Anyone else unimpressed by the build quality? Some examples inside

[JimParker256]

Ding, ding, ding! Who cares about the features if the windshield is coming unglued? Who cares about the price of the hybrid if it's built in a way that leaves people stranded?

I have had less issues on my 20 year old Accord buying it used with 110k miles on the dash than I've had with Ford's Built Rough vehicle.

I'd be happy to trade you my ultra-reliable 2013 Toyota Prius-C (with under 100K miles, so barely broken in) for your crappy Maverick! I'd be happy to make it a straight up even trade and take that P.O.C. off your hands.

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[bgn]

I'd be happy to trade you my ultra-reliable 2013 Toyota Prius-C (with under 100K miles, so barely broken in) for your crappy Maverick! I'd be happy to make it a straight up even trade and take that P.O.C. off your hands.

Thanks, but I'd rather have what I ordered and pay for monthly to work.

 

[Nw_adventure]

To my knowledge its just called buffeting. For cavitation you need a liquid. Pressure differences create cavities of air in a liquid meduim. I learned this from watching Hunt for the Red October. Cavitation is a easily detectable sound signature underwater from a vessels prop blades. The Red October had a caterpillar drive that sounded quieter and registered more as a seismic anomaly.

Buffeting, aside from a dance I learned at Margaritaville, is a irregular occilation of on object striking another object. In this case both objects are wind. Turbulent and slower air swirling inside the cab being fed from the front windows creating pressure hits against the pressure of the air stream outside the cab. These principals are also apparent in the "aboriginal telephone call" Mick makes in Crocodile Dundee 2.

Most vehicles with 4 doors can and will do this if you have the windows down in the right configuration. 2drs also do it however the frequency is higher and less irritating.

As for the OPs concern of all this build quality stuff. There are about 5 pristine Yugos out there in the world. This is because even though they were a cheap ass crappy car 5 people took care of em. If yours gets dirty in places it shouldnt, clean em. If someone expects Mercedes quality out of the cheapest Ford economy vehicle you can buy(that also happens to be capable of alot of cool things)then just spend the difference between what you paid and a Mercedes at a local mechanic and detail shop, I'm sure they will take your money.

I personally dont like any of the felt materials I see on the Maverick. As time goes on I will be replacing them all with whatever I deem a better material. The wheel wells felts will eventually be replaced with plastic or alloy shields and bedliner paint. The under body felts on my Tremor will likely get replaced with a mix aluminum plate and cutting board material and possibly more bedliner paint.

This is all 5, 10, or 15 years down the road when these "issues" stat making "problems" on my mid trimmed, top offroad spec'd, class leading mpg, $31,000 big ole lil American truck.

Agree that undercarriage felt is pretty lame- I can handle the wheel wells lined with that stuff but not almost the entire bottom of the rig.

 

[Maverickman74]

Agree that undercarriage felt is pretty lame- I can handle the wheel wells lined with that stuff but not almost the entire bottom of the rig.

It almost seem like it could hold moisture and debris against the undercarriage and speed corrosion. Makes me want to just skin the whole bottom in aluminum.

 

[JimParker256]

Do you believe build quality in 2022 should be better or on par with build quality from 2001? I'm asking because my current Ford vehicle that is 20 years old and has 497k miles on it seems to exhibit less concerns, than these trucks. I'm not even comparing the engines, which is no contest, I'm talking about the rest of the vehicle.

The problem with your question is that you own a unicorn (a 21 year-old vehicle that has survived nearly 500K miles). You are evaluating that single unicorn - clearly exceptional since the "average" 2001 Ford vehicle is in the scrapyard well before reaching 497K miles - against the "average" Maverick.

Want another example of this? I've owned 5 (five!) VW Jettas in my lifetime. Every single one of them was damn near perfect. No repairs - not one, ever - during the many years I owned them. Oil changes and brake pads was all I ever had to do to them. But I do recognize that my experience is decidedly atypical - VW has one of the worst reliability ratings, and one of the highest average ongoing maintenance costs for any US-sold vehicle. Should you buy a VW based on my experience? Um, probably not...

Is any Maverick going to make 500K miles? Who knows? But I'd be willing to bet that in 20 years someone will have one with a 1/2 million miles on it, and swear its the best built vehicle ever made, and decry the crappy build quality of the new Ford "Edsel" mini-pickup that was just released...

 

[Old Hickory Trojan]

As far as what you should expect from a $22K truck... Go ahead and do a detailed comparison with ALL of the other trucks available new for $22K. I'll wait for your findings...

