get better performance out of some Hella 500s or generic DOT LED fog lights. But it's always easier to modify what is there than start wiring and installing something from scratch, so OEM fog lights would be nice to cut down on time.



You're not going to have that ability outside of a full-size truck or a flatbed. There is a finite amount of room to package everything in a vehicle, especially small ones.

Midsize trucks like the Ranger/Tacoma/Colorado/Frontier have wheel wells that are around 44" apart. Adding an extra 2 1/8" to each side doesn't sound like a big ask, but that means they'd have to fit the vehicle with narrower tires and/or push the wheels out further.

Honda Ridgeline has the ability to put 4x8 sheet flat on floor, direct competition with the Maverick, Colorado, Canyon & Frontier.

 

[oljackfrost]

I probably would have gotten this color if available on Maverick.

Me too!

 

[oljackfrost]

Honda Ridgeline has the ability to put 4x8 sheet flat on floor, direct competition with the Maverick, Colorado, Canyon & Frontier.

Ridgeline floor is higher because of the underfloor trunk

 

[Snax]

With the tailgate down, isn't the Maverick bed around 6 feet (72 inches)? Wouldn't that allow two 34" max depth washer/dryers back to back?

If I recall, the maximum tailgate capacity is 300 pounds (seems low to me, because two average adults weigh more, and I would hope that the tailgate could support a little tailgating). I don't know how much a washer weighs, but something to consider when loading stuff on the tailgate.

 

[CACTI_HYBRID]

Getting into the fancier things that I wish were available upgrades: I sure do miss my sport trac's heated windshield and roll down rear window. These tiny rear window openings hardly seem useful after having that something like 3' wide one on the sport trac

I have an 03 Sport Trac and yes it has a powered rear window. But a heated windshield? No, and I've never even heard of such a thing. What year is your ST?

 

[notfast]

As one person said, hauling a washer and drier together is a pretty common task for a light pickup truck.

For me, choosing equipment (in this case, a truck) comes down to two questions:

1. How often?
2. How far?

If you're moving appliances and other bulky items frequently, you probably want a bigger truck to save time. For the occasional move, my choices in order would be:

1. Rent/borrow/buy a trailer. I don't care how low the Maverick's bed height is; it isn't lower than a trailer, and the ramp door or ramp gate make pushing an appliance dolly a lot easier than into a truck bed.
2. Drive with the tailgate down. Standard washing machines and dryers are 27" wide. If the bed is truly 4.5' long, that's 54 inches, or exactly the length of a standard washing machine and dryer side-by-side. They might fit with the tailgate closed, but you won't have space for moving blankets or furniture pads, so you might get rub damage on the appliances.
3. Make two trips with the tailgate up. For some, driving around every day with an extra 1' of bed is more inconveniencing than an occasional double-trip to accomplish a task.

Honda Ridgeline has the ability to put 4x8 sheet flat on floor

Correct. But the Ridgeline is wider than the Maverick. In fact, at 78.6" wide, the current Ridgeline is wider than first-gen ('98-'06) Chevrolet Silverados. May not seem like much, but a difference of a few inches is all that is needed to get the key 48 1/8" or more between wheel wells.

I'm guessing the Maverick will land between 69" and 72" in body width. The current Ranger is 73.3" in body width.

direct competition with the Maverick, Colorado, Canyon & Frontier.

It's debatable. I've spoken with several auto journalists, and there's no clear consensus as to whether the Ridgeline is a midsize or a full-size.

The Ridgeline has a 5.5' bed on the crew cab. A 5.5' bed is not an option on any midsize truck; it's either 5' or 6'. It also has 50" between the wheel wells, which no midsize truck has. Therefore, by those metrics, the Ridgeline competes with full-size trucks.

The Ridgeline is wider than any midsize truck currently for sale, but narrower than any full-size truck currently for sale. As I mentioned, it is wider than first-gen Silverados, so by that metric, it should compete with full-size trucks.