And for those of you who keep saying that at $XX price point, the value isn't there, I'd posit the same argument: Show me another new truck on the market that gets 40 mpg at even a $35K price point. I'll wait for your findings as well. (I'm getting pretty good at waiting, since I have a Maverick on order...)

I don't need or want a large truck, but I can definitely use a small, fuel efficient truck. I'm not a dyed-in-the-wool Ford fan (my last 3 trucks were Chevrolets). If any of the other automakers had anything remotely comparable (small truck that gets decent fuel mileage), I'd be interested. (The Santa Cruz fits the small part, but not the "fuel efficient" part. Styling is a whole 'nuther discussion...)

Maybe not the mileage of the Hybrid but it does compare to the ecoboost mileage from my experience so far. Got 29.7MPG in stop and go traffic for 300 miles and just bouncing around town last time I checked I was at 27MPG.

 

[Jmav2152]

6 months 11k Miles.

Only flaws I've had are some rattles on high base in the front passenger door and one in the driver B pillar(fixed). Paints held up great, drives fine in all regards and is comfortable. Maybe its lipstick maybe it's not but the Lariat Lux radio has yet to have a single issue and AA boots up in seconds everytime even running Coolwalk Beta test.

I paid 36k OTD for a loaded EB and I feel like I got my money's worth on a modern day pickup. To come close to matching features and efficiency would put me north of 65k in any fullsize and most midsize are actually less comfortable than the Mav to me(6'6"). I came from trucks and drive/ride in many trims and models. Our 19' XL super duty is a effing brute and drives like dogass.

In three years if the new ranger has a better more comfortable interior with a hybrid I'll take a look at it. Until then the Mav fits the bill for this mountain bike/moto hauler daily driver and nothing even comes close to it in value and functionality.

 

[Nw_adventure]

It almost seem like it could hold moisture and debris against the undercarriage and speed corrosion. Makes me want to just skin the whole bottom in aluminum.

Have you seen all the cables and electrical that's underneath that nifty felt ? Its not pretty.

 

[bgn]

Have you seen all the cables and electrical that's underneath that nifty felt ? Its not pretty.

Cables/electrical and fuel line. The felt is in there for a reason, and I wouldn't remove it.

 

[Nw_adventure]

Cables/electrical and fuel line. The felt is in there for a reason, and I wouldn't remove it.

It could be replaced with a higher quality product - But that sounds like project that might not be worth the hassle.

 

[Maverickman74]

Have you seen all the cables and electrical that's underneath that nifty felt ? Its not pretty.

I haven't seen it but, I assumed it was there. Like an evil clown in the closet.

Cables/electrical and fuel line. The felt is in there for a reason, and I wouldn't remove it.

The problem is its felt. And nearly every reviewer that took them off pavement showed how easily they got ripped. Once mine begins to take damage of any kind I will take it off. Probably patch/sew it and coat it in bedliner. Then lay it out on cardboard and make a pattern for it. The pattern I will use to make plates for the trouble areas( the ones that got torn) possibly out of steel or thicker aluminum if I can get it. Then I would skin the gaps in between with thinner material or possibly have the felt sandwiched above the plates. Im still hopeful that the Tremor has better midsection protection, but we will see.

 

[Burdy]

The problem with your question is that you own a unicorn (a 21 year-old vehicle that has survived nearly 500K miles). You are evaluating that single unicorn - clearly exceptional since the "average" 2001 Ford vehicle is in the scrapyard well before reaching 497K miles - against the "average" Maverick.

Want another example of this? I've owned 5 (five!) VW Jettas in my lifetime. Every single one of them was damn near perfect. No repairs - not one, ever - during the many years I owned them. Oil changes and brake pads was all I ever had to do to them. But I do recognize that my experience is decidedly atypical - VW has one of the worst reliability ratings, and one of the highest average ongoing maintenance costs for any US-sold vehicle. Should you buy a VW based on my experience? Um, probably not...

Is any Maverick going to make 500K miles? Who knows? But I'd be willing to bet that in 20 years someone will have one with a 1/2 million miles on it, and swear its the best built vehicle ever made, and decry the crappy build quality of the new Ford "Edsel" mini-pickup that was just released...

No, the problem with this whole thread is people not understanding the actual issues at hand:

#1 Build Quality as a definition has been thrown around in this thread under a number of different meanings. When we discuss "build quality" this has nothing to do with trim levels or materials or luxury vs base. No one bought a 22k Maverick and expects top levels of trim and materials. But we do expect it to work, period.

#2 People in here don't even understand what good build quality is. Statements like "you can't expect the quality of a hand-built Bentley" makes no sense whatsoever. I have been in 2 year old hand-built Bentleys and I can assure you, they are pieces of crap too.

#3 Honda has been building cars with great build quality at low price points for years. Accepting poor build quality and blaming it on the price is unnacceptable. Everyone in here that thinks that is acceptable will be crying in 5 years when they hate their truck and resale is in the trash.

#4 Body on Frame or Unibody is irrelevant, if anything the unibody design should have less issues with noises and creaks and "dash rattles"

#5 Materials, technology and QC should have improved DRASTICALLY in 20 years, period. Doesn't matter what vehicle is being made and at what price point. Sacrifice Sound Deadening? Fine. Sacrifice metal thickness? Fine. Sacrifice creature comforts? Fine. Crack a windshield because the body flexes like a fiberglass 81 corvette? Unacceptable.

I am on Team Maverick. I've wanted one of these trucks for a long time now and I have one on order. That doesn't mean I ignore the issues that are being brought up here and look at the world through rose color glasses. I am going to take ownership and drive it and I hope I have none of these issues and can report back here. Any vehicle I buy I expect to keep 10 years, I really don't want this to be the exception.

 

[MrCigar]

No, the problem with this whole thread is people not understanding the actual issues at hand:

"That doesn't mean I ignore the issues that are being brought up here and look at the world through rose color glasses.

I'm curious and trust me when I say to each their own and you can have whatever opinion you desire, but who is ignoring issues?

There are folks openly discussing issues they may have or observations after having taken delivery. Many many many people, myself included, are very happy with the vehicle, the features, the price, the build quality etc.

Some folks may not agree, and others, well, they would complain if I gave them two fifties instead of a hundred dollar bill for free. Eyes of the beholder I guess.

I hope your MAV arrives soon and you can then relay your pros and or cons. It's a fun truck and being happy as well as reasonable with expectations is not "rose-colored glasses" but just my two cents, which is worth what you paid for it, free. LOL

 

[rdr854]

Limited backseat space? Have you ever seen the inside of a supercrew F150?

I thought my Suburban had a lot of room, but holy cow, the F-150 SCREW is gargantuan and extremely comfortable.

I was thinking of trading my Volvo S60 for a Maverick because of the price and hybrid power train (had Fusion hybrids that were wonderful). Now with everyone’s comments - not so sure.

 

[Oscarcat]

Yes its a 20-30k truck so i shouldn't expect luxury. these are some of the build quality issues ive come across not even gotten through my first tank of gas.

1. There is no insulation between the engine and the cab. When i open my drivers door i can see inside my engine bay. Ill elaborate more on this later on.

2. The fender liners dont align, mate, and cover the wheel well. tons of dirt, salt, etc gets up inside the engine bay from here and accelerates corrosion in hard to reach spaces, especially the pinch welds. Dirt and grime also easily migrates to the door seals, door wiring boot and can seep its way inside the frame.

3. The rear wheel well fender liner and splash guard doesnt cover or protect the rocker panel and the wheel constantly shoves water and dirt into it accelerating corrosion. i dont think there is a product that could even help this as theres just to much water flow.

4. this one is a little more specific to me, The steering wheel upholstery is torn and not fitted well, you can easily see inside the steering column into the engine bay.

besides the torn upholstery are these same issues on everyone else mavericks? or worth raising a warranty claim?. Anyone else have things they've noticed?

Your vehicle definitely has quality control issues. I checked my driver's door and shined a light into the area. There is a plastic-coated soft insulation panel so yours is missing. It should be resolved under warranty . Similarly, the flexible vinyl upholstery between the dash and steering column on mine is not fitted properly. I played with it and was able to push it into place. My biggest complaint is a low rumble from the dash when going over rough pavement. I was able to isolate one area in the lowest point in the center of the dash where the stop/start button and sliding window control is. I will look for fasteners to tighten. But the biggest dash noise is straight ahead of the steering wheel. I opened the hood and it isn't in the engine bay on the firewall. It is not the lens on the instrument cluster vibrating, it isn't the hood over the cluster, it is somewhere under the panel by the windshield - perhaps the defroster duct? I hate to have mechanics tear into the area and create other unintended problems. These are quality control issues and should not be there regardless of the cost or trim level of the vehicle. I see your point regarding the fender liners. Fortunately I live in a place that barely gets 10" of rain a year so rust etc. isn't an issue. Overall I enjoy the way it drives. I get better gas mileage using 87 octane in my 2.0L EB. We'll see when GM, Toyota and Honda bring similar vehicles to market how they compare in price and quality. Meanwhile Ford can sell all the Mav's it can make.

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