However, with an overall length of just 210" (same as the current Ranger) and a tow capacity of just 5,000lbs, those metrics slot it more into the midsize category.

Rear leg room also slot it more into the midsize category. 36.7" of rear leg room is a bit more than a full-size extended cab truck, but would make it the smallest full-size crew cab truck available for sale.

In my opinion, Honda made their own size class not to compete directly with other automakers, but to prevent Honda buyers from going to the competition for a truck and/or persuade Honda buyers to add it to their garage.

Keep in mind that Honda is focused on retail sales and consumer wants because, technically, that's all they do. Honda is one of the few automakers, if not the only one, that does not have a Fleet Identification Number (FIN) system. If you ever see a Honda as part of a fleet, then a representative from that organization had to purchase the cars at retail, just like you or I.

The Ridgeline is a bit of an outlier, like the Honda Element and Toyota FJ Cruiser in the North American market. They develop a cult following; the folks that love them really do, but mainstream consumers tend to look elsewhere.

 

[theek]

If I recall, the maximum tailgate capacity is 300 pounds (seems low to me, because two average adults weigh more, and I would hope that the tailgate could support a little tailgating). I don't know how much a washer weighs, but something to consider when loading stuff on the tailgate.

Angled it's 300 pounds, fully flat it's 500.

 

[DavidS]

Honda Ridgeline has the ability to put 4x8 sheet flat on floor, direct competition with the Maverick, Colorado, Canyon & Frontier.

The Honda Ridgeline is NOT direct competition with the Maverick. The Ridgeline has a base MSRP of $36,500. That puts it firmly in competition with the Crew Cab F-150 which has a base MSRP of $37,000 and literally tons more towing and payload capability.

 

[motoretro]

The Honda Ridgeline is NOT direct competition with the Maverick. The Ridgeline has a base MSRP of $36,500. That puts it firmly in competition with the Crew Cab F-150 which has a base MSRP of $37,000 and literally tons more towing and payload capability.

I disagree, price really has nothing to do with it. If it did then the Frontier, Colorado & Canyon also are not in the same class as the Maverick as their base price is much more than the Maverick also. Ford choose this vehicle to build, they have to realize people will compare and cross-shop anything and everything. I agree, the Ridgeline is pricy and took a real hike for 2021, that said it's a small truck in the scheme of things.

Ridgeline floor is higher because of the underfloor trunk

Not sure if the cargo area really affects the floor height on on the Ridgeline, that said I've measured the gate height and it's less than the Colorado and Canyon and I think the new Frontier. The Ridgeline's rear suspension changes things, I think the cargo area is aft of the rear axle's centerline thus allowing the cargo area.

 

[CACTI_HYBRID]

Don't forget the base hybrid comes standard with a hybrid engine. 40mpg. This sets it completely apart from any other small or midsize pickup. Then to offer it in the low $20k range? You'd be hard pressed to even find a small hybrid car in that price range! Will the small hybrid pickup be for everyone? No. But for quite a few there's nothing like it in the market.

 

[DavidS]

I disagree, price really has nothing to do with it. If it did then the Frontier, Colorado & Canyon also are not in the same class as the Maverick as their base price is much more than the Maverick also. Ford choose this vehicle to build, they have to realize people will compare and cross-shop anything and everything. I agree, the Ridgeline is pricy and took a real hike for 2021, that said it's small truck in the scheme of things.

Not sure if the cargo area really affect the floor height on on the Ridgeline, that said I've measured the gate height and it's less than the Colorado and Canyon and I think the new Frontier. The Ridgeline's rear suspension changes things, I thinks the cargo area is aft of the rear axle's centerline and allows the cargo area.

You are correct that the Frontier, Colorado, and Canyon are not in the same class as the Maverick. Not only is the base price for each substantially more than that of the Maverick, they are all classified as mid-size trucks--in line with the Ranger rather than the Maverick.

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